Tag: Planning Committee

Consultation continues to protect Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site

THE climate emergency, creating a sustainable visitor experience and the conservation and maintenance of buildings and public spaces. These are some of the actions included in the proposed new management plan for the capital’s Old and New Towns’ World Heritage Site.

The plan, shaped by a programme of public and stakeholder engagement, was approved by councillors on the City of Edinburgh Council’s Planning Committee last month.

A further consultation has begun for eight weeks to give the public the opportunity to comment on the proposed plan before final partners’ approval by summer 2024.

The Site is managed by the City of Edinburgh Council in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland and Edinburgh World Heritage. All three partners work together to ensure that their actions protect the authenticity and integrity of the World Heritage Site while at the same time making sure it can operate as a thriving city centre.

The proposed management plan, which will sit alongside a two year action plan to ensure improvements continue to be made in the Site going forward, is a forward-looking strategic document which sets out the framework for the preservation and enhancement of the Site’s cultural heritage.

World Heritage Sites must have robust management systems in place to make sure their Outstanding Universal Value (what makes them of worldwide importance) is preserved and enhanced. This latest version of the management plan highlights five key themes taken from the public engagement to focus on.   

These are awareness, appreciation and activity around WHS status; climate emergency; conservation and maintenance of buildings and public spaces; control, guidance, and contribution of new developments to city centre and sustainable visitor management. 

Cllr James Dalgleish, Convener of the Planning Committee, the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Our World Heritage Site is of crucial importance to the future vision and development of the city.

“It has many iconic buildings and the Council works hard with partners to make sure any new development is appropriate and fitting with the rest of the site. In doing this work a wide range of issues are covered including the needs of residents, tourism, culture and climate change.

“The plan highlights actions under five themes to ensure that the Site continues to be a thriving built environment balancing heritage and the people living in it with any proposed development and changes to it.

“The more people who get involved with the proposed management plan, the better the protection we can provide for our incredible World Heritage Site. Residents’ views will help us to ensure that it continues to be well managed and of universal importance.

“I’d encourage everyone to take a look at the new draft plan and let us know what you think as Edinburgh’s World Heritage site belongs to everyone.”

Christina Sinclair, Director of Edinburgh World Heritage, said: “Edinburgh is a stunningly beautiful place that is dear to millions of people from all walks of life.

“Its World Heritage Status recognises its outstanding significance beyond international and generational boundaries, as well as being at the heart of our identity, wellbeing, economy, environmental goals and a powerful agent for challenging our past for a better future.

“The World Heritage Site Management Plan is vital to its conservation, as it is the agreed way by which Outstanding Universal Value needs to be looked after.

“As the independent, expert charity dedicated to the active conservation of the World Heritage Site, Edinburgh World Heritage fully supports the draft World Heritage Site Management Plan.

“As part of our long-standing and impactful model, we are committed to working closely with our partners Historic Environment Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council to realise the vision and actions of this important plan.

“Edinburgh’s conservation has always been due to the amazing work of its people, and it is so important your views are heard.”

Dr James Bruhn, Head of World Heritage and Heritage Policy at Historic Environment Scotland, said: “World Heritage Sites are global treasures that need to be protected for future generations, and the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh is such a treasure.

“These parts of Edinburgh have retained their historic urban form remarkably, even as the city has modernised and technology has advanced. The Old Town is an ancient capital with medieval closes and wynds, and New Town is the best-preserved example of eighteenth-century town planning in the United Kingdom.

“The management plan consultation presents an opportunity for people to have their say on how these unique sites are protected, whether they are Edinburgh residents or visitors who care about the towns’ future. The new 10-year management plan builds on the strengths of the existing plan, and it has been prepared alongside a two-year action plan that sets out immediate priorities.

“We are proud to have worked alongside City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh World Heritage to develop this management plan, which aims to be inclusive and broad while addressing concerns such as the climate emergency, and hope that anyone with a stake in Edinburgh’s future takes part in the consultation.”

Council to consider framework to shape development in west Edinburgh 

Following consultation with residents and interested organisations in and around the west of the city a final framework for development will be considered by the Planning Committee on 19 December.

Development in the west of Edinburgh forms part of the draft City Plan 2030, currently being considered by the Scottish Government. Therefore, if approved by committee, The West Edinburgh Placemaking Framework and Strategic Masterplan (WEPFSM) will be implemented when City Plan 2030 is adopted. The masterplan would then be used as a material consideration as non-statutory guidance for future planning applications. 

