PLANS for a major £8m overhaul of Scotland's oldest rugby club is being recommended for approval despite a barrage of objections.
Protestors say they are already considering a judicial review to try and block the Edinburgh Academicals Club's proposal to build a 5000 capacity stadium, with museum, function centre and retail outlets in Stockbridge if it is given the nod.
Edinburgh City Council planning officers will tell its development management sub-committee today that the plans should be approved despite accepting it would be a departure from the Edinburgh City Plan regarding impact on the quality or character of the local environment and the preservation of the special character or appearance of the Inverleith Conservation Area.
Councillors will be told by planning officers that departing from the plan is justified. They say the retail and commercial elements of the proposal will form a natural extension to Stockbridge town centre.
The move has come despite the fact that of 648 letters received by the council, 588 were to object and just 60 supported.
Representations objecting to the proposal include comments from The Cockburn Association, The Friends of Inverleith Park, The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland and The Inverleith Society.
A petition from the Save Stockbridge campaign contains 3369 signatures, and a shopkeepers petition has 28 signatures.
A Save Stockbridge spokesman claimed that approval "flies in the face of the majority community view".
He added: "If this goes ahead we are not in a position to appeal it, but having said that we are looking at the possibility of a judicial review."
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