Chapter 5: Open Space and Provision for Sport

St Andrew Square gardens

Objectives:

To protect open spaces of amenity, leisure and recreational importance and value for sport and outdoor activities as part of a comprehensive network of provision
To secure the provision of more open space for recreation, amenity and other social needs, and ensure that opportunities for improving and extending the network of multi-functional linear routes and green corridors are taken

Background

5.1 Edinburgh possesses an extensive and varied network of parks and open spaces. These range from popular multi-functional parks such as the Meadows, playing fields, linear parks such as the Water of Leith and the Figgate Burn and areas of semi-natural woodland and hill land. Naturalistic parks and river corridors such as the Hermitage of Braid are havens of biodiversity. Princes Street Gardens in the city centre is a unique, heavily used attraction. Other important open spaces are owned by the Crown or government: Holyrood Park is the largest accessible open space in the city by far, containing a range of natural features unmatched in the heart of any other city. Many open spaces which fulfil important recreational roles or are important to the quality of the environment and local amenity are privately owned, including a large number of golf courses. Edinburgh is also fortunate in having a substantial area of hill farmland on its doorstep – the Pentland Hills – as well as other attractive countryside, the Union Canal, private estates and bridle paths, which provide opportunities to roam.

5.2 Open spaces are key elements of city life which must be protected and managed to fulfil a variety of purposes. The Council has been able to make additions to the network: the acquisition of land around Craigmillar Castle was the largest addition to the public park system in the last century; other acquisitions have helped enabled the completion of the Water of Leith green corridor. On the whole however, the opportunities to create new public parks in the urban area is limited, and it will be important that the major new housing developments in prospect, bringing substantial population increases, make an appropriate provision to meet their needs in ways which benefit everyone.

5.3 The Scottish Government has issued SPP 11 Open Space and Physical Activity setting out government policy and advice to planning authorities. This affirms the Scottish Minister's aim to significantly increase the amount of physical activity in people’s lives. Local authorities are encouraged to take a strategic, long-term approach to managing the open space within their areas, ensuring that open space which is valued or used, or has the potential to be used, is not permanently lost to other forms of development. Strong justification must therefore be provided before development involving the loss of a playing field is approved. Local authorities are required to prepare audits of resources and assess how well these meet needs. The Council published an audit and began preparation of an open space strategy in 2009. These documents will inform the implementation of the following policies.

5.4 The Council has prepared a number of strategies relating to parks and open spaces, and is preparing proposals for the modernisation and improvement of its indoor sports facilities, to enable it to continue to provide for national and international sports events. It has commissioned from private consultants the Public Parks and Gardens Strategy, which acknowledges the need to improve the quality of the parks which it maintains, to match the best in other cities. A Pitch Strategy has assessed provision for sport and concluded that provision across the city matches need, but many pitches need to be improved. An allotments strategy has highlighted the extent of unmet demand by residents for allotments.

Protection and Extension of the Open Space Network

5.5 The Proposals Map shows the significant areas of open space identified in an audit of the city. The criteria in Policy Os 1 will be applied to development proposals affecting all such open spaces citywide. Proposals affecting a playing field will be considered against relevant criteria in both Policy Os 1 and Policy Os 2.

Protection of Existing Open Space

Policy Os 1 - Open Space Protection

Proposals involving the loss of open space will not be permitted unless it is demonstrated that:

there will be no significant impact on the quality or character of the local environment
the open space is a small part of a larger area or of limited amenity or leisure value and there is a significant over-provision of open space serving the immediate area and
the loss would not be detrimental to the wider network including its continuity or biodiversity value and either
there will be a local benefit in allowing the development in terms of either alternative equivalent provision being made or improvement to an existing public park or other open space or
the development is for a community purpose and the benefits to the local community outweigh the loss.