The framework was informed by previous work on this area and a 12-week consultation from July to October last year for land extending from Eastfield Road in the west to Maybury junction in the east, with Edinburgh Airport and Turnhouse Road to the north.

There are a range of new opportunities for new homes and other uses in this area as set out in City Plan 2030. The aim is to create new 20 minute neighbourhoods to help Edinburgh toward its housing and net zero ambition, with a range of facilities which people will need to live well locally such as schools and medical centres. 

Hundreds of people took part in the consultation either online or in person at drop in sessions or focus groups we held. Meetings also took place with key developers and landowners. 

A major theme from the consultation was having excellent transport links in the area including active travel routes and public transport. These objectives are all at the core of the proposed WEPFEM and tie in with the wider  Broxburn to Maybury Transport Improvements – a major transport improvement project for area.

The project is funded through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. The plan is to have better connected communities with major employment, education, healthcare and leisure opportunities easily accessible. This will also make it easier for more people to make a greater number of journeys by bus or by cycling, walking or wheeling. 

An overarching vision on how the west of the city could be developed over the next 30 years – Towards West Edinburgh 2050 –  was also published for discussion last year. 

Planning Convener Cllr James Dalgleish said: “I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the consultation last year. The feedback was really valuable in helping us to finalise our draft framework for committee to consider next week. 

“When City Plan 2030 is adopted developers will be able to use this framework as a guide to help us create new thriving 20 minute neighbourhoods to the north of Gogarburn.

“We’re hoping to see more than 3,500 quality energy efficient affordable homes delivered. This will help us address the city’s housing emergency as well as significantly contributing to Edinburgh achieving net zero. The development will have a mix of uses such as retail, schools, healthcare and office space.

“Like other neighbourhoods in west Edinburgh these new communities will need to be well connected to the rest of the city, the wider region and beyond through improved public transport links.

“To help to reduce car use the high density 20 minute neighbourhoods created will need to be supported with a number of new bus and active travel routes and as well as the existing tram line which runs through the area.”

Green light for Lidl, B&M and Starbucks at DunBear Park, Dunbar

A hattrick of national chains are set to open at DunBear Park, Dunbar.

The green light for a Lidl and B&M retail stores, and a Starbucks coffee shop, follows the approval of planning applications, subject to conditions, at the planning committee of East Lothian Council yesterday (1st November 2022).

The Starbucks coffee shop will boast an outdoor seating area and drive thru facilities.

These developments overall are set to deliver a multi-million pound investment in the townand create around 100 new jobs for Dunbar.

The proposed 54.3-acre low carbon community of DunBear Park, being undertaken by Hallhill Developments Ltd, has at its centrepiece The DunBear sculpture. This five-metre-high steel sculpture of a brown bear pays tribute to John Muir, the Dunbar-born naturalist who played a key role in the establishment of National Parks in the USA. 

The exciting mixed-use development, neighbouring the A1, aims to include office, industrial, retail and community uses, adopting the latest low carbon technology. 

One of the key outcomes of the community consultation event held for the development was a clear desire by the community for a far greater retail offering in Dunbar, serving to address increased demand and providing greater competition.

It was noted that there are discount retailers in all the major towns in East Lothian, except Dunbar. Unsustainable travel is therefore occurring, with residents of the town and surrounding area shopping elsewhere, with the clear environmental impacts this has.

By preventing expenditure leakage from the town and the surrounding area to other parts of East Lothian and Edinburgh it will also keep money in the community.

The green light for the proposals follows approval of roads, footpaths and essential infrastructure planning applications last year.

The hattrick of planning approvals achieved will serve to unlock the site, financially pump priming infrastructure to deliver further employment uses.

This new infrastructure has to be installed at significant costs and this early phase of development on the DunBear site makes it more likely that future employment-generating development will occur.

Ken Ross from Hallhill Developments Ltd commented: “It was fantastic to see the committee approve these planning applications. At a time when many retailers are scaling back due to the fallout from the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, it is great to be able to deliver these national outlets for the community of Dunbar.

“These will serve to address the increased demand and provide greater competition, key themes that came from the community consultation exercise we undertook.

“Developments such as this complement Dunbar town centre, and through preventing retail leakage to elsewhere in East Lothian and Edinburgh will keep more money in the town.

