Chapter 6: Housing and Community Facilities

Objectives:

• To meet the requirement for additional housing in Edinburgh whilst protecting environmental quality in established housing areas
• To promote more sustainable, better balanced communities
• To ensure that provision is made for necessary social infrastructure

Background

6.1 Edinburgh has a buoyant housing market and sustains high levels of housing demand which helps to drive up prices and land values, making it difficult for many people who would like to live in the city to do so. Nearly one third of its working population do not live in Edinburgh but commute from neighbouring areas.

6.2 Housing of all types is in demand: flats for single and two-person households, housing attractive to larger and growing families, executive housing and housing for rent. In particular, the city’s several universities and growing student body add to the demand for short-stay, shared housing (Housing in Multiple Occupation or HMOs) which is a strong feature of the more central housing areas. High house prices and land values make it difficult for an increasing number of people on lower incomes to find suitable affordable accommodation and for low cost housing providers such as housing associations to acquire sites. The high cost of 'family' housing in particular - housing with private gardens and of a type likely to be preferred by families with children - leads to households moving out of the city to adjacent areas where it is relatively more plentiful and cheaper.

6.3 The Plan aims to meet as much of the demand as possible within a broader, structure plan strategy that accepts that much of Edinburgh’s housing needs and demands must be satisfied elsewhere. It aims to promote more sustainable, balanced communities by providing a range of house types. In particular, it will assist the diversification of neighbourhoods dominated by social rented housing, where more private market housing will be progressively introduced. It will ensure that opportunities are provided for social housing providers and for an element of low cost housing throughout the city generally in all suitable schemes. It will seek the provision of a range of house types in new development, to provide for all in the community, including larger or growing families. Steps will be taken to restrain the further growth of HMOs where there is already considered to be an excessive concentration of these.

6.4 The emphasis of the Plan is on making the best use of urban land, especially previously developed sites, and on encouraging greater public transport use. Higher density development will help achieve this, and will be appropriate in many parts of the city. But regard will also be had to the need to prevent the cramming of sites with housing at the expense of environmental quality and a reasonable mix of house types. Housing demand is the main driver of regeneration in most of the city, particularly of its emerging waterfront communities, which the Council wishes to see become exemplars for high quality sustainable urban design. This must mean the creation of diverse, attractive, mixed residential communities in terms of tenure and a range of house types providing for all in the community.

6.5 The Structure Plan establishes a basic level of provision that needs to be made in its area and each constituent Council area. The overall requirement is for 70,200 additional houses (for the 2001 – 2015 period), 48% of which (33,900 houses) need to be provided for in the Edinburgh Council area. The majority of this requirement will come from land already identified for housing development, for example, sites with planning consent or existing local plan allocations. However, new housing sites are also needed to contribute to the overall housing requirements. The Structure Plan requires the following new allocations in Edinburgh:

Structure Plan Requirements

Area	Requirement
Waterfront Edinburgh	1,700 minimum
Rest of Urban Area	1,100 minimum
Edinburgh Urban Fringe, in Edinburgh City Local Plan area	400
Newbridge/Ratho/Kirkliston, in Rural West Edinburgh Local Plan area	1,000

6.6 The Structure Plan recognises that the allocation on Edinburgh’s urban fringe will result in the development of greenfield, and if necessary Green Belt sites. Sites are to be identified which support sustainable transport objectives and offer a good level of access by public transport. Where Green Belt sites are necessary, sites are to be chosen which have the least impact on Green Belt objectives and where new long-term and defensible Green Belt boundaries can be established. This allocation is required to help balance the housing supply, and provide for a range of sites to meet all sectors of the market.

Housing Policies

Local Plan Provision

6.7 The ability of the city to accommodate the required housing provision is based partly on the findings of the Edinburgh Urban Capacity Study 2002. The two non-urban site proposals at Newcraighall North and East have been identified following an assessment of possible options, and are considered to be the most suitable, especially in terms of minimising impact on the Green Belt and access to public transport services, schools and local shopping. A comprehensive master plan will be required for the two sites at Newcraighall, to show how new development is to be designed and integrated into its setting and the existing community.

