Category: Local Development Plan

International Day for Biodiversity May 22nd 2025

This is a very special time to welcome International Biodiversity Day 2025, as Edinburgh celebrates a very important biodiversity anniversary this year.  There is a long history of partnership working for biodiversity in the city and this year marks 25 years of the Edinburgh Biodiversity Partnership. 

May is a great month to celebrate biodiversity and enjoy spending time in nature, and Edinburgh has some very special places to see nature –  all year round! 

We are really fortunate to have some amazing wildlife across our city, and this includes fantastic species like otters who have returned to our rivers and burns in recent years. 

This month sees the return of Swifts, a bird which comes here just to breed and relies entirely on buildings for nesting sites.  However, the nature crisis is well documented and there continue to be declines across all species groups globally and in Scotland.  This is due to habitat loss, poor habitat management, pollution, invasive species and disease.  Extreme weather caused by our changing climate can also have a negative impact through droughts and flooding.  Climate change also makes some of the other threats worse, such as the spread of pests and diseases.  

Tackling these challenges and supporting the recovery of nature requires a step change in land use planning and embedding positive effects for biodiversity into new developments. 

Integrating nature at the design stage and creating nature positive places is good for health and wellbeing as well as biodiversity.  It also supports resilience in the built environment to the impacts of climate change from overheating and extreme rainfall. 

Nature rich places in the built environment provides urban cooling and slow down water flows.  Our new biodiversity policies in City Plan 2030 are supported by Scottish Government guidance and Nature Scot’s Developing with Nature Guidance, as well as the updated draft Edinburgh Design Guidance. 

Updated City Centre and Town Centre Planning Guidance

Four front covers of Town Centre Guidance documents - Tollcross, Leith, Portobello and Corstorphine. Each cover shows a row of shops with flats above and pavement & road in front.

Following the adoption of the City Plan 2030 our City Centre and Town Centre Planning Guidance has now been updated. 

The updated guidance also takes into account

The eight town centres are

  • Bruntsfield/ Morningside
  • Corstorphine
  • Gorgie/Dalry
  • Leith
  • Nicolson Street/ Clerk Street
  • Portobello
  • Stockbridge
  • Tollcross

The guidance has been informed by a ‘public life street assessments’ carried out in 2016, which explored how town centres should evolve to maximise the potential for benefiting public life and a health check which has considered the centre’s strengths, vitality and viability, weaknesses and resiliencies.

The guidance assists the delivery of NPF4 objectives and policies, in particular to ensure town centres are vibrant, healthy and resilient places for people to work, enjoy and visit.

Town centres are an important focal point for people who live and work in Edinburgh. They provide shopping, leisure and community facilities in locations which are easily accessible by walking, wheeling and cycling or public transport. They also contribute to local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods.

The updated guidance is no longer statutory supplementary guidance, but will remain as planning guidance and a material consideration in the determination of planning applications.

Have your say on new draft planning guidance for purpose built student accommodation (PBSA)

Photograph shows an example of student housing. Modern, new looking two-storey building next to green space and a small tree on a sunny day.

Our consultation is now open for draft planning guidance for purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) in Edinburgh. 

The draft guidance has been prepared to support City Plan 2030 policy dealing with PBSA. It sets out the Council’s expectations and provides guidance for developers and planning officers. It also seeks to ensure the provision of good quality PBSA in appropriate locations whilst protecting the character of existing areas. 

It applies to all types of PBSA developments, including new build, change of use and conversion. To support the health and wellbeing of students, it is essential that they are provided with appropriately located, high quality accommodation. While many students will choose to live in other forms of accommodation, PBSA is a key part of the available accommodation in the city.

We want the guidance to help people understand what we require from the development of PBSA. To do this, we want to make sure the content is clear, helpful, and balanced.

When approved in its final form it will be used by the Council to assess planning applications.

You can read the draft guidance and give us your views in our online survey by Friday 23 May 2025.

Calling all historic property owner-occupiers!

As part of our efforts to update the Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas planning guidance, the City of Edinburgh Council is collaborating with the University of Edinburgh to understand how the guidance can be improved to be more practical and accessible.

The University’s project, Giving Voice to Historic Property Owners, is now recruiting focus group and workshop participants. The project is specifically looking for owner–occupiers (you own the home you are living in) of listed buildings and properties in a conservation area in Edinburgh. 

You can check here to see if your property is listed or in a conservation area.

Focus group participants will receive a £10 e-gift card and in-person workshops will end with a catered lunch.

Learn more and sign up on the project information page.

City Plan 2030 now adopted

We are pleased to announce that City Plan 2030 has been adopted and is now our local development plan.

City Plan 2030 sets out our strategy for development, with the proposals and policies helping to shape development and inform planning decisions in Edinburgh.

You can view City Plan 2030 on our website.