Listed house owner bids for permission to grow vegetables

The owners of a listed house have applied for planning permission to create a working fruit and vegetable garden in its grounds.

Plans to create a working domestic garden on the site of a former greenhouse in a walled garden space at Rosedale, on the edge of Rosewell, have been lodged with Midlothian planners.

Rosedale was once the home of Archibald Hood, an entrepreneur who began mining at Whitehill Colliery in 1856 and established the colliery village of Rosewell before going on to set up collieries in Wales.

The property is Category C listed and its current owners have applied for Listed Building Consent to change the landscaping around the house to incorporate the new kitchen gardens.

It says the changed will “improve the existing landscaping around the address and create a working vegetable garden on the site of the greenhouse base.”

Concrete paving around the house will be replaced by limestone which it says is more in keeping with the house itself and new gravel pathways will replace old broken tarmac paths.

The design statement for the new plans says: “The location of the old greenhouse base is to be used for a new domestic sized greenhouse and a fruit cage will be installed next to, but not attached to, the old garden wall.

“The rest of the garden is to be improved with a mix of lawns, ornamental planting, trees and a wildlife pond.”

The plans are currently available to view on the Midlothian Council planning portal.