Edinburgh planning: New masterplan for Cameron Toll includes housing and student accommodation
A new masterplan for Cameron Toll would change the layout of the shopping centre, cut back on the car park and add housing, student accommodation, sheltered housing, offices and leisure on the site.
Developers have submitted a pre-application document to Edinburgh council outlining the plans but without giving an idea of how may new homes or student flats there might be.
The move comes six months after a new 109-bedroom hotel was approved next to the Cameron Toll site and just after the close of a public consultation on Edinburgh’s proposed new North-South tramline which would have a stop at Cameron Toll.
Cameron Toll shopping centre was first opened in 1984 and is the biggest private sector employer in the area, supporting around 600 full and part time jobs.
But a statement from Hunter real estate investment management said: "The centre is perhaps best described as ‘of its time’, and like all shopping centres has faced massive challenges and changes over the decades. In recent times the growth of online retail has brought significant additional challenges."
It said a large proportion of the nearly 1,000 spaces in the centre's car park were underused.
And it said the redevelopment aimed to create "a more open and connected Cameron Toll that retains retail at the heart of it".
But any development would be phased to keep the centre operational and "as vibrant as possible".
And the statement added: "The proposals will be progressed in a way that makes the site ‘tram ready’ and will be compatible with any potential reopening of the South Suburban Railway to passenger traffic.”
The Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) outlines future use of the site would potentially include “retail, commercial, residential, student accommodation, later living accommodation, hotel, office space, sports/leisure, community uses, and public realm, along with associated landscaping and infrastructure”.
Andrew Moffat, managing director of Hunter REIM said: “Every modern shopping centre is facing a new and challenging landscape.
“As successful as Cameron Toll has been, it needs to move away from just being a building dropped into the middle of a sea of parking to become a genuine commercial centre fit for purpose for the city’s south and east areas.
"We will be bringing forward proposals for a phased development that will see Cameron Toll become a new neighbourhood centre that provides a fantastic place for people to live and visit.
"New housing is badly needed in the nation’s capital and we’re confident we can deliver high quality new homes and better shops on exactly the kind of brown field site that everyone wants to see prioritised for housing.”
The Braid Burn currently runs through a culvert under the car park and part of the centre, but the council has asked the developer to consider proposals to open it up and allow it to run along the edge of any development with a public pathway alongside it.
Mr Moffat said: “We fully understand the desire to see the biodiversity and public access gains that would result from the burn being fully uncovered. We shall examine that in full as part of the consultation, but we would want to ensure that there was a practical and affordable approach to achieving this, and that any solution attracted the support of local residents and stakeholders.”
As part of the pre-planning application process the applicant is holding two community engagement events, both in the Central Mall, Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, 6 Lady Road, Edinburgh EH16 5PB.
The first will be on Monday 15 December 2025 – 2pm to 7pm ; the second on Thursday 5 February 2026 – 2pm to 7pm.