PLANNING applications rarely make headlines for the right reasons.

Attention gathers around the controversial ones - a tall building, the loss of a familiar place, a conversion that seems out of keeping - and public debate often collapses into a simple line-up: for development or against it.

The reality, seen from inside [local heritage body] The Cockburn Association’s planning work, is less tidy than that.

It comments on a wide range of applications every year.

Some, it supports outright. Some, it objects to.

Many get a more mixed response: welcome for part of a scheme, a request for more information on another part, a suggested change somewhere in between.

People sometimes ask what the Association is actually looking for.

The honest answer is less about taste in architecture than about evidence and understanding of place.

A good application isn’t simply one that proposes an attractive building - it’s one that helps everyone, not just planning officers, understand why this proposal belongs on this site, and what it adds to the city around it.

Almost always, it’s about values and vision.

That starts with clarity.

Applications should explain what’s proposed in language residents can easily follow, with drawings and visualisations that show accurately how the development will look from the streets and viewpoints people actually use - not just the angles that flatter it.

Reports written in unnecessary technical language shut people out of a conversation they have every right to be part of.

Good applications also show they understand context, and context here means more than the buildings next door.

It includes topography, views, movement, history, biodiversity and the way people really use a place, day to day.

A location inside the World Heritage Site carries different responsibilities from one on the edge of the city.

A listed building requires a serious assessment of what makes it significant, not a box-ticked heritage statement.

A development visible from Arthur’s Seat, Calton Hill or the Castle needs to show, with real evidence, how it protects the views that make those places recognisable around the world.

None of this rules out change - it just insists that change be informed by an honest reading of the place it’s landing in, and guided by the architectural ambition which has characterised the city to date.

Evidence carries the argument either way.

Applicants are increasingly expected to provide specialist assessments - transport, ecology, daylight, accessibility, safety for women and girls, heritage, drainage, climate resilience - and these shouldn’t be read as obstacles placed in a developer’s way.

They’re what allows a fair decision to be reached at all.

When that evidence is missing - no verified view study, an incomplete heritage statement, a cumulative impact nobody has actually totted up - the problem often isn’t that the scheme itself is bad.

It’s that there isn’t enough on the table to say either way.

That’s why so many of The Cockburn Association’s responses ask for more information rather than object outright: good decisions need good evidence, not just a strong opinion.

There is much at stake given the resource investment fro all parties in the chain.

Design quality matters too, but rarely in the way people expect.

The best buildings are often the least conspicuous - proportions that feel right without announcing themselves, materials that will weather decently in 50 years rather than look tired in five, entrances that welcome rather than intimidate, ground floors that keep a street alive rather than turning a blank wall to it.

Good design, oddly, often draws the least attention, precisely because it looks like it should be there.

Sustainability now sits alongside all of this, rather than after it.

The most sustainable building on a site is the one already standing: sensitive reuse retains embodied carbon, keeps local character intact, and gives an old structure a working future instead of a demolition date.

Underneath all of it is a simpler test: does the application take the people who’ll actually use the place seriously?

Accessibility, safety, the daily experience of neighbours and local businesses; these aren’t afterthoughts bolted on at the end of a design process, they’re part of what ‘good’ means in the first place, and is it fit for the future?

Our society is changing, how are new buildings and new building purposes supporting communities today, and long into the future?

Not every application will please everyone, and it shouldn’t have to.

Reasonable people disagree about scale and design constantly, and that debate is healthy.

But the strongest applications make the debate easier rather than harder: they explain their reasoning in the open, they bring real evidence, and they help residents understand not just what’s proposed, but why.

For over 150 years The Cockburn Association has pushed for exactly that: not resistance to change, but insistence that change be done well enough to earn its place in our UNESCO World Heritage city.

James Garry is assistant director of The Cockburn Association. This article first appeared on the website of the Association - here - for which grateful thanks.

Image details: bottom of Broughton Street; copyright Mike Wilson

In today’s edition:

• BBC broadcasts history of Edinburgh house, through time;

• Permission being sought to build temporary emergency accommodation for people experiencing homelessness;

• Demolition potentially back on the agenda, following decision against ‘listing’;

• End-of-month reopening hoped for Princes Street;

• Environmental Impact Assessment ordered for South Gyle ‘green’ data centre;

• Leith hotel proposal issues invite to comment;

• Guidance issued for traditional buildings conversions;

• Concerns about Water of Leith pollution reportedly raised by local MP;

• Trio of historic buildings expected to receive conservation funding;

• Sewer upgrade to close westbound lane of Waterloo Place;

• Hopes high for Edinburgh outlet following Harvey Nichols’ purchase;

• Views sought on Starbank Park ‘community space’ plans;

• ‘Digital hub’ aiming to aid place and building design;

• Litter pick at Pilrig Park;

• ‘Democracy cairn’ added to monuments care list; and

• Enjoy, see you next Friday!

BBC broadcasts history of Edinburgh house, through time

YESTERDAY evening saw the broadcast of the first episode of a four-part TV series looking at the history of a single Edinburgh home.

Series six of the BBCs’ ‘A House Through Time’ - presented by historian, David Olusoga - looks at an 18th century home on Calton Hill.

Olusoga is appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival a week on Sunday, here and also the following day, here.

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Permission being sought to build temporary emergency accommodation for people experiencing homelessness

PLANNING permission is being sought to demolish a former social club - used by supporters of Heart of Midlothian FC - and replace it with accommodation and services provision for people experiencing homelessness.

A planning application - here, ref: 26/03173/FUL - has been submitted to create a 97-bed temporary emergency accommodation project on McLeod Street, in Gorgie.

The architects are Unum.

The story is picked up by the website, Urban Realm, here.

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Demolition potentially back on the agenda, following decision against ‘listing’

THE possible demolition of a block of flats in Gorgie is potentially back on the agenda, following a decision against protecting it with a ‘listing’ designation.

The decision not to list Westfield Court has been taken by the Scottish Government agency, Historic Environment Scotland (here).

In June, BuildEdinburgh reported (here) a mooted buy-back (of flats) scheme being halted because of the possibility of a ‘listing’ protection against demolition.

Repair costs had been estimated at around £500,000 per flat.

The story is picked up Scottish Housing News, here.

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End-of-month reopening hoped for Princes Street

PRINCES Street could be fully reopened by the end of the month, some five weeks after a section of it had to be closed due to fire ripping through the former Debenhams building, located between Castle Street and Frederick Street - leading to concerns about the structure’s stability.

Says an update issued by the city council, here: “Subject to favourable weather conditions (this restricts when this can be done safely) the hope is that work [to stabilise the building] carried out will allow Princes Street to reopen by the end of August.”

The update adds: “The front façade of the building is now being stabilised with steel beams – more than 40 per cent of these are now in place internally and externally to support the western end of the Princes Street façade - with work ongoing on the remainder of the upper floors.”

The story is picked by The Herald newspaper, here.

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Environmental Impact Assessment ordered for South Gyle ‘green’ data centre

AN environmental impact assessment (EIA) - for a ‘green’ data centre being proposed in South Gyle - has been ordered by the Scottish Government.

It follows a planning-in-principle application - here, ref: 25/04239/PPP - that was refused by the city council’s Development Management sub-committee in February (here), albeit an EIA was not considered necessary by an officers’ recommendation (here) to approve.

The (rather robust) reasons for the order - by a ‘reporter’ at the Scottish Government - can be found here (‘open the document’).

The story is picked up by The National newspaper, here.

