Planning and Building Control

Development Direction 5 –
Development Beyond the Lothians

86 Some might argue that neither Edinburgh nor the landward towns can absorb further high levels of growth, or that the Green Belt must be protected. Meeting all the demand might spoil the very attractions that are making the Lothians so successful. The risks of restraining growth are that house prices could go beyond the reach of many people, and that major employers might move elsewhere to expand.

87 A significant proportion of housing demand in the Greater Edinburgh area is already met beyond the bounds of the Lothians. Arguably a larger proportion of future requirements could be met by neighbouring authorities with existing or potential good public transport links such as Fife, the Scottish Borders and Falkirk.

88 Although commuting into West Lothian is increasing rapidly, most journeys to work from beyond the Lothians would be into Edinburgh. While most journeys to the City Centre are expected to be by public transport, travel to suburban locations will tend to be by car. This would lead to additional congestion in the City and on the main approaches. The suggested Edinburgh-Borders rail link would make commuting between the two locations much easier. It has to be accepted, however, that locating development in the Scottish Borders could also lead to increased longer-distance car travel.

89 The most commonly used route is between Edinburgh and Fife. This would benefit greatly from improved public transport links, but growth here would put pressure on the Forth Road Bridge too. Finally, the opportunity for West of Scotland residents to commute to the east is increasing with improved frequencies in some bus and rail services. Even so, many centres still lack direct links to the east and the M8 is becoming increasingly congested.

• Such an approach would spread the benefits of Edinburgh’s prosperity to other parts of Scotland. It could be the least transport-sustainable option in that overall travel would increase and investors could be deterred if premises or trained staff are not available locally. However, this option could help to ease pressure on an already overheated housing market in the Lothians. Investment in strategic transport links, and concentrating new employment in a few highly accessible locations, could overcome sustainability concerns.

90 These are very rough models for the future development of the Lothians presented to begin the debate about the direction that growth should take. People attach different weight to the pros and cons mentioned in these possible Development Directions. The table below takes the discussion a step further. Five scenarios are presented across the table – “compact city”, “city expansion” etc – and they are matched against the five broad directions. Each of these scenarios highlights one strongly-held view. They make the point that growth on the scale projected needs some contribution from most if not all the Development Directions. If one priority is given weight, it has to be balanced against increases or reductions in other directions.

SCENARIOS
	A Compact City	B City Expansion	C Preserve the Green Belt	D New Sustainable Settlements	E Growth Restraint
Possible contributions from Development Directions:
1 Within the City	#####	###	####	###	###
2 Green Belt	#	#####		#	#
3 Landward towns	###	###	#####	##	####
4 New settlements	#		##	####	#
5 Beyond the Lothians (or unmet demand)	#	#	#	#	###

The Scenarios Explained

A Majors on brownfield sites and denser development in the city.
B Allows the City to expand into the Green Belt.
C Preserves the Green Belt and steers growth to towns beyond.
D Promotes new settlements to ease pressure on city and towns.
E Does not meet all demand within the Lothians.

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