5.6 The policy seeks to protect all open spaces, both public and privately owned, which contribute to the amenity of their surroundings and the city, which provide or are capable of providing for the recreational needs of residents and visitors or which are an integral part of the city’s landscape and townscape character and its biodiversity. Many of the open spaces identified on the Proposals Map are covered by more than one designation, depending on their environmental quality and value to the community. It will be more important to protect open spaces in the future, as the population of parts of the city increases and brings added pressure on existing resources. The Council will only consider limited releases of open space to development in exceptional circumstances, where the loss would not result in detriment to the overall network or provision in the locality, and there are compensatory circumstances, such as scope for improving the quality of provision elsewhere in the network. Amenity areas in housing which have been provided with no clear purpose or sense of ownership might be considered for development, especially if a more comprehensive redevelopment of a wider area is in prospect and the resulting open space would be smaller in area but better in quality and usefulness.

Protection of Existing Playing Fields

Policy Os 2 - Playing Fields Protection

In addition to the requirements of Policy Os 1, the loss of some or all of a playing field or sports pitch will be permitted only where one of the following circumstances applies:

the proposed development is ancillary to the principal use of the site as a playing field
the proposed development involves a minor part of a playing field and would not adversely affect the use or potential of the remainder for sport and training
an alternative playing field is to be provided of at least equivalent sporting value in a no less convenient location, or existing provision is to be significantly improved to compensate for the loss
the Council is satisfied that there is a clear excess of sports pitches to meet current and anticipated future demand in the area, and the site can be developed without detriment to the overall quality of provision.

5.7 Playing field provision must be considered as a city-wide resource and in terms of its contribution to local needs. The Council’s assessment of provision in the city as a whole has concluded that the amount of pitches, whether or not in public ownership or publicly accessible, is equivalent to the need. However, about one third are substandard and would need to be improved. On this evaluation, the loss of pitches to development cannot be justified in principle. However, the loss might be acceptable if alternative equivalent provision is to be made in an equally convenient location. Development has been allowed where other pitches serving the local community are to be equipped with all-weather playing surfaces.

Open Space in New Development

Policy Os 3 - Open Space in New Development

The Council will negotiate the provision of new publicly accessible and useable open space in new development when appropriate and justified by the scale of development proposed and the needs it will give rise to. In particular, the Council will seek the provision of links which will extend the network of green corridors when opportunities arise.

5.8 Housing Policy Hou 3 addresses open space in new housing development, which should always provide an element of shared open space if private gardens are not to be provided. The policy indicates that in large schemes the possibility of providing one or more significant areas of open space must be considered; the Council’s preference is that this should be publicly accessible. The above policy relates therefore to non-residential developments. In the city centre and other urban situations, and for smaller schemes, the provision of open space other than civic space is generally not appropriate. In larger non-residential schemes in less central locations and which will contain large numbers of staff, the provision of useable open space as well as amenity planting and landscaping will be appropriate. Edinburgh Park at the Gyle, for example, provides a significant amount of open space which is available for general use. The Council will seek provision which complements that in the surrounding area, especially in forms which extend the path network and link with existing green corridors and parks.

Countryside Access

5.9 Access to the countryside around Edinburgh is provided for through the Pentland Hills Regional Park, through two country parks, one at Cammo and one at Bonaly, both beyond this local plan's boundary, and through paths such as the Union Canal towpath. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 has altered the statutory framework, by providing for a right of responsible access to the countryside, and requiring local authorities to prepare core path plans.

Policy Os 4 - Pentlands Hills Regional Park

Development which supports the aims of the Pentlands Hills Regional Park will be permitted provided it has no unacceptable impact on the character and landscape quality of the Park.

