Like most ports, Leith has always been a place of change – and never more so than over the last 25 years.

By the mid-1990s Edinburgh’s ancient dock district had become infamous as the grim, drug-addled backdrop to Trainspotting.

However, a sustained period of redevelopment followed, and the cleaned-up streets are now home to Michelin-starred restaurants and hipster bars. Leith is regularly included in lists of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods – how Renton, Begbie, Spud et al would have laughed.

Not all the rough edges of this historically deprived neighbourhood have been lost to gentrification. It was its longstanding working-class and artist communities that provided the impetus for the recent rebirth of the Leith theatre after 30 years of neglect, much to the delight of just about everyone in Edinburgh.

Live-music venue Leith Depot will be demolished if the plans are given the green light. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Another proposed development has not received such universal support, however. Drum Property Group’s £50m plan to develop a 1.2-hectare (three-acre) site on Leith Walk – the main artery between the city centre and the port – into a 520-bed student accommodation complex with hotel, restaurant, retail units and 50 “affordable” homes is proving hugely controversial.

On the surface, it’s the developer’s intention to demolish a parade of 1920s shops that has angered many locals. But go deeper and there are more complex concerns at play, including the area’s lack of affordable housing, the proliferation of short-term lets and a planning system that is accused of favouring profit over people.

Few in Leith would argue that the site in question, part of which has lain derelict for years, doesn’t require attention. But the loss of 106 to 154 Leith Walk, a row of sandstone art deco shops, businesses and social enterprises (including a thriving live-music venue, Leith Depot, and a recording studio) is the wrong type of development, say campaigners.

The loss of a row of sandstone art deco buildings is the wrong type of development, say campaigners. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/the Guardian

Among them is Trainspotting author and native Leither Irvine Welsh, who now lives in Chicago. He says the area is at risk of being “completely destroyed” if working-class people and artists are forced out by “sterile” developments. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a number of local SNP and Green politicians, and local heroes the Proclaimers have also voiced opposition to the proposal.

Ian Hood, who has lived in the area since 1986, says he set up the Save Leith Walk campaign to celebrate “the essence of what Leith is” by protecting the diversity as well as the heritage of the street, which has existed since the mid-1600s.

“The row of shops they want to demolish means different things to different people,” he explains. “It’s a place to work, a local landmark, a place to shop, party and meet friends. Most importantly of all it is a place that is worth keeping.

Jeremy Corbyn signs a petition for the saving of a building on Leith Walk. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

“We don’t want to preserve this building in aspic, we want it to be a living building that develops and progresses along with the rest of Leith Walk. With a bit of investment this block could be home to new shops and businesses that provide economic opportunities at the heart of our community.”

The average house price in Edinburgh is £270,000, twice the Scottish average, while monthly rents in the city now average £1,100. According to the council, Edinburgh, which has a population of 500,000, has a concentration of Airbnb listings that is four times greater than London or Paris, and eight times greater than New York – one for every 54 residents. Leith is at the heart of this boom, and proved the most popular destination for short-term lets during this year’s international and fringe festivals.

Accusations that the short-term letting sector deprives local communities of housing while contributing little to services and infrastructure have prompted City of Edinburgh Council to lobby Airbnb to cap the number of properties it allows in the city. With regard to student lets, meanwhile, Leith already has two big purpose-built sites.

Most importantly, Leith Walk is a place worth keeping Ian Hood, Save Leith Walk campaigner

“Ultimately, Leith needs long-term social and council housing that will help create a diverse community,” adds Hood. “So-called affordable housing too often turns out to be unaffordable.

“We also need to give opportunities to people who live here. We need jobs that pay more than the minimum wage. Behind the shops they want to knock down there are 3,500 square metres of space that could be used for social housing and small business units.

“The existing shops are small with cheap rents, which allows people to take a risk. For some, that will pay off and the whole community benefits as a result. It’s not that we are against progress. But the demolition of this building would be a sign that Leith has been sold to the highest bidder.”

Irvine Welsh in Shrubhill on Leith Walk. He supports the campaign against the development. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Following a slew of public meetings, a petition containing more than 12,300 signatures was handed into City of Edinburgh council at the end of August opposing the plan, while more than 3,500 objections were lodged as part of a public consultation that closed in early October.

Not surprisingly, Drum Property Group – which paid more than £4m for the site – views the situation very differently. The firm describes the opposition campaign as “aggressive”, accusing protesters of deliberately focusing on the demolition of the shops without recognising the plan for the whole site, which it insists will deliver an array of benefits to the community.

The company points to more than 2,000 letters submitted in support of its proposal, and says some of the existing tenants in the block – including social enterprise community cafe Punjabi Junction – have agreed to take space in the new building.

“This shows there is a significant appetite among local people and businesses welcoming change for this important part of Leith Walk,” says Graeme Bone, managing director of Drum Property Group. “We have recently witnessed a very aggressive and high-profile campaign of opposition to our plans.

We have witnessed a very aggressive campaign of opposition Graeme Bone, Drum Property Group

“The conversations we have been having with local people tell us something different – that this area has been neglected and desperately needs new investment to create a welcoming, distinctive and accessible destination linked to the rest of the city. It is clear that the existing buildings are no longer an economically viable investment.”

No date has been set for a final decision.

Leith Walk isn’t the only controversial development doing the rounds in Edinburgh, of course. Another group of writers that includes Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith recently accused the council of “asset stripping” and betraying future generations, following a decision to allow Sir Richard Branson to build a hotel next to the capital’s historic Central Library on George IV Bridge.

Richard Branson has been given the go-ahead to build a Virgin hotel next to Edinburgh’s historic Central Library on George IV Bridge. Photograph: Robert Perry/PA

And a public inquiry is ongoing to determine the future of another of the city’s historic buildings, the vacant Royal high school on Calton Hill. Meanwhile, a luxury hotel dubbed “the Turd” by critics has already been given planning permission at the revamped St James Centre.

Green MSP Andy Wightman, a long-time campaigner on land reform, believes all these developments raise questions about the poor state of the planning system in Scotland and beyond.

“With regard to Leith Walk, the company owns the site and expects to make a return,” he says. “But that’s fundamentally not what the planning system should be about. We should start by considering what the best use for a piece of land is – we don’t currently do that.

“What is coming out of the Save Leith Walk campaign reflects the wider frustration when a community doesn’t feel it has any influence on the changes happening around them. We can also see that in the way the trams were handled in Edinburgh [the infamous project ended up £375m overbudget and three years late] to short-term lets, to lack of affordable housing.”

In the rejuvenated Shore area of Leith, old warehouses have been converted into restaurants, including Michelin-starred The Kitchin. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

Wightman has been pressing the Scottish government to make the “mediocre” planning bill currently going through the Scottish parliament more robust and responsive to the needs of communities. But he’s not holding his breath, believing it will take “time, resources and more confidence” to fundamentally change a planning system he believes is not fit for purpose.

“It is 70 years old and driven by private interests,” he explains. “I’m trying to turn that round to have a more upfront system with more community participation around how land is allocated and used. I don’t think the current bill delivers that.

“Communities should have the right to appeal as well as applicants. We also want to see a more European model with specific zoning, so you know where you can and can’t put and do certain things.

“Communities need to own more land to exercise control over their environment. The interests of speculative developers and private landowners have been given too much weight for too long, and it’s up to parliament to legislate to put power back in the hands of communities.”

This article was edited on 5 November 2018 to correct a reference to development planned for the Royal high school. We had mistakenly conflated it with another project, The St James Centre redevelopment.

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