Edinburgh - stop the demolitions!

[Nemesis]

Oh yes, its a World Heritage Site and you would think protected, but no, there are always those who want to make money and destroy.


And those who care and fight it all.

http://independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com/

http://www.eh8.org.uk/

 

[Nemesis]

A Stop the Demolitions meeting is to be held soon:

http://www.eh8.org.uk/stop_the_demolitions_meeting_jan_30th_2008

 

[Nemesis]

Meeting tonight:

http://independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com/




and a piece in today's Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jan/30/communities

Please add your name to the petition. I have no doubt the council will pass the plans next week, but a call-in will be asked for. The weight of public objection will aid that.

http://www.eh8.org.uk/petition_results

 

[Nemesis]

http://www.eh8.org.uk/petition

 

[Nemesis]

Here's Guardian text:

Crunch time for historical Old Town?Erlend Clouston

The two activists clutched at the same Scottish adjective to describe their condition: they were both absolutely "scunnered" (exhausted). For two years, Julie Logan and Sally Richardson - supported by sympathetic architects, outraged conservationists and suspicious residents - have waged a battle to thwart the £300m ambitions that Mountgrange property firm has for Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

The city council planning committee votes next Wednesday on a proposal that will either revitalise a dormant area of the Old Town or demonstrate the triumph of mammon over a venerable urbanscape and community values, depending on your point of view. The officers have recommended approval, despite objections outnumbering approvals by roughly 100 to one.

Opposition to the Mountgrange scheme has been greatly stiffened by its perceived affront to the memory of Sir Patrick Geddes, a Victorian-Edwardian polymath who invented the word "conurbation". Geddes was single-handedly responsible for the renovation of the now tourist-haunted regions west of the proposed redevelopment.

He pioneered the gentle and consultative restoration, concepts that Logan, Richardson and co-activists in Morocco Land, an 18th-century Old Town tenement, say they have looked for in vain in the Mountgrange approach. The campaigners want local shops, family homes, green areas, art and business workshops; instead, they are getting (possibly) a five-star hotel, office blocks, a supermarket, conference centre, public square, glass bridge, 166 luxury homes (and 39 affordable ones) and the demolition of two listed buildings. A small percentage of any future profits from the scheme will accrue to the city council.

Edinburgh World Heritage Trust has denounced the proposed destruction of a Queen Anne-style former infant school as a "dangerous precedent". The school yard was surveyed a few days ago by Kenny Munro, an artist and member of the Patrick Geddes Trust. He says: "I see public seating, a sculpture court, a space that could feed into a new market for arts and crafts events. The developers should think again."

eh8.org.uk

Please sign the petition! Every name helps!

 

[Schoolmarm]

Signed 8)

 

[Nemesis]

Thanks! The more the better... it's hopefully going to be a battle... grass roots campaigners upwards ...

 

[Nemesis]

Latest news:

http://independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com/

 

[Nemesis]

Planning meeting today for this dreadful carbuncle in the making.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1062-2314656,00.html

However, even if passed, there is a strong possibility, given the financial involvement of the council, that the plans will be called in.


Scotsman today:

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Protesters--claim-royal-support.3747079.jp#2450088


Latest:

http://independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com/

http://www.eh8.org.uk

 

[Nemesis]

And more demolitions planned in Edinburgh:




[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]

Leave this historic building as it is

IT was with something approaching incredulity that I heard Alan Henderson has approved the demolition of Greyfriars Kirkhouse.

Greyfriars Kirkhouse is a historic building that forms an integral border with the A-listed Greyfriars Kirkyard. It lies within a conservation area and within the World Heritage site. It is a quirky, solidly constructed, stone building that visually adds to the overall charm of the Old Town.

The following eminent bodies strongly objected to its demolition: Historic Scotland; The Edinburgh World Heritage; The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland; The Old Town Association; The Scottish Civic Trust; The Cockburn Association.

Even the survey commissioned by the developer reaffirmed the building's structural integrity and historic importance. Likewise the developer has not fully investigated the possibility of other uses or indeed alternative ownership.

With Edinburgh about to lose another irreplaceable historic building it is high time we questioned the competence, motives and impartiality of our planning department. Mr Henderson has shown incredible arrogance through his rejection of expert opinion, public opinion and his own planning guidelines, all the while endangering Edinburgh's World Heritage status.

Greyfriars Kirkhouse can still be saved. I ask all those councillors and MSPs who have a true pride and respect for this city to revoke Mr Henderson's approval for demolition.

Frank Rushbrook, Mansionhouse Road, Edinburgh

Cash comes before culture in Caltongate

CLEARLY the publicists promoting the Mountgrange Caltongate scheme are getting desperate. Backed up by a chorus in the Chamber of Commerce and VisitScotland, their latest distortions of the truth appeared in the Evening News on February 4 when they quoted property agents who claimed Edinburgh was lagging behind European cities in its number of hotel rooms. Edinburgh only has one third of those in Prague and a tenth of Paris, so they said.
Not surprising really when Edinburgh has about a third of Prague's population and one twentieth that of Paris. So we are level pegging with Prague, whose economy relies far more on tourism than does the Capital's, and we have twice as many hotel rooms per head of population as Paris. So it seems we are not doing so badly after all!

And Edinburgh is promised more hotels in planned redevelopments at Haymarket and the Cowgate fire site, and under construction on George IV Bridge. Perhaps VisitScotland would like to tell us why a 5-star hotel was dropped from the plans for Quartermile (the old RIE site) if there is such a shortage of rooms.

David Chipperfield, who has just won the prestigious Stirling Prize for architecture, has said that Britain is "a country that values money and individualism. Architecture has become glorified property development, not valued culture."

Never was a truer word said about Caltongate.

