A masterplan to transform Seafield in north-east Edinburgh into a new environmentally friendly neighbourhood, was published yesterday by the Council.
The masterplan will also connect its coastline to the surrounding communities in Leith, Portobello and Craigentinny.
Currently, the area is primarily made up of car showrooms, trades, light industry as well as Lothian Buses’ Marine Depot and the Council’s Seafield Household Waste Recycling Centre. The draft ‘Seafield Place Brief’ and ‘Draft Seafield Masterplan’ have been produced to add detail to the allocation in the Council’s local development plan, City Plan 2030, as one of 44 pieces of land across Edinburgh allocated as an ‘Opportunity Site’ for development.
Planning Convener, Councillor James Dalgleish said: “Our draft plan focuses on the creation of a new environmentally friendly neighbourhood at Seafield to help address the city’s housing emergency.
“Options for higher density flats, with the clear aim of 35% of homes on site being affordable, are being explored with stunning views across the Firth of Forth alongside excellent community facilities.
“We’re estimating the site could potentially deliver as many as 2,700 homes with a range of other styles of housing such as colonies and townhouses. We’ll also make sure there are opportunities for employment and community uses.
“Our bold vision to transform this area would open up the Seafield section of Edinburgh’s coastline creating an attractive and seamless promenade linking to the waterfront communities that already exist on either side.
“I’d like to thank the local people and businesses whose views have helped get us to this stage and I look forward to receiving further feedback from the upcoming consultation to help us finalise our plans.”
A new primary school, GP surgery and plenty of green space are also proposed for Seafield as well as a Waterfront Park. Improved public transport, walking, cycling and wheeling routes linking to the wider area are also included. The provision of a heat network to help the city with its net zero target is planned. This would also help to keep utility bills down for future residents.
The area under consideration stretches from Seafield Street in the north to King’s Road in the south. The eastern boundary of the site is the Forth Estuary, while the western boundary is defined by a railway line and by Seafield Recreation Area. Seafield Road East, part of the A199, runs through much of the site. As Seafield is a coastal area, work is also ongoing with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to make sure we mitigate against any future flood risk.
If approved for consultation by the Planning Committee next week, residents, businesses and other organisations interested in the area will be asked to give their views on the ‘Draft Seafield Place Brief’ and ‘Draft Seafield Masterplan’, developed following extensive consultation with local people and businesses.
The next stage of the greenspace improvements to West Pilton Park involves planning permission which has been submitted with a deadline for comments by 6th August.
To find out more about the improvements to West Pilton Park see here
A consultation has launched seeking the views of residents on the plan for Inch Park and what improvements people would like to see.
The City of Edinburgh Council’s Thriving Green Spaces Project is producing a vision masterplan for regenerating Inch Park, which aims to set out what could happen at the park in the future.
The proposals are now on display during an eight-week public consultation to gain feedback from the local community and park users.
Since last summer, work on a draft masterplan has been underway with a working group of interested parties involved in coming up with proposals on how Inch Park can better serve the community and capitalise on its potential and popularity.
The group includes Council staff, representatives from the local community councils, Inch Community Association and community sports clubs who have all worked together to come up with a plan that would make improvements in the area.
Participants will be asked about the overall concept plan, the wider park improvement ideas, opportunities to make the park better for nature and wildlife and proposed new visitor facilities and new café.
They will be asked for their views on the following objectives:
Celebration of Inch’s history – including things such as restoration of the historic Inch House and outbuildings
Activities for all – such as a new all-weather 11-a side sports pitch and facilities and new visitor centre
Accessibility – other improvements to the park including new paths, lighting, entrances and furniture
Play – such as a new play area and facilities for children
Sustainability – creating habitats for wildlife and connecting them to other city areas and using sustainable low/zero carbon heating and power generation.
The masterplan also formed the basis of a Levelling Fund bid that the Thriving Green Spaces team have submitted to the UK Government. A result on the bid is expected this autumn and if successful it will enable the project to proceed immediately to the next stage, detailed design followed by a planning application.
Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker, said: “Inch Park is a popular park in the capital and has lots of potential. The proposed masterplan suggests some very exciting ideas and I very much look forward to hearing the feedback.
“Of course, masterplans give us a vision – but what will actually be possible depends on local support and on funding. Which is why we want to make sure it has everything users and visitors to the park need and we have an accurate account of what residents want to see there.