6.8 Housing is proposed on one other Green Belt site, currently part of Edinburgh Zoo and occupied by animal enclosures and other zoo related infrastructure. The site has been declared surplus by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland as part of a comprehensive rationalisation and modernisation strategy for the zoo. A zoo master plan has been drafted and is supported in principle by the Council. A case has been made by RZSS that redevelopment of this site for housing is essential to provide cross-funding to enable modernisation of the zoo in its current location within the city.

6.9 A list of housing sites is appended to this (Table 6.1). It includes major sites which already have planning permission and sites for which master plans have been prepared. The development of all of these sites will not necessarily be completed by 2015. Table 6.2 provides more detailed information on new housing proposals being brought forward in this local plan.

6.10 The Structure Plan sets targets for maintaining an effective 5 year supply of housing land in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Progress on achieving structure plan targets is monitored annually. The most recent report, published in December 2005, indicates that there is a five year effective supply for the structure plan area as a whole. In Edinburgh, the figures for the number of houses being built each year and the five year effective supply of housing land are above the levels required by the Structure Plan.

Housing Mix

6.11 It is important to achieve a good mix of dwelling types and sizes. Such an approach helps avoid the creation of large areas of housing with similar characteristics, as was usual in the past. It helps create more mixed and inclusive communities which offer a choice of housing and a range of house types to meet the needs of different population groups, from single-person households to larger and growing families. Government policy and guidance to planning authorities encourages a mix of dwelling types, to assist in creating self-supporting, socially diverse communities and considers that good design is the key to its satisfactory achievement in high density environments.

6.12 Much the greater proportion of housing taking place in Edinburgh is on infill and usually brownfield sites, mostly in inner urban areas. In these circumstances, market conditions strongly favour high density, flatted schemes and such developments account for much the greater proportion of consented housing. These help meet the needs of the single and two-person households, which are the fastest growing population groups. It does mean that larger families are not being widely provided for in Edinburgh, and there is evidence that young and growing families with more limited resources in particular have to move away from Edinburgh to meet their needs at reasonable cost. The housing likely to be sought by these groups consists of larger units of three bedrooms or more in low density schemes, with ground floor access to private garden ground or play areas.

6.13 The new land allocations proposed in this Plan will be suitable for the provision of lower-density housing with gardens attached. Generally, however, the planning system can only bring relatively limited influence to bear on the range and type of housing coming forward. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to expect development generally, including urban area, brownfield development, to diversify its provision and include some larger units of three bedrooms or more, each having direct access to private gardens or safe play areas for children. The Council will seek this provision in 20% of each scheme of 12 or more units.

Private Open Space in Housing Developments

6.14 The above policy applies to mainstream, family housing, whether flatted or otherwise. It does not apply to housing built for occupation by particular groups such as students or the elderly. In these circumstances, provision appropriate to their particular needs will be negotiated. Policy Os 3 applies to development for purposes other than housing. The Council is preparing an audit of open space resources in the city, to assess how well these meet needs. An open space strategy will also be prepared, based on the audit. This will identify the contribution that development should make to address deficiencies identified in the audit..

6.15 All mainstream housing should be provided with individual private gardens or communal areas of greenspace, or a combination of these. The provision of well-designed and integrated landscaped areas is crucial to the success of higher density, flatted schemes in particular and in making these attractive to a wide cross-section of the public. The policy seeks to establish a level of provision which is appropriate for all flatted developments, except for flats which are to have direct access to private gardens. Overall, 20% of the area of a housing site should consist of greenspace.

6.16 It is preferable that landscaped areas provided primarily for residents are also publicly accessible. The areas of large-scale regeneration and new development planned for the Waterfront and some other regeneration areas will enable more significant areas of open space to be provided. The Council’s preference is that these should be designed for public use, have the character of parks and if possible be integrated into networks. This provision will be negotiated in the context of master plans prepared at an early stage in the design process. The Waterfront Regeneration chapter of this plan illustrates the proposals that have been agreed with developers in Leith Docks, Western Harbour (Newhaven) and Granton Waterfront.

