City to invest in nature footpath network to open up more green spaces
The capital is to develop a series of urban nature pathways similar to the hugely popular Water of Leith Walkway using funds generated by the city’s Visitor Levy.
Potential routes through the city to attractions such as the Pentland Hills, Cramond Foreshore and the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena and Lost Shore Surf Resort at Ratho are to be explored by the city council.
City councillors have agreed to spend just over £1.1 million over the next two years developing a plan for the new network of “nature footpaths and walkways” and improving accessability.
The move follows a commitment to spend £500,000 a year from Levy funds on restoring and upgrading the path along the Water of Leith, as well as the furore over plans - which the council has agreed to put on the backburner - to extend the city’s trams along the Roseburn Path nature corridor.
What does the plan involve? It is still at the early planning stages so no specific routes have yet been identified. However, the project is committed to both improving the accessibility of the routes which are chosen and carrying out work to support nature along the routes.
Is it for tourists? Part of the thinking behind the plan is to encourage visitors to the city to explore further away from the city centre. So the walkways will be promoted to tourists as a way of exploring Edinburgh away from the busiest attractions, as well as being there for city residents to enjoy all year round.
Where will it lead? The three locations mentioned above have been identified as potential destinations for the footpaths. Cramond Foreshore is already in line to receive £2m from the Levy to improve the car park, provide toilets and changing room, and improve accessibility, while it is also funding a six-month trial bus service from the city centre to the climbing arena and Lost Shore.
What happens next? The council will organise a public consultation to help identify the best routes and what improvements are required.
More on the latest Visitor Levy funding decisions in your briefing below.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
OSCAR ‘DEAD CERT’: Elsinore, the biopic of Ian Charleson, is getting rave reviews ahead of its upcoming cinema release. Andrew Scott is being described as “a dead cert” to win an Oscar for his portrayal of the Edinburgh actor, during his acclaimed National Theatre performance of Hamlet and his subsequent death from HIV. Charleson is perhaps best-known for his role as Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire. You read more about his remarkable story in He delivered ‘the greatest ever Hamlet’, then died eight weeks later.
EURO VISION: Edinburgh has confirmed its status as the UK’s most pro-European city. All five of the city’s Westminster constituencies featured in the ten most supportive of rejoining the EU across the UK in a new poll. The survey by pro-Europe campaign Best for Britain offered six options ranging from rejoining the EU to further loosening ties. Edinburgh’s most pro-European constituencies were Edinburgh North & Leith and Edinburgh West, where the survey found 50% support for the UK rejoining the EU.
DRUG LAB BUST: Police investigating a suspected synthetic opioids lab raided an industrial unit in Loanhead, Midlothian, and arrested two men, aged 43 and 56, earlier this year, BBC Scotland reports. Synthetic opioids are being blamed for a growing number of drug deaths in Scotland.
19-YEAR CAMPAIGN VICTORY: A Southside community is celebrating the end of a 19-year campaign to create a safe and welcoming community and performance space. The Causey, on West Crosscauseway, is to be permanently upgraded after securing £1.86m in the latest awards from the city’s Visitor Levy funds.
CULTURE BOOST: Cultural groups of all sizes will be able to apply for a share of a new £2.6 Innovation Fund as part of the city council’s commitment to increase funding for arts organisations using Visitor Levy funds. The fund comes on top of a 25% increase in council grant funding for the city’s Festivals and other regularly funded arts institutions, including theatres and galleries.
SAVE ST ANDREW’S: A community charity is in race against time to recruit supporters to help save Leith St Andrew’s Parish Church from falling into private hands. The Leith St Andrew’s Trust (LSAT) is hoping to secure funding to secure the building for community use before it is sold by the Church of Scotland. The charity needs to sign up new members to demonstrate local support for its plans in order to secure funding. More details are available on its website.
‘CULTURAL VANDALISM’: Unions have accused Edinburgh University of “cultural vandalism” after it closed 90 courses to new applicants. Languages and Celtic studies are among those to have borne the brunt of the cuts which the university says is part of its regular “refreshing” of its teaching programme to make it sustainable for the future. A fifth of the courses being cut had no students enrolled this year. More course closures are expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks at the university’s College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine and College of Science and Engineering.
25 days of strikes: The University and Colleges Union (UCU) are staging five full weeks of strike action at the university in protest at the threat of compulsory redundancies. At least 950 posts have been made redundant in the last year as it looks to save £140m from its annual budget. Heriot Watt is among a string of other Scottish universities facing strikes this month in protest at job cuts.
DIG THIS: Local volunteers have been working alongside Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust and Edinburgh Archaeology Field Society on a dig to unearth the lost local hamlet of Broken Briggs, said to be almost 400 years old, in the Burdiehouse area.
