Greenbelt homes battle as city responds to housing emergency
Plus: Concert promoter backs Ingliston despite festival break and Cabinet Secretary to address business leaders
Protests over bid to build 500 homes next to city bypass
Housebuilders are to test Edinburgh’s resolve to protect all of its greenbelt with the biggest development plan for protected land since the city declared a housing emergency.
The UK’s biggest housebuilder Barratt and David Wilson Homes wants to build around 500 homes, with a mix of properties including affordable housing, on land just inside the city bypass on the southern outskirts of the Capital.
There is considerable local opposition to the plans for the farm land south of Frogston Road East, between Burdiehouse and Oxgangs, amid concern about the extra traffic it would generate and the impact on local services. Local GPs are already under pressure and the new Frogston Primary School is at capacity.
The move comes as the city council is set to confirm its plans for responding to the housing emergency it declared in November. The council says it can currently deliver only 500 affordable homes a year, due in large part to the severe impact of the downturn in the UK housing market and a cut in Scottish Government funding for social housing.
The context: The city needs to double the rate of housebuilding seen in the last decade in order to hit its target of 37,000 new homes by 2030, but it constrained by developers pausing work due to the construction downturn. It also faces a £665m shortfall in the Scottish Government funding it says it needs in order to build 11,000 affordable homes in the next five years. The council is taking other steps, including speeding up work to bring hundreds of empty council houses back into use, in an effort to ease the crisis.
Greenbelt hardline: The council insists it can hit its targets without sacrificing any greenbelt land despite widespread scepticism from the construction industry and homeless charities. In reality, issues over the availability of some land and the construction slowdown means development is unlikely to be completed - or possibly even started in some cases - within the timescale laid out on some sites identified by the council.
What else can the council do? City housing convener Councillor Jane Meagher says discussions are taking place on whether or not to increase the density of housing currently allowed (which often means taller flats) and relax the local authority’s rules restricting private finance partnerships. The Frogston Road East development, for example, proposes only 40 units per hectare, while the council currently asks for 60, and that could increase in future.
‘No need’ or Nimby: The Frogston Road East development has already sparked a political row. Local Labour councillor Scott Arthur highlights the pressure the new homes would put on local services and insists: “Edinburgh can meet its housing demand without this field being lost.” However, former SNP council leader Frank Ross has called him a Nimby and challenged Cllr Arthur to “explain how the housing numbers will be be achieved and where they will be built.”
The verdict: In the absence of a massive increase in public investment in housing, the city will have to look at new ways of encouraging private developers to build more homes, and more affordable homes, if it is to have any hope of getting near its targets in the current climate. New private finance arrangements, however, are likely to prove controversial with many in Labour circles. That makes asking builders to put more homes on the sites they develop a likely next move.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
POP GOES INGLISTON: The second headliners for this year’s Summer Sessions concerts at Ingliston have been announced as BRIT Award-winners Catfish and the Bottlemen. They will join Becky Hill in the August line-up at the Royal Highland Centre. Promoters DF Concerts are going ahead with the Summer Sessions, with more big name acts to be announced, despite announcing the Connect Festival will take a break this year. Connect - which brought Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand and boygenius to Ingliston last summer - will return to the “unique” venue, the promoters said.
COUNCIL BUDGET: The council tax bill for the average band D property will remain £1447 next year in Edinburgh after councillors resisted calls to challenge the SNP government’s council tax freeze. The budget agreed by councillors includes a record £12.5m investment for roads and pavements, with pay-and-display parking charges rising by 22% and residents permits by around 5%. The council also confirmed funding to avoid leisure centre closures and cuts in school funding. The Capital continues to receive the lowest funding per head of population of any local authority in Scotland.
CANNY MAN’S: The owners of Morningside’s celebrated Canny Man’s hope to receive permission this week to build a 12-room, three-storey hotel in the car park behind the pub. Planning officials are recommending councillors approve the plans drawn up by The Kerr family who have run the pub for generations.
PRIDE BRIDGE: Designs for a replacement of Leith’s Pride Bridge have been put out to consultation. The Lindsay Road landmark which was painted in rainbow colours three years ago to celebrate diversity and the city’s LGBT+ community had reached the end of its lifespan. However, the city council won a £232,700 grant from Transport Scotland through Sustrans to design a replacement, following a campaign by residents and businesses including the nearby Dreadnought pub.
TOP MARKS: Edinburgh is the only Scottish University to be placed in the top 50 Times Higher Education World Reputation Ranking for 2023. The University of Edinburgh was placed 30. The ranking, based on an invitation-only survey of scholars, garnered almost 40,000 responses from 166 countries, measuring factors such as teaching and research facilities.
ROPED IN: Registrations have opened for the Forth Bridge Abseil which is run by Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, in partnership with Network Rail and Balfour Beatty. Taking place on Sunday, 16th June, adventure-seekers will abseil 165 feet from the iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site for good causes. Since the event launched in 2003, more than £3m has been raised for charities.
BIRTHDAY CONSPIRACY: Kindly keepers at Edinburgh Zoo have only gone and baked a cake for some very special primates. The endangered ring-tailed lemur troop – otherwise known as a conspiracy - celebrated their birthdays in recent days. They were treated to a sweet potato, leaf pellet and yoghurt cake, with carrot ‘candles’. Mmmm – but no icing?!
DRUMMOHR HAS IT PEGGED: Edinburgh may not be an obvious “glamping” destination, but congratulations to the five-star Drummohr Camping and Glaming site, situated two miles from Musselburgh which has scooped this year’s UK Campsite of the Year award at the Camping Awards 2024, organised by Camping magazine.