6.17 A standard of provision has not been devised for lower density schemes of houses with private gardens. Some shared open space provision may still be sought in larger schemes, but will be negotiated at the planning application stage. Regard will then be had to the characteristics of a site and the opportunities it presents, for example, the existence of trees, water courses or other natural features that should be retained and enhanced. The urban edge allocations proposed in this local plan each have the potential to make a major contribution to the city’s open space network. This contribution will be defined in master plans, but the requirements have been broadly sketched out in this local plan.

Housing Density

6.18 Appropriate densities will be sought for different areas, depending on their existing characteristics to a large extent. Higher densities help achieve basic objectives of the Plan by making more use of urban land, helping regeneration and helping minimise the amount of greenfield land being taken for development. Higher densities also help maintain the vitality and viability of local services and facilities such as schools and local shops, and encourage the effective provision of public transport. This approach will normally be appropriate on sites in tenement areas, but sites must not be 'crammed' at the expense of open space, and environments must not be created that are dominated by surface car parking (see Policy Tra 5). It is likely that the highest densities can be focused on the city centre and other centres with similar accessibility characteristics. In these, the full open space and parking requirements may be dispensed with, but only if necessary to maintain the intensity of development and mix of uses characteristic of the city centre.

6.19 A particularly important consideration is the need to protect established quality and character in older villa areas, most dating from the Victorian and Edwardian era. In these, the quality of the urban environment is typically high. Equally, the demands for development can be very strong, encouraging developers to seek to maximise the development potential of available sites. Particular care will be taken in these areas, to avoid inappropriate densities and 'town cramming' and retain characteristic patterns of development. Supplementary guidance relating to development in villa areas has been prepared by the Council.

6.20 Large sites, when they become available, as in Leith Waterfront and Craigmillar, offer the opportunity for a wide range of design options and for variety in terms of house types, building forms and consequent residential densities. The Council will establish density and other requirements at the master planning stage, and will encourage developers to take full advantage of such sites, maximising their development potential and introducing design innovations that meet the Council's objectives for sustainability and quality.

Conversion to Residential Use

6.21 A significant contribution to housing needs has been made over the years by the conversion to housing of redundant commercial buildings. This has included buildings built as dwelling houses but previously converted for office use in the New Town, warehouses in the historic core of Leith and redundant hospital and school buildings. The recycling of buildings therefore achieves sustainability goals and provides the essential means by which the historic character of different localities can be maintained. It can help to create the high density, mixed use environments which are appropriate for central sites, as exemplified by the conversion of the old Edinburgh Royal Infirmary building complex. In considering proposals, the Council will seek to ensure that satisfactory living conditions and acceptable levels of amenity open space and car parking are achieved. However, it is an objective of the Plan to resist the conversion of empty shop units to residential use, and to safeguard these for shopping and small business use (see Policy Ret 11).

Loss of Housing

6.22 The retention of existing housing is important as a means of meeting housing need, including the need for low cost housing. The demand is such that planning permission is seldom sought for a change of use away from housing. In exceptional circumstances indicated in the policy, a change of use will be accepted.

Affordable Housing

6.23 Government policy through SPP3 Planning for Housing states that where a shortage of affordable housing has been identified, this may be a material consideration for planning, and should be addressed through local plans. PAN 74 Affordable Housing sets out how the planning system can support the commitment to increase the supply of affordable housing.

6.24 Affordable housing is defined as housing that is available for rent or for sale to meet the needs of people who cannot afford to buy or rent the housing generally available on the open market. Affordable housing is important in ensuring that key workers can afford to live in the city as well as helping meet the needs of people on low incomes.

6.25 The National Planning Framework for Scotland acknowledges the importance of a supply of affordable housing as a factor in promoting economic activity and social justice and in closing the opportunity gap. It identifies Edinburgh as one of the areas having the highest levels of need for affordable housing.

