The Planning Committee Tour is part of the committee training programme which comprises formal workshops and awareness raising sessions as well as a ‘field trip’ style committee tour. Representatives from the Urban Design Panel and partners such as Historic Scotland and the Cockburn Association are also invited along.
Each year the tour is based around a different theme. In previous years these have included retail, housing and street design with presentations from various people involved in the developments.
This year’s Annual Planning Committee Tour theme was ‘Building Better Places’. We visited a range of new developments including mixed use developments, student housing, a hotel, housing and a care home with the aim of looking at what makes successful places. Agents, developers and managers of the various sites were present to provide a presentation and a tour of the site, along with the case officer who dealt with the development. Each site was then assessed against the six qualities of a successful place (defined in Scottish Planning Policy).
Planning Edinburgh 