The South East Wedge is the name given to a large sector of the Edinburgh Green Belt to the south of Craigmillar and extending to the City Bypass in Midlothian. It was identified in the 1994 Lothian Structure Plan as a growth area for the city. The proposal was that it should be developed with up to 4000 houses, 30 hectares of employment land and other supporting uses. The requirement was that the Wedge should be planned comprehensively and jointly by the two planning authorities, the City of Edinburgh and Midlothian Councils. Proposals were to be set out in a Joint Development Study and then brought into relevant local plans.

The Joint Development Study was completed in 1999. Midlothian Council has since prepared the Shawfair Local Plan and in 2003 held a public local inquiry to deal with objections to the proposals affecting its area. The City of Edinburgh Council prepared in 2002 the South East Edinburgh Local Plan with proposals affecting its part of the Wedge. A public inquiry will take place towards the end of 2003 to deal with objections to this local plan.

The greater part of the South East Wedge is in Midlothian Council’s area, and the proposals here take the form of a major new settlement to be built to the east of Danderhall, a former mining village. In Edinburgh, the main proposals are for new housing in the form of an urban extension to the city at Greendykes (Greendykes Mods). Some 800 dwellings are planned, and a site will be reserved for a new primary school should it be needed.

Also proposed in Edinburgh is a ‘medipark’ on some 25 hectares of land around the recently constructed Royal Infirmary. This will be developed with a combination of teaching facilities for the University of Edinburgh, in particular, a new medical school, and linked research and business uses. On land to be retained within the Green Belt, the Council will seek to create a framework of planting to enhance the setting of the new development and a network of public open spaces and footpaths. Outline planning permission has been granted to the University of Edinburgh and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh Lothian (SEE&L) for the medipark. A detailed master plan will now be prepared for the development.

Much of the land in the South East Wedge, mainly in Midlothian, is now in the ownership of Shawfair Developments Limited, a joint venture company owned by the City of Edinburgh and Midlothian Councils and Miller Ventures Limited. Shawfair Developments have prepared outline planning applications for the South East Wedge as a whole, one of which covers land in Edinburgh, the other in Midlothian. The company will promote development of land in its ownership and seek to play a co-ordinating role throughout the Wedge. You can obtain more information by visiting the Midlothian Council site at http://www.midlothian.gov.uk/