6.26 The Council's policy is currently based on the Lothian Housing Needs and Market Study published in December 2005 which provides an examination of need for the period to 2010. The levels of provision proposed in this local plan are intended to enable a contribution towards that need to be met. The Council, together with the other Lothian Councils, is now re-assessing needs within the region for the period beyond that date. Further information on housing needs is set out in the city's local housing strategy, which is also under review.

6.27 High land values have made it increasingly difficult for social landlords, the main developers in recent years of low cost housing, to acquire sites on the open market. The policy is intended to ensure that a proportion of eligible sites is made available to social landlords, or other providers, to build for rent or low cost home ownership.

6.28 Because of the buoyant state of the Edinburgh housing market, it will generally be feasible for all sites to make a contribution towards needs. Therefore, with the exception of sites proposed for development with fewer than twelve houses, all sites will in principle be considered suitable for affordable housing provision.

6.29 A key aim is that affordable housing should be integrated with market housing on the same site and should address the full range of housing need, including family housing where appropriate. Provision on an alternative site may be acceptable where the housing proposal is for less that 20 units or if there are exceptional circumstances.

6.30 Further information on affordable housing requirements is provided in supplementary planning guidance. The details of provision, which will reflect housing need and individual site suitability, will be a matter for agreement between the developer and the Council.

Inappropriate Uses in Residential Areas

6.31 The intention of the policy is firstly, to preclude the introduction or intensification of non-residential uses incompatible with predominantly residential areas and secondly, to prevent any further deterioration in living conditions in more mixed use areas which nevertheless have important residential functions.

Houses in Multiple Occupation

6.32 Edinburgh has a large private rented sector, a substantial proportion of which is tenanted and occupied as HMOs. These play an important role by providing affordable housing for students and others seeking accommodation for a temporary period or who have limited housing choices. However, they tend to be concentrated heavily in a limited number of locations and property types, i.e. tenement flats in central housing areas. In some locations, more than half of all flats are occupied as HMOs.

6.33 HMOs fall within the Council's licensing powers, and for that purpose all properties occupied by three or more people living together but not as a single family are defined as HMOs. However, not all changes of use to an HMO require planning permission; this has to be determined having regard to the intended number of occupants, size and character of property etc. Planning permission will be required where more than five people, who do not live as a family propose to share a house or a flat. For flats, planning permission may also be required where more than four unrelated people propose to share. The impact that an excessive concentration of HMOs has on the amenity and character of an area is a matter of concern. An over-concentration of any one type of housing is contrary to the plan's aims of promoting mixed, sustainable communities. The above policy is intended to play a role in protecting local amenity and contributing towards the creation of more mixed and balanced communities. The policy refers to 'localities'. These in practice are census output areas, the smallest areas for which decennial census information is published.

6.34 This policy is amplified in supplementary planning guidance approved by the Council. This includes a map identifying 'sensitive areas' for HMOs which will be subject to regular review and update.

Housing for Occupation by Students and Similar Groups

6.35 The following policy applies to proposals for purpose-built student housing, which are not generally subject to Policies Hou 3 and Hou 4.

6.36 The number of students enrolled at universities in Edinburgh has grown rapidly, by 50% in the last decade, to 66,000 in 2006. Edinburgh universities account for nearly 30% of all enrolments in Scotland. A relatively small proportion lives either at home or in purpose-built student accommodation, including halls of residence. Most students live in private rented accommodation, usually in shared tenancies, and students consequently account for a large The number of students enrolled at universities in Edinburgh has grown rapidly, by 50% in the last decade, to 66,000 in 2006. Edinburgh universities account for nearly 30% of all enrolments in Scotland. A relatively small proportion lives either at home or in purpose-built student accommodation, including halls of residence. Most students live in private rented accommodation, usually in shared tenancies, and students consequently account for a large proportion of the HMO market. Students also tend to concentrate in particular parts of the city, notably some more central tenement areas. This leads to the loss of family housing in these areas through their conversion to HMOs, less stable communities, a rapid turnover of population and properties left vacant for extended periods in summer.

