Inch Park Masterplan

Feedback updated 23 Jan 2023

Results updated 27 Jan 2023

Overall summary

Over 87% of all participants in this public consultation said that overall, their thoughts on the draft Inch Park Masterplan published at the start of August 2022 were very positive or positive.

A significant overall theme in comments was on the need for careful and thoughtful design in the next masterplanning phase to get the right balance and placing of different elements.

As of January 2023, the Thriving Greenspaces project team within the Council’s Parks and Greenspaces Service is considering next steps, based on the consultation responses and the need to secure further development funding for anything beyond very gradual development work on Inch Park.

Background

Following opposition to an option in an early draft of the City Plan 2030 to rezone depot land within the park for housing, Inch Park was identified for improvement in the final proposed City Plan. Also during 2021, it was selected for a Council bid to the UK Government Levelling Up Fund.

The Council-led Thriving Greenspaces project worked with local organisations and landscape architects Atkins to create a masterplan for the park. This was one of four masterplans we developed for parks in Edinburgh during 2021 and 2022.

These plans show how people want to see the parks used in the future and what facilities they should have. Masterplans give us a vision. What is actually possible depends on local support and on funding.

The masterplan for regenerating Inch Park came out of meetings, workshops and other events that we held from June 2021 to May 2022 with organisations based in and around Inch Park. Relevant Council and external specialist staff were also involved from Parks and Greenspaces, Planning, Transport, Water Management, 20 Minute Neighbourhoods, Scottish Water and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The community and local organisations involved in developing the draft masterplan included:

• Inch Community Association
• Inch Park Community Sports Club and its 3 constituent clubs, Edinburgh South Community Football Club, South Edinburgh Cricket Club and Lismore Rugby Club.
• Gilmerton and Inch Community Council
• Liberton and District Community Council
• Inch Plant Nursery
• Bridgend Farmhouse
• Inch View Care Home.

The Leveling Up Fund bid was made in August 2022 and a public consultation on the draft masterplan took place between 3 August 2022 and 31 October 2022.

On 19 January 2023, the UK Government announced its decisions on Levelling Up Fund round 2 bids. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful.

We always intended to bid to other potential funders to regenerate Inch Park and House, and masterplanning remains the key approach in considering future development and regeneration of Inch Park and House. However all development will be very gradual unless we can source more planning and development funding. At time of writing (January 2023) we are at an early stage of considering next steps.

If in time we are successful with funding bids, we will be able to move to a detailed design phase.  Depending on how things develop, it may be necessary to make a formal planning application at a later stage.

How we advertised the consultation on the masterplan

The consultation was primarily run on the Council online consultation hub.

We also distributed leaflets at more than 33 community and retail sites in South East Edinburgh including the most local primary schools and GP practices, community centres and libraries, Cameron Toll, the Inch, extending to Craigmillar Community Hub, Moredun, Gilmerton, Gracemount and Southhouse, and in Prestonfield and Newington.

A cover feature and insert of the masterplan appeared in the Inch Community Association newsletter of September 2022 (distributed circulation: 3000).

Sets of A1 consultation boards were placed within and outside Inch Park Community Sports Club Pavilion and also at Inch House and Inch Nursery and Depot.

We also advertised the consultation repeatedly using the Council’s and the Edinburgh Outdoors Twitter accounts and emails to an Inch Park mailing list averaging approximately 150 people.

Who responded

148 people or organisations gave views on Inch Park masterplanning via the Council Consultation Hub. 83% stated that they lived in postcodes around Inch Park, namely EH9, EH15 and EH16.

112 people or organisations also wrote individual commentaries. We also received 9 responses directly by email. We read all commentaries and used them in analysis of people’s attitudes to the masterplan’s details. The responses by email are not included in the tallies below because they were not responding to the online questionnaire.

9 organisations also commented. These were Grange/Prestonfield Community Council, Inch Community Association, South Edinburgh Cricket Club, Edinburgh South Community Football Club, Edinburgh Access Panel, Inch View Care Home, Edinburgh Road [cycling] Club, the Cockburn Association (Edinburgh Civic Trust) and Spokes Lothian (cycle campaigning organisation), together with 3 staff representing specialist views from within the City of Edinburgh Council.

49% of those who answered the question said they were female and 45% male. 1% of those answering the question considered themselves trans.

43% of those who answered the question said they were responsible for the care of someone under 18, with 53% not.

Summary of views expressed

Over 87% of participants said that overall, their thoughts on the draft Inch Park Masterplan were very positive or positive.

Of the more than 112 commentaries received, many were detailed and most were expressed as positive suggestions, in line with the overall pattern of responses.

A significant overall theme in comments was on the need for careful and thoughtful design in the next masterplanning phase to get the right balance and placing of different elements.

The detailed breakdown of attitudes to the proposals in the Masterplan via the Consultation Hub was as follows:

• Very positive -49%
• Mostly positive - 38%
• Neutral - 5%
• Mostly negative -3%
• Very negative -2 %
• Not Answered- 2%

Regarding the features presented in the masterplan:

• 74% agreed they would enhance sense of arrival
• 76% agreed they would enhance sense of place
• 88% agreed they would increase activity
• 92% agreed that they would improve amenities
• 76% agreed they would enhance planting, water management and biodiversity.

