West End Local Place Plan Survey

West End Local Place Plan Survey

Share your opinions and help shape the future of your community.
Why are the West End Community Council asking for your views?

Thank you for helping make the West End a great place to live, work and play, both now and in the future.

Now is the time to make our voice heard for the next decade.

Please fill this quick survey and let us know your thoughts (your answers will be anonymous). There are 27 questions, takes 10-15 minutes and you can skip any question you don't want to answer. Your responses will be combined with input from workshops and other sources to shape proposals for the West End's future

Data will be used solely for the West End Local Place Plan and stored securely in accordance with UK GDPR. For queries, contact placeplan@edinburghwestendcc.org

About Local Place Plans

Local Place Plans (LPPs) are community led plans that were introduced by The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 to encourage communities to be more active participants in planning for their futures. LPPs enable communities to submit ideas and proposals for their area. If a LPP is submitted the council will place it on a register of LPPs and will take its content into account during the preparation of the next City Development Plan starting in September 2026.

Our plan will influence all planning decisions for the next decade.

You can find out more about Local Place Plans at https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/local-development-plan-guidance-1/local-place-plans
Watch a brief video to find out more about them and the evaluation tool https://youtu.be/kbEh9wv60Lc?si=rdWLmjVUNrY0bb8z
What Matters Most

We want to understand what matters most to you about living, working, studying or visiting the West End.
Q1. What is your relationship to the West End?

Other
Other. e.g. non-resident property owner, second home, elected representative
Q2. How long have you been connected to this area?

Q3. What are your priorities for the West End?

Rows	1 Lower Priority	2	3	4	5	6	7 Higher Priority
A. Moving Around
B. Public Transport
C. Traffic and parking
D. Streets & Spaces
E. Natural Environment
F. Play & Recreation
G. Facilities & Amenities
H. Work & Local Economy
I. Housing & Community
J. Social Contact
K. Identity & Belonging
L. Feeling Safe
M. Care & Maintenance
N. Influence & Sense of Control
Other

Q4. Do you want to give us any more detail?
Please tell us what your Other was if you selected this priority
Housing

The West End has a distinctive housing mix including tenement flats, student housing and visitor accommodation which has been changing with many former offices being converted back to accommodation and new building around Haymarket. We want to understand what's working and what could be better.

Q5. Thinking about housing and other accommodation types in the West End, do you feel there is too much, too little or the right amount of the following types. Please select one option per row

Rows	Too much	About Right	Too little	Don't know
Homes for older people or those with disabilities
Student accommodation (Purpose built - PBSA)
Shared flats (eg HMO's)
Hotels/ApartHotels/Hostels
Holiday / Short Term Lets (STL)
Family Homes suitable for children
Homes for those on ordinary incomes

Q6. Does the West End need more new housing/accomodation?

Q7. If new accommodation/housing is to be built or converted in the West End, which types and styles should be high or low priority?

Rows	Low priority	High priority	None Required
Mixed use development (homes with shops or workspaces
Family housing
Housing for older people
Accessible or adaptable housing
Energy efficient, sustainable housing
Student housing (PBSA or HMO)
Visitor accomodation (Hotel or STL)
Affordable housing
Mews style housing
Flats (converted or new)
Mid-rise housing (4-8 Storeys)
Terrace and town houses.

Q8. Are you living (or visiting)

Other
Q9. What are your main concerns or hopes for the future about housing and other accommodation types in the West End?
Q10. If you are living or staying overnight in the West End can you tell us a little more about it?

Other
Q11. What is the first part of your postcode?
e.g. EH12 This helps us understand the geographic spread of responses and cannot be linked to you
Community Facilities and Amenities

What makes the west end a good place to live, work, study or visit? This section asks about community facilities, services and things that bring people together.

Q12. How often do you use the following in the West End please? Select one option per row

Rows	Weekly	Monthly	Rarely	Never	Didn't know it existed	Somewhere else in Edinburgh
Community centres or halls (secular or religious)
Public green space (inc water of Leith)
Library
Sports Facilities
Local shops (grocery/bakery/pharmacy/clothing etc)
Cafes and Restaurants
Places of worship
Arts and Cultural venues
Pubs and bars
Public toilets
Health Services (GP's, Specialist Clinics etc)

Q13. Which of the following facilities would you most like to see more of in the West End?

Other

Q14. How well does the West End meet your needs for the following? Please select one option per row

Rows	Very well	Well	Okay	Poorly	Very poorly	Don't know	Go elsewhere in Edinburgh
Places to meet friends or neighbours
Evening activities
Things to do during the day
Weekend events
Things for families and young children
Activities for teenagers
Facilities for young people (16-25)
Places for older people
Being part of a community
Feeling safe during the day
Feeling safe in the evening

Q14. Do you have any specific suggestions or locations for community facilities in the West End?
What Makes the West End Unique?

The West End is a vibrant and mixed community within a World Heritage capital city. We host a broad range of retail, hospitality, cultural events and businesses used by the community, by those from elsewhere around Scotland and from across the world. We want to understand how we can balance these often competing interests.

Q15. Things which contribute to making the West End what it is. What do you value most/least?.

Rows	1 Least Important	2	3	4	5	6	7 Most Important
Retail
Hospitality
Offices and Businesses
Heritage
Festivals and Events
Other

Q16. What do you value most about the West End and what could be improved?
Q17. How many stars would you rate the area?
Q18. Why did you give this rating?

Q19. Which of these have a positive or negative impact on you, the West End as a community or place to do business?

Rows	-3 Very negative	-2 Negative	-1 Slightly negative	0 Neither	+1Slightly positive	+2 Positive	+3 Very positive
Retail
Hospitality
Offices and Businesses
Heritage
Festivals and Events
Other

Q20. What are your main concerns or hopes about the balance between community needs and city centre demands?
Looking Ahead

Finally, we would like to hear what overall vision you have for the West End's future.
Q21. What would make the West End more livable and a place to make you proud of today?
Q22. In one sentence, what would make the West End an even better place in 10 years time?
Q23. Mark any specific locations for your suggestions on the interactive map below. Please note the interactive map will not work in Google Chrome or some devices. If you need this in an alternate format let us know, or just provide us information in the text box below.
Q24. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the West End's future?
About You

These questions help us make sure we're hearing from a representative cross-section of the West End and compared against other data sources such as NRS Population Estimates and other official sources. Your data will be held securely, processed in accordance with UK GDPR, and will be deleted after the project concludes. All questions in this section are optional.
Q25. Your age group?
Q26. Do any of the following apply to you?
Q27. Is English your first language?

Other
If you would like to stay informed about the Local Place Plan and be entered into a draw to win one of four gift vouchers kindly donated by Basement Gelato, Teuchters, The Green Room and Voyage of Buck please provide your email or phone number below. This will only be used for LPP updates and will NOT be shared.
Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. If you would like any further information or want to help out more in the place plan preparation please contact placeplan@edinburghwestendcc.org.uk
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West End Local Place Plan Survey

What Matters Most

Housing

Community Facilities and Amenities

What Makes the West End Unique?

Looking Ahead

About You