Edinburgh City Council have proposed a “City Plan 2030” in the hope to address a variety of issues like Short Term Lets and affordable housing in the capital.
The plan will address climate change, affordability, providing more homes, providing more jobs and how people travel around.
They say that the proposal will be “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 is set to be considered by the council’s planning committee on September 29.
The proposed plan will set 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.
They say that 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.
Future development will be managed through the approach set out in the ‘Choices for City Plan 2030’ document.
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.
They add that a mixed-use neighbourhood is to be created in the west of the city, which will be “well served by existing infrastructure, with the tram line running through as well as an adjacent station.”
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 percent 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.
“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.
“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. 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.”
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.
“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 to our City Mobility Plan designed to improve sustainable transport over the next decade.
“The plan 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.