6.37 There is a need for more purpose-built student housing and it is preferable in principle that student needs are met as far as possible in purpose-built and managed schemes rather than the widespread conversion and use of the family housing stock. Increasing the amount of purpose-built student housing assists the growth of the universities and the attractiveness of the city as a centre for higher education. Such housing can take place at relatively high densities and requires significantly less car parking and open space than family housing, although some provision may still be required, to meet anticipated needs and ensure a satisfactory integration into surrounding areas. Developments should be close to the universities and colleges and accessible by public transport, and it is the more central housing areas that are attractive to developers and occupiers. In assessing the degree of concentration of student accommodation the Council will take into account the nature of the locality in terms of mix of land use and housing types, the existing and proposed number of students in the locality and evidence of problems in rapid population turnover and less stable communities referred to in paragraph 6.36 above.

Gypsy Travellers' Stopping Place

6.38 There is a need to provide a site or sites in appropriate locations for gypsy/travellers to help avoid the illegal and unmanaged use of land for this purpose, or the overnight parking of vehicles on roadside verges. The Council is, in particular, actively seeking a site in the rural area that can be used as a temporary stopping place.

Community Facilities

Provision and Protection of Community Facilities

6.39 The intention of this policy is to ensure that new housing development goes hand in hand with the provision of a range of community facilities when this is practicable and reasonable, such as the large scale development planned for the regeneration areas. Facilities such as local doctor and dental surgeries, local shops, community halls and meeting rooms are necessary to foster community life. Equally, the Council will seek to retain facilities of proven value, if threatened by redevelopment proposals without prospect of replacement.

School Provision

6.40 The high level of housing development taking place within the urban area is helping to bring some schools up to and over their design capacity. If additional capacity would have to be created as the result of a housing development, whether by enlargement of an existing school or by the construction of a new school, the Council will seek a financial contribution that can be used for this purpose. This will be a matter for agreement between the Council and the developer. The policy is amplified in supplementary planning guidance.

6.41 'Smart Schools' is the Council's vision for the provision of education services in the city. The Council is currently providing a number of new schools, with a focus on improvements in the secondary sector (see Table 6.3). The project favours new build solutions over refurbishment, and where practicable it is intended to incorporate key community services and facilities into some schools.

6.42 Schools require large sites, especially if land for playing fields is also needed. Suitable sites are not always readily available in the built up area, and may require development on land currently used as open space subject to Policy Os 1 and Policy Os 2. In bringing forward future proposals under the school modernisation programme, the Council will examine closely the options available. These may involve rebuilding on existing school sites, identifying land in Council ownership currently used for other purposes, or acquiring suitable sites including the use of compulsory purchase powers if necessary.

Development Proposals

Housing Proposals

6.43 Table 6.1 and the Proposals Map identify the main housing proposals in the City. For the purposes of monitoring, these are divided into three groups: A Existing Sites - which includes sites identified in the Structure Plan base supply and previous local plans; B Sites to meet Strategic Housing Land Requirements - which have been identified as suitable for housing development in order to meet the allocations set out in Schedule 3.1 of the Structure Plan; and C Other New Housing Sites - which although not necessary to meet strategic allocations, will make a useful contribution to the overall housing land supply.

