A planning application submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) presents the case for a new ‘20-minute’ neighbourhood called West Town, set to become the biggest, single homes-led development in Edinburgh in modern times.

The development consortium, West Town Edinburgh, is headed by Drum Property Group, which owns the site, located between Ingliston Park and Ride and the Gogar Roundabout at the western gateway of Edinburgh. The £2bn project would help address the city’s ‘housing emergency’ while providing a high quality of life for residents of the new, sustainable mixed-use community. 

Development proposals follow guidelines set out by CEC’s City Plan 2030, which identifies the area as having the potential to become a high-density city extension with capacity for 7000 homes, along with the necessary employment, commercial, leisure and community facilities required for a 20-minute neighbourhood.

Proposed facilities include schools, medical provision, civic and community space as well as bars, restaurants, cafes, retail, and other commercial spaces. There are plans for 27 acres of accessible green space – including a large 5.5-acre central park, several ‘pocket’ parks and a ‘wildlife’ corridor, criss-crossed by a network of cycle, running, and walking tracks. The Edinburgh Tram route runs directly through the site and a new tram stop will be created to ensure the whole development has access to quick and efficient public transport.

The proposals for West Town are thought to be consistent with the West Edinburgh Placemaking Framework, approved by CEC in December last year. They are said to align, too, with the ambitions of the Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework 4, which was approved last February.

Welcoming the planning application submission, Graeme Bone, Drum’s group managing director, said: “We now have the opportunity to make West Town an exemplar, sustainable 20-minute neighbourhood on a par with the best new developments taking place across the UK and Europe.”

He continued: “The amount of space on the site combined with its superb location allows for a natural extension for the city providing 7000 mixed-tenure homes and new jobs in a new 20-minute neighbourhood. West Town has direct access to some of the best public transport in Scotland – the tram line travels through the site and there are integrated rail, cycle and road connections, creating a strategic gateway to Edinburgh.”

Subject to the ongoing development of the delivery strategy, it’s hoped that work will start on site before the end of 2024, with the first phase of homes and community amenity being ready for occupation from early 2026.

The planning application was submitted following a 12-month local consultation, which included two online and one public consultation events.