“The multi-million pound investment will deliver around 100 much-needed new jobs for the local community, which is a clear vote of confidence in this location, and will also serve to deliver the necessary infrastructure to allow us to bring forward further investment into Dunbar.”

Proposed City Plan 2030 sets out sustainable future direction of development in Edinburgh

The proposed City Plan 2030 will address

– Climate change
– Affordability
– Providing more homes
– Providing more jobs
– How people move aroundge

The proposal is a ‘comprehensive and bold plan’ to make sure future development in Edinburgh is sustainable, meets the needs of Edinburgh’s growing population and communities and helps the city achieve its Net Zero 2030 ambition.

The report on the proposed City Plan 2030 will be considered by the City of Edinburgh Council’s Planning Committee next Wednesday (29 September).

This proposed plan for the next ten years sets out how areas of the city will be linked together building on existing transport networks as well as making full use of education and healthcare facilities already embedded in communities across the Capital. Resetting the direction of development to bring about a joined-up city rather than spreading outwards also provides a positive and sustainable step for future decades to come.

Edinburgh’s population is rising, and people are making huge changes in the way they live their lives due to the global climate emergency and the current health pandemic.

This is how the plan proposes to address these challenges:

  • Future development would be managed through the preferred approach set out in the ‘Choices for City Plan 2030’ document, which went through a major consultation exercise with Edinburgh residents and stakeholders.
  • The proposed plan will support the Scottish Government’s 20-minute walkable neighbourhood plans as well as directing development to and maximising the use of brownfield rather than greenfield land.
  • In the west a new mixed-use neighbourhood is to be created, well served by existing infrastructure, with the tram line running through as well as an adjacent station, in an area previously designated largely for business development in the 2016 plan.
  • New neighbourhoods on brownfield land at the Forth Waterfront will also be taken forward.
  • Land has also been designated for new developments at Seafield, Redford Barracks, Astley Ainslie, Edinburgh BioQuarter, Liberton Hospital, Bonnington, Fettes and other major sites across the city.

The draft plan also sets out how the Council will deliver land to meet Edinburgh’s housing needs over the next decade, securing a minimum contribution of 35% affordable housing from any new development as well as policies to help manage the number of short term lets (STLs) operating in the city.

In addition to the plan, a consultation is running separately at the moment asking for views on ‘the whole of Edinburgh becoming a ‘STL control area’.  If agreed by the Council and the Scottish Government, it would mean all residential properties in Edinburgh, which are not an owner’s principal home, being let as STLs in their totality would require approval of a ‘change of use’ to operate them.

Councillor Neil Gardiner, Planning Convener, said: “This proposed development plan can recalibrate how development happens in this city, positively shaping how our Capital grows and changes over the next 10 years and beyond.

“Rather than growing forever outwards, the proposed plan focuses on developing new communities on brownfield land which mix living, working and leisure uses. These locations utilise and add to already existing infrastructure. This plan is about us as a city collectively making the right decisions now so that our residents can make reasonable and informed choices about how and where they live and how they get around in the future.

“City Plan 2030 has been developed taking on board the views of residents, businesses, and other stakeholders from across the city to help us meet our core priorities for Edinburgh: making Edinburgh a sustainable city, which supports everyone’s wellbeing and enables our residents to access homes they can afford.

“The plan also facilitates travel options and networks so that residents won’t have to own a car to move around, while having every opportunity to share in their city’s success.

“Our proposal of mixed-use communities in the plan aligns to Scottish Government’s 20-minute neighbourhood vision, which is especially relevant now as the global pandemic continues to make massive changes to the way people live their lives. This includes how we all use and appreciate green spaces with the health and well-being benefits they bring.

“Community resilience also includes easy access to facilities and neighbourhoods need a mixture of services within easy reach such as shops, health and education, as well as the potential to find a job near where you live.

“We also need to rethink how we accommodate our growing population and I believe that our emphasis on prioritising brownfield land and making the best use of the limited space we have is the right approach.

In the west a new neighbourhood with a mix of uses within easy walking distance is to be created. This is also well served by existing infrastructure, with the tram running through the community as well as a mainline station. This area was previously designated largely for business development in the 2016 plan.

“Other significant sites across the city will all require masterplans ensuring that in each case the whole is much more than the sum of the parts, better meeting the needs of new and existing communities.

“Going forward we need to work with developers asking them to rise to the challenges of rapid climate change and finite resources. Developers need to think more carefully about location, using the land we have available effectively, with sustainable design. This proposed plan better connects existing communities through development of underused brownfield land.

