Taylor Wimpey Penicuik

Recent pre-planning notice on Midlothian Council's website has revealed that Taylor Wimpey plan to build "500 plus" homes to the north of Mauricewood. They are holding two consultation days on the 25th and 26th November at the Penicuik Centre, Carlops Road.

Thanks for alerting us to this. Not really the ideal time to be thinking of building houses given the current financial situation and I like the application letter addressed to "Dundee City Council".
Plans for this site have been around for so many years and still nothing has happened - there are many places which would be much cheaper to develop due to the ground conditions. No doubt the council will expect them to pay for a new High School as well as all the road improvements etc before they even start.

At least they must be serious about building this time as they have scheduled two consultation days. It's an improvement on the last time.

their gonnae pit pentand house and a chidrens home an aboot 150 people intae eastfeild school as was ah dinnae ken how their gaun tae fit them a in

http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/edinburgh/around-the-capital/1400_homes_line_up_for_borders_rail_link_1_1928261

Cannot see what 500 houses in Penicuik have got to do with the Waverley line (if it ever gets built?). It would have been more sensible to build a railway going via Loanhead, Penicuik and Peebles then via Cardrona to Galashiels as there are far more people in the area.

Consultation is on this Friday and Saturday so remember to check out Taylor Wimpey's amazing plans

I missed the consultation can anyone report to what was said, plans to start?

I don't know if it went ahead, I wasn't able to make it either but they said houses surrounding the proposed site would get leaflets but we never got one even though we live beside the site. I do know however that permission was granted to proceed with the formal application process, so their plans may be online soon.

Welcome to the forum Tamdebam.

Very little info on show really. Concept design layout showing road in
and out with housing scattered around- similar to the previous plan but scaled
down a touch. No info at all on the upgrading of junctions for Mauricewood Road
or where all the kids will going to school. Was told they will start in spring behind Boyd Orr Drive. 5 year plan for the hole estate - maybe 100 houses each year.
Watch out for a detailed design via MDC website.

Quote :

5 year plan for the hole estate

Tell me, lightlevel, is that "hole" as in what it's going to be when it's finished or "hole" as in what they're building it on?

Well done for noticing Pitsgate!!
Probably a bit of both. They apparently still have to carry out a full
field survey to find any possible ' no build' areas. They have only identified
one area they think might cause them any problems so far.
I still call it madness to build there but hey, what do I know!
They're the experts - apparently!!

I cannot understand how Wimpey don't realise the state of the ground there - surely they know why Greenlaw Mains stopped at Boyd-orr Drive back in the early 70s! I think that Cala scrapped their plans for the area behind Mauricewood estate after doing full surveys and there was certainly much more drilling etc done over there a few years ago. I also heard that some very odd figures are used regarding traffic and children - they quote 0.6 cars per house and 1.3 children per house which seems ridiculous when many of the house Wimpey build nowadays are 4 or 5 bedroom ones. 500 houses would mean AT LEAST 1000 more cars trying to get from Mauricewood Road on to the A701 and I would imagine people with only 1 or 2 children won't be buying 5 bedroom houses!
All very odd, but maybe Wimpey have too much money to spare?

I think the new water treatment works at the top of the hill will now make it more tempting to house builders as before that was built the other was running at full capacity

The development brief that was circulating when this site was finally put into the Local Plan (or maybe it was the developers' own outline plan) did plan for a lower density partly because of the ground conditions. There were a couple of rather good looking open spaces including a pond (which may have been for a reed-bed water treatment system).
I have a nasty suspicion that this was going to be paid for with an even higher density within the built development itself.
Anyone looking to buy off plan would do well to check floor measurements v-e-r-y carefully. And if you're into cat-swinging, forget it!

The next niche market will be bonsai dogs.

I remember watching a programme on the TV recently about the fact that the size of houses is decreasing. Some of the examples they showed were ridiculous with very low ceilings and just enough room to swing a mouse. This article also seems to confirm it http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14909066

And don't forget that the furniture in the show house is usually made to about 2/3 normal size to make the rooms look bigger.
Never go house-hunting without a tape measure and not just for the size of the rooms!

They seem to have started survey work in the fields behind Greenlaw Mains with a large digger in action and some drilling going on this week. I wonder what they will find there?

There is also 4x4 tyre tracks around the top field above deanburn

Quote :

There is also 4x4 tyre tracks around the top field above deanburn

That's CALA territory — or was.
There was talk of getting them to contribute to decent fencing round the allotments if they actually started to develop. Keep after them!

It's a slightly different topic but I've just noticed something strange on the Dalmore Mill housing development's website. It is saying the development is sold out but it looks like plans are about to go online. Very strange indeed. Also it's no longer saying it's a future development.http://www.millerhomes.co.uk/explore/scotlandeast/11307/index.htm

Merry Christmas

I really hope that the planning department knocks these proposals from Taylor Wimpey firmly on the head. The previous proposals I could live with as there was a large buffer zone between existing properties and the new build. However the new proposals are built hard up to existing properties. Also I'm sure the previous proposals consisted of only 470 new properties build on both sides of Mauricewood Road, while the new proposals are for 540 properties only on the east side of the road. This will be a high density development which will impact adversely upon existing residents who will be forced to live in a building site for years. Also the impact upon local roads and services will be huge. The whole development is designed to maximise the profit for Taylor Wimpey at the expense of the local environment and local residents.

£10000 for only 27 houses to be built i wonder what penicuik will get for 500 houses

http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/9434323.Developer_agrees_to_pay_Kingswood___10_000/

Welcome to the forum midlothian 15.

Midlothian15 " The previous proposals I could live with as there was a large buffer zone between existing properties and the new build. However the new proposals are built hard up to existing properties. " Have you seen the new plans post link if any?