Princess Anne gives Royal launch to new Edinburgh housing development

By Alastair Tibbitt
HRH Princess Anne and Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of Port of Leith Housing Association, admire the view

HRH The Princess Royal opened an affordable housing development on Coburg Street in Leith today, just one day after locals raised concerns over the unexplained removal of a 30 metre strip of trees adjacent to the building.

The Port of Leith Housing Association have completed a 60-flat development that overlooks the Water of Leith at Coburg Street. Dubbed, “Quayside,” the development is made up of a mix of 44 social rented and 16 shared ownership properties.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of PoLHA, said: “It is an honour to have HRH The Princess Royal officially open our new development and meet with some of our residents and with the people involved in the project.

“The issue of affordable housing is now at its most pressing for a generation. This comes at a time where funding constraints are ever-present. It is important that in these testing times, we are innovative in order to try and tackle the mounting housing shortages which we are faced with.”

HRH The Princess Royal visited the home of Robert Gilchrist, who recently moved into his two bedroom apartment which he bought through a “shared ownership” scheme with the housing association.

Robert, 48, a development worker at an autism charity, said:“HRH The Princess Royal certainly puts people at ease and I really enjoyed the whole experience of giving her a tour around my home.

“I wanted to be on the property ladder and shared ownership was a good option for me.”

The day before the royal visit local residents were alarmed to see that a thirty metre stretch of trees adjacent to the “quayside building” was cleared without warning.

Neither a Port of Leith Housing Association spokesperson, City of Edinburgh Council officials nor Water of Leith of Conservation Trust staff could shed any light on whether the removal of the trees was related to the visit by HRH Princess Royal.

City council officials are still said to investigating who owns the strip of land in question, why the trees were removed, and whether permission for the tree clearance should have been sought in advance.

A spokesperson for the Princess declined to comment.

IN DETAIL:

The mystery of the disappearing Water of Leith trees