Table 6.1: Housing Proposals

Local Plan Reference	Site Location	Estimated Capacity
A: Existing Housing Sites
View WAC 1a on map	Leith Waterfront (Western Harbour)	2400
View WAC 2 on map	Granton Waterfront	6000
View CA 4 on map	Quartermile	1000
View HSG 1 on map	Craigs Road (SASA)	280
View HSG 2 on map	Chesser Avenue	500
View HSG 3 on map	Hyvots	310
View HSG 4 on map	Lochend Butterfly	356
View HSG 5 on map	New Greendykes	810
View HSG 6 on map	Greendykes	990
View HSG 7 on map	Niddrie Mains	600
View HSG 8 on map	Castlebrae HIgh School	145
View HSG9 on map	Thistle Foundation	170
B: Sites to Meet Strategic Housing Land Requirements
View WAC 1b on map	Leith Waterfront (Leith Docks)	18000
View WAC 1c on map	Leith Waterfront (Salamander Place)	not yet determined
View CA 2 on map	Caltongate	250
View CA 3 on map	Fountainbridge	1200
View HSG 10 on map	Clermiston Campus	295
View HSG 11 on map	Telford College (North Campus)	300
View HSG 12 on map	Telford College (South Campus)	350
View HSG 13 on map	Eastern General Hospital	274
View HSG 14 on map	Newcraighall North	200
View HSG 15 on map	Newcraighall East	220
C: Other New Housing Sites
View HSG 16 on map	Edinburgh Zoo	80
View HSG 17 on map	South Gyle Wynd	180
View HSG 18 on map	Shrub Place	400
View HSG 19 on map	City Park	200
View HSG 20 on map	Fairmilehead Water Treatment Works	300

Table 6.2 Housing Sites HSG5, HSG10-HSG20

Proposal	Comments
Reference: HSG 5 Site Name: New Greendykes Site Area 25.9 hectares Number of Units: approx 810 Reference: HSG 10 Site Name: Clermiston Campus Site Area: 9.2 hectares Number of Units: approx. 300	The site consists mainly of disused farmland. Much of the site is part of the Niddrie Burn functional flood plain, and it will be necessary to mitigate the flood risk. This is to be achieved by the creation of a new naturalised channel for the Niddrie Burn to replace the existing man-made drainage system of channels and culverts (see Proposal OSR 6), and by a land raise operation using excavated material. As part of the restoration, a mixture of wetland and woodland habitats and grass recreational areas will be created, and a network of footpaths and cycle paths formed. This site will become available for housing following the relocation of the University to a new campus in Musselburgh. The protection of existing trees and a layout and design appropriate to the distinctive parkland setting are key considerations. Proposals should contribute towards public transport improvements and traffic calming.
Reference: HSG 11 Site Name and Location: Telford College (North Campus), Crewe Road North Site Area: 3.3 hectares Number of Units: approx. 300	Part of this site is now available for housing following the relocation of the College to a new campus at Granton Waterfront. The existing playing fields are to be retained as open space. Proposals should incorporate a link to the cycle path to the south of the site.
Reference: HSG 12 Site Name and Location: Telford College (South Campus), Crewe Road South Site Area: 4.2 hectares Number of Units: approx. 350	This site is now available following the relocation of the College to a new campus at Granton Waterfront. An Urban Design Statement for the site was approved by the Council in June 2004.
Reference: HSG 13 Site Name and Location: Eastern General Hospital, Seafield Street Site Area: 3.25 hectares Anticipated Number of Units: 274	The site will become available for housing development once remaining hospital services have been relocated. A new vehicular access from Findlay Gardens will serve new housing association and care home developments. Existing access from Seafield Street will serve the remainder of the site. Three listed buildings will be retained, and their settings protected, and new pedestrian links created to the adjacent cycleway/footpath to the west and the public golf course to the east.
Reference: HSG 14 Site name and Location: Newcraighall North Site area: 9 hectares Anticipated Number of Units: 200	A joint master plan for sites HSG 14 and HSG 15 should be prepared in consultation with local residents. Proposals should make provision for the following: landscape and footpath/cycle network improvements open space proposals potential improvement/ restoration of culverted watercourse contribution to the provision/enhancement of community facilities. Vehicular access to the site should be taken from Whitehill Street / Newcraighall Road. There should be no vehicular access from Gilberstoun. A local transport assessment should be undertaken.
Reference: HSG 15 Site Name and Location: Newcraighall East Site Area: 8 hectares Anticipated Number of Units: 220	As for HSG 14 above, a joint master plan should be prepared in consultation with local residents. Proposals should make provision for the following: landscape and footpath/cycle network improvements open space proposals including retention of Green Belt land to the east (see Proposal OSR 5) potential improvement/ restoration of culverted watercourse contribution to the provision/enhancement of community facilities a bus route to connect through to Queen Margaret University College campus. Vehicular access to the site should be taken from Whitehill Street / Newcraighall Road. A local transport assessment should be undertaken.
Reference: HSG 16 Site Name and Location: Edinburgh Zoo, Corstorphine Road Site Area: 4.3 hectares Anticipated Number of Units: approx. 80	Land no longer required for zoo purposes provides an opportunity for high quality housing development within a mature landscape setting. A master plan should be prepared for the site to address the following: impact on landscape character information on retention of the tree canopy and where necessary proposed tree removal and replacement planting definition of green belt boundaries building heights mix of house types - including individual villas on the upper part of the site development form and design quality vehicular and pedestrian access.
Reference: HSG 17 Site Name and Location: South Gyle Wynd Site Area: 3.3 hectares Anticipated Number of Units: approx. 180 units	Site to become available for housing on completion of the redevelopment proposals for the Forresters and St Augustines High Schools on a smaller shared campus. The site will be used as playing fields on a temporary basis during construction of the new school facilities. A new access road off the existing roundabout on South Gyle Broadway will be required.
Reference: HSG 18 Site Name and Location: Shrub Place Site Area: 2 hectares Anticipated Number of Units: approx. 400 units	Site of former transport depot and Masonic hall. A planning and design brief was approved in 2002 dealing with form, height and design issues.
Reference: HSG 19 Site Name and Location: City Park, Crewe Road North Site Area: 2.4 hectares Anticipated Number of Units: approx. 200 units Reference: HSG 20 Site Name and Location: Fairmilehead Water Treatment Works Site Area: 13.3 hectares Anticipated Number of Units: 300	Site will become available for housing after replacement recreational facilities have been provided on an alternative site at Ainslie Park Sports Centre (see Proposal OSR 8). The Council has prepared a Statement of Urban Design Principles to guide the redevelopment of the site. The site will become available for residential development once new water treatment works are operational at Glencorse, Midlothian.

