I received an email from the Friends of the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill (FOHB) inviting me to object to this plan.

Instead I decided to post it on here to see if anyone else wants to write in support of the proposals?

It would be great to have more trails within riding distance of the centre of Edinburgh so people don’t have to drive to Glentress or wherever to go for a ride.

Do you want to see a mountain bike circuit in the peaceful countryside next to the Hermitage of Braid?

A planning application has been put in recently by Autism Initiatives to develop the Hermitage Golf Course area south of the Hermitage of Braid into a more active recreational site, with proposals that include an enlarged and modernised clubhouse and a disc golf area. However, by far the most contentious part of the plan is to build a 4 kilometre mountain bike track around the perimeter of the property, passing through the two areas of gorse scrub adjoining the existing golf course and crossing both the current walking track north of the golf course and the Lang Linn path. The plans are aimed at attracting around 50,000 bikers per year, or 1000 per week!

There are a number of obvious reasons to object to this proposal:

Disruption to the peaceful experience currently enjoyed by walkers in this area
Environmental damage and disturbance to wild life, especially in the dense gorse woodland north of the golf course, where an active badger sett is believed to be sited
Spillover of mountain biking activity from this site into the adjoining Hermitage of Braid Local Nature Reserve, both from bikers leaving the track to explore the wider area and from bikers using the LNR to access the track
Possible planning creep if the scheme is set up and then fails, leading to potential reclassification of what is currently protected Green Belt land

What can you do to protest against this scheme?

Full details of the proposal can be found on the City of Edinburgh Council Planning Portal via the link https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk. The Planning Application Reference is 15/04448/FUL, and comments can be submitted until the closing date of 6th November 2015. The Friends of the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill will be submitting their own objections shortly, and the text of their comments will be posted on our website http://www.fohb.org and on the FOHB Facebook page, along with detailed advice on how to object, expanding the points made in this message.

You can add weight to the opposition to this proposal by independently submitting your own comments, either by following the options in the Portal if you have internet access or by writing to:

Head of Planning and Building Standards
City of Edinburgh Council
Service for Communities
Waverley Court
4 East Market Street
Edinburgh EH8 8BG

Make sure you include the date, your name and address, the reference number above and the name of the site (Hermitage Golf Course). State clearly what it is you object to, preferably in your own words, and your comments may help to influence the decision by the planning authorities.

Thank you.

this has been mooted since early 2014 but I don’t think it has progressed (?)

I wondered if that would ever go anywhere- Ric Allsop was involved in the design, a bunch of us went up to their original consultation, really interesting proposal. Disc-golf sounds way better than mountain biking tbh. The council seem minded to approve it but supportive comments can’t hurt I think, to try and counter this epic nimbyism

“Attack on the green belt” my arse. “10.2.1
As already noted at paragraph 9.10 of this report the redevelopment of the site and the clubhouse will allow for continued countryside recreational uses such as golf, cycling and walking, with the enhanced clubhouse being a
sensitively designed ancillary structure. In the circumstances, there is considered to be no conflict between the proposals and policy Env10.”

Access- The current golf course could have led to closure of access, but the charity chose not to do so and have confirmed that they won’t do so now.

re environmental impact

“While it is acknowledged that the proposals will l create ‘additional recreational facilities,’ the facilities proposed under the current application are considered appropriate to a countryside setting or areas where recreational activities are well established. The mountain biking and disc golf proposed are considered to be low impact activities that do not
rely on any additional mechanical apparatus, and will therefore continue to allow for ‘quiet enjoyment of the countryside’, as set out in paragraph 4.1.7 of the Adopted Local Plan, and referred to here at paragraph 9.8.”

10.2.8
The site lies within the Braid Hills and Mortonhall local biodiversity site, which is noted for its gorse, elder scrub, unimproved grassland, mature trees, and Elf loch. There had originally been plans to remove some of the gorse on the southern side of the site in order to allow for the disc
– golf course to be implemented. However, following discussions between City of Edinburgh Council and the disc – golf course designers, it is now intended that only a small section of gorse will be removed and that the disc golf course will simply avoid the vast majority of gorse on the site. There may be a need from time to time for some of the gorse to be removed, however, clearance of the gorse does not form part of this planning application.

