Latest developments
We won. Fantastic news! The AMA planning application we've been lobbying against for so long was unanimously rejected today by the City's planning committee (the Edinburgh Development Management Sub-Committee) - based on almost all the grounds we objected to. The councillors mentioned that they were impressed by the community's measured approach and our contra-plan, and took into account the flower colonies' valuable social heritage.
Contra-plan
The contra-plan was launched on Saturday, 26 June in the little green behind the colonies. The ideas of the new contra-plan were well received by the residents. For more information on the contra-plan please have a look at this flyer and check out our blog for comments on all the community action that has been happening since AMA have put in their planning application.Creating a safer and friendly neighbourhood, with a strong sense of community for the Flower Colonies Area depends on a positive attitude and the running of activities that represent as wide an audience as possible. This will develop the area as an even better place to be.
In the case of the planned development of the old biscuit factory, which lies right at the heart of the area, we believe the design should consider three values: the city's need for housing, the need for a viable business model for its owners, and the needs and attitudes of local people. The developer's architect has not involved any local consultation, and we have objected strongly to their design through the official channels, and will continue to do so (read more about our objections here).
Positive Action
But to demonstrate that local residents are in favour of development, in moving forward to satisfy all parties, we have begun a positive set of activities to produce our own design. We are confident that we can do a better job and have started a programme of community-led activities. The core of this is at present is series of friendly, fun and facilitated public meetings with as many local residents as possible, in co-operation with skilled advisers in architecture and urban planning.We will then take this design to developers, city planners and to the media in order to generate support for a new way forward and to show that local people should have a voice in local affairs.
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