Currie Community Council
Comments from feedback forms Nov 2010

1.The site should be developed but for community benefit. Is it possible to imagine retail alongside other uses such a residential in sympathy with surroundings. However the 'white box' with huge car park and a coupe of trees should be opposed vigorously by anyone with the welfare of Currie at its heart.
2.The site would be ideal for a sheltered housing development
3. The site is inappropriate for a development of this nature with traffic generated, visual impact, impact on existing shops, proximity to school etc.
4. Residential flats would be much better. If there's another meeting could there be some form of microphone- one of the of the official speakers couldn‘t be heard and I could not make out any of the comments from the audience.
5. Retail development could be an hotel or there could be workshops for local small employers. Retain building as it is sound and a significant. Could the community hall be retained.
6. Mixed development retail and residential. Sensitive to Conservation Area landscaping Community Centre.
7. I am strongly against a supermarket in Currie.
8. Think we have been caught on the back foot! We need community planning- so we know what we need as a local population. The tail is wagging the dog here! Should work with them and get a 'win-win' agreement.
9. Rather than a supermarket could the site not be made to have a mixture of amenities. I.e. sports, retirement homes, community facilities.
10. Hotel- would this have a negative effect on Riccarton Arms, Woodhall and Pentland view?
11. The questions posed in the main, depend on the type of development, size etc therefore opinions expressed in the given categories are valueless.
12. The impact on local traders would be catastrophic and the increase in traffic intolerable
13. A new supermarket would be handy, agree local residents will not be happy
14.Build affordable housing on the site or housing for elderly or hotel
15. This seems a golden opportunity for a mixed site with lots of shops and housing opportunities and a green aka after this meeting I think it is highly unlikely but we should still aim high.
16. Too much traffic already
17. Hotel in preference to a retail outlook
18. I would like to see the site used for either Hotel with Leisure Facilities of affordable housing
19. Instead of one large development, several small workshops/ businesses
I am afraid of the effect on local shops
21. Other uses rather than supermarkets etc need to be explored further and should be utilised other than a cash cow for Edinburgh City Council Coffers
22. I think a supermarket is the last thing we need on this site. A coffee shop/ restaurant with evening opening too would be good
23.Do we know the impact on the fields at back of school; impact of building works on traffic; impact of large lorries trudging along local roads. I would like to see the site developed- possibly affordable housing would help the area.
24. Suggestion of a hotel on the site sounds like a good idea. It would provide local jobs.
25. I am torn between agreeing that a new development would be unsightly and bring nuisance to Currie and the redevelopment of an existing unsightly derelict site which does pose a risk.
26. Any retail development will not enhance the Currie area. Traffic will be a major problem and invoke a safety factor with respect to the local school.
27. Especially food shopping, my wife and I consider neighbouring communities to extend to places reached easily by bus and a short walk e.g. Balerno, Juniper Green, Gorgie Road, Dalry Road and Chesser Avenue.
28. Perfect for retirees. Wait for economy life, unnecessary. Proximity to library. Not in keeping with area. Traffic- DVLA bad enough!
29. Residential for older people preferred to regenerate Currie. Curriehill site is an eye sore- hotel would be good. A new 'store' with correct appearance only- may stop a lot of residents travelling outside for goods. Break Scotmid Monopoly with expensive prices, little fresh produce and it is the only place people without cars have to shop. What about pensioners?
30. There is likely to be a net loss of local jobs. Elderly will suffer by having further to travel to shop. The question from the floor could hardly be heard. Try microphone in future.
31. Why retail? Did other offers/bidders consider developing flats especially retirement flats as site would be better suited to this? Please preserve old buildings if at all possible for character and historical association- an Action Group with strong determination to fight is imperative so begin to set one up now.
32. Car park beside school playing fields- pollution. Heavy lorries on congested roads. Poor feeder roads- traffic- already congested. Conservation area- leave. Not suitable for retail, retirement location- on bus route/near health centre/ shops already.
33.If a retail development is situated on the site of the former Curriehill School then this is likely to have a detrimental effect on the local shops and other retail outlets in the Currie area.
Also, the inevitable increase in traffic from a supermarket or similar retail outlet will be a problem for local residents with an increase in general noise and traffic levels and difficulties for anyone attempting to travel by car (or bus) using the roads in close proximity to the proposed site.
A retail development is likely to affect ot just the shops in the Currie area but also shops in adjacent areas close by, such as Balerno and juniper green, as a supermarket or similar outlet is likely to attract shoppers who will travel to it from these other areas, possibly resulting in other local businesses, in Balerno and Juniper Green, closing.
The site of the former Curriehill School has potential for housing, perhaps a mix of housing which would include sheltered accommodation. An influx of new residents would probably bring additional custom to the local retails community and perhaps have the effect of reinforcing Currie as a place to make a home and stay.
34. I would like to provide my concerns about this development as I understand it and inform you that I am opposed to a development of this nature and scale at this location. This is despite being a member of the local village who would probably benefit from it most, having a lack of personal transport during the week and a small child at home.
My concern is that this is another case of developer led proposals motivated solely by profit and without any real consideration of the longer term impacts on the local community. There is a need across Currie, Balerno and Juniper Green to have accessible and affordable local food retail facilities and I imagine that most people would be broadly supportive of the opportunity to have access to cheaper produce. However, in the absence of concrete proposals or consideration of not only the short term but also the longer term implications I cannot at this stage support a development of this scale. In preparing this comment, I have consulted the online Rural West Edinburgh Local Plan and present below considerations, which I, as a member of this community, expect to be made not only by the developer but also the Local Council and Community Council: Need for a medium scale food retail development?
In Currie, we already have a medium scale food retail facility located directly across the road from the proposed site. I find it utterly ridiculous that a site located directly opposite is being proposed for a similar type of development and would seriously question the need? It is not appropriate in my opinion to cite (as was reported recently by a Currie & Balerno News reporter) that the price war which will result will benefit the consumer. It is likely that two similar facilities right next door to each other will in the longer term force one of them to close, thus paving the way for the remaining facility to set prices as they see fit. I therefore don‘t accept any argument that we as the consumers will ultimately benefit from lower prices. Putting two facilities next door to each other forces me to question where have planning considerations been taken into account? How exactly will this benefit the community?
My other concern is that for the community as a whole this could strike the death knell for a number of local small scale shops who will not be able to compete with a chain supermarket undercutting prices in an already difficult economic climate. We have already witnessed the recent closure of local small scale facilities in this area, so what work is being done to identify the impact another medium sized facility will have on this trend? I would also question why a supermarket facility on a vacant site open to any potential development is being considered above ensuring our existing vacant small scale retail sites are retained and occupied with services the community actually needs. Has the Community Council fully considered the significant impact this could have on other small scale retailers? How will it justify small scale premises going out of business through not being able to compete with a facility such as this? We do have a need for a supermarket facility but we already have at least two of these accessible from the village. Of the two closest by, we have an Asda located on a regular bus route and a Tesco at Hermiston Gate accessible by car. Surely if we feel that these are not accessible enough, we should be working towards finding solutions to making these more available (for example, reducing the delivery fee for people living outwith the city boundary or reintroducing the free bus service to Tesco).
Furthermore, has the Community Council considered the general movement which is going on throughout our two neighbouring villages to promote access to healthy, organic, and local food? A medium scale food retail unit will likely provide a predominance of processed foods, thus further limiting access to fresh, affordable produce (particularly fruit and veg) which we very much need. I also understand that a potential Currie farmers market has been discussed and the car park next to the library identified as a possible site. This site is the most suitable for the village due to its direct access to the local bus route. In the event that a supermarket facility is developed on the site next door, I cannot imagine that they will support a farmers‘ market facility on their doorstep, further limiting access to alternatives to supermarket produce.
In summary, supporting such a facility directly sends a message that Currie is not supportive of maintaining small scale retailers and promoting provision of affordable and local produce. This directly contravenes any commitment to sustainability made by the Local Council.