“The responses we receive will help further develop our masterplan, which funding and resource permitting will form the basis for improvements to Inch Park. I’d urge as many local residents as possible to have their say in this consultation so we can develop a truly community-based proposal.”
Master planning gives an overall broad plan for an area and is an aspiration. Whether or not it is delivered in full depends on many things, including funding and resource and checking if the ideas are feasible.
Thriving Green Spaces Project has been made possible thanks to funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and National Trust ‘Future Parks Accelerator’ programme.
Find out more about Inch Park Masterplan consultation and take part on the Council website. The consultation will close 28 September.
The City of Edinburgh Council-led regeneration of Meadowbank has reached another major milestone this week as Councillors agreed to appoint a development partner for the next stage of the project.
Approved at the Finance and Resources Committee on Thursday following a competitive procurement process, the £1.045million contract will be awarded to the Edinburgh Meadowbank Group, to be referred to as EDMB, a consortium comprising of John Graham Holdings, Panacea Property Development and Miller Homes.
They will progress design and pre-construction works by early 2023 ahead of the start of construction work on site.
The ambition for the development of Meadowbank is to create one of the Capital’s greenest neighbourhoods by incorporating low-car, low-carbon infrastructure with energy efficient homes.
The regeneration will deliver around 600 new mixed tenure homes for sale and rent, at least 35% of which will be affordable with a number being fully wheelchair adapted.
Positioned on the site adjacent to the new Meadowbank Sports Centre off London Road, it will also include space for a range of commercial and community uses on the ground floor including the proposed location for a GP Surgery.
High quality public realm and landscaping, focusing on the industrial and sporting heritage will provide new active travel routes through to Restalrig, while protecting and enhancing the existing trees and environment.
During the pre-development period, work will be carried out to prepare for construction, including developing detailed designs and agreeing a net zero carbon energy solution for the site, contributing to the Council’s ambitious target to reach net-zero emissions by 2030.
The Meadowbank masterplan for the site was approved in October 2020 following an extensive programme of community consultation.
Regular engagement on proposals for the site has continued with the Meadowbank Sounding Board – a group consisting of local representatives, councillors, and council officers – which continues to review progress and ensure the site continues to best meet the community’s and council’s priorities.
A wide range of community benefits and fair work proposals will also be delivered. These will include seven new apprenticeship positions and fourteen new job opportunities; site visits for local schools over the course of the development; employability support events; community enhancement projects, including donations of up to £100,000 to community groups; and all employees and sub-contractors will be paid the Real Living Wage.
Councillor Rob Munn, Finance and Resource Convener, said: “Strong and extensive scrutiny has gone into this procurement process to get us to this point. We’ve discussed this at committee today and agree that we have a pre-development partner in place that shares our vision while also offering us best value.
“We now want to deliver more affordable housing and space for retail businesses, while we hope to provide a much-needed GP surgery provision to benefit everyone within the local community.
“It’s great that these homes are located a short distance from the city centre and will be both cost effective to heat alongside some that will be wheelchair accessible. With the Meadowbank masterplan also having been awarded a ‘Building with Nature’ accreditation we know that development will be setting standards for sustainable design, implementation and maintenance of high-quality green features so I look forward to seeing the results of this stage of the development and what EDMB can bring to that.”
Councillor Joan Griffiths, Vice Convener, said: “Seeing another stage of our masterplan getting closer to becoming a reality is very exciting, especially as it will provide so many homes for the city, contributing to our ambition to deliver 20,000 affordable homes by 2027.
“This development and wider neighbourhood, shaped by the local community, will bring a great regenerative feel to this area of the city.
“Through the community benefits programme we have agreed as part of this contract, we also hope to bring new jobs and training opportunities for local people, offering opportunities for local school leavers and children to be part of the vision for Meadowbank.”
Over the last few months, the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust (ELGT) have been engaging with the local Pilton community and stakeholders about a West Pilton Park masterplan.
Through workshops, meetings, and walk-abouts we have been finding out how the park is currently used, what’s good and what’s not, and how people would like to see it develop over the next decade.
It has been great to hear so much from so many of you and the amount of ideas and interest has been integral for this part of the design process. We are now at the end of this first round of engagement and would like to share with you the initial masterplan ideas that have been developed between yourselves and us (please find attached, below).
