700-home Meadowbank development approved

Plans for more than 700 new homes near an Edinburgh sports centre have been approved by councillors.

In February 2023, the City of Edinburgh Council, in conjunction with Edinburgh-Meadowbank (EDMB) Consortium, held proposals for 660 homes and flats - with the revised plans now extended to include 704 units.

The development is also set to deliver 35% affordable homes on vacant land around Meadowbank Sports Centre in the east of the city.

Wednesday's Development Management Sub Committee discussed the Approval for Matters Specified application, with documents stating: “This application has been referred to the Development Management Sub-committee as 56 objections raising material planning considerations have been received and the recommendation is to approve.”

The proposals have been expanded from 660 units to 705, but green and commercial space has been cut back.

The land includes more than seven hectares and is defined by London Road to the south west, the East Coast Mainline to the south east, South Suburban rail line to the north west and Wishaw Terrace and Marionville Road to the north east.

The site also includes where the old Meadowbank Stadium stands once stood before the structure was torn down and replaced by a modern facility with a gym, cafe, indoor courts and studios.

The planned development is divided into three separate plots. Plot A will consist of 136 flats, 135 square metres of Class 1A/3 space and 342 cycle spaces. Plot B will consist of 292 units, comprising a mixture of flats and houses, as well as 155 sq m of Class 10 space and 81 sq m of Class 1A/3 space, with 659 cycle parking spaces. The third and final Plot C will consist of 277 build to rent flats within a single seven-storey block to the east of the sports centre, 128 sq m of Class 1A/3 space and 467 cycle parking spaces.

Communal provision is provided by way of a playpark with orchard to the north west of Block B1, a 'Turntable Park' on the site of the former St Margaret's Locomotive Railway Depot and Works and the 'Snakey Path' to the site's north eastern boundary.

A consortium of Graham, Miller Homes and Panacea Property Development was previously appointed to deliver the multi-million pound development.

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