5.10 Regional Parks are defined as 'large areas of countryside, parts of which are available for informal countryside recreation' (Countryside (Scotland) Act 1981). The Pentland Hills Regional Park, which was established in 1984, meets the urban edge of Edinburgh within this local plan area. It is a working landscape of hill farms which offers extensive opportunities to roam. Management of the Regional Park is the responsibility of a Joint Committee of local councils, Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Water. Its aims are:

to retain the essential character of the hills as a place of peaceful enjoyment of the countryside
caring for the hills, so that the landscape and the habitat is protected and enhanced
within this caring framework, to encourage responsible public enjoyment of the hills
co-ordination of these aims so they can co-exist with farming and other land uses within the park

5.11 The purpose of Policy Os 4 is to ensure that proposals for outdoor recreation activities, whilst likely to be acceptable in principle, do not detract from the special rural character of the Regional Park. Proposals will also be assessed in terms of relevant policies in Chapter 4 including Policies Env 10 Green Belt and Env 11 Landscape Quality.

5.12 There is potential to improve and co-ordinate opportunities for informal countryside recreation in other parts of the Edinburgh Green Belt. The Council is currently examining the possibility of creating a new Regional Park covering areas of countryside on Edinburgh’s urban fringe.

Development Proposals

Open Space and Recreation Proposals

5.13 A series of open space and recreation proposals are shown in Table 5.1 below and on the Proposals Map. Significant proposals arise from the developments proposed for Leith Waterfront and Craigmillar/South East Wedge, and the sites shown are as agreed in relevant master plans and development frameworks.

Table 5.1 Open Space and Recreation Proposals
Open Space Proposals Description	Comments
Reference: View OSR1 on map Site name: Dalry Community Park Proposal:Extension and enhancement of public park	This is an opportunity to enhance and extend an existing park in order to meet existing deficiencies in provision and as part of the public open space requirements associated with redevelopment at Fountainbridge.
Reference: View OSR2 on map Site name: Leith Western Harbour Central Park Proposal: 5.2 hectares publicly-accessible park	The approved proposals for Western Harbour include a new park, which will provide the facilities of a large neighbourhood park including formal and informal recreational facilities for all ages.
Reference: View OSR3 on map Site name: Leith Docks Central Park Proposal: 5.3 hectares publicly-accessible park	The open space network proposed for Leith Docks includes a major new central park, proposed to be sited between two areas of water.
Reference: View OSR4 on map Site name: South East Wedge Parkland Proposal : Parkland, open land and structure planting	Land around Craigmillar/Greendykes retained in the Green Belt will be landscaped to provide multi-functional parkland, woodland and country paths linking with parallel developments in Midlothian.
Reference: View OSR5 on map Site name: East of Newcraighall Parkland Proposal : Parkland and structure planting	~~The open land to the east of the Proposal HSG 15 development site will be retained as publicly accessible open land and park land within the Green Belt.~~
Reference: View OSR6 on map Site name: Niddrie Burn Parkway Proposal: Niddrie Burn Restoration	A new channel for the Niddrie Burn will be created to bypass culverts and allow their removal. It will alleviate the existing flood risk to the surrounding area, much of which is proposed for development. The banks of the new water course will be landscaped to provide an accessible, attractive area of open space linking Hunters Hall Park with Green Belt parkland proposed to the west of Greendykes (OSR 4).
Reference: View OSR7 on map Site name: Leith Links Seaward Extension Proposal: Sports pitches, allotments and other open space uses laid out in a landscaped strip	The new housing and possible new schools proposed for Leith Docks will give rise to new pitch sport needs. Land has been safeguarded to meet these needs in a landscaped strip of pitches, related facilities and other open space uses such as allotments, running from Leith Links to the coast. The layout and exact width of this strip should be the subject of a comprehensive landscape design.
Reference: View OSR8 on map Site name: Pilton Drive Proposal: Playing field improvements and club house	Proposal incorporates a grass pitch, club house and spectator facilities for use by Spartans FC to replace their existing football ground at City Park (see Proposal HSG 19). A synthetic pitch for community use is also proposed subject to available funding.
Reference: View OSR9 on map Site name: Craigmillar Castle country park Proposal: New city cemetery	The proposal will meet a need for a new cemetery The landscape design and management should reflect the site's designation as a local nature conservation site.