Ian Baxter, Midlothian Green Councillor writes about his concerns that a hotel has been given planning approval in the Pentland Hills Special Landscape Area.

At Tuesday’s Planning committee meeting of Midlothian Council, the contentious item was supposed to be the proposal for two small wind turbines at Springfield Farm near Leadburn (voted down, in the main by SNP councillors, despite my pleas for Midlothian to step up to the plate on our – and the SNP government’s – carbon reduction targets).

However, it was an application for a hotel in the Pentland Hills Regional Park which troubled me more. Within the boundary of Hillend Country Park and in an area designated as an Area of Great Landscape Value, the site is also in the Pentland Hills Special Landscape Area in the proposed MLDP, “assessed as being of high value in terms of scenic quality, enjoyment and naturalness”. The site includes a large number of mature trees and shrubs.

http://www.midlothianview.com/news/hotel-in-pentland-hills/