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Leith hotel proposal issues invite to comment

VIEWS are being sought, concerning a proposed 121-room hotel on the corner of Ocean Drive and Rennie’s Isle, in Leith.

Says the architects, FaulknerBrowns, here: “The proposed massing places a focal tower at the prominent corner, addressing the scale of the larger dockside context, while lower shoulder blocks step down to align with the neighbouring Rennie’s Isle residential scheme and the wider conservation area.

“The preferred option has been refined through three pre-application meetings with The City of Edinburgh Council, incorporating feedback on massing, heritage impact, ground-floor activation and the public realm.”

It’s not been possible for BuildEdinburgh to locate any formal planning application on the city council’s planning applications portal - perhaps because an application has yet to be submitted, albeit a Proposal of Application Notice should exist somewhere on the portal, to provide advance notice.

Views are being sought, on the FaulknerBrowns website, here. There is a deadline of the first of next month.

Among the proposals is a “panelled mural along Ocean Drive celebrates Leith's wine trade history”.

A public consultation event took place a week yesterday.

A campaign against the scheme already has already been formed, with its own website, here.

The proposal is being reported by the Urban Realm website, here.

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Guidance issued for traditional buildings conversions

NEW Scottish Government guidance - believed to be the first of its kind in almost two decades - has been issued, to help in the conversion of traditional buildings.

Says the government, here: “The Guide to Conversion of Traditional Buildings will help ensure traditional buildings are adapted safely for modern use – ensuring that they meet fire safety, accessibility and energy efficiency needs, while supporting the sustainable reuse of historic buildings.”

Read more, here, on the website of Historic Environment Scotland.

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Concerns about Water of Leith pollution reportedly raised by local MP

CONCERNS about pollution entering the Water of Leith have reportedly been raised by local MP, Scott Arthur.

Dr Arthur is quoted, here, by The Edinburgh Reporter website, as saying: “People value [the Water of Leith] as a place to walk, cycle and improve their well-being, but they’ve also raised important concerns about user safety, courtesy and water quality.

“I’ll be taking these issues up with both the [city] council and Scottish Water to ensure we see real improvements that make the Water of Leith safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable for everyone who uses it.”

He mentions his concerns on his social media Bluesky account, here.

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Trio of historic buildings expected to receive conservation funding

THREE historic buildings that were originally excluded from the proceeds of a levy now being charged for overnight stays by visitors in the city are to now receive funding, to help conserve them.

Yesterday, members of the city council’s Culture and Communities committee (here, agenda item 7.4) agreed to allocate Visitor Levy funds to Leith Custom House, the Tron Kirk and the Portobello (pottery) Kilns.

Said papers (here) considered by the committee members, money would come from the “de-prioritisation” of revamp plans for George Street.

The papers proposed, for Leith Custom House: 2026/27 £100,000, 2027/28 £100,000 and 2028/29 £100,000; for the Tron Kirk: 2026/27 £200,000, 2027/28 £0 and 2028/29 £0; and for the Portobello Kilns: 2026/27 £0, 2027/28 £0 and 2028/29 £724,000.

In February, councillors agreed (here) a sum of £3m, from the Visitor Levy funding, to upgrade Hunter Square, adjacent to the Tron Kirk.

On the tenth of next month, further new projects for possible Visitor Levy funding are to be also considered: The Causey Project, Lost Shore and Edinburgh International Climbing Centre and ‘development’ of Princes Street.

The story is picked up by Ian Swanson, of the Edinburgh Evening News, here.

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Sewer upgrade to close westbound lane of Waterloo Place

THE westbound lane on Waterloo Place is to be closed for an anticipated 11 weeks, from the seventh of next month, to allow for sewer upgrade work.

Says Scottish Water, here, of the £3m investment: “The project… will improve the long-term resilience and reliability of a key section of the city’s sewer and water network, helping it continue to serve homes and businesses for years to come.”

It adds: “The works will also include diverting and upgrading a 130-year-old 12-inch cast iron water main with around 25 metres of new pipeline, helping improve the resilience of the local water infrastructure.”

The eastbound lane will remain open throughout.

The story is picked up by the BBC, here.

Meanwhile, 12 weeks’ worth of overnight roadworks are expected to cause traffic disruption at Crewe Toll roundabout, starting Monday. As detailed here and here (North Edinburgh News).

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Hopes high for Edinburgh outlet following Harvey Nichols’ purchase

HOPES are high that the Edinburgh outlet of the retail group, Harvey Nichols, will continue to trade as it has been, on St Andrew Square, following news yesterday of the group’s purchase by the founder and owner of Sports Direct, Mike Ashley.

Reporting the purchase - by Ashleys’s Frasers Group - the Guardian newspaper, here, says: “Ashley has bought a series of struggling premium brands in recent years after starting out with a single sports shop. He has said he would keep Harvey Nichols’s Knightsbridge and Edinburgh stores, but rebrand the four other UK stores – in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Bristol – as House of Fraser or Flannels.”

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Views sought on Starbank Park ‘community space’ plans

VIEWS are being sought on whether a ‘community space’ should be created in Starbank Park.

Says an online survey (here) launched by the Friends of Starbank Park:“Starbank House is an historic building located within Starbank Park in north Edinburgh.

“The building has been part of the park landscape for many years and there is
growing interest in exploring how it could be used as a community space for
local residents.”

The story is picked up by The Edinburgh Reporter and Edinburgh Inquirer websites, here and here.

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‘Digital hub’ aiming to aid place and building design

A ‘DIGITAL hub’ is being developed, to aid the design of places and buildings.

Says one of the partners in the project, Architecture and Design Scotland, the hub aims “to share knowledge, explore emerging technologies and support data-driven approaches to design, infrastructure, placemaking and the built environment”.

Read more, here.

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Litter pick at Pilrig Park

A LITTER pick is taking place on Tuesday, at Pilrig Park.

Organised by Edinburgh Trash Club, it kicks off at 7pm.

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‘Democracy cairn’ added to monuments care list

A CAIRN on Calton Hill - that was erected in 1998, to commemorate vigils held nearby for a Scottish parliament - has now been added to the list of monuments in the city being officially cared for by the city council.

It follows a SNP motion agreed yesterday (agenda item 9.1) by members of the council’s Culture and Communities committee, which noted the cairn - aka the ‘Democracy Cairn’ or ‘Parliament Cairn’ - was at risk of being lost because of vandalism.

Meanwhile, councillors on the same committee agreed to a temporary halting (here) of new monuments and memorials in Princes Street Gardens - with the exception of a sculpture celebrating the late writer, Muriel Spark - until a ‘statue and memorialisation plan’ is agreed as part of a wider Princes Street and Waverley Valley strategy.

The story is picked up by The Edinburgh Reporter website, here.

Also meanwhile, a report is to be drawn up, on how to improve the play park in Inverleith Park, following a petition - here - asking for “urgent investment”.

Image details: Meuse Lane, just off South St Andrew Street; copyright Mike Wilson

IT’S a brave soul, indeed, who would venture to suggest that the planning system should not be about giving people ‘agency’: the opportunity to influence the outcome of a planning application.

Except that - as the system is currently configured - there isn’t really much ‘agency’ being provided whatsoever.

Anyone who submits a comment about a proposal simply has to take their chances that a decision maker (a planning official or an elected member) will take any notice.

Anyone who has an alternative design has no obvious forum to take their ideas (except down the objections route), where a consensus might be agreed.