Comments by themes and features

Getting the right balance

Around 24 comments were on the theme of getting a balance right between different facilities and uses of the park.

Designing the park for equal accessibility and active transport

Around 18 comments were explicitly on the theme of designing in equal accessibility and for active transport. The most frequent points for about importance of a suitable path and cycling network for pedestrians and people wheeling in various ways, including with buggies for young children, plenty of benches, improved lighting, Changing Room toilets and other features.

Play and recreation

Improved or retained play and recreation, especially for children, teens and young people, received a very high level of support. In general, this support came from across the age range and the home base of participants. Explicit comments were as follows.

• For more formal play facilities - 15 people.
• For retention of a basketball court -11 people. There were repeated comments that this is a very well-used facility and by people from a diverse range of nationalities and ethnicities. In fact this features as the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA, item 21) in the current masterplan under which it would move north to beside the main sports pitches at Inch Park.
• Facilities for young people such as a teen hub -9 people made specific comments, mostly positive.
• More informal play environments -6 people commented in favour of having these.
• 5 people expressed the view it was important to work out the right balance between formal and informal play components in the park.
• Natural play proposals - 4 people were not convinced these would work, and/ or that they were right at the specific proposed sites.
• Youth cycling and cyclo-cross – 3 people wrote in support of Edinburgh Road Club’s youth programmes which take place regularly in Inch Park to encourage 6 to 16 year olds to ride and also to participate in cyclo-cross. They were concerned that as drafted, the masterplan would remove space these programmes use without proposing an alternative.

Inch House

Of 13 mentions of Inch House 10 were explicitly in favour of planned renovation and none were against.

Football

Overall, the masterplan including new artificial multi-sport pitch and changing facilities did receive a substantial majority positive response. However, the balance in explicit comments made about football was towards concerns.

Concerns about the amount, balance, or effects of new facilities (artificial pitch, floodlighting, parking) were expressed in 9 comments. 3 comments expressed opposition to an artificial pitch.

By contrast 4 comments explicitly supported more football facilities. Several others implied support for better football pitches in the context of more general positive statements about the importance of play and recreation facilities.

Sustainable urban drainage, flooding, water and the proposed pond feature

People made approximately 21 references to these issues. 6 expressed concern that the designs, in particular for entrances and paths at Old Dalkeith Road, would have adverse flooding implications.

Proposed SUDS pond /reflecting pool to south of Inch House – people made 5 comments, differing in attitude. The overall balance was to mild scepticism about practicality and the suitability of, or consequences of, using this site for this purpose.

Café (s) and Bridgend Farmhouse and Community

Proposals for a café received 11 comments, 9 favourable, 1 unconvinced and 1 against.

9 people made comments asking that the project work with and design in a way that supports and does no harm to the highly valued Bridgend Farmhouse community organisation and café. This included some concern about competition.

Wildlife, biodiversity and natural qualities of Inch Park

11 explicit comments were made in support of the value of these features or for their enhancement. A few comments expressed a view that the masterplan proposals contained elements adversely affecting wildlife. A very small number of comments argued for no development of the park at all, or for an entirely ‘naturalistic’ or ‘rewilding’ approach to it.

Old Dalkeith Road: crossings and park entrances

The Old Dalkeith Road side of the site received considerable attention in responses with 21 mentions. 9 people made the case, some with detailed proposals, for improving and giving priority to pedestrian & active transport crossings at ODR, not just at eastern Inch Park entrances but also to the community of Bridgend. Views were repeatedly expressed that this is a dangerous zone and there was some dissatisfaction at apparent slow progress in recent years in improving public safety.

Parking and motorised traffic

Parking issues raised by the masterplan - 9 comments were received in total including some concern proposals would generate significant additional traffic and parking problems. Some people focused on using parking to make amenities more accessible to all.

Lessening motorised traffic - 9 people and organisations argued for reducing or removing motorised traffic altogether from the park. For example there were suggestions about filtering by transport mode, or stopping through traffic.

Renovation of the walled garden

7 specific comments were made supporting renovation of the walled garden, again in the context of an overwhelmingly positive response to the masterplan proposals overall.

Noise and busyness

6 people expressed concern or stronger about potential noise and increased busyness in the park, of which 3 were views that the proposal would make the park too busy. Some concern was expressed about implications for residents of Glenallan Drive in particular. Several people suggested mitigations or noise management approaches.

Performances and events and the proposed performances and events space

Within the context of the overwhelming majority of participants giving support for the masterplan, explicit comments on this theme were varied. 3 were explicitly pro performance and events, whilst 3 were negative.

Next steps

Relevant information from the consultation has been shared with specialist Council staff in planning, transport, active transport, and water. It will be used in future planning and development of Inch Park and House.

At time of writing (January 2023), the Thriving Greenspaces project team within the Council’s Parks and Greenspaces Service is considering next steps on how best to proceed with possible funding bids.

A Friends of Inch Park group is in the process of being formed by members of the public. Friends groups are independent of the Council though they work with it. Friends groups do activities in and more generally care for parks and greenspaces.

Point of contact: thrivinggreenspaces@edinburgh.gov.uk