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Edinburgh Waterfront
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Announcements
From 2006
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January 2006 |
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Ten-mile Broadwalk
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Cramond to Joppa
It was announced in the press on 9 January 2006
that Edinburgh City Council are expected to study a £1.5bn plan to create
a ten-mile "broadwalk" along Edinburgh's waterfront, along the Firth of
Forth from Cramond to Joppa.
This is a ten to fifteen year vision. It includes:
- GRANTON & LEITH: protecting the
seafront promenade from any large-scale developments being built in the
Waterfront developments at Granton and Leith. There would be links
with the new marina at Granton and the proposed new cruise liner terminal
at Leith.
- PORTOBELLO: upgrading of the
existing promenade.
- SEAFIELD: moving the car showrooms and warehouses
and opening up nearly a mile of beach at Seafield. On this land
there would be shops, bars, restaurants, housing and the modern equivalent of
Marine Gardens Pleasure Park, possibly including fairground rides, a
theatre or concert venue and sports facilities.
The original Marine Gardens Pleasure Park was
constructed at Seafield in
1909
on the site now occupied by Lothian Buses bus depot. It had a
ballroom, theatre, amusement park and figure of eight roller coaster and
speedway track. The site was taken over by the military as billets
in 1914. Many of the attractions never re-opened, though the
ballroom and speedway track survived until 1939.
Marine Gardens - 1909
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It is not expected that the recently upgraded
Seafield Sewage Works would move from Seafield. Instead, there might
be guided tours of the works, with an environmental theme, and new sludge
tanks and methane containment domes with a structural elegance!
Edinburgh
Evening News January 9, 2006: pp.1,8,9 |
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'Via Albana'?
Edinburgh Council has undertaken a consultation
exercise and found that it's suggested name: 'Broadwalk' is not
popular, being considered to be too American and suggesting that a timber
structure is to be built.
The Cockburn Association has suggested the name
'Via Albana' or 'Via Romana'
'Alba' is the Latin name for Scotland
- and there was a Roman Camp at either end of the walk. At the
Cramond end the Roman fort was the headquarters of Septimus
Severus.
Edinburgh
Evening News May 23, 2006: p.10 |
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March 2006 |
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Projects Planned for Edinburgh Waterfront |
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Plans currently being considered by Forth
Ports Authority for Edinburgh Waterfront include:
- a new
cruise
liner terminal.
- extension of Ocean Terminal
shopping and leisure complex.
- transformation of
VA Tech factory
into an art gallery.
- up to 18,000 new homes.
- a hotel and casino complex.
- a concert venue.
Herald & Post: March 23, 2006: p.11 |
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March 2006 |
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A New Waterfront Island?
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Teardrop-shaped Island?
Proposals were announced in 2004 to create a nine-acre teardrop-shaped island in the Firth of Forth to the
north of the one remaining gasometer, connected to the shore by a
causeway.
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Thistle-shaped Island - proposed
However, following criticism of the initial
plans, the latest proposals, at March 2006, are to create a more craggy
island, possibly in the shape of a thistle, the national emblem of
Scotland.
Edinburgh Evening News March 22,
2006: p.3 |
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Palm-shaped Island - comparison
An article in the Edinburgh Evening News on March
22, 2006 - headline: "Thistle be a real fantasy island" - compared
the proposed island in the Firth of Forth with Palm Island, a
man-made island off the coast of Dubai, built in the shape of a date palm.
Liam
Rudden, writing in the Edinburgh Evening News, three days later asked:
"So what does Dubai have that the proposed
Edinburgh Waterfront doesn't? Simply, sunshine".
Commenting on Edinburgh's weather, he said:
"As anyone who has ever stood by the
weather-beaten old lighthouse that guards the entrance to Newhaven
Harbour, well wrapped up against the howling easterly winds and driving
sleet that sweep in off the Forth will know, Edinburgh's waterfront can be
an inhospitable place."
Edinburgh Evening News March 25,
2006: p.13 |
Thistle-shaped Island
- shelved
City of Edinburgh planners have rejected
developers' proposals to create a new thistle-shaped island in the Firth
of Forth to the west of Granton Harbour. They have told developers
that they should first concentrate on developing existing land.
Waterfront Edinburgh received this message from
the planners without ever having submitted a formal application for the
island to the to the City of Edinburgh planning committee.