TALA OPENING: Women’s activewear brand TALA is set to open its first store outside outside London at Edinburgh’s Westfield St James Quarter in November. It will be the company’s third store, following Carnaby Street and at Westfield White City. The new Edinburgh store will showcase the brand’s full product range.
BRITANNIA CHAIR: Rear Admiral Roger Lockwood has been appointed Chairman of The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, succeeding Rear Admiral Neil Rankin. He takes up the role this month, succeeding the man who has been at the helm for 28 years.
PALESTINE PROTESTER PUNISHED: A pro-Palestine protester who was part of a group who caused more than £150,000 damage to the Leonardo UK plant at Crewe Toll has been ordered to carry out 270 hours of community work. Madeline Norman, of Durham, cut holes in the perimeter fence to get into the premises and smash windows and equipment in January 2023. Leonardo make radar systems for fighter jets, supplythe MoD and Israeli government.
Pic of the week
THE BUSINESS
Homecoming for new airport chief charged with investment delivery
A return to his home city will see new Edinburgh Airport Chief Executive Mark Johnston oversee investment of approaching a billion pounds in Scotland’s busiest airport in the coming years.
Currently Chief Operating Officer at London Gatwick and before that a former Managing Director at Glasgow, he has been named as successor to Gordon Dewar who is leaving after 14 years at the helm, during which Edinburgh has grown to now dealing with 17 million passengers a year and 160 destinations. He takes up the role on October 1.
He said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining the airport as it embarks on the largest ever capital investment programme in its history. Its continued growth is a testament to the strength of the highly skilled team in place, and whose reputation is recognised across the industry. I’m looking forward to working alongside them as we continue to grow, strengthen connectivity and play our part in supporting Scotland and the UK’s economy.”
He will be charged with steering the airport through its biggest-ever investment programme, backed by owners VINCI Airports and Global Infrastructure Partners, designed to better accommodate current passenger levels and prepare the airport for further growth.
These will include a single, streamlined and high-capacity arrivals hall, an expanded and upgraded departure area, creating more aircraft stands and gates, a redesigned check-in area, and improvements to the runway.
HABITAT HEALTH: Edinburgh-based climate-tech platform Calterra has been awarded £96,000 in SMART Grant funding from Scottish Enterprise to develop its technology for monitoring the long-term health of restored peatlands and woodlands. A joint venture between AI consultancy New Gradient and Caledonian Climate, Calterra uses AI and Earth observation data to support habitat restoration projects.
PLANNING GROWTH: Female business founders will gather in Edinburgh next month for an international conference aimed at actively scaling businesses with turnover beyond £1 million. The Female Founders Growth Summit 2026 is being hosted by Pathways Forward, an initiative founded by Scotland’s chief entrepreneur Ana Stewart, following her Pathways Report for the Scottish Government and is being held at Royal Bank of Scotland’s Gogarburn campus on October 1.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
TAKE ME TO THE BRIDGE: It’s Kevin Bridges week at the Playhouse as the Glaswegian comedian starts a sell-out run tomorrow of his new stand-up show Here is you need me, on every night until Saturday.
OPEN THE DOOR: It’s one of our favourite weekends of the year as Edinburgh’s Open Doors Day returns, offering the chance to take a peek behind the scenes at around 150 different buildings. You can browse the full programme here and read more about why this year’s event is so important to the city’s Muslim community in Emma Newland’s weekend long read akphrpahhare.
LAST CHANCE: It’s your last chance to see the evocative Sandra George: Start from the Level exhibition at the City Arts Centre this weekend. Life on the streets of the capital’s housing schemes is brought to life alongside intimate portraits of the photographer own family. Not to be missed. (Read more about Sandra George in Celebrating Edinburgh’s great, unheralded street photographer)
QUICK BITES
CASTING ITS SPELL: Edinburgh’s renowned The Witchery restaurant at the top of the Royal Mile has been ranked the best in both the UK and Europe for fine dining. The atmospheric favourite was also named fourth best in the world in the TripAdvisor 2026 Travellers Choice Awards.
DONUT FAME: Renowned US donut chain Randy’s Donuts, featured in the Hollywood movie Iron Man 2, is to open in Edinburgh – its first UK store. A final opening date is still to be announced, but the store will be in the former Barburrito restaurant on Forrest Road.
WHISKY EQUINOX: Beer has Oktoberfest and wine Beaujolais Nouveau Day, but whisky has never had a moment to mark the start of the colder season when the spirit is traditionally more popular… until now. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is launching The Whisky Equinox, when it is calling on whisky fans everywhere to raise a dram to welcome in the new whisky season on Wednesday evening (23 September) and share the moment with friends and on social media using #WhiskyEquinox.