Four years and £50,000 to turn flat back into a..flat

IT must be one of the least contentious planning applications ever to come before councillors – an application to turn a vacant tenement flat back into a flat.

But a property developer told today how it had taken four years of wrangling, an estimated £50,000, and an appeal to the Scottish Government to gain permission for work at "Flat 1F", 24 Nicholson Street.

The saga finally ended this week when a Government planning reporter overturned the council's objections and admitted it was "difficult to think of any other use" for the property.

The wrangling began when Edinburgh-based developers Etienne Group acquired the first floor property which had been used for decades as a religious meeting house.

The firm thought it would be a straightforward project to renovate and restore the building back to its original use as a home – only to be stunned when the council twice rejected the plan.

The problem was a fast-food outlet had opened on the ground floor of the building while it was in use as the Christian Friendship Centre in the 1970s. While that did not pose an issue for the religious group, officials said it was not compatible with a flat because odours might waft into the bedrooms.

David Fleming, Etienne's property director, said: "It was not a hard call – a former dwelling into a new dwelling. To take almost five years to sort out was far too long and verging on negligent and serious questions need to be asked as to the process of planning and procedure in the city.

"This was passed from pillar to post and no concern was given to the time and money. It took just weeks for the Reporter to publish his findings after studying both our file and the council's."

It is understood the developers may now approach lawyers to see if there is any way to recoup some of the losses, but no decision had yet been taken.

Bob Tait, of architects Format Building Design, which was involved in the project, added: "It's completely bizarre. We wrote initially to the council in 2004 as a pre-planning inquiry and it seemed everything would be fine."

When the flat was used as a Christian centre, its official use was described as a religious meeting house. Councillors first rejected the change of use back in 2005, and when the application came back in February this year officials rejected it under delegated powers before it even reached committee level. They said that food odours from the restaurant and fast food property below wafted through to the bedrooms and that noise nuisance would also be a factor.

But Scottish Government planning reporter Alan Walker rejected those views. He said: "The appeal property is part of a category B listed tenement, the floors above it all being in residential use.

"The original use of the property was a residential flat and it is difficult to think of any other use which would comply with fire regulations and be equally or more appropriate.

"The appeal proposal offers the opportunity to put a property which has now been vacant for many years back into beneficial use, with obvious benefits for the fabric of the listed building."

Southside/Newington Conservative councillor Cameron Rose, who also sits on the planning committee, said: "I don't recall seeing this one in front of me but I do have a general concern that minor issues we try and control too much, sometimes to the considerable expense of the applicant."

One resident of the tenement, who did not want to be named said: "It's better to have people in than rats and mice. I can't see why having another flat would be a problem. Obviously you always want to know who's coming, but there shouldn't be any problems."

A council spokeswoman said: "The planning committee will consider this report and implement the decision."