Alan Couper, planning chief at Waterfront
Edinburgh said: "The idea is pretty much now dead. We hope we may be
able to return to it but it will not be for a very long time."
Edinburgh Evening News September 25,
2006: p.9 |
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September 2006 |
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New
Images from Waterfront Edinburgh |
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Telford College
Edinburgh's Telford College near the SW corner of
the Waterfront development opened in September 2006.
New Images
New images of proposed future developments have
been released by Waterfront Edinburgh. Developments proposed
include:
- A water feature 'snaking down to the
Firth of Forth, to be lit up at night', to begin 2007.
- A new Concert Hall, expected to be built
at Granton, Newhaven or Leith.
- A 'culture hub' around the old
lighthouse.
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- Shops on West Harbour Road.
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- Hotels, theatres and offices on land near
the Scottish Gas HQ.
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- Exclusive townhouses in the old walled
garden next to Caroline Park House.
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- Residential development on the site of the
former Shanks chemical reprocessing plant
Edinburgh Evening News September 25,
2006: p.9 |
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September 2006 |
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1500 More Homes? |
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Former Gasworks Site
Developers, National Grid Properties, say that
they now wish to increase the number of new homes to be built
on the former gasworks site at Granton from 2,000 (in the original
blueprint) to 3,500.
This would increase the number of people expected
to move to the Waterfront over the next fifteen years from 35,000 (in the
blueprint) to almost 40,000.
National Grid Properties claim that the high
demand for houses in the area justify this increase.
Others have expressed concern over the increased
traffic and possible lack of community facilities that might result from
adding so many new homes to the plan.
Edinburgh Evening News September 25,
2006: p.9 |
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January 2007 |
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Granton Gasholders |
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3, 2, 1 Gasholders
Granton Gas works were built around 1900.
At one time it had three large gasholders, prominent landmarks beside the
Firth of Forth.
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The first of these was dismantled in 2003 and the
second was removed in a controlled explosion in 2004.
©
The third gasholder is now 106 years old.
It had a capacity of 7 million cubic feet of gas until gas, but
production at Granton ceased in 1987.
The gasholder was 'Listed' by Historic Scotland
in 1998 and so enjoys some protection.
©
However, Historic Scotland and National Grid
Properties recently hired consultants to produce an engineers' report on
the gasholder.
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Possible Demolition
The engineers' report is understood to have
highlighted problems in maintaining the gasholder in a safe state.
Large parts of its latticework structure were described as being
"inaccessible".
National Grid Properties which owns the land on
which the gasholder stands are now looking at the possibility of
demolishing the gasholder.
Views of the local community on whether or not
the gasholder should be retained appear to be mixed.
National Grid Properties are understood to be
keen to see the gasometer removed, to free up land for new building.
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Most of the details above are taken from an
article in Evening News January 6, 2007: pp.1,3 |
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March 2007 |
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Granton-Newhaven Beach and Promenade |
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Former Gasworks Site
As part of the long-term vision of a ten-mile
promenade along the Firth of Forth between Cramond and Joppa, it has been
proposed that sand should be dredged from the Firth of Forth to create a
new beach.
A new sea wall, a full width seafront promenade,
access points between Granton and Newhaven and a tramway reservation are
also proposed.
This project has been discussed between Forth
Ports Authority, the principal land owner and the City of Edinburgh
Council, but this is likely to be a 15-year project.
Edinburgh Evening News March 21,
2007: p.11 |
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September 2007 |
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Forth Ports' Masterplan |
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Leith Docks
30-year plan
Forth Ports has submitted a 30-year plan for the
regeneration of Leith Docks to the City of Edinburgh Council for outline
planning permission. It is the largest planning application ever to
have come before the council. It proposes creating on their 144
hectare site:
- 16,000 homes (including 4,000
'affordable units') in 9 'urban villages'.
- shops, leisure facilities and a major new
concert hall.
- 12,000 new jobs.
Forth Ports' proposals have been welcomed by the
Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and business leaders. Independent
assessors have estimated that the proposed developments at Western Harbour
and Granton will attract £5.6 billion of private investment.
Local organisations, politicians and others have
stressed the importance of maintaining a sense of community in Leith.
The large number of one and two bedroom apartments now being created there
could lead to a very transient population.
Other Developments
Other developments that have been considered
include:
- doubling the size of Ocean Terminal
shopping centre.
