Edinburgh Zoo Master Plan

M

Mr Gelada

Well-Known Member
Looks like the zoo s Master Plan has been thrown into jepordy as the council has rejected the zoo selling off a large chunk of land to the top of the zoo i think how is the zoo going to raise the cash as the master plan looks good after seeing some of the plans would be a shame to let the zoo suffer because of the rejection maybe it should re locate to the west coast and boost the economy there .:(
 
Zoo Master plan

Do not know if there is a plan that the public can see I was fortunate to attend a master plan night held at the zoo and a plan was show then on the different biomes the zoo was hoping to re created for example the tropical forest biome
 
Mr Gelada said:
Looks like the zoo s Master Plan has been thrown into jepordy as the council has rejected the zoo selling off a large chunk of land to the top of the zoo i think how is the zoo going to raise the cash as the master plan looks good after seeing some of the plans would be a shame to let the zoo suffer because of the rejection maybe it should re locate to the west coast and boost the economy there .:(
Click to expand...

Am sorry but I may not have the full picture, but what do the council have to do with it if the zoo is not run by the council?

The zoo should be able to sell the land. :confused:
 
My apologies it was a independent inquiry into the land sale and not the council and it was the scottish goverment reporters decided that building 120 new homes on the western side of the site would have altered the character of costorphine hill but the zoo still gets to sell off a bit of land for a estimated 20 homes bringing in less than a quarter of the funds that zoo bosses had hoped for again i am sorry for any confusion made on my part :(
 
Mr Gelada said:
My apologies it was a independent inquiry into the land sale and not the council and it was the scottish goverment reporters decided that building 120 new homes on the western side of the site would have altered the character of costorphine hill but the zoo still gets to sell off a bit of land for a estimated 20 homes bringing in less than a quarter of the funds that zoo bosses had hoped for again i am sorry for any confusion made on my part :(
Click to expand...

No problem, I gather the zoo wanted to get the planning permission to make the land more vaulable.
 
Plan was that the zoo had hoped to generate some money to help with the redevelopment of the zoo which would cost an estimated 72 million pounds by the land sale and the area in which the zoo is located is a pricey area regarding house prices.:(
 
The plans submitted by Edinburgh Zoo to the Planning Committee of Edinburgh Council were prepared over a three year period between the Zoo and a development company set up by the council years ago to look at regenerating Edinburgh

the plans were 'approved' by Edinburgh Council 2 years ago however the council elections held two weeks later meant a new party took over control and changed the planning decision to 'rejected'

two long years later and the 'independant' scottish government assessors have also rejected the plans

700,000 visitors a year come through the doors of the Zoo plus over 25,000 school kids for educational trips, summer school, science school etc

and not one bit of help from Edinburgh Council or Scottish Government....
 
glasgowanimal said:
The plans submitted by Edinburgh Zoo to the Planning Committee of Edinburgh Council were prepared over a three year period between the Zoo and a development company set up by the council years ago to look at regenerating Edinburgh

the plans were 'approved' by Edinburgh Council 2 years ago however the council elections held two weeks later meant a new party took over control and changed the planning decision to 'rejected'

two long years later and the 'independant' scottish government assessors have also rejected the plans

700,000 visitors a year come through the doors of the Zoo plus over 25,000 school kids for educational trips, summer school, science school etc

and not one bit of help from Edinburgh Council or Scottish Government....
Click to expand...

I am a astute, keen and political animal, but yes I agree the word that comes to mind here is a manufactured and filtered truth. Or simply the lack of true political vision, correctness and opportunism. As if Descartes and John Adams never existed!
 
think it would be a good idea for the Society to get members together and let them know what the next plans are now the original planning submission has been rejected

it would do no harm for all society members and supporters to put in writing their thoughts on this matter to the Edinburgh MPs, MSPs and the First Minister to see what backing they can give the Society for the future redevelopment plans of the Zoo

the future of edinburgh zoo must now be secured and ensure the swift arrival of the Giant Pandas to Edinburgh, I for one will be sending emails to all parties over the coming week
 
Edinburgh Zoo

I agree with Glasgow animal about the above comment i have already written to the leader of Edinburgh city council and the First Minister and we should speak up and let them know how we feel about the zoo and the disappointment we have in them.:)
 
At a volunteers meeting the other night an d getting some further updates as regards the masterplan and landsale.

First off, the landsale. There is still a possibility that the landsale MIGHT go ahead. However, if the land the zoo can sell is not viable for development, it won't. The size of the zoo could shrink IF it was decided the top of the hill was no longer suitable for future development for public access. Any major new exhibits have to be built with disabled access in mind and some major engineering works would be needed for access to the top of the hill otherwise.

As the original plan is now unable to go ahead plan X, Y or Z now come into play. There are so many possibilities RZSS seems to have lots of different plans just in case!

