Abandoned Edinburgh shop to be bulldozed and replaced with new apartments

An abandoned Edinburgh shop is set for the bulldozer with new apartments approved by council.

The City of Edinburgh Council granted the proposal from the developer Culross on Monday November 29.

The site at Telford Road will see the local convenience store demolished and replaced with luxury flats for the Port of Leith Housing Association.

The residential block that will contain eleven (11) units, consisting of one and two bedroom flats, for Cullross Ltd, along with associated external works, recycling and refuse store and landscaping.

Cullross are a small team who make a big impact. Specialising in development of affordable homes, Cullross work all over Scotland for housing association and local authority clients.To the west of the site is Telford Path, a cycle and walking path following a disused railway route. The green space adjacent to the path is a protected tram route and a tram stop is proposed nearby.The path is popular with cyclists, and an informal track onto the Path runs immediately to the south of the site.

The site is currently occupied by a single storey flat roofed brick building, formerly used a local convenience store.

This store has been closed for a number years and has been subject to disrepair and vandalism.

Culross prepared a retail statement explaining why the community would not miss the store.

They said: “The main argument in the case for the change of use is that the retail unit has been closed since January 2020 months as a result of the shop no longer being financially viable.

“Although it is fair to say that there are no other convenience store options in the immediate area, since January 2020 local residents will have had to make other arrangements for purchase of their everyday goods.

“Local residents have access to a number of other shops in close proximity to Telford Drive: Farmfoods, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer and Sainsburys.”

When granting permission for the development a spokesperson for Edinburgh council’s planning department agreed that the shop will not be a loss to the community.

They said: “The proposal is acceptable in this location and is of an appropriate scale, form and design. It will not result in an unreasonable loss to amenity of neighbouring properties and will provide a satisfactory living environment. There are no flooding issues and it will contribute to sustainability.”