- creating a cruise liner terminal to
attract 150 ships a year to Edinburgh. In 2007, about 50 ships
visited Edinburgh
- building a 30-storey hotel and flats
complex. This would become the tallest building in Edinburgh.
- creating a 12-metre high steel
"crow's nest viewing platform", inspired by Leith's shipbuilding history,
beside Albert Dock. This would cost up to £250,000.
Visitors
would be able to climb onto the structure to gain views of Edinburgh and
the Firth of Forth. It would also have information panels about the
history of Leith and future plans for Edinburgh's Waterfront.
Edinburgh Evening News September 4,
2007 pp.1, 12, 13
Edinburgh Evening News September 5,
2007 pp.22, 23
Edinburgh Evening News August 30,,
2007: p.7 (The "Crow's Nest")
Edinburgh Evening News September 6,
2007: p.5 (The "Crow's Nest") |
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Around Ocean Terminal
10-year plan
Further
details of Forth Ports' plans for for development of the area around Ocean
Terminal, over the next ten years, have now been announced. A
detailed outline planning application to be submitted ot the council in
spring 2008.
Proposals
include:
- creating a 'leisure village' and a new
marina, and possibly moving The Royal Yacht Britannia across Western
Harbour to berth beside a new pier to the west of where the cruise
liners now berth.
Liners up
to 50,000 tonnes would continue to berth at Western Harbour and larger
liners would berth at a new liner terminal.
- creating two new public parks and a
public square.
- building two 'towering new
landmarks' expected to house hotels, luxury flats and up to 1000 new
homes. These would be built on new piers in Western Harbour.
- building new apartments, some on
stilts above the water on the northern edge of Victoria Dock. The
Scottish Government 's headquarters are on the southern edge of Victoria
Dock.
- creating a new commercial district with
office blocks, shops and walkways, between Ocean Terminal and The Scottish
Government's headquarters.
Edinburgh Evening News, October 29,
2007 pp.8, 9 |
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October 2007 |
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Near Granton Harbour |
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In March
2005, architects RMJM announced plans to build an
'Eco-Tower'
with energy created from 50 wind turbines slung between two towers, on the
site of William Waugh's scrap yard in West Granton Road, on the western
side of Granton Square.
It has
been argued that this site, close to the entrance to Granton Harbour
should be used for a landmark building of some sort.
However
plans for the Eco-Tower are not now to go ahead and it has been announced
that, instead, 143 "low cost" flats are to be built on the site.
Edinburgh Evening News October 27,
2007: p.4 |
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December 2007 |
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More Family Homes |
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Waterfront Edinburgh (a company set up by Edinburgh Council and Scottish
Enterprise Edinburgh & Lothian) has announced that it has scaled down its
plans for the Waterfront.
The
company intend to replace its 15-year plan by a 10-year plan, to be
presented to councillors next week.
The plan will include more three-bedroom flats
and town houses for families, and fewer one-bedroom and two-bedroom luxury
flats.
Edinburgh Evening News December 12,
2007: p.7 |
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March 2008 |
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Promenade |
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It is
proposed to start work in 2009 on a plaza area at Portobello. This
will be Phase 1 of a 30-year plan to create a 10-mile promenade along the
Firth of Forth from Cramond to Portobello.
In
creating the plan for this promenade, developers are reported to have
visited promenades in Malmo, Copenhagen, Portsmouth and Cardiff Bay,
and to have studied others in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, Western
Australia.
The proposals include:
- CRAMOND: public art work, a shelter for
hosting cycle races, and possibly a bridge across the Almond to replace
the ferry that stopped operating a few years ago, and an improved walkway
to Silverknowes.
- GRANTON: barbecue facilities,
shelter and new ramp to the beach, to the west of the harbour, shelters,
cafe/restaurant, new beach between Granton and Newhaven Harbours.
- LEITH: Lighthouse Park at Western
Harbour, new bridge linking Western Harbour and Leith Docks, new plaza and
ramp to the beach from Leith Docks.
- SEAFIELD: new bridge and raised
walkway.
- PORTOBELLO: New plazas on the
promenade, improvements to the promenade and new ramps to the beach.
Some of the promenade are scheduled to be
completed in phases 1 and 2 (ending in 2013 and 2018).
Other
parts of the promenade including most of the route around Granton
Harbour and on to Newhaven and Seafield are scheduled to be completed in
phases 3 and 4 (ending in 2028 and 2038).
