Wester Hailes is an area in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Wester Hailes borders on Kingsknowe and Longstone to the east. Bankhead Industrial Estate and Sighthill Park lie to the north.
History
Although named after a large private house, the area was not substantially developed until the early-1970s, which is reflected in the dominant housing styles, mainly purpose-built flats and tower blocks.
It was extensively redeveloped during the 1990s and 2000s, with a large number of properties being renovated and some others -such as the high rise "slab block" flats at Hailesland Park being demolished and replaced with newer "low rise" housing. As well as council and private housing, there is a community housing association called Prospect Community Housing based in Westburn Avenue, who have housing in the Westburn, Clovenstone, Walkers, Barn Park areas of Wester Hailes.
Facilities
Westside Plaza is the main social and shopping hub of the area, comprising a public house, Jobcentre, council housing office, library, newsagent, an arcade, an Odeon cinema and a collection of shops both adjacent to and inside the Wester Hailes Shopping Centre. A post office, optician, pharmacy, and a dentist can be found inside the latter. The indoor market closed in 2014, and the space re-opened in 2015 as a gym.
A swimming pool is located in the Wester Hailes Education Centre.[1]
Transport links
The main points of arrival and departure for Wester Hailes are the string of bus stops located on the northern edge of Westside Plaza (formerly Wester Hailes Shopping Centre), and the railway station a short distance to the south.