RESTORE THE BURN

RESTORE THE BURN

An exciting blue-green regeneration project aiming to restore the Burdiehouse / Niddrie / Brunstane Burn and surrounding habitats

Sometimes called Swanston, often Burdiehouse or Niddrie Burn, or Brunstane Burn … Whichever name you use, the river threads its way through Edinburgh communities from the hills at Swanston and Broomhills, to Brunstane and the sea at Joppa.

The Burn has shifted and transformed over many years, as the communities it flows through have moved and grown. Some areas meander through woodland and feel wild, others have become concrete channels of fast flowing water, and some sections are completely out of sight under roads and car parks.

Issues such as pollution, flooding, and erosion have an impact on the surrounding communities, as well as the wildlife that lives along the burn. With a rapidly changing climate it is vital that the river can cope with more frequent and increased rainfalls and provide cool oases for nature and people.

The Vision

The vision is for RESTORE THE BURN to become a successful and notable blue-green regeneration project having restored approximately 5km of the burn and surrounding habitats. It will realise the potential of the burn to:

  • Be a blue corridor – Restored, enhanced, and realigned, with improved morphology, in-stream habitats, sediments, and vegetation. Works may include 2 stage channels, backwaters, wetlands, river woods creation, and reconnecting the burn to its natural floodplain.
  • Be a green corridor – Restored, enhanced, and newly created habitat and vegetation line the banks of the burn and expand out into the connecting landscapes. Wildlife thrives here boosting biodiversity and giving people the everyday chance of natural encounters. It brings nature into the city, building health and resilience into urban wildlife and urban communities.
  • Provide valued public places – There are attractive spaces for work, relaxation, recreation, education, and play, that are valued and used by local communities and organisations. Seating & shelters encourage passers-by to pause and reflect at the water’s edge. Shallow scrapes and stepping stone crossings lead people across the burn, providing space for play and recreation. Placemaking takes place next to the river, but also expands out further into the landscapes that it connects to. People take pride at having these areas on their doorstep, keeping them clean and well maintained.
  • Provide public access & active travel – Well maintained routes increase and support active travel throughout the neighbouring communities of the burn, connecting them and the burn with each other and to the wider city of Edinburgh. These routes are for families to connect, commuters to get to work, and to link people to where they need to be, all the while connecting them to water, nature, and wildlife in their everyday life.
  • Educate and engage – Local people, groups and schools use the burn to connect, educate, and engage with water, nature, and wildlife in their everyday life. Signage, interpretation panels, and outdoor classrooms support these activities, creating a local sense of pride in the burn and its connected landscapes.
  • Provide climate adaptation and resilience – Space for the burn to flood is designed into its surrounding areas through two-stage channels, wetlands, and managed floodplains that keep water away from property. Rainwater and run off are diverted out of the local drainage system and into the burn and surrounding spaces where new capacity has been built. The heat-island effects of the city are counteracted by the burn and its surrounding landscapes, providing oases for nature and people in an increasing hotter urban environment.

 

Current Status

ELGT are delighted to say we have been awarded further funding to take areas 6 – 10 in Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park to construction. Detailed plans will be developed over the next year with the aspiration for these to go through planning in mid-2026 ready for construction to start towards the end of 2026. cbec in collaboration with HTA design will continue as the main project consultants to deliver the developed designs.

The project is now at the end of the concept design stage and you can find all the concept designs below!

Location

Concept Designs

Broomhills
1. Broomhills Farmland
2 & 3 – Broomhills Estate and SuDS

Burdiehouse

4 – Upper Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park

5 – The Limes Estate Reserve

6 – BhBVP – Burdiehouse Crescent

7 – BhBVP – St Crispinʼs School

8 – BhBVP ʻThe Dipʼ

9 – BhBVP – Lasswade Road Culvert

10 – BhBVP – The Bothy

Ellen’s Glen 
11 – Ellen’s Glen

Liberton Golf Course
12 – Liberton Golf Course

Edinburgh Bioquarter & Little France Park

13 – Edinburgh Royal Infirmary Wetland Zone

Hunter’s Hall Park
14 – Hunterʼs Hall Park South

15 – Hunterʼs Hall Park North (Jack Kane Centre)

16 – Hunterʼs Hall Park Nature Corner

17 – Niddrie Mains Corridor

The Jewel
18 – The Jewel Park

Magdalene Glen & Brunstane Mill
19 – Magdalene Glen

20 – Brunstane Mill

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Funded by: SEPA - Water Environment Fund

Outcomes:

  1. Improved ecological status of the waterbody from Moderate Ecological Potential (MEP) to GOOD Ecological Potential (GEP) for physical condition.
  2. New, enhanced, and better-connected habitats with improved wildlife and biodiversity along the river corridor and surrounding greenspace.
  3. An improved Active Travel Network along the burn.
  4. There are beautiful, uplifting and valued spaces along the burn, that people and communities take pride in.
  5. Improve mental and physical health amongst local communities, residents and visitors.
  6. Seek to achieve Net Zero gains with the creation and enhancement of wetted woodland, wetland and enhanced carbon capture.
  7. Communities, infrastructure, and property along the Burdiehouse & Niddrie Burn are more resilient to climate change.

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