“We need to protect Edinburgh’s beautiful green setting from the Pentlands to the Forth, increase biodiversity, physical and mental wellbeing, reduce flooding and other climate impacts, and improve air quality.

“Developers will need to make sure that one third of their houses in residential developments are affordable. We will also continue the city’s own programme to build affordable housing.

“Edinburgh currently has almost a third of all STLs in Scotland, policies included in the plan help us to take further action and manage these. This quantity of commercial use puts pressure on house prices and rents and takes much needed houses out of supply as well as causing issues such as anti-social behaviour, leaving hollowed out communities.

“Last year, we set out bold preferred options in ‘Choices for City Plan 2030’, alongside other viable alternatives which were considered during the public consultation. This had a massive response with around 1,800 contributions. I’d like to thank everyone again who submitted their views.

“We’ve listened carefully to the feedback provided and through regular meetings working with colleagues across all political parties throughout this process, I’m hopeful through this proposed plan we can agree on a positive way forward for Edinburgh at committee next week.

Councillor Maureen Child, Planning Vice-Convener, said: “To meet our ambitious climate change target and become a carbon neutral city by 2030, as the city continues to grow, we must develop differently in the future and our proposed plan sets out how all houses and other buildings will need be much more energy efficient.

“We’re already committed to building 20,000 affordable and low-cost homes by 2027 but the city desperately needs more housing. That’s why our proposals put particular emphasis on land for housing and affordable homes.

“We’ll also make sure that we protect people’s homes by making sure appropriate flood defences are in place for all new developments as we’re fully aware of the risk of flooding and the other impacts of climate change.

“Our rising population and the climate emergency were already posing huge challenges for us as a Council and the current health pandemic has greatly accelerated many changes to our lives – I believe our proposed plan takes account of these major societal transformations we’re currently experiencing.

“Connectivity is of course central to our success and our other aim is to guide development towards areas where facilities such as schools and healthcare centres already exist. Where these need to be developed we’ll listen to the needs of communities, taking them with us, as new neighbourhoods develop.

“Our Transport and Environment Committee has also already agreed our City Mobility Plan designed to improve sustainable transport over the next decade.”

Councillors on the Planning Committee will consider the proposed City Plan 2030 next Wednesday (29 September) before final representations are sought.

These will be considered by the Council before it is submitted to the Scottish Government for Examination. The Council can then consider adopting the plan to shape how the city develops over the next 10 years.

You can watch the webcast for the Planning Committee next week here. 

Southside Conservation Area extended

A group of Category ‘A’ listed buildings, with special architectural and historic importance are now part of Edinburgh’s South Side Conversation Area. 
In a report approved by the city council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday, The Royal Commonwealth Pool, the Scottish Widows building and the first phases of Pollock Halls were all described as having distinct character and significant value and were cited as good examples of their architectural styles.
The South Side Conservation Area boundary line will now be amended and follows consultation with local residents, businesses and other local institutions as well as city-wide amenity groups.
The South Side Conservation Area was originally designated in May 1975.
Cllr Neil Gardiner, Planning Convener, said: “Thanks to all those who took part in the consultation process. I’m delighted that the Committee was unanimous today in approving this report.
“The Widows building is hexagonal in shape after the rock face of the nearby Crags and is surrounded by a water pool. ‘Commie’ pool is a well-loved Edinburgh institution which has received substantial investment in recent years and has contributed to the success of medalists from David Wilkie onwards.
“Our conservation areas are not just about the individual icon but building groups which make great places to be. In the 1960s and 70s much of the South Side was under threat of the wrecking ball. Several streets were demolished and you can see pictures in the City Art Centre’s Blomfield exhibition, which runs to mid-March and is well worth a look.
“We can be grateful to past generations of Edinburgh folk who campaigned to save the South Side. The new City Plan consultation is ongoing and this will help the area to continue to be a great place where people want to live, work and visit. When developing the City Plan we need to think about sustainable communities for the twenty-first century which can become conservation areas of the future.”

Save Leith Walk campaigners to lobby Planning Committee

Campaigners to hand in 10,000 signature petition

For the past five months, residents, local businesses, and supporters of Leith have come together to protest the proposed development by Drum Group at 106-154 Leith Walk, which includes the demolition of 80-year old red sandstone buildings.

Continue reading Save Leith Walk campaigners to lobby Planning Committee