Copy of response made by Portobello Community Council to planning application 15/05072/PPP submitted by Avant Homes for site at Telferton.

ref: 15/05072/PPP | FORMALISATION AND RECONFIGURATION OF ALLOTMENT GARDENS, INCLUDING THE PROVISION OF 40 ALLOTMENT PLOTS AND 2 COMMUNITY PLOTS, AND A NEW RESIDENTIAL  DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WITH ASSOCIATED ACCESS, PARKING AND LANDSCAPING WORKS. AT ALLOTMENTS, TELFERTON, EDINBURGH

Dear Sir,

Portobello Community Council wishes to object to this application.

The site is just outside the Portobello Community Council area, but of local interest with a number of our residents currently holding plots at the site.

Notice of the planning application was published on the community council website on 10 November. The page (which can be seen here) included brief details of the application and links to the Planning Portal for anyone wishing to make comment. 

A form for comments was also included on the page, with copies of any responses being emailed directly to the planning officer.  Links to the Craigentinny Telferton Allotments website and Facebook pages were also included on the web page.

Public awareness of the issue was further raised by posting the information on Facebook and Twitter and by circulating it to the community council’s email mailing list (1,324 recipients) on Wednesday, 11 November.

The community council used a portion of funds from a Planning Concordat Engagement Fund grant to increase reach on social media.

The allotment holders have been running a campaign calling for residents to object to the proposals and a number of local groups including PEDAL Portobello Transition Town have also been asking people to object.

Engagement Overview

Facebook

9,106 people saw the post; 540 clicks were registered on the post.

The community council used a portion of funds from a Planning Concordat Engagement Fund to increase reach on social media, boosting the numbers seeing the post from around 2,000 to over 9,000.

Twitter

110 users saw the post on Twitter; 5 engagements and 4 link clicks

Website

564 page views; Average time on page: 7 mins, 16 seconds

Responses Overview

From a total of 46 responses received via the consultation form on our website, 44 were objections to the proposed development. The reasons given were, with a single exception, due to the proposed reduction in the area laid out as allotments. Two respondents supported the plans, with one objecting as they felt not enough family style houses were proposed. 

An anonymised copy of the responses received by the community council is available at goo.gl/5kotYA.

Conclusion

The land is currently designated Open Space in the Local Development Plan and the Second Proposed Local Development Plan. As such is it subject to policies on protecting that open space. The reduction of open space proposed would:

• Make a significant impact to the character of the local area
• Be a significant loss of open space (approx half of the total site)
• Be detrimental to local biodiversity

Taking the public response and the above factors into account, Portobello Community Council objects to this planning application.