DunBear Park

Proposals for DunBear Park envision a 54.3-acre mixed-use development designed around The DunBear sculpture.[1]

The development forms part of the Hallhill development in Dunbar, which occupies over 400 acres and is being undertaken by Hallhill Developments Limited. This includes a community hall and sports facility, community woodland, park and ride parking, an Asda, a garden centre, a hotel, pub and restaurant, a McDonald’s and more than 1,500 homes, including over 200 affordable homes.[2]

The DunBear Park site has been allocated for development by East Lothian Council since 1999. This was most recently highlighted in the Council’s Adopted Local Development Plan 2018.

Proposals for DunBear Park include:[3]

• Commercial uses – including office, manufacturing and industrial spaces, retail and leisure amenities, a nursery, an extra care facility and a hotel.
• Community uses - accommodating a youth centre, a visitor centre for The DunBear sculpture and a community garden and bee keeping area.
• Residential uses - including low carbon affordable homes for key workers such as NHS staff, the police and care workers.

The DunBear sculpture, in the form of a bear and made of steel, pays tribute to Dunbar-born naturalist John Muir, who was credited with playing a key role in the establishment of national parks around the world.[4]

It was designed by Andy Scott, the Scottish artist who is known for other artworks like The Kelpies. The DunBear was named by a pupil at Dunbar Grammar School following a competition involving all the schools in Dunbar.[5]

Aerial view of DunBear Park - Proposals (CGI)

On the 3rd June 2020, the initial proposals were presented on a digital public consultation event to the general public. [6]

DunBear Park has been presented as a low carbon community.

The development has announced that, if approved, it will only adopt the latest low carbon technology to address climate change by delivering onsite heating via its own district heating network. This will make heat cheaper and with lower carbon emissions than gas-fired boilers, saving in cost for those living or operating a business on site.[7]

In addition to this it will install a photovoltaic array to provide the site with renewable clean power as well as EV charging points.

Its planning proposal also indicate that the entire development will embrace environmental, socio-economic and governance criteria that will ensure that DunBear Park will become an exemplar low carbon development.[8]

The DunBear Park development will play a major role in supporting the economic recovery from the current crisis, in which the construction sector could play a major part.

Proposals also include plans to build a hundred affordable homes for key workers, such as NHS staff, police officers and care workers.[9]

In an interview with the developers’ CEO, Ken Ross, this was highlighted as a way to acknowledge and pay tribute for the work these workers did during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.[10] In the same interview, it was declared that such homes would be built without any government subsidy.[11]