Local residents are ‘outraged’ by council’s plans to provide primary school minutes for ‘homeless applicants’
A council is facing opposition over plans to turn a former hotel into temporary accommodation just a five-minute walk from the nearest primary school.
Edinburgh City Council was given permission earlier this year to change the use of the Northfield House Hotel as part of measures to tackle the capital’s growing housing crisis.
The plans met with 143 objections, of which only eight were in favor.
Despite this, bosses are pressing ahead with converting the Lasswade Road building into temporary accommodation with 100 self-contained flats for homeless people, most of whom are believed to be single men.
It is understood those who have recently been granted asylum will be among those housed at the property, in line with the legal obligations imposed by every local authority in Britain.
But with several schools in the area, including Gracemount Primary, many residents have raised concerns about the safety measures being put in place.
Sue Webber, Scottish Conservative candidate for Edinburgh South Western, said: “Local residents are rightly outraged by this deeply inappropriate decision by the Labor council.
Edinburgh City Council was given permission to change the use of the Northfield House Hotel
“Immigration is an issue that is coming up regularly in this election and communities in Edinburgh want to feel safe.”
Residents raised a number of concerns, including the impact on local health and education services and on ‘facilities for neighbors and future residents’.
Objector Carol Gourlay said there is ‘no information about the circumstances of the people who will be housed in the temporary accommodation’.
She added: ‘If it is to be used by families escaping B&B accommodation while waiting for permanent housing or fleeing domestic abuse, then this is not an issue.
‘I wouldn’t deny anyone the right to a decent roof over their head in these situations.
“But this building is across the street from a daycare center, down the road from another daycare center and close to two elementary schools and a high school.”
Another was concerned that the zoning change “to housing for everyone from recently released prisoners to homeless people with addiction and substance abuse problems” was “poorly communicated.”
One local resident argued: ‘There is also limited police enforcement in this area and crime has already increased.’
Sue Webber has responded to the decision
The council denied that domestic asylum seekers are placed in the department. Councilor Tim Pogson, councilor for housing, homelessness and fair work, said: “We already operate temporary accommodation in communities across the city, which are staffed 24/7 and well managed within the community.
‘There is no presumption as to who will be housed at the site, apart from their legal right to support as homeless claimants in Edinburgh.’
Ian Murray, Labor MP for Edinburgh South, has asked the council about safety measures that need to be taken ‘given the proximity of the school across the road’. He said it was a “recurring concern” raised by residents of the area.
Councilor Tim Pogson, Edinburgh City Council’s Councilor for Housing Homelessness and Fair Work, said: ‘The new accommodation unit will provide temporary accommodation for those without a permanent home.
“Anyone placed there will have registered as homeless in Edinburgh, received a full homelessness assessment and will be entitled to services and support from the Council.
“We already operate temporary housing in communities across the city, which are staffed 24/7 and well managed within the community.”
He added: ‘There is no presumption as to who will be housed at the site, apart from their legal right to assistance as homeless claimants in Edinburgh.’
The council added that asylum status was a matter for the Home Office, not the council, and that ‘the site will not be used to house asylum seekers’.