The Pentland Hills Regional Park Joint Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 to discuss regional park issues including income generation, and an event contribution model. They will also look at the role and membership of the Events Working Group.

Event Contribution Model

The committee is scheduled to discuss a report about an event contribution model for the Pentland Hills.

The report notes that the Pentland Hills Regional Park (PHRP) is a popular destination for events like hill running, mass sponsored walks, orienteering and weddings . It says that there has been an informal structure for charging event organisers, but that it is now appropriate to introduce a formal model for contributions from event organisers, bringing it in line with event charges within the City of Edinburgh.

The report states that land owned by local authorities and land owned privately within the Regional Park will be considered differently as part of the proposed Event Contribution Model, and that full consultation will be held with the Pentlands landowners and managers to determine the best course of action for standardising and recovering the cost of events on private land.

The report recommends standardising contributions for events in the Regional Park using a similar model to that used by the City of Edinburgh Council in the city's greenspaces and parks. It suggests that all money raised should be allocated to infrastructure improvement and nature conservation work within the Regional Park, with projects identified in conjunction with the relevant landowners and managers and confirmed by the PHRP Joint Committee.

The following event contribution model is recommended for the local authority owned land within the PHRP:

• Wedding event (without marquee): £230
• Wedding event (with marquee): £635
• Vehicle Access (any time): £140
• Key loan (refundable): £50
• Commercial event (walking, running, cycling, equestrian): 10% of entry fee, minimum £4 per entry
• Community and Charity event (commercial): 5% of entry fee (minimum £2 per entry, £1 per entry for under 18s)
• Community and Charity event (non-commercial): no charge, but donations welcomed
• Sponsored event with no entry charge: minimum donation of £30 (small), £50 (medium), £100 (large)

The report also includes the City of Edinburgh Council's public spaces charges for 2025-26, and proposed wedding charges for 2025/26 as appendices.

Generating an Income Stream

The committee is scheduled to discuss a report on generating an income stream in the Pentland Hills Regional Park.

The report notes that the Pentland Hills Regional Park is a popular recreational destination that has seen a significant increase in the number of visitors since 2020. Following a public engagement exercise, funding was successfully sought for the development and increase in size of four car parks in the PHRP along with the installation of toilets and Electric Vehicle charging points.

The report says that visitors using the improved car parks at Harlaw, Threipmuir, Flotterstone, and Bonaly are being asked for contributions when parking and/or using the new public toilets since summer 2025. Parking machines have been installed and are operational alongside new RingGo zones.

The report notes that a donation scheme has also been introduced through the MyParkScotland website, and that this will be the route for general public donations but also contributions from events or filming companies.

The report recommends that the income generated from the car park contributions in 2025/26 be used towards the funding gap identified for the provision of a Pentland Hills Ranger Service, the cleaning and maintenance of public toilets, and the maintenance of good quality car park infrastructures at Harlaw, Threipmuir, Flotterstone and Bonaly upper car parks. It also recommends that the income from the MyParkScotland website donation scheme be used for capital improvement projects across the Regional Park.

Events Working Group

The committee is scheduled to discuss a report on the role and membership of the Events Working Group (EWG).

The report notes that the Pentland Hills Regional Park is a popular destination for a wide range of events such as hill running, mass sponsored walks, orienteering, and weddings. It also notes that the Pentland Hills Regional Park Events Policy & Guidance (July 2015), also referred to as PHRP Events Concordat (2015), is a policy in place since 2015 which offers a set of guidelines for land managers and event organisers to use in accordance with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code¹. The report states that an EWG was piloted in 2023 to offer a forum for land managers and event organisers and other key stakeholders to discuss and potentially reach agreement on planned events when concerns have been raised or issues have been recorded from any of the interested parties involved.

The City of Edinburgh Transport and Local Access Forum (LAF) advised on 31 January 2025 for the Pentland Hills Joint Committee to agree the proposed role and membership of the EWG. The LAF, as a statutory body under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003[^3], can mandate the work of the EWG, so that the authority of the EWG to broker agreements and the validity of such work is formally recognised when handling events taking place in the PHRP.

The report recommends that the Joint Committee approves the relationship dynamic between the Pentland Hills Event Working Group (EWG) and the City of Edinburgh Council Transport and Local Access Forum (LAF) in resolving conflicts in relation to events in the Pentland Hills Regional Park (PHRP), and agrees on the proposed role and membership of the EWG.

The membership of the EWG should have the following representation:

• An Access Officer
• PHRP Officers
• Advisory representatives from the landowning, land managing, fishery managing community
• Relevant event applicant representatives
• Advisory representatives for the type of event concerned

Other Items

Councillor Neil Gardiner, Councillor Graeme Bruce, and Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, along with other committee members, are also scheduled to approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 28 March 2025.

The Senior Natural Heritage Officer is scheduled to provide a verbal update on operational issues within the Regional Park.

The committee is also scheduled to discuss any other urgent business raised by farmers and landowners, and to confirm the dates of future meetings.