Developer Contributions Supplementary Guidance

25. City Plan policy Env 27 Public Realm, New Planting and Landscape Design applies to all development with new public and semi-private external space. High quality, well-designed public spaces are crucial elements of the urban environment and in making successful places. The Council encourages the preparation of public realm strategies to coordinate design and provide information on future maintenance in other major development schemes. 

26. Development Principles for other Place Based Policies contain requirements for development to create streets and public realm improvements, especially where these enhance the setting of listed buildings. There is an expectation that these public realm improvements would be delivered directly through the delivery of proposals. 

27. The transformation of our core city centre streets as set out in the City Centre Transformation will continue with streetscape and public realm proposals in the Old Town Streets, Cowgate and Lothian Road.  This includes the following projects and initiatives:   

• George Street and the First New Town  

• Charlotte Square 

• St Andrews Square 

• Rose Street  

• Princes Street and the Waverley Valley  

City Centre Contributions Zone 

28. A contribution zone is proposed in the city centre streets to address the cost of delivering these projects. The sum cost of these projects is apportioned across new developments where a net increase in floorspace adds to the demand and use of improved public realm across the city centre core streets. This assumes that most visitors or users of the city centre will pass through a number of streets and places in the city centre getting from tram/train/bus stop to numerous destinations. The detailed calculation is in Appendix 11 and divides the total estimated capital cost of identified city centre interventions by total potential impact from development within a zone (floorspace of all existing units/premises) = £/sq m.  As many city centre development proposals are conversions or changes of use, not cleared sites, contribution will be based on net impact: new use deducted from existing use.   

29. This ensures proposals meets criterion d) of City Plan Policy Re 2 City Centre Retail Core which asks whether the proposal will help to create a safe and attractive pedestrian environment, safeguard historic character and improve the appearance of the city entre including the public realm.  

What type of development would this apply to?  

30. All development: including changes of use, mixed use, retail, commercial (office), housing (including BTR and student accommodation), hotel use.  

Other Public Realm Projects outwith the City Centre 

31. Town centre improvement strategies may emerge, and when these are developed projects with costs, 20-minute neighbourhood project and other town centre projects may evidence other public realm improvements where contributions could be taken from development proposals. These will be reviewed and costed in subsequent Action (Delivery) Programmes. Future contribution zones could be developed in a similar manner to the city centre public realm contribution zone. 

32. Elsewhere, it is expected that general footway improvements (including creating new pavement where one does not exist before, to make the development accessible and therefore acceptable in planning terms) in the vicinity of development can be delivered as part of RCC and Roads Act, and not through developer contributions route. 

Open space ongoing maintenance  

33. Where development will provide open space, trees and other green blue infrastructure, there must be adequate arrangements for ongoing management and maintenance. The Council favours factoring on behalf of the private landowner(s) but will consider adoption should sufficient maintenance resources be made available. 

34. The Council will only accept responsibility for open space and public realm maintenance and management if it owns the land in question unless part of a section 7 agreement with Scottish Water. 

35. If the developer wishes the Council to undertake long term maintenance of these facilities within the development site, land ownership must be transferred to the Council by legal agreement and adequate revenue resources made available. 

36. Open spaces and public realm areas within the development site that are not transferred to the Council will require to be safeguarded as being publicly accessible and maintained and managed to a standard acceptable to the Council. This may be undertaken by a property management company or other appropriate body, such as a Trust. 

37. Development proposals containing including new and/or enhanced green blue infrastructure will be required to provide details of the proposed management and maintenance arrangements to the Council for its approval. This must include details of the parties responsible for the short-term establishment and long-term maintenance of open space and green blue infrastructure. Management and maintenance plans must also include the funding mechanism over the lifetime of the development.