How Scotland's historic World War bases can help tackle housing crisis
A new housing development at Port Edgar shows the potential of old military bases
Some housing development proposals are unveiled, and you see, well, houses. But the launch of the Lar Housing Trust project at Port Edgar in South Queensferry this week turned into so much more. This was about history, community and the resilience of individuals.
At its core, the 49-home project is simply the latest in a series of developments by the trust, set up ten years ago to provide high-quality, mid-market accommodation in an increasingly challenging market.
But at Port Edgar, what they are doing is bringing back to life a disused and neglected site which was once a key component in our wartime protection and providing homes for a new generation.
A Wren returns
Three years ago, I visited the site to hear about the proposals and the funding challenges that came with it. This week I was privileged to be among those invited along to lay one of the reclaimed and reconditioned bricks from buildings which had once housed Royal Navy personnel.
Among them was Dorothea Barron, now 100 years old. One of the last surviving Wrens and one of those who sent and deciphered the morse code messages which were central to wartime communications.
Watching her lay the first brick in a wall which will become part of a thriving community – including a community café and a Men’s Shed group – I was struck by the importance of the moment. We were also joined by a brother and sister whose parents had met when they were stationed there.
As we all chatted over tea and coffee in the buildings being brought back to life, tales of our wartime heroes merged with information about how renewable technology will create homes for the future, which will have an awe-inspiring view of three examples of the best of British bridge engineering over the past century and a half.
The Port Edgar base dates back to 1918 when it was a barracks for a Royal Navy base that serviced torpedo boat destroyers. In the Second World War, it was a hospital and supported staff at the minesweeper base.
All this history is being recognised in the redevelopment which, although primarily permanent housing, will also provide respite accommodation in the barracks’ former jail.
Passion and enthusiasm
Similar history is evident in other parts of the country at deserted Army and Royal Airforce bases, many of them now little more than overgrown collections of brick huts and broken runways.
As I was shown round the historic buildings at Port Edgar where a revolutionary water-pump system will provide the heating, I couldn’t help but think how so many of them could be reborn this way.
That the vision that led Lar to see the potential in Port Edgar could be invaluable in utilising and repurposing everything from the sites and structures, down to the bricks themselves, to overcome the housing crisis which this generation faces.
Ann Leslie, the woman who originally came up with the idea and founded Lar ten years ago spoke with passion and enthusiasm. Our government could do worse than to enlist her help in overcoming the crippling housing shortage we face.
For me, Port Edgar could be the blueprint for a future that manages to protect the past.
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