Edinburgh Western MSP Colin Keir has reacted furiously to yesterday’s decision by councillors to approve a new local development plan, and said the fight to save green belt land at Cammo and Maybury will go on.
A meeting of the city council’s Planning Committee approved the latest Proposed Local Development Plan yesterday but the local MSP feels the legitimate fears of local people have been ignored.
Mr Kerr said: “I am deeply disappointed with the outcome of the meeting today. There were a huge number of objections made on good planning grounds to the release of Greenbelt land at Maybury and Cammo from local residents. These objections have been ignored and the sites remain in the plan.
“There were alternatives to the course of action taken by the Capital Coalition councillors today but quite simply they did not have the gumption or backbone to make the right decision for the communities of Western Edinburgh.
“Constituents of mine who made valid objections will be left feeling angry and ignored. Both Maybury and Cammo have been subject to planning applications recently precisely because those sites are included in the proposed plan. Those applications will not go away because of the action today – developers wishing to develop the Greenbelt will merely be encouraged.
“I have campaigned against development on these sites for ten years. I am not giving up the fight and will continue to object to development of these sites.”
Mr Keir is a supporter of The Campaign Against the Development of Cammo & Maybury (CADCAM), which was formed to campaign against the removal of greenfield sites at Cammo and Maybury from green belt designation in order to develop the sites for up to a combined total of 2100 houses.
The proposal to release this land for housing forms part of the proposed Local Development Plan, and the group argues that their communities will be adversely affected by further development.
CADCAM argue that junctions at Maybury, East Craigs and Barnton are already struggling at peak times and that proposed new developments will multiply that problem.
An added concern is poor air quality which affects both St John’s Road and Queensferry Road (both have been singled out recently as among the worst polluted roads in the country) – which is only likely to get worse with increased traffic – and they also believe that the community infrastructure – schools, GP and dental surgeries, etc. – will be put under unbearable pressure.
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