There will be a new animal exhibit in Glasgow, very much in the early stages of discussion. Whether it is up and running remains to be seen. As they Society has always said, it is the Royal Zoological Society of SCOTLAND. Whatever they do, the want Scotland to gain.

It is thought Pandas will arrive late 2010 to 2011. Transportation as well as enclosures have to be planned and made ready. It is not a question of if, it is a question of when. Edinburgh Zoo MIGHT act as a holding facility with them being moved to Glasgow when it opens, who knows, it is a very big MIGHT.

Edinburgh Zoo will stay on Corstorphine hill. You don't build a £5.6million chimpanzee exhibit and then clear off elsewhere!

There will be changes, as there are in the animal kingdom. In the slide presentation the new look logo has the words "forever evolving" added underneath. Pretty much sums the zoo up!

And finally, we were told the Society don't care who knows this as it's going to get a major press announcement in a couple of weeks. The education deprtment has been awarded a £35,000 grant for it's Wild Bus Centenary project! It turns out the minister concerned was so impressed that she has been pushing the whole thing personally!

Proof, if any, that when people really take the time to how the society really works they find a team of passionate, visionarries who are so busy going about their work they don't have the time to boast!
 
Last edited:
Hiya Simon

Thanks for that bit of info the one thing is the high powers of the zoo lack are communication to its Members ok we get lifelinks sent to us but just would be nice to have regular updates to RZSS members of how things are progressing for example the Land sale drama and how they are getting on with the animal attraction for the west coast i hope you get what i mean sometimes i ahve seen myself asking keepers do they know wots happening with this and that and would be good to see the members get more envolved in zoo business because they're are nice people who support the zoo one hundred percent and i do hope the zoo gets to see its vision like i said before have seen some plans and they look amazing for example the new rhino paddock
 
I wonder what will happen, with the new rhino paddock, with all the problems with the land sale, focus must be on the giant panda arrival, preparing a new exhibit for them must be the priority at the moment.
The rhino paddock was meant to be part of one of the nodes, this one being for the grasslands area in the now defunct masterplan.
The two rhino are still not quite at breeding age yet so i think they will hold for a few years on the rhino paddock, but he time will come when one male will need to leave and a female brought in, and then will be the time for a new enclosure.
 
Hi Kiang

I agree with you on your comment that the pandas will be at the top of the list i only cross my fingers they come to the zoo as it keeps in with the theme there of the biomes and yes the rhino paddock is fine for the 2 boys and they do make full use of the area:)
 
Quite rightly so too, the pandas being top priority, lets be blunt here they will be a financial godsend for the zoo.
I can't believe in the 3 years that the rhino at the zoo how big and quickly they have grown, and great to see their horns in such magnificent condition, they make a great exhibit, my favourite animals at the zoo
 
The redevelopment of Edinburgh Zoo was always planned as a 20 year evolving masterplan.

The can already be seen since the first stage completed included £10 million being spent on Budongo Trail (chimpanzees), Rainbow Landings (Lorikeets) and Living Links (Capuchins & Squirrel Monkeys).

Additionally the recently painted 10-year-old Magic Forest exhibit (Tamarins, Marmosets) where the internal/external enclosures for all the monkeys have been redeveloped by the Primate Keepers and the Zoo Maintenance Team and a new permanently based Kiosk. This now allows visitors to spend at least 1-2 hours in 4 exhibits under cover, within minutes of walking distance between each.

The Society has shown at Edinburgh they can create excellent enclosures without having to always spend massive amounts of money, such as the Bongo/Red River Hog exhibit, the Lion Enclosure, Gelada Baboon enclosure and the new temporary Wolves enclosure.

Future enclosure redevelopment plans include obviously the Giant Panda exhibit (in the centre of the Zoo currently called Whitson Wood), a new dome covering the penguin enclosure and (so I have heard) possible redevelopment of Mercedes enclosure for Bats, Margay and Anacondas.

Exciting plans whatever happens over the coming years.....
 
glasgowanimal said:
Future enclosure redevelopment plans include obviously the Giant Panda exhibit (in the centre of the Zoo currently called Whitson Wood), a new dome covering the penguin enclosure and (so I have heard) possible redevelopment of Mercedes enclosure for Bats, Margay and Anacondas.

Exciting plans whatever happens over the coming years.....
Click to expand...

The panda enclosure yes definately
A dome for the penguin enclosure, that is just stupidity, for the near future when funds will be in short supply and diverted to bring in the pandas and keep them, to spend money on a dome that is not required at this moment for an enclosure that is 10 years old is ridiculous.

And i hope that the plan stated for anaconda, margay and bats:eek:, that just sounds horrible, and i for one hope it stays on the drawing board, but maybe i will be proved wrong
 
I feel mixed exhibits handled correctly with animals that come from the same regions is the way forward for animal attractions, something Edinburgh is starting to do more of.

Another planned mixed exhibit is adding the Binturong in with the Buff Cheeked Gibbons.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top