Category: Placemaking

“A Day in the Life…” by Jay Skinner – Planning Officer

Having joined the Planning Service just over two months ago as a Planning Officer I can vouch for the benefits of ‘learning on the job’ by working in a fast-paced service. The first few weeks have been an extremely interesting experience, and one which I am grateful to have the opportunity to reflect on as part of this blog post.

The variety in development proposals mirrored by the planning applications assigned as part of a diverse case load fills the days. A typical day can include arranging and hosting meetings, attending site meetings and visits, preparing reports as part of the planning assessment process, and working collaboratively with colleagues internally and engaging with external consultees to progress proposals. In my role there is an emphasis on taking ownership of your workload, which encourages continued professional development.

The nature of Edinburgh as a city both physically and geographically presents a unique working environment as a Planner. This is reflected by its wealth of historic assets such as world heritage sites, conservation areas, a high concentration of listed buildings as well as an impressive number of green spaces and multiple walking, cycling and sustainable transport links. These factors present a great opportunity as a Planner to work on a range of projects which bring their own unique considerations and opportunities.

Given the multitude of site constraints and specific considerations for proposals, working within the planning service allows for a high degree of collaboration with specialists, including engagement with external bodies such as Historic Environment Scotland on matters related to the historic environment for example. Working with colleagues who have expert knowledge of areas such as listed buildings, biodiversity, the natural environment, sustainability, active travel, transport planning and many other areas presents a platform to further develop your own knowledge.

Having the opportunity to continue to develop my skill set as a planner has been a positive experience since joining the Council’s Planning Service. By being able to contribute to the general mentoring scheme within the service it has helped to support colleagues as they progress their own careers.

The range of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions and opportunities on offer is another advantage of working within a multi skilled Planning Service. Specialist training workshops are a regular feature and help us to assess proposals and allow team members to further develop their skills and confidence.

The emerging City Plan 2030 also presents an opportunity to implement policies which will shape the future development of the city, building on the key aims of the current Edinburgh Local Development Plan. The focus within City Plan 2030 on promoting a network of 20-minute walkable neighbourhoods, the requirement for new buildings to be net-zero amongst other aims, promotes work on key planning issues, taking account of evolving changes within the built environment.

The above examples provide a snapshot of the numerous opportunities there are working within the Planning Service. As I continue in my role, I look forward to dealing with a variety of exciting projects which draw on my current skills and allow for future growth and development as part of a progressive Planning Service.

Edinburgh’s Proposed Low Emission Zone takes another step forward

Last week Edinburgh’s proposed Low Emission Zone (LEZ) took another step forward, as sign-off was given by the Council’s Transport & Environment Committee last Thursday for of the official objection period.

The LEZ aims to reduce air pollution, since it presents a significant threat to public health. It is especially harmful to young children, the elderly and those suffering from pre-existing conditions, including heart and lung diseases.

LEZs are being introduced across Scotland’s four largest cities: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee in response to dangerous levels of air pollution generated by road traffic. The LEZ will improve public health by discouraging the most polluting vehicles from entering an area.

Last year we ran a consultation between June & September 2021 which received over 5,000 responses.

Following the consultation, an objection period ran from 1 February to 1 March 2022. During this time we received 26 objections and 1 letter of support. Objections were from a mixture of individuals, businesses and organisations including some Community Councils.

The most common objections were about;

  • the LEZ boundary should be wider or smaller
  • the process for assessing local exemptions
  • the modelling/evidence base & how robust it was

The next step for the LEZ is to submit the proposal to Scottish Ministers for approval. Assuming approval is granted by Ministers, the LEZ will be introduced on 31 May 2022. There will be a two year ‘grace period’, meaning it won’t be enforced until June 2024.

There are various LEZ related support funds for businesses and households available for other sustainable transport options. 

The Proposed LEZ will align with the Councils;

Approval given to proceed with proposal to designate Edinburgh as Short-term Let Control Area

On Wednesday at Planning Committee, proposals were approved to designate the City of Edinburgh Council area as a short-term let (STL) control area.

The proposal follows a consultation with the public as well as industry bodies. 

