The Craighouse Partnership held a round of three public consultation events last week to showcase its revised proposals to redevelop the former Edinburgh Napier University campus at Craighouse.
The public consultation events, held at the Eric Liddell Centre, Boroughmuir Rugby Club and Old Craig, formed part of the developer’s pre-application consultation process and followed the first round of public consultation in September 2011.
Detailed information about the revised plans were on show, with members of the Craighouse Partnership team on hand to answer questions. Members of the public were also presented with 8 further options for the site and were encouraged to give feedback on the proposals.
William Gray Muir, Director of Edinburgh-based Sundial Properties and member of the Craighouse Partnership, said:
“We were very pleased to meet local residents at our events in Morningside, Craighlockhart and at Craighouse itself. We felt it was important to hold the events in a variety of venues to ensure convenience and accessibility for the public.
“Our revised proposals have incorporated some of the feedback that we have been receiving through our active public consultation with local stakeholders, statutory consultees and political representatives.
“We understand the sensitivities surrounding the site and share the community’s view that, with seven grade-A listed buildings, spectacular views and beautiful grounds, Craighouse is a unique and historic site.
“In particular, we are aware of the value to the local community of public access to the grounds. We are therefore committed to guaranteeing continued access to the grounds and woods in perpetuity.
“To ensure the future of the listed buildings at Craighouse, it will be necessary to have some new development on the site However, we recognise the importance of keeping this new development to a bare minimum, and our proposals will see construction on less than 4% of the grounds.
“We were very encouraged by the feedback that we received from those who attended our events. We have had a range of responses to our proposal and the 8 alternative options that we presented. We will now analyse these views and feed them into our design process.
“The Craighouse Community Liaison Forum chaired by Minister of Morningside Parish Church Revd Dr Derek Browning will be very important in assessing in detail the revised plans shown last week and determining how we move to a final proposal.”
For more information about the project, please visit the Craighouse Partnership website at www.edinburghcraighouse.co.uk