Jim Johnson, Kings Stables Road, Edinburgh

http://news.scotsman.com/letters/Cash-comes-before-culture-in.3747323.jp#2451044

 

[Nemesis]

http://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/WAM/doc/Report-489859.pdf;jsessionid=0A7066E3F9A6547EDA2386C7F1263CEA?extension=.pdf&wmTransparency=0&id=489859&wmLocation=0&location=VOLUME1&contentType=application%2Fpdf&wmName=&pageCount=1


Unbelievable.

 

[Ian Bond]

Yes. Unbelievable that someone was paid good money to write those pages of bullsh*t. Excuse my language.

 

[Nemesis]

I almost went to the Caltongate planning meeting today to hear him spout more.

There's a 'digital fly through' from the developers here:

http://www.caltongate.com/The-Vision.aspx

Peter Pan and Wendy are all that's required.

The Lost Boys are employed at ECC I fear.

The 'vibrant' new 'public' squre will actually be owned by Mountgrange, and will be in shadow most of the time.

 

[Nemesis]

So much for planning law and national policy...

http://independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com/

http://www.list.co.uk/article/6149-day-of-reckoning-for-caltongate-project/

 

[Schoolmarm]

So will it go to appeal? I just don't get it.

Who owns each building?


Oh god.

 

[Nemesis]

News is still coming through. Still a bit hazy until tomorrow.

They have been asked to 'think again' about some details of the plans, but the major contentious one, the demolition of the old Canongate School (Venture) Grade C Listed for a terrible monstrosity of a hotel, blocking historc views, I think has been passed.

The council owns it and will make money from selling it to Mountgrange.

We hope the plans can be called in, but fighting a public inquiry costs a fortune and Historic Scotland has backed the plans, making it all now very hard.

UNESCO needs to visit...

'If passed, SAVE is strongly concerned that these proposals will set a precedent for future development, sending the message to developers that they can set briefs for their architects to ignore historic and architectural context, ignore that which makes Edinburgh special and attractive and ignore normal precepts of conservation. Edinburgh is at an important point in its development and it is key to get it right now rather than make the same mistakes that are currently being made in other cities such as Liverpool and London. These are mistakes which will almost certainly be rued in a decade (some are being rued now) and cannot be undone for many years...

Concern at the proposals for Caltongate have been voiced by a wide range of organisations and individuals both within and without Edinburgh, reflecting a very genuine concern at the future of the City.'

Extract from objection from Marcus Binney MBE on behalf of SAVE Britain's Heritage.

 

[Nemesis]

Scotsman today:

Listed buildings in Old Town to be demolished to make way for hotel

Brian Ferguson

A FIVE-STAR hotel and conference centre in Edinburgh's Old Town were given the go-ahead last night, in the face of widespread criticism.

Councillors voted to allow the demolition of two listed buildings in New Street to make way for the complex, which had been opposed by heritage groups.

Protesters heckled and jeered as the city council planning committee voted it through.

However, Mountgrange, the developer, was sent back to the drawing board over its plan to remove all but the façade of a tenement block further down the Royal Mile as part of the £300 million Caltongate project. Councillors asked the firm to examine the possibility of saving the building and locating new affordable housing in the Canongate.

The London-based firm's plan for 163 new private homes has been put on hold as a result, but Mountgrange was granted permission to create a major office and retail complex as part of the overall scheme.

Before the vote, councillors heard a series of concerns about the impact of the scheme.

Moyra Forrest, of heritage group the Cockburn Association, said retaining only the façade of historic buildings in the Royal Mile was dire in conservation terms and extremely disappointing from a modern design perspective.

"Retaining only the façade of homes in sound condition and in use could be unthinkable on the Royal Mile in the 21st century," she said.

Jane Jackson, acting director of the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, warned that the impact of new building could lead to the World Heritage Site being put on Unesco's "at risk" list, alongside St Petersburg.

She said: "The loss of the listed Sailors' Ark and the former Canongate School shows a disregard for buildings that are both suited to reuse or refurbishment. In no way would new buildings of the scale and design still proposed conserve or enhance the established character of the Old and New Towns.

"These buildings and public spaces would still have a severe detrimental impact upon that character and, therefore, on the World Heritage Site."

Bruce Nicholson, a senior planning officer with the city council, admitted that several elements of the scheme, including the hotel and conference centre, were unashamedly modern.

Representatives of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Visit Scotland supported the case for the hotel, while Sue Stuart, head of the Edinburgh Convention Bureau, said the hotel and conference centre were needed to prevent the capital sliding farther down the global league table for hosting conferences.

She told councillors: "Edinburgh is facing growing competition from not just overseas but closer to home, in cities like Manchester and Liverpool."

Nick Berry, Mountgrange's property director, said the hotel development was central to the entire scheme and its operator, Sofitel, required an address in the Royal Mile.

Labour councillor Eric Milligan, a former lord provost, said: "This is clearly the linchpin of the whole scheme. We will face losing £300 million worth of investment if we turn it down."

Although the tenement block in the Canongate that may be saved dates from the 1930s, it is not a listed building, but councillors said they were concerned about its potential loss and needed more justification for its demolition. Mountgrange is proposing todemolish most of the façade to create a new link to a public square at the heart of the development.

CAMPAIGNERS TO DEMAND PUBLIC INQUIRY

CAMPAIGNERS against the Caltongate scheme said they would be demanding the Scottish Government order a full public inquiry into the development.

The city council will have to refer the scheme to ministers automatically because of the large number of objections.

Catriona Grant, a spokeswoman for the Save Our Old Town campaign, said: "There is no question that there has to be a public inquiry.

"The council has ignored a huge number of objections in favour of the £300 million investment they have been promised, without any justification for the loss of these listed buildings.

"The developers own a huge gap site on New Street which could have easily accommodated a five-star hotel and conference centre."