There's lots to like about Granton project - Cammy Day

Last year councillors gave the green light to progress further business case development for our £1.3bn project for one of the most sustainable and vibrant new coastal towns in Edinburgh and Scotland at Granton Waterfront.

And I’m delighted to report that we’ll be appointing a development partner in the summer to design and deliver the first phase, subject to committee approval next month.

Over the next fifteen years, our ambition is to deliver around 3,500 new net zero homes, great services such as a school and medical centre and new space for businesses and creative enterprise.

The new neighbourhood will help us to deliver our commitment to be net zero carbon by 2030 as there will be a key focus on sustainable transport and active travel and all the new buildings will be environmentally friendly with homes being delivered to the highest standards to reduce emissions and keep energy bills down.

Work is progressing at pace to deliver new homes for local people! To give you a flavour, we’ve submitted our application for planning permission for a further 142 affordable homes at Silverlea. And the planning application for the first Edinburgh Home Demonstrator (EHD) pilot with 75 net zero carbon homes and three commercial units behind Granton Station building has been granted by councillors. Ground works are also underway at Western Villages for around 388 much needed affordable homes and around 56 homes for sale.

Spades are also very much in the ground at our £4.5m restoration project of the Edwardian Granton Station, which is set to become a creative and cultural hub, run by leading arts charity WASPS.

After we consulted with local people, we named the area outside the Granton Station building, Granton Station Square. This great space will host a variety of cultural events and local activities and it will be a spacious new square for everyone to enjoy.

Our plan to create a satellite of hubs offering creative and cultural uses has been further bolstered nearby in West Shore Road, as local arts charity Edinburgh Palette has leased one of our vacant buildings to provide affordable space for small scale events, hospitality, creative industries, the third sector, freelancers and micro-businesses.

I can’t end before telling you about our partnership with Edinburgh College, illuminating the iconic gas holder as a beacon of light while work continues in the area. And the icing on the cake for that great news is we were also very recently awarded £16.5m UK Government levelling up funding to help to restore the B-listed structure and create an exciting public space. Designs for the public realm are well underway along with plans to restore the gas holder frame. We’re consulting on this now and work will start later in the year.

We’re taking local people with us and consultations are being held at every stage. We’re constantly engaging with local groups and schools about our plans, inputting their feedback wherever we can to make sure this this new well-connected sustainable neighbourhood is a place people want to live, work and enjoy their leisure time in for generations to come.​​​​​​​

Cammy Day is deputy leader of Edinburgh Council