And anyone who has a question to ask faces no guarantee of an answer.

There might be nuances that mean a slightly different reality, but there does seem to be roadblocks at every turn.

The thing is, it really doesn’t have to be this way. And who is going to demur if a more constructive and transparent a system were to be implemented, instead?

For all the key stakeholders, the prospect is ‘much better outcomes’: (1) for the public and the city more widely, there is the alluring possibility of a design being ‘improved’ thanks to people’s input; and (2) for developers, there is the chance of a smoother ride towards an approval (as opposed to rejection and all the extra cost that might entail), with objections and controversy potentially having melted away.

Of course, some planning applications will never be happily resolved, no matter how well a communications / arbitration framework is constructed.

For instance, one cannot imagine any amount of constructive debate ever resolving the recent, controversial proposal to turn a row of former offices on Atholl Crescent into a ‘super hostel’ comprising 544 beds - approved on appeal by the Scottish Government.

But just because there will be some intractable disputes does not invalidate the basic premise that the planning system is crying out to be reformed.

Let’s begin with questions. There are at least three reasons why someone might have a question to ask of a planning application: (1) they have been unable to find an answer, even after wading through what might be a mountainous amount of documentation; (2) the volume of documentation - especially if couched in technical language - feels too impenetrable to even embark on an interrogation; and (3) the question is cover for a later objection.

There are at least two ways of providing answers: (1) provide applicants with a list of frequently-asked questions (a possible starting list can be found, here on BuildEdinburgh; which can be added to) that they are at liberty to answer or not (recognising the possible consequences of choosing not to); and (2) to provide a two-way channel of communication that allows for some sort of conversation to take place (probably requiring third party moderation, to ensure respect at all times).

If nothing else, a Q&A platform at the submission stage of an application should reduce the time taken by elected members to decide on an application, given how many of the questions asked at the relevant committee (usually the city council’s Development Management sub-committee) are often about design.

An example of there being a possible alternative design (to an albeit Traffic Regulation Order rather than a planning application) is the long-running saga that is the now just starting to be realised: the reconfiguration of West Crosscauseway into a more ‘civic space’ (TheCausey).

Two years ago, The Edinburgh Reporter website was reporting - here - the project had already endured 17 years of highs and lows.

But here’s the ‘kicker’. That same Edinburgh Reporter article said the estimated cost of the scheme was £2.1m. However, for the last nine years, there has been an alternative - designed by architect, Gordon Duffy (who has owned a property on the street for 22 years) and which attracted support from his neighbours - which he claims would cost almost nothing at all.

Duffy has been out and about, taking photographs of what has been happening since new road markings were recently laid down, following a 180 degree switch in the street’s one-way traffic system.

You have to wonder…

In summary, while Q&As can appear primarily online, there are occasions when nothing short of an in-person discussion has to take place.

On such occasions, the aim should always be to record what has been agreed, and to report proceedings in as transparent a way as possible.

In addition, community councils should be given the right to insist on a sit-down, in-person meeting with a planning proposal applicant, irrespective of whether they have an alternative scheme or not.

All of this is perfectly ‘do-able’ - perhaps with the help of Artificial Intelligence.

Between 2011 and 2018, some £1.4m of Scottish Government money was spent on 78 so-called ‘charrettes’, comprising place-based local design workshops.

One can draw one’s own conclusions as to why the programme was shut down. Maybe it was no longer the fashion.

In 2019, an evaluation of the scheme - to be found here - was at pains to say how people felt empowered following the opportunity to think about and discuss their locality, and how a charrette often served to highlight and clarify issues.

But as to the conversion rate between talk and implementation, there seems to be very little material in the public domain.

It’s anyone’s guess how much it might cost to implement the proposed reforms, above.

But it almost certainly would be a fraction of £1.4m.

Mike Wilson is editor of BuildEdinburgh.com

Main image details: West Crosscauseway, now west-to-east one-way traffic; copyright Mike Wilson. The Causey ‘minimal’ scheme and the lorry, van and bin images: copyright Gordon Duffy, Studio Dub

UNTIL recently, a walk down the Union canal towards Fountainbridge could hardly avoid the sight of an abandoned and derelict church located on the southern side of the canal, tucked behind the tenements of Viewforth.

But the building - once an eyesore - has been painstakingly refurbished and restored so that since 2024 it has been home to four families who might otherwise struggle to find suitable housing in the capital on their incomes.

These households, together with residents in the block of ten new-build flats in what was once the church car park, are now paying a ‘mid-market rent’ (MMR), making the sort of difference to people’s lives that prompted one of the families to describe taking up a tenancy with us - at Lar Housing Trust - as “life-saving”.

Typical monthly rents for a two-bed property in the area stand at around £1,500 compared to Lar’s £860.

Refurbishing properties is become something of a thing for Lar, a not-for-profit housing charity.

We are currently in the process of refurbishing the historic former naval barracks at Port Edgar and have planning consent in place to redevelop the former car factory at Madelvic in the Granton area of the city.

Both sites have long been abandoned and have been in a state of considerable disrepair. Similar completed projects include the transformation of an empty former office block at Westwood House on Gorgie Road into 49 flats, as well as two developments for the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership for people under their care with specialist housing needs.

Saving old and derelict buildings also helps people put down roots in their own communities, breathing life into overlooked areas and vastly improving local amenities.

But what makes the Union Canal church and Lar’s overall development work an example for others to potentially replicate is how it was funded.

The idea for Lar was formed by the housing team at Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), of which I was part before joining Lar, and involved a pathfinding finance model of loan-funding rather than grants.

At Lar’s launch ten years ago, the aim was simply to prove the concept of an alternative funding model could work.

Credit to the team at SFT for the vision to try something different and the Scottish Government civil servants and ministers for their bold approach to adopt this, despite the idea being untested and unconventional.

Loan funding is, of course, repaid, unlike grants, which means it returns to the public purse and can be re-used to finance further development. The net cost, therefore, of a Lar home is also considerably cheaper than its grant-funded equivalent.

There are too few developers in the housing sector in Scotland with the means or the risk appetite to tackle such complex regeneration projects, but one of our strategic goals is to help save Scotland’s built heritage - because of the certainty our funding model offers, we have been able and willing to take on those risks.

Tackling derelict and often listed buildings takes time, requires a flexible approach and time to react to unexpected situations.

We have enjoyed the benefit of cheap government debt of £55 million at our launch blended with commercial finance of £65 million later secured from Scottish Widows/Bank of Scotland.

The government loan has provided the necessary conditions to take on these projects without raking up finance costs and, consequently, rents.

The upshot of this funding model also makes refurbishment an alternative option to new-build, with the added benefit of saving our tenants an average £3,616 a year in rent.

We have been able to achieve this for our tenants because of our forward funded model and the financial certainty this allows. There is a growing demographic of people who neither qualify for social housing nor can afford private rents. Lar’s model addresses their needs.

If this sounds potentially too good to be true, the reality is that our tenants have collectively saved over £10 million in rent against market rates, on top of which they have a home for life should they want it. Lar does not operate a short-term model for tenants and our homes will remain within the charity sector in perpetuity. Our model should provide a blueprint for repurposing derelict and empty buildings for Scotland’s housing sector.

