The City of Edinburgh Council’s proposed City Plan 2030 was approved by the Council’s Planning Committee allowing it to move on to the next stage when it is sent to the Scottish Government for examination.
The Proposed Plan and the Council’s response to any unresolved representations were submitted to The Scottish Government for examination without any significant changes. City Plan is a broad brush look at the whole city within which “place-based” policies are implemented.
A copy of the approved Proposed Plan is now available in Edinburgh Council libraries and at the reception in the City Chambers.
The Planning Convener, Cllr James Dalgleish explained that in the plan there is provision for building homes on brownfield sites within the city boundary which extends from the City Bypass in the south, and includes South Queensferry in the west. Asked if there was enough brownfield land available he replied: “When officers are creating these plans and when we are scrutinising them, we cannot put in overestimations. There have to be realistic targets so we are confident that we have enough land. We don’t want to start building on the greenbelt, some of the most beautiful parts of the city. It is important we keep it natural and the way it is.”
Student Housing
As to student accommodation the new plan has some new provisions.
City Plan 2030 also includes a proposal that developers will in future contribute a minimum of 35% affordable housing along with permission for any new residential development.
He said: “It is not just student accommodation versus housing. One of the new policies in the City Plan is that if a development is brought forward for student accommodation on land larger than 0.25 hectare then 50% of that has to be housing, and at least 35% of that has to be affordable housing. It is about getting the balance right. There are many foreign students in Edinburgh, but we also have a housing shortage.”
When the councillors on the Development Sub-Committee consider applications for purpose built student accommodation there is a mechanism under which they have to look at any other student developments within an 800 metre radius. Dalgleish is hopeful that the policy will become more effective with more information from the new census and will lead to a better balance.
But whether there would be a point when any new permissions for student accommodation would stop, Dalgleish agreed that this had been a hot topic during the election campaign, and there are some new provisions around it.
20 minute neighbourhoods
The new planning buzzword is the creation of the 20 minute neighbourhood, meaning that residents should be able to fulfil all their basic needs within a 20 minute return journey from their front door. Dalgleish is very supportive of the new policy which was part of the desires included in the Edinburgh Labour manifesto. He said: “I think that is the way our neighbourhoods should be set up – densely populated but with a good mix of neighbourhoods with local businesses, public services, and good access to transport links as well.”
The Planning Convener
Dalgleish was formerly a council employee working in the Income and Benefits section before becoming a councillor. On his election as a new councillor he became Planning Convener, but said his was a good background to learn from. He said: “It was an apolitical role, very different from what I am doing now. I worked in the Advice Shop on the High Street. As today, as I was in my old job people came with a problem, or even councillors with a problem on behalf of a constituent. So it was quite an interesting role.
“Before that I briefly worked at Lloyds TSB, but I always struggled in that environment. For me it is about helping people and in the financial environment that is not necessarily what your goal is.
“My job now is big and important, planning the long term direction of where the city is going and I am always aware of the other planning leads – one of them a former planning convener and others with many more years of experience than I have. I know people think councillors are always having a fight, but when we get into a room chatting about policy the vast majority of councillors are quite fair.”
As councillor for Leith Walk he is more aware than most of the tram works and the effects on the local people. He said that housing and antisocial behaviour like e-scooters on the pavement and unruly neighbours are key problems in that area. And he is looking forward to the future after tram works are completed and the tram becomes operational, proving the “strong economic case” for the completion of the line to Newhaven.
All documentation submitted for examination by Edinburgh Council is or will be available to review on the Scottish Government DPEA website from early 2023.
The next stage of the process will be the appointment of the Scottish Government Reporter who will then commence the examination.
More information on the process and timescales can be found in the Development Plan Scheme September 2022.
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