Shawfair is the name of a new town planned to be built on the site of the former Monktonhall Colliery

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

 in the south-east wedge of Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. The name is derived from a local farm steading of the same name.
Although it is within the boundary of the city-bypass

Edinburgh City Bypass

The Edinburgh City Bypass, designated as A720, is one of the most important trunk roads in Scotland. Circling around the south of Edinburgh, as the equivalent of a ring road for the coastal city, it links together the A1 towards north-east England, the A702 towards north-west England, the M8...

, it won't technically be a suburb of Edinburgh as it is outwith the city council boundary and instead will actually be wholly within the Midlothian council area.

In 2005 Midlothian Council

Midlothian Council

Midlothian Council is one of the 32 local authorities of Scotland. Midlothian's administrative centre is based in Dalkeith and it covers an area from the south of Edinburgh to the Borders.It covers an area of 355.27 km² and a population of 79,710...

, Edinburgh City Council and Miller Developments created a joint venture, Shawfair Developments Ltd, to work on the scheme. In 2009 Miller pulled out due to market conditions, putting the development in doubt.

Shawfair railway station

Shawfair railway station

Shawfair railway station is a newly planned station to be opened on the Waverley Line, a railway line to be reopened between Edinburgh and Tweedbank, just beyond Galashiels....

 will be one of the new stations to be built on the reopened Waverley Line

Waverley Line

The Waverley Line is an abandoned double track railway line that ran south from Edinburgh in Scotland through Midlothian and the Scottish Borders to Carlisle in England. It was built by the North British Railway Company; the first section, from Edinburgh to Hawick opened in 1849. The final section,...

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The Minewater Project

Minewater Project

The Minewater Project, based in Heerlen and other areas, aims to demonstrate how the geothermal energy stored by mine water can be used as a safe and ecological way to heat buildings.-Aims:The aims of the pilot projects are:...

, an experimental scheme to provide geothermal energy was to be based in Shawfair. However the business case was not economically viable.

In November 2010 plans for the settlement were put on hold and the joint venture between Edinburgh City Council and Midlothian Council was dissolved.

Shawfair Park

In late 2007, near the planned site of Shawfair, construction work began on Shawfair Park, a new business park for approximately 25,000 sq.m. of offices and ancillary uses next to the new Sherriffhall park and ride

Park and ride

Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...

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