Mikko Ramstedt is chief executive of Lar Housing Trust

Main image details: copyright Lar Housing Trust; the old Viewforth church, copyright Mike Wilson

In today’s edition:

• Portobello promenade set for ‘improvements’;

• Community-designed sculpture unveiled on cycle route;

• £5m support package issued in the wake of the former Debenhams building fire;

• Debate taking place about the City Plan 2040;

• Trial measures to ease traffic congestion at Lothianburn;

• Permission being sought for hotel reconfiguration;

• Images published of newly refurbished King’s Theatre;

• The city council’s housing waiting list;

• Household and dwellings numbers;

• Ticket offer celebrating 180th anniversary of the Scott Monument;

• Passivhaus building costs estimated to be almost on par with ‘conventional’ house ones;

• Land and country mansion for sale, South Queensferry;

• Under-30s ‘love’ Edinburgh;

• Subscriber numbers;

• A lovely discovery; and

• Enjoy, see you next Friday!

Portobello promenade set for ‘improvements’

PUBLIC realm improvements are in store for Portobello promenade - including new, accessible public toilets and “better, accessible and inclusive play spaces for all ages and abilities”.

It is a city council project, to be funded by the proceeds from a levy being charged to visitors for overnight stays, which came into force a fortnight ago.

Says the city council, here: “Portobello Promenade is one of Edinburgh’s most loved seaside spots, and we want to help make it even better.

“We are developing plans to improve the promenade from Kings Place to Joppa.”

The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

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Community-designed sculpture unveiled on cycle route

A COMMUNITY-designed sculpture has been unveiled on a cycle route, in Bingham.

Says the charity, Walk Wheel Cycle (formerly Sustrans) - here: “Created by artist duo Littlewhitehead in collaboration with Art Buds Collective, [the sculpture] Beacon has grown from months of creative workshops and shared ideas.

“More than 260 local people helped shape the artwork, making it a true reflection of the neighbourhood and the people who know it best.”

It is located on the National Cycle Network Route 1.

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£5m support package issued in the wake of the former Debenhams building fire

A £5m support package is to be made available by the Scottish Government, in the wake of the fire which ravaged the former Debenhams building on Princes Street.

Says a Scottish Government media release, here: “The funding will be administered by the council and include support for a number of areas to assist the recovery from the fire, including support to incentivise and assist with travel around the city, acknowledging the concerns of businesses facing reduced footfall after the closure on Princes Street, in particular along the tram route to Leith and Newhaven.

“It will also provide assistance to help secure the site and make the building safe to facilitate the reopening of Princes Street, as well as support for festival operators forced to relocate.”

Read more on the city council’s website, here.

The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

And the newspaper’s Ian Swanson also quotes the city council leader, describing as “shameful” a non-appearance by the First Minister, John Swinney. Here.

Judging by the other comments published in the newspaper, it seems to have all got rather ‘party political’.

Meanwhile, last week’s poll on BuildEdinburgh, regarding the building: Repair and preserve 37 per cent, Demolish and replace with a replica 41 per cent and Demolish and replace with modern 22 per cent. From 41 votes.

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Debate taking place about the City Plan 2040

A DEBATE about the city council’s planning ambitions for the years 2030-40 is being hosted towards the end of next month, by local heritage body, The Cockburn Association.

The City Plan 2040 debate is taking place on the 26th of next month; details here.

Meanwhile, the city council has issued a City Plan 2040 ‘call for ideas’ - here - with a deadline of September 30.

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Trial measures to ease traffic congestion at Lothianburn

SOMETIMES serious congestion on Biggar Road near the bypass - and also on the slip roads at Lothianburn junction - is to be addressed by the road maintenance and management firm, BEAR Scotland.

Says the organisation, here: “New road markings and temporary changes to the road layout will be put in place on the roundabouts north and south of the city bypass, and at the entrance to the Midlothian Snowsports Centre at Hillend.

“These measures have been designed to improve traffic flow on the roundabouts, reduce queue-jumping, improve lane discipline and reduce delays on the A720 eastbound off-slip.”

Local councillor, Neil Cuthbert, welcomed the announcement, saying it was a “step in the right direction”, adding, “Of course, it is an experiment, so we will just have to wait and see. But it’s progress.”

Relatively recently, traffic lights were installed at the entrance of Hillend snowsports centre and a little south, at a three-road junction considered to be highly dangerous.

The story is picked up by the Midlothian View website, here.

And also TheFairmile website, here (which also notes the local community council’s comments about a planning-in-principle application to demolish Scottish Water offices on Buckstone Terrace).

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Permission being sought for hotel reconfiguration

PLANNING permission is being sought, to reconfigure a hotel on Haymarket Terrace.

The planning application (here, ref: 26/03110/FUL), if approved, would radically change the frontage of the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, formerly an Apex hotel.

As detailed here.

The architects are ICA.

The story is picked up by Urban Realm website, here.

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Images published of newly refurbished King’s Theatre

IMAGES from the newly refurbished King’s Theatre in Tollcross can be found on several websites, including Urban Realm, here, and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, here.

The theatre reopened on Saturday, following a four-year restoration project overseen by architects, Bennetts Associates.

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The city council’s housing waiting list

JUST over 31,500 applicants are waiting for a‘social rent’ home from the city council.

And according to a Freedom of Information request, of the exactly 31,589 applications that have been submitted, some 9,224 have been waiting for over five years.

Some 5,545 applications have been made within the last 12 months of the most recent data becoming available (the FoI was submitted in June and ‘resolved’ last month).

The breakdown reads as follows:

• Less than one year – 5,545;

• One to two years – 5,521;

• Two to three years – 4,911;

• Three to five years – 6,388; and

• More than five years – 9,224.

Says the reply, from the city council to the FoI: “For applications active for more than five years, the number of applicants in this band who have received at least one offer of accommodation that was refused: 1,235.

“The number who have received no offer of accommodation in that period: 6,864.”

The identity of who submitted the FoI is kept confidential.

The story is picked up, here, by the Edinburgh Evening News.

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Household and dwellings numbers

THERE were almost a quarter of a million households living in Edinburgh last year - according to figures released by National Records of Scotland.

The exact figure of 247,435 was up 2,644 on the previous year.

Meanwhile, there were 269,306 dwellings in the city (up 2,997 on the previous year), not all of them occupied.

Indeed, some 2.4 per cent of homes in Edinburgh (6,464) were identified last year as ‘vacant’ (against a Scotland average of 3.2 per cent), 1.1 per cent as ‘long-term empty’ (3,080) (against a Scotland average of 1.6 per cent), and 0.5 per cent (1,440) as ‘second homes’ (against a Scotland average of 0.6 per cent).

Scotland-wide, over the last 20 years the number of households increased by 296,500 (13 per cent) - to reach 2.57m - with the average household size now 2.11 people per household, down from 2.27 people per household in 2001, 2.19 in 2011 and 2.12 four years ago.

Meanwhile, the number of households in Scotland is projected to grow by 6.7 per cent in the ten years from mid-2022 to mid-2032. By mid-2047, the number of households is projected to be 12.2 per cent higher than in mid-2022. As noted, here.

Read the NRS press release, here.

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Ticket offer celebrating 180th anniversary of the Scott Monument

TICKETS are being made available for free - on a first come, first served basis - to help celebrate the 180th anniversary of the Scott Monument on Princes Street.

From Monday, for a week, 12 free tickets are going to be made available each day, to climb the monument.

As detailed, here, on the city council website.

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Passivhaus building costs estimated to be almost on par with ‘conventional’ house ones

THE additional costs associated with building homes to the exacting energy efficiency standard, Passivhaus, are estimated to have fallen to almost negligible levels - according to new research.

