Portobello Promenade

Portobello Promenade Project

The Portobello Promenade Project is a City of Edinburgh Council landscape improvement programme focused on the Promenade between Kings Place and Joppa, including Straiton Place Park and Towerbank Playground.

The project sits within the Council’s Thriving Green Spaces programme. It aims to deliver coordinated improvements to public realm, play provision, green infrastructure, and public amenity, resulting in a site-wide masterplan and phased construction works.

This project is part of the Visitor Levy's City Transformation Fund investment programme.

Find out more about the Visitor Levy Programme.

The vision and project design

The vision is to enhance Portobello’s public realm by creating a more welcoming, accessible and resilient environment - one that supports the needs of the local community, visitors, and businesses alike.

The project adopts a place-based design approach, meaning all proposals are grounded in the specific character, history, and community of Portobello. Key principles guiding the design process include:

Heritage-informed design: celebrating Portobello’s industrial past (brickworks, potteries, the surviving Kilns) and its Victorian seaside heritage
Inclusive by default: accessibility and inclusive play are baseline requirements
Nature-focused: placing green and nature-friendly solutions at the centre of the proposals
Phased and deliverable: the masterplan is structured around realistic phasing and costed delivery
Community-centred: stakeholder and community engagement is built into the design process

AtkinsRéalis has been appointed as lead consultant for the project. They will develop a Masterplan (RIBA Stage 2) and subsequent technical design.

We have also launched our Porty Prom Advisory Team, which will run throughout the project, bringing together representative community groups and organisations to help guide the project going forward.

Porty Community Energy have been appointed as the community partner organisation, to help deliver community engagement activities throughout the project. Porty Community Energy have extensive experience delivering place-based improvement projects in the neighbourhood, and we are excited to be working with them.

We are now working with Porty Community Energy to deliver engagement events with a range of Prom users, and will share more details soon.

Throughout our conversations with the local community and in previous consultations, residents and visitors have consistently expressed the need for additional public toilets. This need was particularly evident further along the Promenade at Straiton Place (the Pirate Park), where temporary toilets are currently situated. To address this issue, we are bringing forward the delivery of new public toilets, with the aim of having them open in spring 2027. We are pleased to be able to deliver this facility sooner than originally planned.

Engagement

Stakeholder and community engagement is a core component of the project development phase.

The Landscape Architecture firm AtkinsRealis and our Project team have been delivering engagement activities with the local community and businesses as the project develops, to explore the needs of local community and opportunities for improvement. We had our first pop-up event on Friday 11 September, and are grateful to all who took the time to chat to the team about the project.

We’re inviting local residents and the Portobello community to join us for a drop-in event on Tuesday 17 November from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm at Portobello Library.

The event will provide an opportunity to view the draft designs for the proposed new public toilet facilities, find out more about the plans and ask questions. The project team will also be keen to discuss the proposals with the community to help inform their development.

Event details:

Date: Tuesday 17 November 2026
Time: 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: Portobello Library, 14 Rosefield Avenue, Edinburgh, EH15 1AU

You can also share your views and ideas for the Promenade on our Portobello Promenade Padlet page.

FAQs

Why is this happening now?

Portobello Promenade is much loved, but parts of its public realm, play facilities and toilet provision need updating to meet modern standards of accessibility, inclusion and climate resilience. Previous public consultations and engagement with Portobello community groups have highlighted the need for improvements to public toilets provision and play facilities for children of different ages.

How can I share my views or get involved?

Community and stakeholder engagement is planned as the masterplan develops. In the meantime, you can share your views and ideas for the Promenade on our Portobello Promenade Padlet page. You can also reach out to the project team directly at porty@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Do you have any designs ready?

No, we do not have any designs ready at this time. We are still in the very early days of this project, and have started working with and engaging with local community groups and stakeholders. We have a long way to go, but in the future any plans or designs will be published on this page.

Is everything in the plans guaranteed to happen?

Not yet. Many elements are subject to funding and Council approval. The masterplan stage will help test what's possible and prioritise what's delivered first. A new modern set of Public Toilets with Changing Places and showers is our priority intervention, and we are working with the aim to deliver those in Spring 2027.

What are the timelines for the public toilets delivery?

We have been asked to bring forward the delivery of new public toilets, with the aim of having them open in spring 2027. To meet the new timeline, we are now focussing part of our engagement on the toilets, their design and facilities, and the surrounding park and play equipment. We will run consultation activities this autumn, and will be sharing details of how to get involved shortly. Formal consultation on the draft masterplan remains scheduled for spring 2027.

Where the new public toilets will be located?

The initial set of toilets will be in Straiton Place (the Pirate Park). This has long been identified as a potential location for public toilets, particularly to serve the diverse range of users of the surrounding park and play facilities. Previous work undertaken by the Community Council also explored the suitability of this location, including access to utilities and services. The exact location within the park will be confirmed following further feasibility assessments.

How does the delivery of public toilets fit with the wider masterplan?

The toilets and the wider masterplan will both continue to be developed, but the toilets will be delivered first to address the urgent need people have described. This does not rule out refurbishing existing toilets, or adding more toilets further along the Promenade, as part of the masterplan. We will also be accelerating any plans around Straiton Place, so that we ensure that the toilets enhance the park and fit within an overall vision for the space.

What will the toilets be like?

We want to ensure that the public toilets are welcoming, safe, clean, and meet the needs of all users.

We’ve recently installed 4 new public toilet blocks in our parks and open spaces, meaning that we have a lot of valuable learnings to bring in to ensure that the toilets are safe, accessible, and appropriate for a range of users. For our other recent public toilets, we engaged with over 50 groups, including PAMIS, Scottish Trans, Edinburgh Women's Aid, and Police Scotland, to understand how different people use these spaces. This gives us a strong foundation for the design. The new facility will include a Changing Places toilet, which offers larger, fully equipped accessible space for people with more complex needs, individual cubicles that can accommodate families/prams. In addition, the toilets will respond to the needs of the community in Portobello and could have, for example, outdoor showers.

What other projects are happening in Portobello?

Portobello is home to a number of initiatives led by different teams across the City of Edinburgh Council. The Portobello Promenade project is just one of these initiatives.

Below are some of the other projects taking place in Portobello.

Continuous Footway Project

This project aims to make walking along Portobello High Street safer and easier by introducing continuous footways across side streets, beginning with those between Bath Street and St Mark’s Place. These improvements form the first phase of the wider Portobello High Street Improvement Programme and are planned for delivery during 2026-2028.

Portobello to Musselburgh Active Travel Route

Led by the Council’s Active Travel team, this project will create a high-quality, separate cycle route linking Portobello to Musselburgh. The route will connect Portobello Promenade with the Musselburgh Active Toun scheme and the John Muir Way, helping to improve cycling and walking connections across the area. Public consultation on the initial designs is expected to take place in autumn 2026. Contact activetravel@edinburgh.gov.uk for more details.

Edinburgh Coastal Change Adaptation Plan (CCAP)

This project is led by the Council’s Flood Management team and is developing a long-term plan to help Edinburgh’s coastline adapt to the impacts of climate change, including coastal erosion, flooding and rising sea levels. The plan will guide future decisions on managing and protecting coastal areas, including Portobello and Joppa. Contact flood.management@edinburgh.gov.uk for more information on this project.

Local Traffic Improvement Programme

Led by the Council’s Local Traffic Improvement team, this project has improved several pedestrian crossings along Bath Street and part of Straiton Place. The changes make it safer and easier for people walking, wheeling and using mobility aids to travel between homes, businesses, community facilities and Portobello Beach.

Portobello Promenade