Developers say a new student housing development at Jock’s Lodge could help deliver ‘transformational’ change in walking, cycling and wheeling in the local area.
Alumno have recently approached The City of Edinburgh Council to offer their support for plans to convert the former Piershill to Powderhall freight line into an active travel route.
Councillors on the Transport and Environment Committee recently urged more action on the plans, highlighting that the route would improve links between East Edinburgh and the existing active travel network with potentially ‘transformational’ results.
An initial feasibility study has been completed by the Council and in a letter to Transport and Environment Convenor, Cllr Scott Arthur, Alumno offer to provide additional support to facilitate design workshops to help assist the Council take the idea forward.
David Campbell, Alumno Chief Executive and founder said: “We are very conscious of the need to support cycling and active travel, as a ‘car free’ development it is a critical part of our plans. Our proposed development at Jock’s Lodge includes extensive cycle parking and e-bike charging points. We will also offer residents free access to foldable cycles.”
“However, we are keen to work with the Council to do more. We had initially investigated the potential for a suitable contribution to the local cycle hire scheme. However, as this is not possible, we were very interested to hear about the re-purposing of the former Powderhall freight line towards active travel. This could be of great benefit to the local area, and given the closeness of the route to our proposed development it would seem natural for us to offer our support to the Council to help move this plan forward.”
The planning application at Jock’s Lodge, which will be considered by City of Edinburgh Council later this week, is for a purpose built development with 191 student rooms, and ground floor commercial space which is earmarked to replace an existing public house with a new food and drink venue. The scheme is fully compliant with Edinburgh Design Guidance with regards to cycle parking. In addition, it also includes e-bike charging points and a free bike hire scheme which will be managed by the building operator.
David added: “Opening up such an active travel route would benefit not just the new residents in our Jock’s Lodge site, but the whole community. We fully recognise that it is a community that is changing considerably, and we hope to be in a position to support this positive change once Councillors have decided on our proposal later this week.”
The decision on the planning application will be made by the Development Management Sub-Committee on Wednesday. The application is recommended for approval by council officers.
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