There is a meeting this Thursday about the future of Easter Craiglockhart Hill. Our photo shows the view from the top of Craighouse Campus which is part of the area which extends across the city to the rear of Craiglockhart Sports Centre.

The proposal is that some of the land in this area might be transferred to council ownership. 30 acres, owned by the company who wish to develop the site at Craighouse, could possibly be gifted to the council who would then assume responsibility for some or all of it.

The various options to be considered are as follows:-

  • Option 1 – Take no action. The consequence would be that a new residents association (of the potential new housing development) would become the owners and managers of the Craighouse Partnership owned section of the local nature reserve as well as the lawn area known as The Orchard.
  • Option 2 – The Council could take ownership of the entire reserve from Craighouse Partnership and manage it on behalf of the city, community and the residents.
  • Option 3 – Joint ownership with the community taking ownership of and management responsibility for the Craighouse Partnership owned land and the Council retaining the part of Local Nature Reserve it already owns.
  • Option 4 – Community ownership and management of all areas
  • Option 4a – Transition period of joint ownership and management between the Council and the community moving towards full community ownership and management over a period of time (5 years was suggested as an example) and as the community was able to raise funds and show their ability to manage the land, ownership would be transferred.

The event is being held on Thursday 21 February 2013 from 7.30 – 9.30pm at Meggetland Sports Complex, Function Suite, 60J Colinton Road , Edinburgh , EH14 1AS . There will be maps on display and council staff available to discuss your queries. A short presentation is scheduled for 7.45pm.

Here is a map showing the area and the ownership breakdown. You may remember that The Craighouse Partnership is the current owner of the former Edinburgh Napier University campus, Craighouse, and you will see that they own most of the land to be discussed.

A spokesperson for the Craighouse Partnership said:
“Continued, and indeed enhanced, public access to the campus has always been a core part of The Craighouse Partnership’s strategy.
The Craighouse Partnership is working closely with both City of Edinburgh Council and a range of stakeholder groups to gift the majority of the green space of the campus – some 30 acres – into public ownership. This will guarantee public access to Easter Craiglockhart Hill in perpetuity for the people of Edinburgh.
There will also be major improvements to pathways, high quality landscaping around the buildings and significant areas of new tree planting. The number of trees onsite will increase by over 250 as a result of the development.
We welcome Edinburgh Council’s consultation and look forward to city residents supporting this important initiative.”

Are you going to attend the meeting? What do you think the council should do? If you have any views then please tell us otherwise you may be interested to know there is an online survey until the end of March.

The council say:-“If you are able to attend but still wish to provide comments please complete our online survey. Please note this survey will close on Sunday the 31st of March 2013.”

Easter Craiglockhart Hill Consultation by

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.