NELSON MONUMENT: Repair work on the historic mast and time ball on the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill starts this month and is due to be complete by October. The time ball, installed in 1852, was a predecessor of the One O’clock Gun, and dropped at 1pm each day to signal the time to mariners in the Forth. The repairs will pave the way for the reopening of the tower to the public.
CAMERON TOLL WOES: The collapsed culvert that has forced the closure of part of the Cameron Toll roundabout is unlikely to be reapired and the road reopened before May, the council has warned.
HAPPY RECORDS: Indie pop stars The Snuts have set up their own record label with a focus on the mental health of artists after leaving Parlaphone. The West Lothian quartet will release their new album Millenialls on Happy Artist Records. They say the label aims to create a healthier creative environment for artists who feel under pressure from major labels to sell themselves as personalities on social media.
THE BUSINESS
Edinburgh’s Business Awards Biggest Ever
Hundreds of business leaders will gather at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre for this year’s annual celebration of business excellence – with keynote speakers including the new Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy, Mairi McAllan.
The 13th Edinburgh Chamber Annual Business Awards is one of the major events in the Capital’s business calendar, and the city’s business community will be interested to hear how the new politician in charge of the economy plans to improve the Scottish Government’s ailing relationship with the business community.
The awards will also hear from Ian Stirling, Founder and co-CEO of the Port of Leith Distillery, who recently opened the world's tallest distillery. He will deliver this year’s keynote business address, to the event, which has the theme of “Grow, Scale, Succeed.” Other speakers include Chamber President Jane Clark-Hutchison and City of Edinburgh Council’s retiring Chief Executive Andrew Kerr will give one of his final speeches to the business community.
This year’s awards have seen a record number of entries across 16 categories. Liz McAreavey, Edinburgh Chamber Chief Executive, said: “The Chamber Business Awards have become a favoured date in Edinburgh’s business calendar, providing an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the successes and achievements of extraordinary businesses across a wide range of sectors in the city. We are fortunate to have a local economy with broad sectoral strengths making us one of the most resilient cities in the UK. The sheer breadth of businesses, across all sectors, is reflected in our diverse shortlist.”
The event is being sponsored by LNER.
INNOVATIVE MOVE: A firm which provides advice on innovative funding is switching its main base from Aberdeen to Edinburgh. Consultancy firm Innovative Partners is opening a new head office on South St Andrews Street, although it plans to maintain a “strong presence” in the Granite City. The firm says its move to Edinburgh “will be pivotal to enhancing our support for clients and investees across Scotland.”
HOME REPORT: Home buyers and homeowners will be hoping the positive start to the year continues when the Nationwide house price index reports on Thursday. While the national reports do not always represent specific regions, including the city market, accurately the fact that last month UK prices rose 0.7% was seen as a positive indicator. Allied with lower interest rates, and the expectation of further decreases to come, the outlook is a little brighter. Let’s hope it continues this month.
CONFERENCE GROWTH: Edinburgh International Conference Centre reported record income and profit for 2023, with revenues up £1 million to £12.8 million year on year along with a profit of £2.6 million – up from £700,000. The venue hosted more than 132,000 delegates and visitors during the year, up from 72,000 in 2022.
In terms of its economic impact, the direct benefit of conferences and events taking place at the EICC to the Scottish capital and the surrounding region, that also increased to £58m from just under £52m. It is estimated that the EICC’s total economic benefit since opening in 1995 is now at about £850m.
CHECKING IN: The former Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh’s Old Town has relaunched as the Edinburgh Marriot Hotel Holyrood following a £10 million refurbishment which has created a newly-designed lobby, bar and dining room. THe hotel was previously a Macdonald Hotels property.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
SHARK ATTACK: Edinburgh screenwriter and novelist Cat Clarke’s first feature film Something in the Water is set to hit cinemas on July 7. Canal have released the first trailer for the movie featuring rising star Hiftu Quasem. Clarke was one of the writers for Good Omens 2, the Amazon Prime series filmed at Bathgate’s Pyramid Studios, starring David Tenant and Studio.
HOT THEATRE TICKETS: You’ll have to be quick or lucky to grab tickets if you don’t have them already for Hamilton. Several shows are sold out with limited availability for all other nights for the smash-hit musical which begins its month-long run at the Edinburgh Playhouse on Wednesday. The same is true of David Greig’s Two Sisters which runs until Saturday at the Lyceum.
WITCHES RETURN: The Collective Gallery on Calton Hill is hosting the first solo exhibition in the UK of Sicilian artist Elisa Giardina Papa to celebrate its 40th anniversary. First shown at the 2022 Venice Biennale, U Scantu celebrates the donne di fora, women who according to Sicilian myth had magical powers. Calton Hill was one a site for witch burnings. U Scanta: A Disorderly Tale runs from 1 March to 19 May.
SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP: “Scotland’s biggest and best” vintage market returns to the Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith on Sunday. B’s Vintage Market features more than 20 pop-up shops specialising in clothes, jewellery and accessories from the 1920s to the 2000s.
QUICK BITES
CHOP CHOP: Steak restaurant Chop House has closed its first venue, in Leith’s Constitution Street, after nine years in business. The company has two other steakhouses in the city, in Bruntsfield and Market Street, and say the decision was made to focus on their other businesses.
SUCCESS DELIVERED: Edinburgh-based Luxford Burgers has won two titles at this year’s Deliveroo Restaurant awards – coming out tops as Independent Restaurant of the Year (Scotland) and Best Burger in Scotland. Cheers!