School Proposals

6.44 Table 6.3 and Proposals SCH 1 - SCH 6 shown on the Proposals Map identify current school proposals which involve development on new sites. The Council also has a number of proposals to rebuild schools on their existing sites. New schools are proposed at Greendykes (SCH 5) and Granton Waterfront (SCH 6) to provide educational facilities in association with major new housing development in these areas.

Table 6.3 School Proposals

Proposal	Comments
Reference: View SCH 1 on map Site Name: Craigroyston Community High School, Pennywell Road/Muirhouse Parkway Site Area: 3.76 hectares	Replacement school on a new brownfield site, strategically located to serve the existing community and new housing at Granton Waterfront.
Reference: View SCH 2 on map Site Name and Location: Tynecastle High School, McLeod Street Site Area: 2.34 hectares	Replacement school to be developed on a new site.
Reference: View SCH 3 on map Site Name and Location: Portobello High School, Milton Road Site Area: Not yet determined	A site at Portobello Park is safeguarded for the possible development of a replacement high school. This location has been selected by the Council following public consultation in 2006. Any detailed planning application will be assessed against the relevant policies of the Local Plan.
Reference: View SCH 4 on map Site Name and Location: Castlebrae Community High School, Niddrie Mains Road Site Area: Not yet determined	Indicative proposal to replace the existing school on a new site at Niddrie Mains Road. The Craigmillar Urban Design Framework proposes that the replacement high school be located close to the local centre. The exact location of the site has not yet been determined.
Reference: View SCH 5 on map Site Name and Location: New Greendykes Site Area: Not yet determined	Indicative proposal for new two-stream primary school associated with New Greendykes housing Proposal HSG 5. Exact location of the site for the new school has not yet been determined.
Reference: View SCH 6 on map Site Name and Location: North of Waterfront Avenue Site Area: 1.2 hectares	New two-stream primary school and associated play areas and playing field.