THE first steps in the delivery of a low carbon community at Dunbar have been taken.
Roads, footpaths and infrastructure, together with renewable energy submissions for the DunBear Park development, have been made to East Lothian Council by Hallhill Developments Ltd.
The 54.3-acre development is designed around The DunBear sculpture of a brown bear, which pays tribute to Dunbar-born naturalist John Muir, who is credited with playing a key role in the establishment of National Parks in the USA and around the world. DunBear Park is part of the Hallhill development.
The mixed-use development, which aims to include office, industrial, retail, leisure, extra care facilities, community and residential uses, will adopt low carbon technology.
A planning application has been made to East Lothian Council that will include roads, footpaths, cycle ways, street lighting and other services.
The initial application will be for the first phase of the roads’ infrastructure. The installation of the roads is scheduled for early 2021 subject to the statutory consents.
The Renewable Energy Strategy for the development has also been submitted to the council for its information.
DunBear Park aims to adopt low carbon technology to generate renewable heat and power on site. Heating will be delivered via a district heating network, including the use of low carbon electric heat pumps.
Speaking on behalf of Hallhill Developments Ltd, Ken Ross said, “We are delighted to be bringing forward proposals for the delivery of this exemplar low carbon community, including the submission of our renewable energy strategy to the council along with road, footpath and cycleway planning applications. In the recent consultation we undertook, there was overwhelming support from the community for this being a low carbon development. Adopting the latest low carbon technology will not only provide clean green energy for our own development, but also on occasion feed a surplus back into the local grid.
“Construction and low carbon technology will have a key role to play in the economic recovery from Covid-19 and through the DunBear Park development we are fulfilling these two objectives.”
