£22.4m Pentland Park project rejected by councillors

The proposal first went to public consultation last year on behalf of Pentland Park Marine Ltd, which made its case for using land next to Straiton retail park.

But while Midlothian Council planners said nearly two-thirds of the site was designated countryside, the developer argued it was “fallow land” which had lain empty for 50 years. And they said the New Pentland project would create hundreds of jobs and provide much needed community services as well as homes for local residents later in their lives.

In June an application for an Aldi store on the site, which developers said was part of the overall masterplan, was approved by councillors despite the land being classed as countryside by officers.

The revised application for planning permission in principle included a veterinary surgery and children’s nursery, affordable housing, amenity space, a nursing home and extra care flats and housing.

A report to the council’s planning committee said the project had received seven objections, two letters of support and one neutral comment.

Planners recommended the application for refusal saying the 67 per cent of it which was in the countryside was “not for the furtherance of an established rural use and will not be of a rural scale and character”.

They added that part of the site within the built-up area of Loanhead would “create a scale and density of development that will have a significant detrimental impact on the character and amenity of the surrounding area”.

The landowner had said in a supporting statement for the New Pentland project that the plan was to “revitalise a piece of land that has been lying unused and of no practical use to the community for over 50 years”.

They said of their proposal: “The community is at the heart of the plans and there has been considerable consultation with local groups and residents throughout this process.”

They added that the plans would create 172 jobs during the construction phase, 133 new direct jobs and 33 indirect jobs on completion.

The planning committee unanimously decided to refuse the application.

A spokesperson for the landowner said: “We are extremely disappointed with this decision.

“Our proposals were part of an overall masterplan that included the Aldi Food Store, which was approved under the same land use restrictions at the council’s last planning committee meeting.

“It also included a range of development possibilities that unfortunately weren’t discussed at this meeting.

“Our application included a suite of technical reports, one of which addressed the issue of land stability, and all of which confirmed this was a technically sound proposal that could be delivered.

“These plans were community-led to enhance the local environment and were also designed to bring significant economic benefit to the area. We feel this is a missed opportunity for local residents and will now consider whether or not to appeal.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​