No wonder Moredun wants its park – Helen Martin

MOREDUN’S high-rise flats do have vast views. Some are council flats, others are owned and let out to some working in the Royal Infirmary which is so close. But not everyone would like to live on a 12th or 14th floor.

About 12 years ago I saw one of these flats in an appalling condition when a council tenant moved in.

There was a hole in the bathroom wall where the extractor had been ripped out, an internal door bashed in, filthy and needing basic decoration. I assume faults like that have been corrected.

Nowadays, such towers remind most of us of Grenfell. They may not be at risk of blazing down but they have that look of people being crammed in on top of each other with no balconies. Not the type of homes we expect to be built again now.

At least it has Moredunvale Green, where kids can play and those who live in the high-rises don’t feel kept in piled up boxes.

With the Council’s plan to use that for housing development, it’s no wonder the “towers’” residents are protesting and campaigning against it.

Almost any building and space in the city has been turned into student lets and hotels rather than affordable homes for locals.

What, for example, is going to be done with Scottish Widows in Dalkeith Road with a close location to the Crags and Holyrood, especially as the desire for large offices is fading out? How do we know now if we will have as many students as before Covid-19?

This may be the wrong time for any developments upsetting locals until we really know how much the city’s future may change.

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