Plans for a new specialist retirement development in south west Edinburgh are progressing after planning permission was granted by The City of Edinburgh Council. Specialist housing developer, McCarthy & Stone, is to redevelop the 1.3 hectare site of Baberton Mains Golf Clubhouse at Juniper Green, Edinburgh into 45 quality retirement apartments for the elderly.
The developer hopes that the new homes will provide a boost to housing options in the area and bring a number of associated local community benefits, including enabling Baberton Golf Club to relocate to a new, modern clubhouse and improving local road and pedestrian access around the site.
Steve Wiseman, Managing Director of McCarthy & Stone in Scotland, explains:
“Once complete, our scheme will significantly improve housing choices for older people in Edinburgh. We worked closely with the local community to form these plans and always ensure our developments bring benefits from being well designed and centrally located, close to local transport links, amenities and shops. In turn this helps to sustain the local economy. Our development at Juniper Green has been sensitively designed to redevelop the site into high quality, contemporary accommodation which complements and enhances the surrounding conservation area of Juniper Green. We now look forward to starting construction.”
The application was submitted and approved at committee following an extensive consultation with the local community regarding the proposed development.
The site had previously been granted a planning consent to develop residential apartments for sale to the general market but the development failed to progress because of the economic downturn. As a result a number of local community concerns had been raised.
Sir Michael Hirst, Chairman of Pagoda Public Relations, who were responsible for the community consultation explains:
“A number of objections had been received to the proposal by the previous company and the community had raised concerns regarding vehicle and pedestrian access around the site. It was always going to be important to consult closely with the local community to ensure they understood this was a new proposal from a different developer. We invited over 1,800 local residents to a public exhibition and local community groups, representatives and politicians to special meetings to consult on the plans and answer their questions. Following the consultation, feedback showed 93 per cent of those consulted supported McCarthy & Stone’s proposal.”
Redevelopment of the site into retirement homes will begin in the Spring of 2012, and construction is set to provide 55 full and part time jobs.
