Executive Summary

East Lothian’s settlements—Haddington, Musselburgh, North Berwick, Dunbar, Tranent, Prestonpans, Cockenzie & Port Seton, and others—enjoy strong fundamentals: historic fabric, coastal settings, compact high streets, and rail links to Edinburgh. Yet many places feel visually “under-curated”: cluttered streets, worn public realm, weak shopfront standards, piecemeal new build, and inconsistent landscape care.

This paper argues the problem is less a lack of taste and more a system gap: diffuse responsibilities, risk-averse planning, thin design capacity, constrained revenue budgets, fragmented property ownership, and procurement that prioritizes low capex over whole-life quality. It proposes a clear, staged agenda: adopt simple, enforceable design codes; run street-clutter and shopfront renewal programs; rebalance procurement toward durability; use targeted façade and landscape grants; and create a county-wide design stewardship model with towns choosing quick wins and bigger capital projects on an agreed pipeline. The goal is visible uplift within 12–24 months, with durable change over a 5–10-year horizon.

1) Scope and Definitions

Beautification: systematic, durable improvements to the visual quality and comfort of streets, squares, waterfronts, shopfronts, parks, entries, and public buildings—including materials, greenery, lighting, signage, and small-architecture (benches, bins, shelters). Geography: Primary focus on East Lothian towns; coordination with Edinburgh is essential due to commuter flows and visitor spillover.

2) Diagnosis: Why has beautification lagged?

Fragmented Responsibility Streetscape involves multiple actors: council (highways, parks, planning, conservation), utilities (signage, cabinets, poles), transport agencies (bus stops, rail forecourts), private owners (shopfronts), housing associations, and developers. No single “townscape owner” exists, leading to clutter and inconsistent finishes. Risk-Averse, Compliance-First Planning Development control is geared to preventing harm and processing applications, not actively shaping beauty. Conservation policies protect fabric but don’t guarantee coherent, high-quality public realm or new build. Officers have limited time to negotiate design upgrades. Thin Design & Maintenance Capacity Limited in-house urban design, landscape architecture, and lighting design resourcing. Reactive maintenance cycles (potholes, urgent repairs) crowd out proactive upgrades (stone paving, trees, coordinated lighting). Procurement Bias Toward Lowest Initial Cost Tenders often privilege cheapest upfront price, resulting in short-life materials (concrete flags, plastic furniture, basic luminaires) and a patchwork of replacements. Whole-life costing and aesthetic performance are underweighted. Fragmented Ownership on High Streets Many small landlords; incentives to invest in façades are weak. Non-compliant signage and shuttering creep in; seasonal vacancy erodes confidence and appearance. Utilities and Street “Noise” Cabinets, poles, guardrails, patch repairs, mismatched paving, ad-hoc wayfinding, and temporary traffic paraphernalia accumulate, especially on coastal corridors and older shopping streets. Car-Dominant Frontages Forecourts converted to parking, wide junction radii, and severed pedestrian routes reduce space for trees, seating, and café spill-out—making high streets look hard and empty between seasons. Weathering and Coastal Exposure Salt air, wind, and winter storms accelerate deterioration; material selection hasn’t always matched conditions, increasing shabbiness and maintenance frequency. Unclear Local Identity Playbook Each town has strong heritage, but there is no concise, shared “palette” (stone, metals, colors, fonts, planting typologies) to guide small decisions. Without it, projects default to generic solutions. Funding Uncertainty and Project Fatigue

Short grant windows encourage standalone schemes, not a coherent pipeline. Communities see cones and churn but not a step-change in quality.

3) Principles for a Better-Looking East Lothian

Beauty as a Service: treat townscape quality like waste collection or winter gritting—planned, budgeted, and measured. Light-Touch, High-Impact: fix the “1,000 small things” (clutter, materials, paint, planters, shopfronts) before expensive re-engineering. Durability First: fewer, better materials—stone, timber, quality metalwork—specified for coastal conditions with whole-life costing. Local Character, Not Theme Parks: strengthen what exists—harbors, closes, kirkyards, mercat crosses, coastal paths—rather than importing alien styles. Green-Blue Comfort: trees, wind breaks, rain gardens, and coastal-grade planting for microclimate and seasonal color. Public-Private Reciprocity: public realm upgrades paired with enforceable shopfront/advert standards and targeted grants. Measurable Stewardship: maintenance and litter standards with transparent KPIs.

