Client: East Lothian Council
The coastline is a key asset of East Lothian’s tourism offering and is home to a number of popular ‘sites’, including John Muir Country Park and the John Muir Way, Gullane Bents, Yellowcraig and Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve.  When Covid-19 restrictions lifted last year, East Lothian saw a huge rise in visitors.  Most of the East Lothian coastline falls into either national or international designations (or both) and there was a need to consider ways to improve visitor management particularly in respect of sensitive sites.

Planning Solutions Consulting was commissioned to work with Council and a range of stakeholders identify and evaluate opportunities to address issues relating to the tourism experience and managing visitors.  These included: transport – parking and charges, public transport and active travel options, visitor flows, toilet facilities, business opportunities, alternative locations, specific community issues, seasonality, environmental sensitivities, water based activities, motorhome aires, visitor facilities at beaches, additional pressures from events and sustainability implications which had been identified by East Lothian Council officers as key priorities for visitor management and destination development. A critical element of our work is to ensure that the identified solutions assist the Council and support tourism businesses to reach a Net Zero carbon position.

How can we help?
If you have any questions or would like to discuss our work within the visitor management, sustainable tourism or destination development sectors please don’t hesitate to call Richard Linington on 07866 742628 or email richard@pslplan.co.uk