A joint venture between The Burrell Company and EDI Group has obtained planning permission for a £70 million canal-side development in Edinburgh's Fountainbridge.

Nearly 200 flats and townhouses will built on the regeneration site. The development is arranged along a new pedestrian street providing access to the canal from Fountainbridge.

The project also features a courtyard garden, pedestrian and cycle ways, although the prospect of a footbridge over the Union Canal provoked objections from British Waterways. The joint venture group BUREDI, will work with British Waterways to realise the plans for the footbridge.

Work is expected to start on site at the end of 2006 with the first units being released for sale in early 2008. The plan combines 71,500 sq ft of canal-side office space with two and three-bedroom apartments, duplexes, penthouses and family-style townhouses.

The scheme, designed by Allan Murray Architects, is part of a wider initiative to regenerate the Fountainbridge area, for which Edinburgh City Council has prepared a development brief.

Andrew Burrell, managing director of The Burrell Company said, "This former industrial site has been ripe for development for a number years. It is a superb location, offering easy access in and out of the city, and the redevelopment of the wider district will make it an extremely attractive area to people who would like a city-centre home."