THE City of Edinburgh Council has appointed a development partner for the next stage of its regeneration of Meadowbank.
Following a competitive procurement process, the £1.045 million contract has been awarded to a consortium known as the Edinburgh Meadowbank Group (EDMB), which comprises Miller Homes, John Graham Holdings and Panacea Property Developments.
EDMB will progress design and pre-construction works ahead of an early 2023 start on the creation of what is hoped to become one of the capital’s greenest neighbourhoods – with around 600 new mixed-tenure homes for sale and rent planned for the site.
Positioned on the site adjacent to the Meadowbank Sports Centre off London Road, the site will also include space for a range of commercial and community uses on the ground floor including the proposed location for a GP Surgery.
During the pre-development period, work will be carried out to prepare for construction – including developing detailed designs and agreeing a net zero carbon energy solution for the site, contributing to the council’s target to reach net zero emissions by 2030.
A wide range of community benefits and fair work proposals will also be delivered as part of the development, the council said. These will include seven new apprenticeship positions and fourteen new job opportunities; site visits for local schools over the course of the development; employability support events; community enhancement projects, including donations of up to £100,000 to community groups; and all employees and sub-contractors will be paid the real living wage.
Councillor Rob Munn, finance and resource convener at the City of Edinburgh Council, said, “Strong and extensive scrutiny has gone into this procurement process to get us to this point. We’ve discussed this at committee today and agree that we have a pre-development partner in place that shares our vision while also offering us best value. We now want to deliver more affordable housing and space for retail businesses, while we hope to provide a much-needed GP surgery provision to benefit everyone within the local community.
“It’s great that these homes are located a short distance from the city centre and will be both cost effective to heat alongside some that will be wheelchair accessible. With the Meadowbank masterplan also having been awarded a ‘Building with Nature’ accreditation we know that development will be setting standards for sustainable design, implementation and maintenance of high-quality green features so I look forward to seeing the results of this stage of the development and what EDMB can bring to that.”