However, it doesn’t end there!
This is just the initial draft and ELGT would really like to hear your thoughts on this masterplan, where you think it is working, what you think could be improved, or what is still missing.
As such, we would like to invite you to an online meeting where we can present the initial masterplan ideas for West Pilton Park. You will have the opportunity to discuss, ask questions and shape how we move forward with the masterplan.
The meeting will take place on Wednesday 23rd Feb at 6pm
Please send on the below link to anyone you feel would be interested in attending:
We also have a feedback sheet (attached) for anyone who cannot make the meeting.
If you could share this as far and wide as possible within your networks, through social media or through hard copies (ELGT can provide), as well as doing one yourself, that would be great.
It will also be available soon in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre alongside the masterplan display there.
If you have any questions, comments or queries please don’t hesitate to get in contact.
Plans to transform Meadowbank into one of Edinburgh’s greenest neighbourhoods were approved by councillors last week.
Shaped in response to views shared by local residents – who were keen to see more quality greenspace, places for play and better-connected walking and cycle routes brought to the area – the masterplan for Council-owned land at Meadowbank was approved by the Development Management Sub Committee on Wednesday.
The £100m project is now expected to become the first development of its size in Edinburgh to promote the Council’s net zero carbon by 2030 goals by creating a low-car, low-carbon community and energy efficient new homes.
The sustainable mixed-use development will also create jobs and a significant economic boost by regenerating a five-hectare area next to the new Meadowbank Sports Centre – which is already set to become one of the greenest and most accessible centres for community sport in the country when it opens next year.
Space for a new GP surgery and community and commercial uses, the protection of existing trees and planting of saplings plus new rain gardens also feature in landscaping designs, which aim to pay tribute to the area’s sporting and industrial heritage.
With support from Nature Scot and the Scottish Government, the Masterplan has been awarded Building with Nature accreditation, setting the standard for high-quality low carbon features, and the Council has undertaken studies on the option for ‘green roofs’. The designs have also been endorsed by Sustrans’ Places for Everyone scheme, which brings specialised active travel knowledge to the project.
Councillor Neil Gardiner, Planning Convener, said: “As a planning authority, we need make sure we protect our City’s beautiful and historic built environment, while supporting our communities to become sustainable for twenty-first century living.
“We also need to adapt our city to meet the needs of a growing population, address the increasing impact of climate change and ensure growth is responsible. These designs for Meadowbank meet these needs with plans for a truly low-carbon, low-car, energy efficient neighbourhood, featuring new affordable homes. This is a really important site for the City and I’d like to thank everyone who took time to participate in the consultation process.
“The masterplan includes homes to meet different needs, including for families. One third of the houses will be affordable, making a welcome contribution to the needs of the heroes who keep our city running every day. This masterplan, which has broad community support, offers a gold standard for new developments across the city for both the public and private sectors.”
Councillor Maureen Child, Vice Planning Convener, said: “Our aspirations for place making through our new City Plan, which we are currently drafting, are about making sure our communities continue to be great places where people want to live and visit, so feedback from the local community has been key to shaping Committee’s decision making on Meadowbank.
“I’m pleased that an open conversation has been had and that we’ve been able to agree these ambitious plans, which offer a mix of community benefits and improved facilities. It will see the community evolve into a more connected and climate conscious community, in line with our net zero carbon targets.”
Keir Bloomer, the project’s independent Sounding Board Chair, said: “The current proposals have emerged through an intensive exercise in community engagement. In addition to a number of public information sessions and consultation meetings, a Meadowbank Sounding Board was established almost two years ago.
“This group contains representatives of a wide range of local community groups and organisations, including those who were opposed to the original proposals for the site. Local councillors and others with relevant committee responsibilities are also members but they are in a minority.
“Considerable efforts have been made to ensure that the sounding board is able to express its views, regardless of whether these are favourable to the Council’s perspective or not. I was asked to chair the group as somebody who is completely independent.
“The sounding board met quite frequently until restrictions during the pandemic made this impossible. Designs for the site have been altered on a number of occasions in response to its views. As a result, the current plans are greener and more open. Housing density has been reduced and designs improved. It is intended that the sounding board will continue in existence through the development phase, acting as a strong voice for local people.”
