THE WINCHBURGH INITIATIVE
How Did it Start?
The Winchburgh Development Initiative grew out of contacts with the local community in 1998. Local facilities and services had declined steadily over the years and there were no plans for development in the village (apart from the desire to see the Claypit used). The remains of the oil shale industry were there for all to see and the Structure Plan at that time excluded the possibility of any greenfield enabling development which could have stemmed the decline and provided a basis for regeneration.
However, the Structure Plan had noted that Winchburgh had the potential to become an expansion area in the future. Its proximity to the motorway and rail network was recognised.
It was decided to make representations to the new consultative draft West Lothian Local Plan, pointing out the advantages of significant development. In 1999, an early Master Plan showed how a major expansion of the village including canal-side development, a new motorway junction and eventual reclamation of the Claypit and Niddry Castle Bing could transform Winchburgh and ensure that the lost services and facilities would be brought back.
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Who Are the Landowners?
The two major landowners, Hopetoun and Glendevon Estates, decided to pool their resources and actively promote an initiative to bring about their vision for the future of the village. These proposals were endorsed at meetings of the Community Council. They were also the subject of a local independent survey which showed that local people overwhelmingly supported the ideas for the growth of the village.
In due course the landowners appointed developers to carry their ideas forward. Following further work promoting the scheme, a Master Plan was prepared showing the full potential of Winchburgh and East Broxburn. The new Edinburgh and the Lothians Structure Plan (ELSP) initially opposed the idea, but the final submitted plan included the area in the Core Development Area, again noting the locational advantages and the opportunity for regeneration.
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Who Are the Developers?
CALA now has been appointed as the sole developer to take the Initiative forward. A team has been created with wide experience of this scale of development. However, the Initiative remains a joint approach by landowners and their chosen developer – a combination with the potential to deliver.
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CALA HOMES (EAST) LIMITED
Who Are We?
In 1875 the City Of Aberdeen Land Association (CALA) was the first Scottish Company to be quoted on the London Stock Exchange.
In 1975 Geoff Ball, the Group's current Chairman, acquired a controlling interest in the company. Since this date, the company has transformed into a dynamic residential and commercial development operation that is highly regarded both within its industry and by its own customers.
In 1999 CALA completed a management buyout. Ten senior members of the management team, with the backing of the Bank of Scotland, acquired CALA plc and became CALA Group Ltd. Since the buyout, CALA has expanded and has achieved record profits.
CALA Homes develops in four regions of the UK - Scotland, Yorkshire, The Midlands and the Home Counties. CALA Homes (East) Ltd was created in 2002, when CALA Homes (Scotland) Ltd split into two separate companies focusing on East and West Scotland. This restructure was to accommodate an ambitious growth plan while remaining focused and specialised on each territory.
For the past 28 years, CALA Homes has been challenging the frontiers of new housing provision throughout Scotland by increasing the quality of new homes, establishing new value horizons and leading the sector by improving design and customer service. New sales price records have been achieved in all operating regions, demonstrating the company's ability to deliver the right product for the right market.
CALA Homes develops a wide range of homes from luxury detached houses to modern city centre apartments. Many developments involve brownfield sites and sites that are often in conservation areas.
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CALA's Involvement in Winchburgh
CALA Homes (East) Limited took the opportunity to lead the proposed development at Winchburgh in 2004 along with the landowners, who have been promoting the project through the Winchburgh Development Initiative.
The company has assembled a strong team of professional consultants to advise on all technical requirements, to prepare this statement as an input to the Preferred Development Strategy for this Core Development Area in the Local Plan process, to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment and develop a Master Plan, which would both shape an outline planning application and provide a further stage of consultation with the public. CALA is committed to preparing a strong, viable and sustainable community.
CALA has been involved in meetings with West Lothian Council consistently since our involvement on this significant and challenging project. We have been keen to provide the assurances that are necessary regarding the ability to deliver this level of infrastructure and residential and other mixed development. We acknowledge also that the CDA requires to be considered as one; as a result we have been in discussion with the potential developers which control the land around the North side of East Broxburn. It would be CALA's intention and wish to drive forward this initiative together, with a view to ensuring that the significant investments required to guarantee this development can be achieved.