4) What “Good” Looks Like in East Lothian (Town-Specific Lenses)

Haddington: coherent stone palette around the river and market core; continuous accessible surfaces; decluttered civic signage; coordinated bridge lighting; shopfront repainting scheme. Musselburgh: Esk waterfront promenade hierarchy; rail/bus gateways as dignified forecourts; rebalanced junctions for walking; historic shopfront revival on High Street. North Berwick: harbor-to-High-Street seams improved; seasonal clutter control; premium coastal materials; discreet wayfinding for visitors that doesn’t shout. Dunbar: toon—harbor axis mended; storm-resilient planting; stone setts at key nodes; façade repair on prominent gables. Tranent / Prestonpans / Cockenzie & Port Seton: colliery and fishing heritage expressed through small public art, railings, and lighting details; taming guardrail and pole forests; pocket squares from gap sites.

(The exact palettes and interventions should be confirmed through on-site audits and short community co-design sessions.)

5) Twelve Root-Cause Interventions

Adopt Simple, Enforceable Design Codes (Per Town) Five-page illustrated codes covering: materials, kerb and crossing types, tree species, lighting families, bins/benches/shelters, paint colors, railings, and shopfront do’s/don’ts. Make them Supplementary Guidance referenced in planning decisions. Create a County Design Stewardship Unit Small in-house team (urban design, landscape, lighting, conservation) to review schemes, sign off materials, and run quick-wins. Give it authority to veto poor kit and coordinate utilities. Street-Clutter Amnesty and Audit Map every pole, cabinet, sign, guardrail, and redundant bollard. Remove obsolete items; combine functions on single poles; rationalize road markings; require utilities to use shared cabinets where feasible. Shopfront & Façade Improvement Program Grants (with match funding) for repainting, sign replacements, timber repairs, and cornice/gable fixes on priority streets. Enforce shutter restrictions and window transparency. Public Realm Materials Reset Standardize on a limited, coastal-grade palette (stone paving in nodes, high-quality concrete in runs, marine-grade metals). Pre-approve suppliers to avoid race-to-the-bottom substitutions. Green-Blue Inserts Continuous tree lines where soils allow; wind-break hedging in exposed spots; rain gardens at downpipes and corners; hardy coastal perennials for color without high maintenance. Gateway Treatments “You’ve arrived” at town entries and stations: signage to the shared palette, verge planting, and night-time presence via warm-white lighting—subtle, not theme-park. Rebalance Junctions and Crossings Tighten radii, add continuous footway treatments across side streets, and prioritize direct, legible crossings near schools, stations, and high streets. Night-Time Economy Lighting Layered lighting for squares, closes, harbors, and bridges; warm temperatures; shielded fittings; avoid glare. Pilot two towns first. Harbor & Waterfront Care

Salt-tolerant finishes; decluttered parapets; coordinated kiosks; removable seasonal elements with storage plans to prevent winter shabbiness.

Events-Ready Public Realm

Built-in power and water points; fixings for market stalls; protected tree pits; storage for barriers—so markets and festivals don’t scar surfaces.

Maintenance Contracts Tied to KPIs

Five-year performance-based maintenance for upgraded areas (litter, graffiti, repairs SLA, planter health), with public dashboards.

6) Governance & Delivery

A. Roles

Council: Lead client; adopt codes; fund core staff; convene utilities; manage procurement. Towns (Community Councils/BIDs): Select priority streets and façades; co-fund; monitor standards. Utilities/Transport: Enter binding coordination agreements; follow palette and shared-infrastructure rules. Private Owners: Access grants in exchange for compliance with design code. Design Review Panel: External peer check for major schemes.

B. Procurement Reform

Move from lowest price to Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) with high weight on durability, maintenance plan, and aesthetic compliance; allow proven product families; ban like-for-unlike substitutions without design steward approval.

C. Funding Stack (Illustrative)

Core council capital + ring-fenced revenue for maintenance Targeted grants (heritage, active travel, coastal resilience) Business Improvement District levies where applicable Developer contributions for front-of-site public realm Philanthropic/corporate sponsorship for small architecture (with discreet recognition, not visual clutter)

7) Phased Action Plan

Phase 0: Mobilize (0–3 months)

Stand up the Design Stewardship Unit. Run street-clutter audits in two pilot towns. Draft and consult on the county palette and two town-level codes. Identify “Five Streets for 12-Month Uplift.”

