We are pleased to say the planning application to build an astonishing 1,200 new homes on the Craigiehall fields (to the west of Barnton) have been withdrawn by the developer.

The plans were twice the size of the recent controversial Cammo development. Unlike Cammo, this application had been recommended for refusal by Council planning officers.

As councillors, we have been limited in what we could say on the plan until now. This was because the proposal would have come to the full Council for a final decision.

However, with the plans now withdrawn, we can be open and say we would have strongly opposed the application. It would have been wholly inappropriate to build such a massive new development on greenbelt land. It would have added even further to the traffic chaos we see on the A90 and Barnton junction.

It is bad enough that SNP and Conservative councillors have forced through the Cammo plan. This proposal at Craigiehall would have been even worse.

We are delighted it has now been withdrawn.