The research (here) has found the additional cost, compared to ‘conventional’ equivalent properties, to be around three-to-five per cent for a semi-detached house and two per cent for a flat.

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Land and country mansion for sale, South Queensferry

A GUIDE price of £200,000 is being suggested for a 1.3-acre plot of land immediately fronting the Firth of Forth, at South Queensferry - here.

And a guide price of £275,000 is being suggested for a nearby dilapidated country mansion, here.

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Under-30s ‘love’ Edinburgh

YOUNG people - aged under 30 - have rated Edinburgh as the fourth-best place in the world to live - according to media brand, Time Out.

Says Time Out, here: “‘There are plenty of reasons why Edinburgh is an extremely liveable city – its green space, walkability, excellent restaurants and world-class cultural offering – but for Gen Z specifically, its unique nightlife scene makes it a standout.”

Edinburgh sits behind Tokyo, Porto and Melbourne in the world rankings.

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Subscriber numbers

SUBSCRIBER numbers have increased from last week: we are now at 727. Thank you.

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A lovely discovery

EDINBURGH’S several ‘broken’ and eyesore telephone boxes could do worse than take inspiration from a lovely transformation of one on Queen Street.

Admittedly a transformation of a classic Giles Gilbert Scott ‘red’ telephone box - as opposed to the much less charming more modern ones - it was undertaken on behalf of Save the Children charity (that was eligible to take over the box for £1) by the nearby shop: bespoke tailors, Stewart Christie & Co.

Read more, here, about the box’s transformation, on The Edinburgh Reporter website.

So… what to do with the city’s other telephone boxes? History boards? Curious Edinburgh tales? Architecture drawings? Telephone hotlines? Tourist information?

BuildEdinburgh plans to explore options, for an upcoming feature.

Any thoughts: editorialbuildedinburgh [at] gmail [dot com]. For example, what type of exhibition boards and how to fix them so they can’t be easily vandalised?

And do please share with BuildEdinburgh readers your own ‘Lovely discoveries’ in the city.

Main image details: Floral clock, Princes Street Gardens; all images copyright Mike Wilson

TURNING off the busy West Granton Road, Madelvic House stands out from the crowd. On a sunny evening, its Victorian red bricks glow warmly. Living close to it is vital to my wellbeing and representative of Granton’s fascinating heritage.

Modern blocks of flats stand on one side of this treasure of a building; on another are cottages dating from the 1930s.

Opposite is a beautiful sycamore tree and the brick and metal casing of United Wire, who have been in business for over 200 years.

Adjacent are the remains of what is believed to be the UK’s first electric car factory, where prototypes were driven on a roof track for testing - around 1900.

Madelvic House is in the midst of this eclectic environment. It celebrates the good company it is in and holds the history of the community it belongs to.

Once at the forefront of the innovation and wealth-building that made Granton so important, Madelvic House is currently in the heart of acres of hasty new housebuilding and a place to which I regularly return.

On Mondays, I stretch, twist and do my ‘downward dogs’ in the Sphinx Room yoga class.

Early on Fridays, I go to sit in meditation there and then share a convivial breakfast.

At weekends, I am inspired by visiting art exhibitions. I love that classes and workshops, meeting rooms, studios and space to show artwork are available to us all so near to home.

In 2023/24, I was the development worker at the Granton Archive Project that occupies the William Peck Room.

More and more people are coming to live close by, or to visit the commercial outfits springing up; The Pitt street food, community hub and venue is just a 15-minute walk away.

Meanwhile, community arts group, Granton:hub, and Forth Children’s Theatre are both tenants of Madelvic House.

I run walking trips around Granton and find myself constantly singing the praises of Madelvic House, for two very simple reasons: its sense of history and the friendliness and enthusiasm of the people who work and volunteer there.

There is pride too: Madelvic House has been awarded ‘red wheel’ status (here) by the charity, the National Transport Trust, and of course there is the elegance and poise of the building’s architecture: the classical, white balustraded parapet, the broken pediment and pilastered front entrance.

What excites me the most is the façade’s decoration, built by William Peck in 1898.

Above the door is a wheel, the ‘fifth wheel’, which was a part of the electric car manufactured by the Madelvic Motor Carriage Co.

Perched on top of that is a sphinx (a goddess-lion-eagle hybrid) but the reason it is there is a riddle which, for long enough, I was not able to solve. Until now.

Peck - who held the office of city astronomer - was an Egyptophile. He was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and attended the Amen-Ra temple in Edinburgh, named after the temple of the same name in Luxor in southern Egypt, famous for its Avenue of Sphinxes.

It is likely that he chose a sphinx for Madelvic House as a reference to this, to guard the mysteries inside and act as a warning to those who entered that they should conceal all knowledge learned within.

It makes sense that an innovative business might choose such a symbol, and it brings the whole story alive.

There is so much more to the architectural gem that is Madelvic House. The sadness is that it is mostly overlooked, perhaps because Edinburgh is so rich in beautiful buildings.

BuildEdinburgh readers have the chance to enjoy the building, as I do, by signing up to visit it for ‘Doors Open Day’, on the 26th of next month, here.

Tamsin Grainger has been a Zen Shiatsu practitioner since 1991, and, more recently, a practising artist whose visual, written and textile-based work arises directly from her walking practice. Her next exhibition will be at Madelvic House, on October 23-25.

Also on September 26, Tamsin is leading ‘Knots’, a community walk down to Granton harbour and back, to celebrate the wire mesh and fishing industries. Details here.

Image details: copyright Tamsin Grainger

IMAGINE, if you will, a small, northern European city – a capital – which has a thriving economy and is sufficiently interesting to host an ever-growing tourist industry.

It’s small enough to get about on foot. However, if you want to, you can use the metro, tram, buses and even ferries with a single ticket. Bikes are not just tolerated but encouraged – there are 150 km of dedicated lanes.

You’ll have guessed by the reference to ‘metro’ that I’m not talking about Edinburgh.

It’s actually the Finnish capital of Helsinki, which has about the same metropolitan area population numbers (1.6m) as the South East Scotland Transport Partnership’s eight-council area of influence.

I could, though, have been talking about another Scandinavian capital, Sweden’s Stockholm, a slightly bigger city region which I’ve also visited, that also has a user-friendly, integrated system of getting from A to B – despite being built on an archipelago.

Comparisons, of course, are invidious. And it’s not going to be all perfect: check out the brilliant Helsinki Complaints Choir (yes, it’s a choir that sings specially-composed songs about various local complaints) which Edinburgh could do worse than copying.

However, I would argue that part of the problem lies in the fact that, unless you’re working in the specialist transportation sector, you’ve probably never heard of the South East Scotland Transport Partnership, or SEStran for short.

And if you think you’ve heard of SEStran at all, you’ve probably got it mixed up with Sustrans, the UK-wide charity now rebranded as Walk Wheel Cycle Trust.

Confused? I hope you won’t be…

There has always been - throughout Scotland’s changing local government history - a tension between big and small. We might like the idea of the village mayor being able to sort things out for people - as we romanticise about France - but some things can only be considered at scale.

The current system of 32 local authorities was introduced 30 years ago, succeeding a previous nine regions (by far and away the biggest being Strathclyde) and 53 districts.

Partly the reason behind that was political: the regions in Scotland and northern England had become big enough and powerful enough to be a thorn in the flesh of the then (Conservative) administration at Westminster; a history lesson more recent governments - at Westminster and Edinburgh - will not have missed.