Edinburgh Evening News March 4, 2008:
p.18. |
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March 2008 |
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Concert Venue |
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Consultants have announced that they are drawing
up plans for a major new concert, conference and exhibition venue which
would become part of a new 'cultural quarter' at Leith Docks.
A city
council source said that a number of options were under consideration, but
the £100m Millenneum Centre in Cardiff, which opened in 2004, was the
closest to what they were aiming for.
Edinburgh Evening News March 7, 2008:
p.17. |
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March 2008 |
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Tall Buildings |
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A major development plan for Leith Docks proposes
to eventually create nearly 16,000 new homes.
Current
proposals include one tall building, up to 28 stories high. However
Edinburgh Council and Historic Scotland have spoken of the need to
restrict the creation of tall buildings in order to protect the city's
skyline and ensure that views to and from Edinburgh landmarks are not
spoilt.
Edinburgh Evening News March 19, 2008
AND
Edinburgh Evening News March 21,
2008: p.11. |
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July 2008 |
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Western Harbour Park |
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Work is scheduled to begin in early-2009 on
creating Western Harbour Park, a semi-circular park between Leith Western
Breakwater and Western Harbour.
The NW edge of the park was reclaimed from Leith
Western Harbour several decades ago. It will include sports
facilities and a children's play area. The remainder of the park was
reclaimed more recently and is expected to see settlement of up to a metre
over the next decade. Landscaped gardens are to be created there.
Next Generation sports and leisure complex and
apartments including Platinum Point have already been built close to the
Firth of Forth to the NW of the park. An Asda supermarket is due to
open soon, to the south of the park.
Edinburgh Evening News, Jul 24, 2008:
p.5. |
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August 2008 |
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Masterplan |
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Approval Recommended
Edinburgh Council's Head of Planning, Alan Henderson, has recommended that
the council's planning committee should approve the Masterplan for Leith
Docks at its meeting next week.
This
Masterplan is the largest planning application ever to have come before
the council. It proposes the creation nine new 'urban villages' and
over 15,000 new homes on 350 acres of industrial land in Leith Docks
over the next 20-30 years.
However,
the council's requirements are expected to include:
- At least 30% of the housing to be 'family
housing' with 3 or more bedrooms.
- a new secondary school for 1,000 pupils.
- three new primary schools for a total of
over 1,300 pupils.
- a new swimming pool, sports hall, pitches
and skatepark.
- a contribution of £34m for transport
improvements.
Fife Council had called for a hovercraft terminal
to be included for crossings between Fife and Leith.
Historic
Scotland has expressed concern about the height of the buildings, many of
which would have eight or more floors, with one having up to 28 floors.
Edinburgh Evening News, August 21,, 2008:
pp.10,11.. |
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Plans approved
Edinburgh Council's planning committee gave outline planning permission to
the Masterplan for Leith Docks, after more than five hours of discussion
at their meeting this week.
The
committee has asked the developers to aim at making the development carbon
neutral. The development is to include homes, shops, offices, parks,
schools and a cultural quarter.
The
developers have agreed to reduce the height of some of the buildings from
six storeys to three and not to build other homes, so reducing the number
of homes by 700, in order to protect the flight path of a colony of 1,000
pairs of terns.
A
Masterplan for 'The Hub', the area around Ocean Terminal, is expected to
be published later in 2008.
Edinburgh Evening News, August 28,, 2008:
p.25
Edinburgh Evening News, August 29,, 2008: p.7.
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September 2008 |
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Granton Developments |
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6 years late
Waterfront Edinburgh Ltd, owners of land at Granton due to be developed as
part of the Edinburgh Waterfront project, have admitted that the recent
fall in property values and credit crisis has resulted in the value of
their land falling from £33m in 2006 to 14.5m today.
They
have been in talks with a range of long-term investors, but admit that if
they are unable to find developers, the project may be mothballed until
conditions improve.
The
original completion date for the 2,900 home development project at Granton
was 2017, but this has already been put back to 2023.
There is
some concern that this may result in the proposed tram line from Roseburn
to Granton not going ahead.
Edinburgh Evening News, September 15, 2008,
p.5. |
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December 2008 |
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Edinburgh
Harbour |
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Development Plan
Forth
Ports, today, released a £700m development plan for the area they have
named 'Edinburgh Harbour'. The plan includes:
- up to five new hotels, including
one 16-storeys high with 1,000 rooms.
