Ambitious plans to turn Edinburgh's Meadowbank green are approved

Ambitions to revitalise Meadowbank into one of Edinburgh’s greenest neighbourhoods was approved today.

Plan showing the scale of the £100 million Meadowbank development

Edinburgh City Council planners have given the thumbs-up to a 600 homes masterplan for publicly-owned land at Meadowbank.

Following the decision, the £100m project is expected to become the first development of its size in Edinburgh to promote the council’s net zero carbon by 2030 goals by creating a low-car, low-carbon community and energy efficient new homes.

The sustainable mixed-use development will also create jobs and a significant economic boost by regenerating a five-hectare area next to the new Meadowbank Sports Centre - which is already set to become one of the greenest and most accessible centres for community sport in the country when it opens next year.

A visualisation of the Meadowbank development

Space for a new GP surgery and community and commercial uses, the protection of existing trees and planting of saplings plus new rain gardens also feature in landscaping designs, which aim to pay tribute to the area’s sporting and industrial heritage.

The masterplan has already been awarded Building with Nature accreditation from Nature Scot and the Scottish Government, setting the standard for high-quality low carbon features as the city aims to forward its green ambitions and meet Scotland-wide targets for carbon neutral developments and improved air quality.

The designs have also been endorsed by Sustrans’ Places for Everyone scheme, which brings specialised active travel knowledge to the project.

Councillor Neil Gardiner, Planning Convener, said: “We need make sure we protect our city’s beautiful and historic built environment, while supporting our communities to become sustainable for twenty-first century living. We also need to adapt our city to meet the needs of a growing population, address the increasing impact of climate change and ensure growth is responsible. These designs for Meadowbank meet these needs with plans for a truly low-carbon, low-car, energy efficient neighbourhood, featuring new affordable homes.

"This is a really important site for the City and I’d like to thank everyone who took time to participate in the consultation process.

One third of the houses will be affordable, making a welcome contribution to the needs of the heroes who keep our city running every day.

Keir Bloomer, the project’s independent Sounding Board Chair, said: "The current proposals have emerged through an intensive exercise in community engagement. In addition to a number of public information sessions and consultation meetings, a Meadowbank Sounding Board was established almost two years ago. This group contains representatives of a wide range of local community groups and organisations, including those who were opposed to the original proposals for the site. Local councillors and others with relevant committee responsibilities are also members but they are in a minority. Considerable efforts have been made to ensure that the sounding board is able to express its views, regardless of whether these are favourable to the council’s perspective or not.

"The sounding board met quite frequently until restrictions during the pandemic made this impossible. Designs for the site have been altered on a number of occasions in response to its views.

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