In November, current Scottish Government First Minister, John Swinney, hinted at what might begin to emerge over the coming years, when he talked about regional economic partnerships - as reported, here, on the Scottish Government website.

Significantly, he commended the Glasgow city region’s partnership approach of existing structures: “… a far better approach than the imposition of so-called Metro Mayors”.

Like Glasgow, Edinburgh is part of a ‘city region deal’ (CRD) - here - which, from 2018, is scheduled to deliver £1.6bn over 15 years, jointly funded by the UK and Scottish governments.

It sees itself as providing investment in a broad remit of ‘innovation, skills, and infrastructure’.

The Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal covers six council areas: Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders.

Regional economic and spatial planning bodies and partnerships run on similar boundaries: health boards don’t, as they operate on the old regional council lines.

My interest in all of this has been mainly transport - having worked until I retired at the end of last month, this year as a consultant to SEStran.

SEStran’s boundaries are wider than the City Region Deal, also taking in Falkirk and Clackmannanshire.

That slight disconnect between the various organisations tells you something, as to whether Edinburgh is being thought about as an emerging metropolis.

Included in the package of CRD funding is the long-awaited work to improve matters on the city bypass.

So, there is the CRD and then there is also SEStran - which is the regional transport body, created by statute in 2005.

The two haven’t always co-operated well together, although recent joint working on how to deliver SEStran’s (statutory) Regional Transport Strategy is encouraging.

Clearly, transport is only one part of the jigsaw. We shouldn’t, for instance, have a commitment to higher density housing in Edinburgh while allowing car-dependent low-rise housing to be built in the Lothians.

The best of housing design that we are beginning to see in Edinburgh should be championed elsewhere in the region.

There should also be a co-ordinated approach to tourism, if only to ease the pressure on the centre of Edinburgh.

You can’t plan for the future if you don’t have the data, and ‘Edinburgh by Numbers’ is exactly the sort of document that’s needed.

It’s an annual publication and the most recent - the 19th edition (here) - was published just a few weeks ago.

Interrogating the data, and using it to create a clear plan for a mass transit system that delivers for the region, could make a crucial difference as the south-east Scotland economy continues to heat up.

Imagine the hothouse atmosphere were all these strategic debates to be taking place under the one roof. Perhaps the creation of a single, regional mayor is not going to happen, for the political reasons I’ve outlined; however, leadership is key to this.

This was a lesson I took from some research I did for SEStran a few months ago on the English city regions and how they delivered transport.

An officer I spoke to at Transport for Manchester said that Greater Manchester as a unit of local government had been 20 years in the making, and that strong leadership at political and official level had been crucial to it.

‘Manchesterism’ will of course have its supporters and detractors, and I can’t imagine our current First Minister being an uncritical fan.

However, in Glasgow, a model is emerging. Glasgow City Region and SPT (SEStran’s equivalent in the west, albeit with greater functionality) have now been entrusted to jointly deliver the Clyde Metro project.

In our own region, SEStran has been tasked with looking into the feasibility of mass transit in the region (currently, the project is called SEStransit).

Imagine, then. Imagine, if you will, a small, northern European city – a capital – which has a thriving economy, and is sufficiently interesting to host an ever-growing tourist industry. It’s small enough to get about on foot.

It’s a city where employment, health, and housing sites are planned and delivered in a way that allows people to move around the metropolitan region with ease and at a reasonable cost.

It’s also a city comprising a series of tram lines that go far beyond the city’s inner core, and connects with tram trains in its southern suburbs.

A city where freight delivery, from its ports along the river estuary, happens seamlessly and easily.

Where there’s even a ferry across the river to carry workers into the city from the northern part of the metropolitan area. Where buses and trains are integrated.

And where one ticket does everything.

Imagine it’s called Edinburgh.

Andrew Ferguson is a former lawyer and now a musician and writer.

Image details: copyright Mike Wilson

In today’s edition:

• ‘Super hostel’ plan ‘broadly’ approved, on appeal;

• First steps completed at The Causey;

• North Bridge expected to fully reopen later today;

• What to do with the fire-damaged Debenhams building?;

• Business group leader urges Visitor Levy money to be spent on city centre streets;

• Edinburgh Trams: passenger numbers up, revenue up, but losses also up;

• Muriel Spark monument to be an abstract design;

• £8.5m funding boost for Art Works project;

• Litter picks, on Sunday and Tuesday;

• Refurbishment plans for Portobello swim centre ‘moving forward’;

• Summerhall road junction redesign gets short shrift from cyclists;

• Event to examine west city neighbourhood projects;

• Flats proposal submitted for house in Merchiston;

• Subscriber numbers and the opportunity to share;

• Road closure at Holyrood Park; and

• Enjoy, see you next Friday!

‘Super hostel’ plan ‘broadly’ approved, on appeal

A PROPOSAL to convert a row of former offices on Atholl Crescent, into what is being described as a ‘super-hostel’, has been ‘broadly’ approved - on appeal, by the Scottish Government.

The appeal concerned a two-part planning application (here, ref: 25/04915/FUL and here, ref: 25/04916/LBC), which the developers chose to appeal on December 17, the exact same date of a city council Development Management sub-committee meeting, which would have ordinarily considered the applications but did not include them on its agenda.

The appeal was on ‘failure to give a decision grounds’.

The first application received 281 objections (here); the second 267 (here).

The proposal is for essentially ‘pod accommodation’.

Said background papers, here, in the original planning application: “The hotel will utilise a capsule hotel concept, where individual sleeping pods will be grouped into 78 guestrooms each containing a number of private capsules or double beds. These along with additional double bed chambers will result in a total of approximately 544 beds.”

The appeal (here, ref: PPA-230-2699) was ‘broadly’ approved last Friday - with some parts refused (here).

THE BBC reports anger at the decision, here. As does the Edinburgh Evening News (here). Scottish Housing News website also reports the decision (here).

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First steps completed at The Causey

A LONG-held ambition to reconfigure a traffic island on West Crosscauseway - into a more ‘civic space’ (The Causey) - has taken its first step, with a reversal of its one-way traffic flow.

However, during a five-to-ten minute spell at 1.45pm today, BuildEdinburgh witnessed three occasions where confusion appeared to reign.

Despite at least three ‘no entry’ signs (including two on the ground), one car entered the street, when it shouldn’t have, from Clerk Street.

And two vehicles turned right - again, against instructions - from West Crosscauseway into Clerk Street.

The works story was picked up last week by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

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North Bridge expected to fully reopen later today

AFTER years of road and pavement closures - to allow for restoration work - North Bridge is expected to be fully reopened later today (so long as the rain holds off to allow for road markings to be painted).

Meanwhile, it is being reported that there are no plans to reinstate bus stops on North Bridge when it is finally reopened (with the race on to complete the work by today or tomorrow).

Reported Rachel Fergusson, last week: “The [council in a reply to a post on X, formerly Twitter] said the eight years of works on the bridge had ‘provided an opportunity to observe bus operations’, and that the current provision with buses only stopping on South Bridge has worked well for the network in the city centre.”

Fergusson adds: “The [council also] said improvements to [neighbouring] South Bridge will be subject to consultation in the coming months.”

Read more, here.

However, on Monday, the Edinburgh Minute website’s Michael MacLeod wrote, here: “While I’m still waiting for evidence from the council on how the decision to remove bus stops was taken, I’m told there was no new accessibility impact assessment on removing bus stops because there was already an arrangement in place for the duration of the North Bridge project, supported by Lothian Buses.