- 1,870 new homes, including 467
'affordable homes.
- a new home for The Royal Yacht
Britannia, 200 yards west of its current site.
- a waterside esplanade with shops
and restaurants.
- two new piers for small cruise
ships.
- an expansion of Ocean terminal.
- two multi-storey car parks, to
house 3867 vehicles.
- new cycleways, parks, gardens,
civic squares and a tram plaza.
- a marina with a cross-Forth ferry
base
- a new office district with 99,000
sq meters of office accommodation, beside the Scottish Government offices
at Victoria Quay.
Edinburgh Evening News, December 6, 2008,
p.10 |
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March 2009 |
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Development Problems |
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Gregor Shaw
Gregor
Shaw has built new apartments on the Waterfront:
- Platinum Point at Leith Western Harbour.
- Anchor at Granton Marina.
The
company has planning permission to build a further 230 apartments beside
Platinum Point and a further 155 apartments beside Anchor.
Administrators, Deloitte, believe that there is little demand for these
developments in the current climate, so is preparing to submit a new
planning application that is likely to feature more family homes rather
than luxury flats. |
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Forth Ports
Forth
Ports, earlier this week, admitted difficulty in finding development
partners. Its land values have now fallen from £222m to £60m.
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Edinburgh Evening News, March 19, 2009,
p.23 |
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June 2009 |
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Public Cash Needed |
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Walkway and Ferry Terminal
Forth Ports, the company behind the development
of the Waterfront, say that they are keen to create a waterside walkway
and start work on a cross-Forth ferry terminal, even though no firm has
yet committed to running a ferry service.
However,
the company says that, but if no public funding is available, these
projects will have to be halted. It hopes to acquire £50m funding
from the Edinburgh Council's new Tax Incremental Financing Scheme. |
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Edinburgh Evening News, June 20, 2009, p.4 |
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July 2009 |
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New Hotel |
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250-Bedroom Hotel
Plans
have been unveiled for a £20m, 250-bedroom hotel to be built close to the
office block, Ocean Point One, beside Ocean Terminal.
The hotel would be 120 yards from the tram
stop on the new tram plaza soon to be built at Ocean Terminal.
Forth Ports hope that this project will
kick-start the developments as part of their £700m proposals for Leith
Docks over the next 20 years. |
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Edinburgh Evening News, July 18, 2009, p.9 |
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July 2009 |
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Demarco Galleries |
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Arts impresario, Richard Demarco has built up his
modern art collection over the past fifty years. He hopes, now,
to created a permanent gallery to house his collection, which he plans to
gift to the Nation.
This collection includes over 5,000 major
items relating to literature, theatre and the visual arts. It is currently in
temporary storage at Skateraw, near Dunbar, East Lothian.
Richard Demarco has selected a site at the
Waterfront, to the south of Caroline Park and on the south side of
Waterfront Avenue, to house his collection.
Linlithgow-based architects EK:JN have drawn up
plans to create a £3m complex, including galleries, library, digital
archive, cafe, lake and landscaped gardens. They are now applying
for grants to help meet the estimated £3m cost.
It is proposed that there would be close links
with nearby Telford College.
The collection also includes thousands of
photographs, many documenting the 60-year history of the Edinburgh
Festival. These photos have been digitised by Dundee University,
thanks to a grant from the Arts Council.
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Edinburgh Evening News, July 24, 2009, p.8 |
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August 2009 |
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Regeneration from 2012 |
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Forth Ports had previously admitted that work on
their 30-year masterplan was unlikely to get going again until the economy
started to pick up.
However Chief Executive, Charles Hammond believes
that the right time to start the planned urban villages in Leith Docks is
2012, to coincide with the start-up of the new trams. |
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Edinburgh Evening News, Aug 28, 2009 |
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February 2010 |
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£84m investment |
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Edinburgh Council has announced that it intends
to help restart development of the Waterfront by investing £84m. Projects
funded would include a new cruise liner terminal, a riverside esplanade, a
new berth for Britannia, and a new link road between Seafield Road and
Constitution Street..
The £84m would be obtained through a new TIF (Tax
Incremental Financing) scheme, borrowing the money against future
increases in business rates expected from the new developments. Such
schemes are popular in the USA but have not yet been used in the UK. |
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Edinburgh Evening News, February 18, 2010, pp.6,7 |
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