10.2.9
In the circumstances, it is considered that the applicants have moved to minimise and mitigate these adverse consequences as detailed under policy Env15. It is considered therefore that the proposals fully accord with the prescriptions of policy Env15.”

The conclusion is :

In summary, the proposed new clubhouse is a significant improvement on the current building and will enhance the practical support the charity can give to its service users on the site. The design of the proposed clubhouse has been tested and supported by both the Urban Design Panel and via the Community Consultation event. Overall it is considered to represent an exciting yet sensitive design that is supported by current policy.

11.7
The creation of the mountain bike trails, pump track, mountain bike skills course and disc – golf will introduce new types of activity in the Hermitage area. However all of these activities accord with the long established
recreational use of the Braid Hills/Hermitage/ Blackford Hill area, and with the overall policy framework and objectives for Edinburgh’s green belt at this location. The applicants have applied best practice methods to design
out potential conflicts between the various proposed users, and accordingly it is considered that there are no outstanding planning reasons to warrant refusal of the application.

11.8
Overall the design team is confident that both the principle and detail of the proposed development is in accordance with the current development plan, and that there are no mate rial considerations that would indicate that these policy considerations should be set aside. It is therefore respectfully requested that this application be approved.

I’ve been following this from the start too, living locally I’d be delighted if these trails appeared. Northwind, I headed up to that meeting too, really interesting and promising.

If the friends of the Hermitage are planning an opposition, I’m happy to write and add my support to the proposals.
Trails for the family minutes from the front door, I’d love that.

Worth forwarding this to Open MTB?

They like to champion Scotland so this would be right up their street

Having battered round some of these self same trails (I think) a long time ago, would be a great enhancement to the area. I despair at those that just object and use ‘mountain bike trails’ as if they were sweary words..

They’d be first to rip up the gorse and scrub if it was for a g@lf course..

There’s a wonderful little social venture up there that gives employment, training and volunteering opportunities to people for whom seeking such things in the right environment is very difficult. It also generates money for a charity that operates in sector that is very much being squeezed under austerity. The support service it provides is absolutely vital for many people and the success of social ventures such as this enable it to continue to fund other areas of support.

There is a wonderfully situated cafe up there. It has a glass fronted outlook and terrace with views across the city and out to East Lothian. And they do great coffee. But it’s a temporary building that is coming to the end of it’s useful life and needs replacing. Support (or lack of opposition) to the development up there is supporting the charity. I find it hard to imagine mtbers in the numbers they are talking about using the proposed trails but the increased custom for the cafe would be an amazing boost.

I also know that it would make mtbing an option as something to try for service users. I’ve been on trips (which social ventures help to fund) where service users have had their first experience of mtbing and it has had a profound effect on them. I’m about to go and meet someone who because of such a trip decided to buy a bike and now goes on regular rides (supported to do so – you see how it works).

And how many other people would get into mountain biking if there were easily accessible fun trails that didn’t require a car journey to get to them?

I was also at the meeting and meant to go back to the cafe, I’d be much more likely to use the cafe if I was able to take the kids for a ride there.

Get your supporting comments in using the link https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk and reference 15/04448/FUL – takes 2 minutes to do.

Supporting comment added. Its on my commute route so would be delighted to be able to take a detour around another 4k of trails.

Supporting comments added, would be really good to see this go ahead.

Thanks NewRetroTom, comments now added.

Yay – time to play the Match Up the Real Names with the STW logins game.

TJ’s in there like protective headwear

And “Stevenmenmuir” has taken the sport out of it !

<edit- joke was not funny joke>

Good post NewRetroTom – I also had wondered whether anything would ever happen on this so glad you brought it up. Good comments also from Kunstler/Northwind. Will get some comments in support from me.