Conservation Area
I am presuming the proposed development site lies within the existing building footprint and the land immediately to the north. This indicates that the building will lie directly within the conservation area. I would therefore question several aspects of the development which are relevant to the Local Plan policy on development in a Conservation Area, particularly when the visual amenity associated with the conservation area is already detrimentally impacted by the unsightly development in the adjacent shopping arcade.
Building a development of this scale using most likely modern materials and construction will directly impact on the visual amenity of the conservation area. This would contravene Local Plan policies E35 & E36 and likely make a mockery of Conservation Area status in the heart of the village.

Environmental Impact
Questions that I have over the development include the size and scale, whether parking will be provided, how delivery vehicles will access the site, whether redevelopment of local access will be needed etc.
I would therefore ask, as a member of the local community who will be impacted by this development, for sight of the following:

Traffic & air quality
Has the developer identified the scale of parking on the site? What measures will the developer and the Council put in place to mitigate the likely increase in nearby on-street parking in residential areas? There will be no doubt that traffic in this area will increase and there will be an impact on local parking due to the nature of this facility.
Has a traffic impact assessment been undertaken? How will the developer mitigate the likely increase in traffic travelling to the facility to ensure there is not an ensuing congestion problem on Curriehill Road and the Lanark Road? There is already a significant issue of traffic in this area during peak hours and the school run and a development of this scale would only serve to worsen this effect. Has air quality modelling been undertaken to model the impact on local air quality associated with increased traffic to the facility? Has the Council made consideration of the potential safety implications of locating a facility of this scale next to a busy access route for both the local primary school and secondary school pupils? There is limited scope to re-route local car routes away from local schools, so how will the potential safety implications of increased traffic in an area which is probably unlikely to be able to cope with such an increased level of use be addressed? Finally, I would like to draw the Community Council's attention to the Local Plan policy E1 - Sustainable Development which states:

"Development which is clearly inconsistent with the local plan objectives for sustainable development will not be permitted. In assessing individual development proposals, account will be taken of the extent to which the development would:

  • conserve energy and environmental resources; avoid pollution;
  • make efficient use of land and infrastructure;
  • avoid reliance on the private car for access; and
  • maintain or increase biodiversity."

    I do feel strongly that for the reasons I have highlighted above, this development does not meet these requirements and would therefore contravene this policy.
    I am so disappointed that we continue to live in an environment where local planning continues to be developer led with no consideration of the longer term impacts or addressing what communities actually need.