Plans to bulldoze beloved Edinburgh pub Smithies Ale House to make new homes given green light

Plans to bulldoze a much-loved Edinburgh pub to make way for new homes have been given the go ahead.

Councillors granted permission to demolish Smithies Ale House on Eyre Place, which has lain empty since 2020, despite concerns about loss of trees and a garden used by people living in a neighbouring tenement.

Earmarked for development since 2019, previous plans for flats on the site fell through.

But now work is set to begin to knock down the boozer and replace it with a block of nine maisonettes and two flats alongside a shared garden.

One local said losing Smithies would be “heartbreaking” for the community.

The new building will be two-storeys with a “standalone recessed third storey” providing a roof terrace for those living on the upper floor properties.

As well as covering the pub site, it will extend to the east along space which was once occupied by a tenement block but has been turned into a communal garden “informally used” by Canonmills residents since its demolition in the 1980s.

The work also will see 22 trees cut down, with just two “small” ones being planted by developers Stefano Smith Building.

One local objector wrote in response to the application: “Under the plans, much smaller green space area will be available for much more people.

“The only trees within the Eyre Place street are within this small garden area which is now planned to be cleared and replaced with flats instead.

“The destruction of green spaces in the neighbourhood is adversely affecting the local residents in general, and in particular when the only privately available park for us is handed over by the Edinburgh Council to private development, who deemed it fit for “clearance and demolition”.”

Another said: “The pub and affected shared garden have been an essential part of the community for years, and it is heartbreaking to see them go.

“The new development will likely increase traffic, noise, and pollution in the area, making it much less pleasant to live in.”

As plans went before the Development Management Cub-Committee on Wednesday (August 9) Councillor Jo Mowat said it was clear that “people don’t want to see Smithies go” however she pointed out it “hasn’t been trading as a pub for quite a long time”.

She said: “You’ve now got this site which I think for various historic reasons has been left to sort of self-seed.”

Councillor Chas Booth, who voted in favour of refusing the proposals, said he agreed with the principle of redeveloping the land to meet “a pressing need for more housing”.

He added: “I suppose the concern I have is the new application does result in a significant reduction in the green space.

“And I think we’ve heard from officers that in terms of the trees the two replacement trees for the 22 that are being taken out is what can meaningfully be achieved on the site. I’m not sure I would necessarily agreed with that last bit.

“I think if this application had a little bit more green space there would be the potential to re-plant more of the trees.”

The committee voted 8-2 to grant planning permission and added a condition requiring the developers to submit a new landscaping plan with more “low level planting and shrubs” before work commences on site.