A planning application has been lodged by the Merith House Hotel at 2-3 Hermitage Place for a “change of use from hotel to mixed use of hotel and HMO [house in multiple occupation] and erection of a new 2 storey building on land to the rear of the hotel”.
The land for the new building sits at the junction of Somerset Place and Burns Street, EH6 8AF
The application – case number 20/03011/FUL – can be viewed on the city council’s planning portal:
https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/idoxpa-web/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=QDYOSWEWGES00
The plans show that the 2 storey building at the rear of the hotel (which already has planning permission but is not built yet) would be altered internally to contain more bedrooms than originally planned (when it was to be an ‘annexe’ to the hotel). It is now proposed to contain 11 bedrooms intended to be occupied by residents on a long term / permanent basis. Most rooms will be 10.2 square metres in total (including the ensuite bathroom).
There would not be any communal space or cooking facilities but the hotel kitchen in the main building would be available to them for cooking, it seems.
It is not clear yet – we are checking this out currently – whether the hotel in the main building is also intended to be changed from a hotel to an HMO, or whether a ‘mixed’ hotel and HMO facility is proposed. We will update with this information asap.
The last date for comments on this application is Friday, 18 December.
Members of the community can submit their responses directly onto the planning portal, as above, and / or you could make your views on this known via the form below. (and we will forward it along with the Community Council’s own response).
If you wish to contact the Community Council on this matter with a fuller response, please email planning@leithlinkscc.org.uk
[Form removed on 11/12/21]
It is true that we have been stressed and put to the test but overall, our community spirit has shone through, our NHS colleagues stepped up and now it seems normal before going out to check we have our mask along with our keys, money and phone! 2020 has been a long, difficult and very strange year but it is nearly at an end and with news about vaccines becoming available, there is hope that next Christmas things will be back to normal.
