A NEW “active travel route” for pedestrians and cyclists will link a new housing and commercial development at Newcraighall and the proposed Edinburgh Innovation Park at Queen Margaret University with Musselburgh Railway Station.

Cullross Ltd, which specialises in developing affordable homes, has been given the green light by East Lothian Council to create a four-metre-wide footpath/cycle path with street lighting, which would be less than eight kilometres long, on land 350 metres north of Queen Margaret Drive.

Conditions imposed by the council include the necessity for a trespass-proof fence at least 1.8 metres high between the “active travel corridor” and rail line. The risk posed to the development by past coal mining activity will also have to be investigated.

Permission was given for a SUDS basin to address flooding and drainage issues.

Cullross Ltd and Edinburgh Innovation Park Hub (EIH) are developing joint infrastructure to service their new developments.

Cullross is awaiting a decision by City of Edinburgh Council on a plan for 236 private and affordable homes and approximately 800sqm commercial development on land 70 metres east of 14 Glennie Road, Newcraighall.

The new innovation park is part of a mixed-use development on land at Old Craighall, which includes 1,500 homes, 41 hectares of employment land, a new local centre and primary school, which has received planning permission in principle from East Lothian Council.

The new research and innovation quarter will provide more than 20 hectares of commercial space.