Additional car parking in front of former hospital building
There is now a further planning application, 23/02599/FUL, seeking to increase the number of parking spaces in front of the main former hospital building from 12 to 18. The provision of any parking here at all is contentious, as it contravenes planning guidance for listed buildings, and requires vehicle access along Sciennes Road. The original proposals by the developers (prior to the formal planning application) had an underground car park under the main frontage, accessed from Rillbank Terrace at the rear and under the west link wing (see image below), with the frontage raised slightly to accommodate the parking below. This would have allowed the frontage to include soft landscaping over the car park with a memorial garden and access to the former Children’s Mortuary Chapel, with the Phoebe Traquair murals.
(Original proposal – prior to planning application)
The removal of this underground parking and the placement of vehicles in front of the listed building was one of the principal objections we submitted to the original planning application in July 2018. Parking in front of the main building will require vehicle access along Sciennes Road, close to the primary school, which could otherwise have been stopped up to motor traffic from Sylvan Place.
The planning application was granted, including just 12 parking spaces in the frontage of the main building. The latest application seeks to increase that to 18.
