An Edinburgh man has lost a bid to demolish his garage and build a plush two-storey ‘ecohouse’ overlooking the Water of Leith.
James Ogilvie lodged plans to bulldoze three lock-ups beside his Saughtonhall property to make way for a three-bedroom property – but following an appeal to the Scottish Government they were thrown out.
It comes despite the proposal originally being backed by council planners.
Councillors refused planning permission over concerns the site would be at risk of flooding, after an objection from an environment watchdog saw the application referred to the development management sub-committee last November.
Plans said Mr Ogilvie, a forestry expert, sought to build “an ecologically sustainable high quality dwelling place for his occupation in the Saughtonhall community area”.
The proposed stylish new home would be built on the banks of the Water of Leith and have a balcony with views of the river and Murrayfield Stadium.
Plans were revised to reduce the size of the balcony after concerns were raised it would overlook neighbouring houses.
The site, just beside Saughtonhall Bridge, sits within a “functional floodplain” which the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) said made it unsuitable for the significant redevelopment.
SEPA’s objection letter raised concerns that in the event of serious flooding where defences were breached there would be “increased numbers of people in residential accommodation put at flood risk”.
It said: “If the defences fail or are overtopped… areas behind them are at greater risk than they would have been otherwise as sudden and rapid inundation can occur, with extremely high velocities and forces”.
Councillors heeded the watchdog’s advice and refused the plans, against the advice of planning officers who praised the building’s “high quality” design and recommended the committee to grant permission.
However Mr Ogilvie refuted the reasons given for not giving the go-ahead to the project.
In his appeal statement it was highlighted a separate flood risk assessment he had produced proved “the site is not at risk of flooding or in a flood risk area when assessed against the flows associated with a 1 in 200 year + 56% climate change flooding event in the Water of Leith”.
It added: “The Council’s Flood Planning Team, having reviewed the flood risk assessment submitted in support of the application advised that they had no objection to the proposal.”
After an appeal to the Scottish Government, planning reporter Paul Haggin concluded that the decision taken by councillors last year was sound.
“I agree with the appellant that flood capacity is unlikely to be made worse by the building,” Mr Haggin said, “but acknowledge that the appeal site would be surrounded by flood water in a 1:200-year event.
“If this was at maximum depth of 0.6m and continued over a sustained period of time, then this could represent a serious threat to human life particularly if the emergency services were unable to rescue any occupants because of the speed and velocity of the flood waters.
“I have not been provided with evidence to show how quickly it would take for flood waters to recede back to a level that would allow reasonable safe access/ egress. Nor have I confirmation about whether the emergency services would be able to rescue any occupants at times of peak flows.
“In the absence of this information, and bearing in mind, the precautionary principle that applies to flood risk, I can only conclude that the proposal has not demonstrated long term safety and resilience.”
By Donald Turvill Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