“The council is said to be reviewing the situation and willing to make any necessary adjustments once the bridge reopens. Hoping to get a comment from the council on this week.”

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What to do with the fire-damaged Debenhams building?

IN Saturday’s edition of the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, the city council’s Transport committee convener, Cllr Stephen Jenkinson, was quoted - here - saying the fire-damaged former Debenhams building on Princes Street should be demolished, essentially to allow the road to be reopened as soon as possible.

Do you agree?

On the continent, there is a well-established tradition of building exact replicas of destroyed buildings.

And of course, a modern replacement could be the subject of an open design competition.

The city council is providing updates - here.

To the question, Will the building be knocked down?, the council replies: “It is a B-listed historical building. We’re trying to preserve as much of it as possible, but it is too early to tell how much can be saved.”

And to the question, Who will pay for this work?, it replies: “Under the Building (Scotland) Act, we’ll seek to recover costs incurred by the council in carrying out these urgent works from the building owners in due course.”

It is understood that the affected part of Princes Street will remain closed for at least three further weeks, with a late piece of news emerging: an ornate staircase within the building apparently escaped the flames.

Meanwhile, a history of the building (and that particular stretch of Princes Street) has been penned by local history writer, Andy Arthur, on his Threadinburgh website, here.

And on Wednesday, The Herald newspaper ran a story - here - claiming the Scottish Government had yet to commit to providing ‘emergency funding’ for the building, despite a reported request from the city council leader.

Plus, yesterday, the same newspaper reported that the building’s owners “would not be drawn” on whether it would pay the full cost of any work relating to demolition.

Adds the newspaper, here: “They also did not comment when asked if the company will continue development of the site, which caught fire overnight on July 9, once it is safe to do so.”

Today, the same newspaper, was reporting (here) that the removal of gas cylinders - identified by the Health and Safety Executive - appears to have eliminated that possible cause of the fire.

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Business group leader urges Visitor Levy money to be spent on city centre streets

AN appeal to spend money - raised by charging visitors for overnight stays in Edinburgh - on ‘upgrading’ Princes Street and George Street has reportedly been made by the head of a city centre business representative group.

Roddy Smith, chief executive of Essential Edinburgh, is quoted in the Edinburgh Evening News, here, as saying: “There's no excuse now, because there is a pot of money there to do it."

He was referring to the Visitor Levy, which came into effect last Friday.

The levy is expected to raise £45-50 million a year by 2028/29.

In February, city councillors agreed a package of levy funding worth over £90 million over the next three years, as detailed here.

At the special, Visitor Levy meeting of the council in February (here), it was also agreed that some additional projects will be considered in 2027/28 (subject to agreement by the relevant council committees).

Following a workshop scheduled for September, councillors are expected to consider the next stage in the ‘Princes Street and Waverley Valley strategy’, including what to do with any unallocated levy monies.

Edinburgh Trams: passenger numbers up, revenue up, but losses also up

SOME 12.5m passengers used Edinburgh’s tram network last year - according to the company’s 2025 annual accounts, just published, here.

The figure is a record high for the trams network: up 3.3 per cent on the previous year, 2024, itself a record high.

And, in a similar vein, revenue had also gone up: £33.1m last year, up from £28.9m in 2024.

But losses are also mounting - not least because of an annual leasing (of ‘assets’ such as the track) payment to the city council.

In an useful summary, The Herald’s Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco reports on the tap-on, tap-off system, online sales, a new governance structure, energy costs, the value of assets, staff wages and a ‘golden goodbye’ to the former chief executive (now at Blackpool Transport).

Read him, here.

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Muriel Spark memorial to be an abstract design

A MEMORIAL to the late writer, Muriel Spark - planned for Princes Street Gardens, the first of its kind in the gardens honouring a woman - is going to be abstract rather than figurative.

Still to receive planning permission, the memorial design has been explained by its artist, Jacqueline Donachie, in a feature on the Edinburgh Inquirer website, here.

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£8.5m funding boost for Art Works project

A NATIONAL Galleries of Scotland project - to be built in Granton - has received £8.5m from The National Lottery, to enable construction work to go ahead.

The Art Works - believed to become the largest cultural building in Scotland designed to the exacting energy efficiency standard, Passivhaus - will allow the National Galleries of Scotland to put on show an estimated 130,000 items.

Read more, here on the National Galleries of Scotland website.

The story is picked up by, among others, ProjectScotland.com, here, and Museums Journal, here.

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Litter picks, on Sunday and Tuesday

A LITTER pick is taking place on Sunday, at Victoria Park.

It kicks off at 2.30pm and is being organised by ‘Friends’ of the park.

And there’s a second litter pick taking place: this time on Tuesday, beginning at Henderson Gardens Park, in Leith, before moving on to nearby Yardheads / Giles Street.

It begins at 7pm and is being organised by Edinburgh Trash Club.

Kit provided.

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Refurbishment plans for Portobello swim centre ‘moving forward’

A 90-plus per cent approval rating has given the city’s sport and leisure organisation, Edinburgh Leisure, the confidence to ‘move forward’ with plans to refurbish Portobello swim centre.

Says Edinburgh Leisure, here: “[A] consultation, carried out independently during May and June, gathered views from customers, user groups and local residents. It found that 91 per cent of respondents support investment in the centre, while 95 per cent recognise it as an important community asset.”

The story is picked up by The Edinburgh Reporter website, here.

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Summerhall road junction redesign gets short shrift from cyclists

THE redesign of a road junction - at Summerhall - has angered many cyclists, if the responses to a city council social media post are anything to go by.

It follows the posting of a video - here - on the council’s Bluesky account.

And the design also gets pretty short shrift on the eNewsletter, Edi.Bike - here.

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Event to examine west city neighbourhood projects

MAJOR neighbourhood projects earmarked for west Edinburgh are to be the subject of an event being hosted by the city’s Chamber of Commerce.

Begins the promotional blurb: “West Edinburgh is undergoing one of the most significant transformation programmes in the UK, with a cluster of major developments reshaping the area into a new economic, residential and innovation district for the city and for Scotland.

“This panel will take a strategic look at the full west Edinburgh growth corridor, examining how coordinated investment can helping tackling the housing crisis, unlocking new commercial and innovation capacity, and driving sustainable, inclusive economic growth.”

It is taking place on the 19th of next month.

Read more, here.

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Flats proposal submitted for house in Merchiston

A PLANNING application has been submitted to turn a house in Merchiston into 11 flats.

The application - here, ref:26/02638/FUL - reads: “Change of use of existing dwellinghouse to form six flats, demolition of existing extension and garage, and erection of replacement extensions to form five flats including landscaping, and associated works.”

The architects are ISA.

The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

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Subscriber numbers and the opportunity to share

AS of earlier today, the number of subscribers of BuildEdinburgh had broken through the 700 mark, to sit at 720.

Thank you, to each and every one of you.

As a thank you, the paywall to the archive has been removed.

And do please help spread the word, by using the social media sharing icon accompanying each and every bit of editorial.

If you are a free subscriber and feel like providing the site with even more backing, our annual paying member subscription has been discounted to £20 - returning to the standard £30 tomorrow.

Finally, if each and every one of you were to type, ‘BuildEdinburgh’, into your internet search engine, who knows how much the site could climb up the ‘search results’ rankings.

All the best, Mike Wilson, editor

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Road closure at Holyrood Park

A HOLYROOD Park road has been closed to pedestrians and cyclists for what are being described as “urgent electricity network repairs”.