Phase 1: Quick Wins (3–12 months)

Remove 40–60% of redundant poles/signs on pilot corridors. Shopfront micro-grants: repaint/signage replacement for first 50 properties. Relight one bridge/harbor and one civic square. Install coordinated benches/bins/shelters on two high streets. Plant first wave of trees and rain-garden inserts.

Phase 2: Consolidate (12–24 months)

Expand codes to all towns; adopt as formal guidance. Public realm materials reset at three priority nodes per town. Junction tightening and continuous footways at schools and stations. Launch façade program round two; vacancy activation for empty units.

Phase 3: Capital Projects (2–5 years)

Rebuild one key square/plaza in stone per town. Harbor/waterfront upgrades with storm-hardening. Station forecourt dignification in rail-served towns. Create two linear greenways linking schools, parks, and high streets.

Phase 4: Stewardship (5–10 years)

Long-life resurfacing of priority high streets. Periodic lighting refresh and tree canopy succession. Continuous monitoring and code updates.

8) Town-Level Design Code Contents (Template)

Material Palette: paving hierarchy; kerbs; setts at corners; marine-grade metals. Street Furniture Family: benches, bins, bollards, railings, bus shelters—one coordinated range. Lighting: column/heights, bracket types, color temperature, façade/feature principles. Green Infrastructure: species lists, pit details, planter specs, irrigation/maintenance notes. Signage & Wayfinding: fonts, colors, map housings, fingerposts; rules to avoid proliferation. Shopfronts: proportions, stallrisers, signage zones, materials, glazing, security shutter rules, color guidance. Utilities Protocol: cabinet designs, shared poles, placement rules, reinstatement standards. Maintenance Standards: litter, graffiti, SLA for repairs, winter storage of seasonal kit.

9) Cost & Benefit (Order of Magnitude)

Quick wins: £150k–£500k per town (audit, removal, repainting, furniture swaps, initial planting, lighting of one feature). Node upgrades: £0.8m–£2m per major square/harbor segment depending on materials and services. Whole-street rebuilds: £2m–£5m per 300–500m, driven by utilities and stone share. Benefits: increased footfall and dwell time, reduced vandalism, higher retail confidence and occupancy, improved stormwater performance, lower long-run maintenance via durable materials, and stronger town identity and civic pride.

10) Risks and Mitigations

Utility Non-Compliance → binding coordination agreements; penalties; joint works windows. Cost Inflation → standard details, framework contracts, staged delivery. Pushback on Parking/Junction Changes → before/after data, trial materials, keep short accessible bays. Grant Dependency → build core budget lines; use grants only to accelerate. Design Drift Over Time → annual code refresh; design steward sign-off on replacements.

11) Metrics (Report Publicly Each Quarter)

Redundant items removed per town Percentage of priority streets meeting the code Shopfronts improved and vacancy rate on target blocks Trees planted/surviving; rain-garden functionality SLA compliance (repairs, graffiti, litter) Footfall and retail occupancy trends Public satisfaction (simple 5-question survey)

12) Conclusion

East Lothian does not lack beauty; it lacks stewardship by design. With a compact set of codes, a small empowered team, disciplined procurement, and targeted funding, towns can become visibly more graceful within a year—while setting a durable standard for the decade. The recommended pathway prioritizes many small, coordinated moves that accumulate into streets and waterfronts people immediately notice, enjoy, and care for.

Appendices

A. Suggested First 12-Month Project List (Illustrative)

Musselburgh: Esk riverfront lighting & furniture family; High Street shopfront round 1; junction tightening at key crossings. Haddington: Market core paving repairs with stone at nodes; sign rationalization; bridge lighting. North Berwick: Harbor-High Street seam fix; coordinated wayfinding; seasonal clutter plan. Dunbar: Harbor edges and gables; guardrail removal; planting pockets on main approach. Prestonpans / Cockenzie & Port Seton: heritage railings and art accents on seafront; pole consolidation; façade micro-grants. Tranent: town-center crossings continuity; furniture swap; paint and sign refresh.

B. Model Shopfront Grant Terms

50% match funding up to £5,000; must follow code; retain improvements for 5 years; signage illumination rules; no external shutters.

C. Standard Detail Pack (Headlines)

Continuous footway detail; tree pit with aeration/irrigation; stone-at-nodes section; rain-garden inlet at downpipe; cabinet screening detail; shared pole assembly.