Posted on 22 Sep 2008

PARC has been given the green light for its latest phase of new housing at Craigmillar by The City of Edinburgh Council.

A total of 58 new homes have been given planning consent at The Square, Craigmillar. This latest phase is part of the 15-year vision to breathe new life into the area by PARC, the organisation spearheading the £200million regeneration programme.

Set to be a new benchmark in sustainable, urban housing development, the homes have been designed by leading Edinburgh based architects, Smith Scott Mullan Associates. Alistair Scott, director, comments: “We have focused on lifestyle and technical issues, creating homes that are both economic to run and inspirational to live in.

“Highly energy efficient, with standards substantially in advance of current regulations, the homes achieve this through a high level of insulation and the use of a direct solar system to contribute to water heating.”

Craig Fotheringham, Development Surveyor for PARC, comments: "The creation of high quality, sustainable homes is at the heart of the regeneration process. Consent for this latest phase is a continuation of PARC's positive architectural and social contribution to Craigmillar."

The development includes terraced and mews houses, duplex apartments and conventional flats, and there is a strong relationship between the design of the buildings and the newly completed adjacent joint campus primary school.

With more than 3,000 homes in the pipeline, PARC has already welcomed its first new residents. Housebuyers flocked to the area with appointments to reserve the first plots snapped up in just 12 minutes of phone lines opening.

This phase will also incorporate homezones, giving pedestrians equal priority with vehicles, meaning that traffic and pedestrian spaces will merge into one with no raised pavements, road signage or markings.

With a range of one and two bedroom flats and four bed family houses, residents will enjoy a mix of private and public landscaped gardens, overlooking private communal courtyards. They will also have access to their own secure, shared gardens with plenty of green spaces for children to play.

Each homebuilding phase at Craigmillar will be different, reflecting contemporary and distinctive design, whilst inside, the homes will offer high-quality specification on a range of options and styles.

Incorporating a vibrant new town centre, Edinburgh’s new Green Quarter stands approximately two miles from the city centre. The site stretches from Arthur's Seat in the north, to open countryside in the south. Cameron Toll shopping centre is to the west and Fort Kinnaird to the east, with less than a mile to each.

The PARC major investment programme will include a new town centre, new primary schools, a new community high school and library, and 150-acres of surrounding green space transformed into a network of parks, river walkways, open woodland, play areas and a new community woodland and arboretum.

22 September 2008

Issued on behalf of PARC by Weber Shandwick, public relations consultants. For more information, interviews and images contact Stephanie Robertson on 0131 556 6649.

PARC is a joint venture company which brings developers The EDI Group and The City of Edinburgh Council together with groups and representatives from the local Craigmillar community.

PARC is spearheading the regeneration of Craigmillar, involving a total investment of around £200 million. For Craigmillar, PARC wants to achieve:

• Quality, affordable new homes promoted and sold under the ParcLife name.
• New primary schools - including a joint primary schools campus at The Square.
• A new community high school and library located in the town centre.
• A new, revitalised town centre providing some 300,000 sq ft of space for commercial and retail development.
• A network of public parks bringing together 150 acres of green space.
• More local job and career opportunities.
• Improved learning and leisure facilities for young people.
• Better transport linkages and traffic calming measures.

For further information on ParcLife, please call 0845 220 5000, email parclife@rettie.co.uk or visit www.parclife.co.uk.