Friday March 6th 2026
Illustration of proposed plans for £350 million Cameron Toll plan
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
The second phase of public consultation on a new Masterplan for Cameron Toll in the south of Edinburgh has been described as very successful with over 400 people attending a public exhibition last Thursday and with a ‘consultation roadshow’ about to begin.
Cameron Toll Shopping Centre was first opened in 1984. The centre is the biggest private sector employer in the area and supports 600 full and part time jobs.
The new plans published last week give more detail about the proposals and set out how the centre can become a vibrant ‘20 Minute Neighbourhood’ and ‘genuine town centre’ for the local area. The exhibition follows a successful event that took place in December.
Key details of the proposals include:
– Retaining and improving the shopping and leisure facilities with proposals based around protecting Sainsbury’s as they key anchor tenant and making new retail units available to current operators to help retain them on site, whilst attracting new brands, wider leisure facilities, and a hotel.
– Up to 500 new homes for families, of which up to 175 would be affordable, to make Cameron Toll a genuine 20-minute neighbourhood and town centre for the area, and to help address the ‘Housing Emergency’;. There will also be new student housing to serve nearby campuses at Kings Buildings, Peffermill and ERI/College of Medicine.
– A new Tram ready ‘Transport Hub’ that could be linked to both the second Tram line and the potential South Suburban Railway.
– An improved Braid Burn walkway with the burn daylighted for more of its length and an improved interface with Inch Park.
The new proposals have been refined following the previous consultation event in December.
In that there was overwhelming support for the centre’s role as shopping destination and support for the leisure facilities as well. These refined proposals will be subject to further consultation with local community groups as part of a ‘consultation roadshow’ that will be organised with Community Councils, residents’ groups and other stakeholders.
Commenting on the proposals, Andrew Moffat, Managing Director of Hunter REIM said:
“We’ve been delighted to hear the positive comments about Cameron Toll from residents and to know how important it is to the local community. However, we can’t ignore the huge upheaval in shopping that’s taken place in recent years, with 91 UK retailers failing in the last two years, which has affected 10,000 stores.
“We need to ensure that Cameron Toll is regenerated in the coming years and that we improve the quality and range of shopping and leisure facilities. In addition, new housing on site can help tackle the ‘Housing Emergency’ by providing new homes for families, and the proposed student housing can help return flatted accommodation to residential use. We’re also determined to make sure the development is Tram ready.
“Parking was the biggest issue raised at the consultation, and we are consulting closely with user groups to get the balance of parking right for shops, shoppers and local residents.
“We’ve sought to closely follow the guidance in the Council’s City Plan 2030, which prioritises appropriately dense development on brownfield sites like Cameron Toll in order to protect the city’s Green Belt and Cameron Toll can help achieve that. We’ve seen in Edinburgh how successful the St James Quarter and the Trams have been in regenerating the city centre, and we’re no less ambitious regarding the scale of improvement we can achieve at Cameron Toll.”
Following the public exhibition, a series (roadshow) of further community meetings will be held to consult further on the more detailed proposals now available.
A planning application is expected to be submitted to the City Council later in the year.
Tweet Share on Facebook