Cathy Houston, Project Architect at Collective Architecture, said: “We are grateful for the time taken by members of the community to engage in the Meadowbank design processes.
“This is such an important site in Edinburgh’s City Centre and so it is wonderful to be at this stage with a multifaceted proposal which seeks to enrich the neighbourhood on many levels: ecologically, environmentally, socially and with a huge amount of care.
“The process undertaken with the community has ensured that the development sensitively integrates new housing, local amenities, greenspace and restored public routes east to west.”
Brenda Devlin, a local Community Councillor, said: “Using the expertise of Collective Architecture and the City of Edinburgh Council, local consultations, focus groups, workshops and public meetings were organised.
“It became obvious that the participants that attended these events were being listened to and their suggestions and ideas taken on board. The plans now being presented are a result of these consultation sessions and mostly reflect the vision of local residents, groups, organisations and businesses.
“The creation of a Sounding Board provided another opportunity for further targeted local input and a place for checks and balances to be carried out on the final plans. This eco-friendly development with a mixture of housing types, quality green spaces and community facilities makes this a very exciting development and will be an asset to our area.”
Around 600 modern energy-efficient homes – a minimum of 35% of which will be affordable – are detailed in the planning application, which is available to view as a report to Committee.
More information is available at ww.edinburgh.gov.uk/meadowbank.
Edinburgh council has launched a robust 3 stage consultation exercises in relation to Granton Waterfront regeneration master plan. It sounds like this will be an inclusive and sustainable approach to development and it’s a ‘Re-Engaging’ process.
There will be three stages to the consultation as the vision for Granton Waterfront develops. Please find details about stage 1 event this week.
STAGE 1: Granton Waterfront – First consultation
Date: 8 November 2018, 2pm – 7pm
Venue: Madelvic House, 33 Granton Park Ave, Edinburgh EH5 1HS
Come along for a hot drink and a biscuit, meet the team, and share your experiences and ideas with us. This is an opportunity for you to help shape the future of Granton. All are welcome!
STAGE 2; 14 January 2019: Community event
STAGE 3: March 2019: Community event
Online questionnaire:
The online consultation opened on 02 Nov 2018 which will be closed on 22 Nov 2018.
We at Granton & District Community Council positively support any kind of approach which will lead towards Sustainable Development of the whole waterfront community as long as voice of the local people will be at the core.
It is also essential to make any economic benefit by preserving local nature and environment for the future generation.
Please take part in the process and make Granton waterfront a great place to live/visit.
The action group has been busy over June and July meeting with and lobbying many politicians for support. We have had some good news. After two years of campaigning to have the walled garden protected we received the news we have been waiting for – the Local Development plan has been thoroughly examined and a decision issued by national planners that it should be kept as Openspace!
So what now?
Making the garden accessible for the first time in over ten years.
Our group has been invited to take part in the new ‘Masterplan’ creation for Granton’s Waterfront and we hope that architects will help to make the garden accessible in the future: enabling community members to begin its restoration and return it to productivity.
Three of us will be attending the developer’s architects meeting in August on behalf of the group.
Openspace designation in the Local Development Plan may not necessarily deter the developers from submitting new planning applications to build in the B-listed garden, but we hope that common sense will prevail and a council owned company will not go against the council’s approved plans and abide by national planning policies and guidelines.
Alternatives to housing in the garden?
Our real work begins now, following the overwhelmingly positive response to a survey of Friends Group ideas for the garden we are now looking at ways to fund these dreams.
We have been invited to present our ideas to the board of Waterfront Edinburgh Limited and hope to reach an agreement with the company that respects local opinion and planning guidelines for best land use. We intend to get across the idea that this late medieval walled garden, the oldest built structure in Granton, is precious to all as a unique, fertile & unpolluted historic garden.
Petitioning the council to have the garden protected properly for posterity
Earlier this week Group members met with MSP Andy Wightman (above) and were glad of helpful advice and support shown for our ideas. Our petition is open until the 25th August and must gain 500 signatures for us to be heard. Please sign and share:
Many opportunities have now arisen to raise awareness of the garden and involve a wider audience in the future. The possibility of funding to build a new low impact access to re-open the garden this winter if the company can be persuaded of the value of the garden to local people and visitors.