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The Design Team
The Winchburgh Development Initiative's design team is made up of the following consultants:
Carl Bro Civil Engineering and Transport Consultants
David Harvey Education Consultant
EDAW Master Planners, Urban Designers and Landscape Architects
ENVIRON Environmental Assessment
Locus Cost Management
PPCA Ltd Planning Consultants
Tribal HCH Socio-Economic Consultants
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Carl Bro
Carl Bro is an international multi-disciplinary consultancy with a strong presence in both the UK and Ireland. Consultancy services are offered by specialist teams within the following expertise areas: Infrastructure, Building, Transportation, Energy, Agriculture, Water & Environment, Industry & Marine, IT & Telecommunications and Management. Total staff employed exceeds 2600 of whom approximately 600 are UK based from our seven offices.
Carl Bro provides master planning and consultancy services for all aspects of Flooding, Utilities, Contamination and Remediation, Geotechnics, Transportation, Roads and Highways, Buildings and Infrastructure and Renewable Energy. We have a staff in excess of 150 in Scotland with offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow and have worked on a wide variety of multi-discipline development regeneration projects on behalf of private and public sector clients.
Carl Bro has extensive experience in carrying out large scale master plan projects and has the necessary resources in terms of expertise, experience and knowledge of local issues to deliver large scale projects such as the Winchburgh Development Initiative.
Through a sustainable partnership style of working Carl Bro has established excellent working relations with local authorities, enterprise companies and local groups in previous projects in the past and would seek to bring the same consultative approach all projects.
Through our past experience in the West of Edinburgh and West Lothian, we have a good understanding of a number of sewerage infrastructure, transportation, flooding and geoenvironmental issues already in this area and as such are able to deal with key project issues quickly and efficiently.
In the UK, Carl Bro Group was established in 1959 and has developed by organic growth, mergers and acquisitions to become one of Europe's leading multi-disciplinary consultancy practices, with large-scale activity in UK, Ireland, Denmark, Germany and Sweden. Projects are undertaken elsewhere in Europe and the Group has an extensive workload throughout the developing world.
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David Harvey
The consultancy provides advice to developers on all educational aspects
associated with their housing developments. The work involves analysing how each development impinges on the local authority education provision, and looks at the implications of this for each development. All stages of the planning process are covered. Advice is given at the application stage, assisting in determining the nature of any education building that may be required. Help is provided in quantifying developer contributions that are required; assistance is also given in providing evidence at Local Plan Inquiries - and at appeals should that be necessary.
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EDAW/AECOM
EDAW has an international reputation for 60 years of design excellence, which combines local expertise with international project experience. EDAW’s core disciplines are landscape architecture, urban design, planning, and economic development consultancy. With the three main European offices in Edinburgh, London, and Manchester, and a further, recently established, office in Belfast the company has a wealth of experience and skill provided by its employees whose qualifications and experience cover Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, Master Planning, Environmental Planning, Planning, Economic Development, Environmental Assessment, GIS and Graphics.
Our firm is interested in significant work, not necessarily measured in size, but by relevance to a projects impact on its community, investors and setting. Through the application of our skills, we strive to improve the quality of the relationship between people and their environment.
Underpinning all our work is the commitment to innovation, design quality and sensitivity to the environment. Ultimately, our work seeks to create memorable places and sustainable environments. Our strategies and designs are robust, visionary and deliverable. EDAW has a reputation for delivering projects from beginning to end as a complete service with many projects having been planned and delivered on site.
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ENVIRON
ENVIRON is one of the UK's leading environmental consultancy practices.
Established in 1989, the company now employs over 100 environmental
scientists and specialists in 9 offices across the UK; internationally,
the company currently has 49 offices, employing some 750 people world
wide.
