newington – Planning Edinburgh

Front Cover of the draft Astley Ainslie Place Brief, dated September 2026. Image is of a mature tree and grass, with low rise hospital buildings in the background. It has a green/sepia filter over it.

We are asking what your think of our new draft Place Brief for the existing hospital site, which was approved by Planning Committee on 9 September 2026 for consultation.

Our Consultation is now live until 11 November 2026.

The Astley Ainslie has been in hospital use for over 100 years. It was originally a convalescent hospital and at the forefront of medical rehabilitation in Scotland throughout its history with the natural landscape setting important to help recovery. You can find out more about Astley Ainslie Hospital’s history on the NHS website celebrating its centenary in 2023.

The NHS is planning to keep some services on the site including GPs and the SMART Centre but is selling the rest of the site.

City Plan 2030 identifies Astley Ainslie for housing-led mixed-use development. There will be new development on the site, but this will need to respect the mature landscape setting, create a sustainable place and keep its special character.

Astley Ainslee hospital buildings on a sunny day with a variety of trees and grass in the foreground.

Astley Ainslie is well-loved by the surrounding communities with the Astley Ainslie Community Trust working with local residents to produce a Local Place Plan for the site.

The Draft Place Brief brings together that community voice with an assessment of the site and the aspirations of the NHS. It puts forward a set of principles for the future development.

You can read the Astley Ainslie Draft Place Brief and give us your views on the Consultation Hub until 11 November 2026.

Come along and meet the team

There are also drop-in events where you can chat to planning officers on:

Monday 5 October 16:30-19:00 at Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road
Saturday 24 October 10:30-13:30 at Newington Library, 17-21 Fountainhall Road

The 2016 Public Life Street Assessments were undertaken by consultants and were funded by the ‘Smarter Choices Smarter Places’ programme. The studies were used in the preparation of the 2017 Town Centre Supplementary Guidance.

A series of studies investigating the public life of Edinburgh’s town centres reveal how each currently functions in terms of pedestrian/cyclist movement and as a place.

Public Life Street Assessments, carried out by design consultants HERE+NOW for the Council, involve a mix of direct observation methodologies, user interviews and more focussed sub studies such as facade, land use and activity studies. In-depth analysis of this data identifies trends in the way people currently use the street environment. This has informed suggested opportunities for improvement.

The assessments supplement the Council’s existing knowledge about how these town centres function and build on existing thinking and work to date, including the Local Development Plan, Town Centre Toolkit and Edinburgh Street Design Guidance.

The studies provide valuable information for all parties with an interest in maximising public life within Edinburgh’s town centres. They have already informed the preparation of Supplementary Guidance for each of the town centres, draft Locality Improvement Plans and a design and an improved public space trial project within Stockbridge.