Conservation area net-zero adaptations should be easier

7 Apr 2023

If you stay in a conservation area, getting planning permission to improve the insulation of your home can prove difficult.

There are many conservation areas in Leith Walk ward;

Leith Walk (all houses on Leith Walk),
Pilrig (including Pilrig Street, Arthur Street, the Cambridges and around Pilrig Park)
Shaw's Colonies,
Abbeyhill Colonies
New Town (including Hillside, East Claremont Street and Haddington Place).

The majority of the issue has been for homes that are in a conservation area and the limitation on what can and cannot be done and the type of materials that can be used. With a cost of living crisis plus changes in our weather patterns and increasing issues with flooding, adapting buildings is becoming more of a pressing issue.

So at the end of last year my Inverleith colleague Cllr Hal Osler brought a motion to the Planning Committee asking for residents who live in listed buildings and or conservation areas to be consulted upon their experiences of trying to maintain, repair or adapt a property. This very useful information will then be used to inform the discussion of a short term working group who will consider;

The challenges faced when trying to maintain or adapt homes in such areas;
What can currently be done to help tackle these challenges;
What needs to be addressed in the longer-term; and
The cost to our built heritage from any changes we make

The consultation will run until the 11th June and to access it please follow the link below

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/conservation-adaptation2023/