ENVIRON has specialised in environmental impact assessment since its establishment. Its multi-disciplinary team of ecologists, air and water scientists, noise specialists and other experts regularly work along side planners, engineers and landscape architects in examining the environmental implications of new development proposals, helping to bring about improvements and agree ways in which significant impacts can be avoided. A key part of ENVIRON's work is the preparation of Environmental Statements to accompany planning applications for new development. Over the years, ENVIRON has established a reputation for objectivity and scientific rigour amongst developers, local authorities and bodies and organisations responsible for environmental protection and management. ENVIRON was a founder of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment and has been an accredited EIA practice since 1993.
ENVIRON is a multidisciplinary company. We also advise on risks from brownfield land and on contaminated land clean up; on property development and investment; on industrial environmental compliance and performance improvement; on environmental strategy and corporate environmental and social responsibility; and on environmental risks of products.
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LOCUS
Locus is a national cost management consultancy with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Birmingham. Our portfolio of projects covers a broad range of sectors including education, public health, urban regeneration and commercial developments.
Our principal responsibility on the projects we are involved with is to ensure that the design is developed in a balanced manner within our clients' budgetary constraints. This requires us to have a very clear understanding of the relative priorities on any given project and means the closest possible co-ordination of our input with the other members of the team.
Locus values its reputation and strives to deliver the highest possible standard of service on each and every project.
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PPCA
PPCA was established in 1983 and renamed in 1999 when a landscape group was added to Peter Allan's successful town planning consultancy.
PPCA has a well established reputation for impartial professional advice on planning and landscape issues, including master planning and planning advice on development proposals, planning applications, presentation of evidence at Public Local Inquiries and Local Plan Inquiries, and the coordination of environmental impact assessments. We routinely assemble teams of selected specialists for large projects that require a multidisciplinary approach. PPCA is currently engaged to provide planning and landscape services on a wide range of projects principally in Scotland but increasingly elsewhere in the UK. These include advice on the Shawfair new community in Midlothian; the Eastern Expansion of Dunfermline in Fife and on Stirling's Major Growth Area. Future projects include a new settlement in Fife and significant town expansions to the south of Glasgow, in Ayr and in Aberdeenshire.
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Tribal Consulting
Tribal Consulting’s 80 strong regeneration team provides services for every stage in the policy cycle - policy research and development, strategy, programme and project development, delivery and evaluation – from offices in London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester.
Our services include:
- Sector studies and analysis
- Socio-economic impact analysis
- Transport economics
- Affordable housing and planning advice
- Housing market analysis
- Economic and community regeneration
- strategies
- Economic consultancy supporting master plans and development frameworks
- Monitoring frameworks and baselines
- Business planning
- Project development
- Feasibility studies
- Funding advice
- Delivery structures including Public
- Private Partnerships
- Special purpose vehicles
- Project appraisal
- Neighbourhood renewal delivery
- Programme management
- Interim management of regeneration programmes
- Town centre management
- Community engagement and consultation
- Enterprise start up and incubation
- Policy, project and programme evaluation
The Scottish team at Tribal Consulting provides consultancy support to a wide range of public bodies in Scotland and to leading private sector organisations. Our major clients include the various departments of the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Enterprise, and Communities Scotland, Homes for Scotland, major house builders, BAA, the leading Scottish-based housing associations and many of Scotland's local authorities including Aberdeen City Council, Edinburgh City Council and Glasgow City Council.
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Peter McCaughey
Peter McCaughey has been engaged by WLC and WDI to develop a community arts project for Winchburgh. Peter is an established artist, who has exhibited all over the world, and currently teaches in the Sculpture and Environmental Art department at Glasgow School of Art. He has been involved in a number of public art projects in Scotland and the rest of the UK, most recently completing a series of permanent works in Raploch Stirling which have received a fantastic response from the local community. See Creative Spaces and Riverside Walkway
Peter’s work takes many forms, in particular film, projections, lighting and architectural intervention. He often deals with landscape and memory, exploring personal relationships to the environment, and draws on traditions of storytelling and map-making.
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