The 54.3-acre development is designed around The DunBear sculpture of a brown bear, which pays tribute to Dunbar-born naturalist, John Muir, credited with playing a key role in the establishment of National Parks in the USA and around the world. DunBear Park is part of the Hallhill development.

The mixed-use development, which aims to include office, industrial, retail, leisure, extra care facilities, community and residential uses will adopt the latest low carbon technology.

A planning application has been made to East Lothian Council that will include roads, footpaths, cycle ways, street lighting and other services. This will enable the development of the site to be undertaken at the earliest opportunity, unhindered.

The initial application will be for the first phase of the roads’ infrastructure. The installation of the roads is scheduled for the first quarter of 2021 subject to the statutory consents. Emphasis will be placed on segregating and linking to the national and other cycle routes, where possible within a landscaped corridor.

The Renewable Energy Strategy for the development has also been submitted to the council for its information.

DunBear Park aims to be a highly sustainable development, adopting the low carbon technology to generate renewable heat and power on-site. This approach will ensure minimal impact on the environment and assist in tackling climate change, as well as supporting the green recovery from COVID-19.

Heating will be delivered onsite via a highly innovative district heating network, including the use of modern, low carbon electric heat pumps. The pumps will be powered by their own green electricity supply fed from a series of photovoltaic and battery arrays, which will also deliver clean green energy to the whole site. This means that all heating, hot water and cooling provision for the development will not require any fossil fuels and the district heating network could therefore be zero carbon.

It is also anticipated that on occasion there will be a surplus of energy which can be fed back as exported green power to the electricity grid.

Making heat cheaper this will bring considerable cost savings for those looking to operate a business or live on site. Electric vehicle charging points will also be installed.

Speaking on behalf of Hallhill Developments Ltd, Ken Ross commented: “We are delighted to be bringing forward proposals for the delivery of this exemplar low carbon community, including the submission of our renewable energy strategy to the council along with road, footpath and cycleway planning applications.

“In the recent consultation we undertook, there was overwhelming support from the community for this being a low carbon development. Adopting the latest low carbon technology will not only provide clean green energy for our own development, but also on occasion feed a surplus back into the local grid.

“Construction and low carbon technology will have a key role to play in the economic recovery from COVID-19 and through the DunBear Park development we are fulfilling these two objectives.”