The majority of respondents to the consultation were in favour of a control area, with 88% supporting the principle of it, and 85% supporting the entire City of Edinburgh Council area to be included.

A report of the consultation forms part of our Report to Planning Committee. 

The designation cannot come to effect without the approval of Scottish Government. A request will be submitted to the Scottish Government requesting that the new powers are implemented in the whole of the Edinburgh area.

If the government agree with this approach, and the new legislation is implemented in the city, it will require residential property owners wholly letting a property which is not their principle home as an STL in the local authority area, to apply for planning permission for a ‘change of use’ to a short-term let.

Short-term lets of private rooms or shared rooms where the property is the only or principal home of the host will not be affected by the control area requirement. This allows for house swaps at holidays and also for the host to let out the entire property when on holiday or working away, provided the property remains their only or principal home.

If approval is given by the Scottish Government, the designation will be publicised in advance of coming into effect. 

The introduction of powers to make a control area follows the Council calling for new legislation to tighten up the control of short-term lets to help manage high concentrations of secondary letting where it affects the availability of residential housing and character of a neighbourhood.

Also, it will help to restrict or prevent short-term lets in places or types of buildings where they are not appropriate as well as making sure homes are used to best effect.

Complementary to the control area legislation, the Scottish Parliament has approved legislation which will introduce a new licensing scheme requiring short-term lets to be licensed from July 2024.  It will address the issues of safety, anti-social behaviour and noise.

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Housing Land Audit and Completions Programme 2021

Map showing land supply in terms of effective and constrained sites.

Our annual Housing Land Audit and Completions Programme (HLACP) 2021 is now available to view in full on our website or as a layer on the Council Atlas.

The Programme is used to assess the supply of land for housing and the delivery of new homes within the City of Edinburgh Council area. It records the amount of land available for house building, identifies any constraints affecting development, and assesses the land supply in the area.

Sites included in the HLACP are housing sites under construction, sites with planning consent, sites in adopted or finalised Local Plans and, as appropriate, other buildings and land with agreed potential for housing development. The audit does not include new proposals from the proposed City Plan 2030.

As predicted last year, the Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown during the second quarter of 2020 has resulted in the number of completions over the year to April 2021 being lower than recent years. Housebuilding activity is now back to the pre-pandemic level with expected completions over the next five years averaging 2,600 per year.

To view the data as a layer on the CEC Atlas, click ‘Planning’ and choose Housing Land Audit Schedules & Completions

The Programme demonstrates that there is more than enough unconstrained housing land to meet the remaining housing land requirement in full and that the five-year completions programme is above target.

This short video below gives an overview of the Programme:

For a housing site to be considered ‘effective’, it must be free of all constraints that would prevent development. Sites are considered against a range of criteria set out in Planning Advice Note 2/2010 “Affordable Housing and Housing Land Audits”. These include ownership, physical (e.g. slope, aspect, stability, flood risk, access), contamination, deficit funding, marketability, infrastructure and land use.

As at 31 March 2021, there was enough land free of planning constraints and available for development for 22,411 houses.

New Housing at Broomhills, Edinburgh

The effective land supply is varied in type, size and location. It is spread over a range of locations and includes brownfield (54%) and greenfield (46%) sites as shown on the above map.

The next annual Housing Land Audit and Completions Programme will be carried out in Spring 2022 and reported to Planning Committee in Autumn 2022.

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City Plan 2030: Consultation Closed

The 20th of December saw the end of the consultation period for submitting formal representations to the proposed City Plan 2030. 

The Council will now carefully consider the representations received.  Once the Council has completed its deliberations the proposed plan, along with its representations, will be submitted to Scottish Ministers for formal examination.  The indicative time scale for that stage of the plan process is set out in the approved Development Plan Scheme.  

You can find out further information about the City Plan 2030 here: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cityplan2030

Individual documents, including the plan’s written statement, can be viewed here: City Plan 2030 – background documents – The City of Edinburgh Council

You can keep up to date with the City Plan project by:

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  • joining in the conversation by using the #cityplan2030 hashtag