It will identify West Edinburgh as a location where, a co-ordinated approach to planning is required in the national interest. A Working Group, with Scottish Executive, City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian was set up to prepare this Planning Framework. A Stakeholders Advisory Group was also set up to inform the work and discussions were held with a range of other community and private sector interests.

The economy of Edinburgh and the Lothians is forecast to continue growing at a steady pace, mainly on the strength of the financial, business services and communications sectors in Edinburgh. Shortage of labour and ongoing restructuring is presenting challenges, but in general terms, the economy of Edinburgh and the Lothians is in a healthy state. Edinburgh is predicted to have the fastest growing economy of any major city in the UK over the next five years.
West Edinburgh is nationally important in economic, transport, and environmental terms. The nature and scale of development, both existing and committed, is significant to the regional and Scottish economy. Established land uses such as Edinburgh Airport and the Royal Highland Showground play a national or regional role, and have aspirations for long-term growth. The existence of the Airport, and the road and rail routes that connect West Edinburgh to the rest of the country place it in a strategically important location, although growing road congestion problems are evident. Much of the area is designated Green Belt, which provides an attractive western edge to the City and plays a strategic role in supporting Edinburgh's compact city form.
In recognition of these factors, together with pressures for development and opportunities to integrate transport and land use, the Scottish Executive, the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian have worked with the stakeholders to prepare a long-term strategic planning framework for the area. The Framework serves as an input to the structure and local plans for the area and will be taken into account by the Scottish Ministers in their consideration of development plans. It will also be a material consideration in development control decisions.

Scottish Executive Planning Directorate
Tom Williamson (Assistant Chief Planner), tel. +44 131 2447531

/03/2003

policy

Urban Policy > Urban environment

Urban renewal