Filming and photography permissions and access

You can view and download photos from the Flickr streams of The City of Edinburgh and This Is Edinburgh.

You must arrange permission and access for filming and photography in areas of Edinburgh for which the Council has responsibility, including parking dispensations. 

Parking

• Parking dispensations allow you to park on a single yellow line only. You must give a minimum of 24 hours notice. NSL Parking manage parking in the city for short-term dispensations. Call on 0131 554 1751.
• Pay bays can be booked for longer term parking. Three working days notice is required. Contact Film Edinburgh to coordinate this for you.
• Parking in Parliament Square can be arranged, sometimes at short notice, but depends on availability of staff and whether or not there are any events scheduled.

Parks and greenspaces

We need at least 48 hours notice for filming in Council parks and greenspaces. In some cases more notice will be essential. Please fill in and return the permissions form. You can find details of what you will need to provide to secure permission on the form. 

Streets

You are strongly advised to have public liability insurance and in some circumstances you may be asked for evidence of this.

For crew with less than 10 people, that just want to film on the street without having any areas closed off, contact Film Edinburgh so they can alert local officers and Police Scotland.

You should not obstruct pedestrians or anyone else using the pavements or roads. If you are asked to move on by a Council officer or the police, you must do so. Please avoid filming at pedestrian crossings or junctions as it can either obscure views or create a distraction for drivers.

Closing off a public area

• For five or less days, you must give at least two weeks' notice.
• For more than five days, at least six weeks' notice required. You will usually have to pay a fee.

Contact Derek Shade on 0131 529 3400 to make the arrangements.

Schools

Ideally, we need your request by lunchtime the day before you want to film so that we have time to speak to the headteacher. However, we obviously appreciate that this is not always possible. We'll decide on each request case-by-case. While we do our best to accommodate requests, we have to limit the number of requests to film in schools for practical or other reasons eg impact on classes and teaching.

Cemeteries and burial grounds

If you are from a news outlet, contact the Media Team at media@edinburgh.gov.uk with details of your request. Otherwise contact Film Edinburgh.

Depending on the nature of the request, you may have to fill in a form and pay a fee . You will be asked to supply copies of your public liability and risk assessment documents. We deal with requests on a case by case. To allow Film Edinburgh to deal with your request, you will need to tell them about:

• equipment to be used
• vehicle access requirements
• likely date and times for filming or performing
• size of film crew and likely audience size, if performance request
• what the filming or photography or performance is for such as subject matter, for which channel or media.