Says SP Energy Networks, Duddingston Low Road is expected to be closed until next Friday, with a diversion in place using the Innocent Railway Path.

The story is picked up by The Edinburgh Reporter website, here.

More details, here, on the SP Energy Networks website.

Main image details: Ross Fountain, Princes Street Gardens; all images: copyright Mike Wilson

THE trick, it seems, is to recruit enough people willing to seriously and sincerely pledge their commitment - not least with legal documentation and hard cash.

In pursuit of resident-designed housing, it is always going to be a case of whether the numbers stack up.

Having once been involved in a local cohousing group, one thing that became apparent was people’s seeming reluctance to share their financial details.

While a good number of people were prepared to contribute £250 towards the costs of hiring professional advice, there seemed to be a certain reticence - among those who owned their own homes - to share details of how much they could afford, to move into a new development.

In fairness, it was perhaps a question not asked clearly or forcefully enough, since property valuations are hardly the world’s best-kept secret.

But the sum total of the exercise was not quite knowing how much money could be ‘brought to the table’.

One site that is likely going to be soon available is an office block on Buckstone Terrace.

Owned and operated by Scottish Water, it is currently subject of a planning-in-principle application (here, ref: 26/02900/PPP), which - assuming it is approved - will be the ‘green light’ for it then being marketed for sale.

What is being asked for is in-principle permission to demolish the building - renovation understood not to be an option on account of the building’s cladding and the existence of the so-called ‘crumbling concrete’, Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) - and replace it with housing.

As many as 124 homes are being envisaged, which might be too small a project for a major house-builder, but too big for a residents-designed neighbourhood (but you never know, if enough people were to express an interest).

At the other end of the spectrum is a site in Currie, noted in the latest BuildEdinburgh news update, here. It has planning permission for nine flats and is available for offers over £500,000.

Large or small, no plot of land (or ‘residential development opportunity’) is ever going to take off as resident-designed housing until the prospective residents begin to declare themselves.

This website has already advanced several ideas (here) as to how a resident-designed apartment block might be fashioned, including the creation of private, safe, sanctuary-like courtyards.

Among the serving suggestions: super-secure door entry; high acoustic insulation; potentially underground or semi-underground secure car parking; balconies; elevator access (albeit a ‘passenger lift’ is mandatory - here, clause 4.2.5 - for anything over four storeys); guest bedrooms; community garden, adjacent apartments for families with caring responsibilities; gym equipment, common insurance; and shared resources (such as cars and power tools).

In addition, this website has given serious thought to the possible elements in not just a single apartment block but a whole neighbourhood. Here.

It should come as no surprise that there is quite a bit of overlap in the thinking for an apartment block as there is for a neighbourhood.

And it might be that whoever builds on the Scottish Water site would entertain a single apartment block - in among their own efforts - that has been resident-designed.

Or set aside a plot of land for residents to just get on with it.

But until those prospective residents physically come together - under the guidance, most likely, of an architect who can articulate what is possible - one will never know.

Ideally, these self-same prospective residents would pitch up, with a willingness to (1) share details of how much they might be able to afford, (2) sign - when the time comes - a legal document committing themselves to an apartment, and (3) pay an upfront (likely non-returnable) sum to commission early-stage professionals.

With at least a vague idea of how much provisional money might be available to play with, an approach could then be made to the developer.

BuildEdinburgh.com is happy to co-ordinate such a group exercise.

All you need to do is email editorialbuildedinburgh [at] gmail [dot com]. Mark the subject heading, ‘Resident-designed’.

And we will find a venue to discuss possible next steps forward.

Mike Wilson is editor of BuildEdinburgh

Image details: Scottish Water building, Buckstone Terrace, Fairmilehead; copyright Mike Wilson

In today’s edition:

• Views sought on Leith Theatre’s future;

• Gilmerton guidelines published;

• Fears for empty cinema;

• Edinburgh Park office block reportedly sold;

• Gorgie Road closure lifted a week early;

• Visitor levy kicks in today;

• Marchmont bins’ ‘misery’;

• Average house price, Scotland;

• Argyle House amendments expected when planning application finally submitted;

• Residents reportedly asked to move out of their homes, to allow for mineshaft repairs;

• Wanted: community heritage officer for Granton;

• Currie plot of land being marketed for sale;

• Cowgate experience gives former council leader confidence of Princes Street recovery; and

• Enjoy, see you next Friday!

Views sought on Leith Theatre’s future

VIEWS are being sought on the future refurbishment of Leith Theatre.

Begin an online survey, here: “Leith Theatre is working towards reopening as a vibrant venue for live music, performances and community events. We are speaking to people across Leith, Edinburgh and beyond to understand what makes venues feel welcoming, what kinds of events people enjoy and how this historic building can best serve the community.”

Said a spokesperson: “A design team is already in place, as part of a development-funded programme from National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“Early work has included completion of ‘RIBA Stage 1’ [preparation and brief].”

Gilmerton guidelines published

A NEW set of guidelines, to help shape the future of Gilmerton, has been published by the city council’s planning team.

Says the team, here, the ‘Gilmerton Conservation Area Character Appraisal’ was approved by the council’s Planning committee (here) on the 17th of last month.

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Fears for empty cinema

THE owner of the Odeon cinema on Clerk Street has reportedly been busy with lots of different other projects - including The Scotsman Hotel - since he is believed to have purchased the Art Deco building 12 years ago.

But a long read on the Edinburgh Inquirer website - here - speaks of fears (and ambitions among local people) about the cinema’s future.

Says writer, Emma Newlands: “The council said it would not normally get involved in any stalled development proposals for a site, with the owner of the property responsible for progressing such work.”

Edinburgh Park office block reportedly sold

A PROMINENT office block in Edinburgh Park has been reportedly sold to a Manchester-based investment and development company.

The new owners are understood to be Hurstwood Holdings.

The story is picked up by The Scotsman newspaper, here, The Herald, here and the website, Project Scotland, here.

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Gorgie Road closure lifted a week early

A SIX-month road closure has been lifted on Gorgie Road, in west Edinburgh, a week earlier than envisaged, following the completion of work to make the Water of Leith cleaner.

Says Scottish Water, in a media release, the £3m project “involved constructing a new overflow chamber with a powered screen to reduce sewer-related debris entering the watercourse during heavy rainfall events”.

It adds: “Traffic management which was in place between Robb’s Loan and Hutchison Crossway for six months was removed a week earlier than planned and this busy junction has now been fully reopened.”

The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

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Visitor levy kicks in today

A MODEST charge for overnight stays by visitors to Edinburgh begins today: the Visitor Levy, as announced, here, by the city council.

Says the council: “A five per cent fee will now apply to the cost of all paid overnight accommodation in Scotland’s capital city, capped at five nights in a row. The levy is charged at the same rate every day of the year.”

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Marchmont bins’ ‘misery’

BEGINS Ian Swanson, in the Edinburgh Evening News: “A [Marchmont] resident who lives with a bin hub right outside her house says ‘every day is a misery’ as she is confronted by flytipped furniture, the noise of smashing glass, the smell of mouldy food and personal waste strewn in the street.”

Read more, here.

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Average house price, Scotland

THE average house price in Scotland during May was £196,000 - according to the Registers of Scotland.

Says RoS, here, the figure is four per cent up on 12 months’ previously and 1.5 per cent on the previous month, April.

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Argyle House amendments expected when planning application finally submitted

A REDUCTION in the height of a proposed hotel and residential development on the site of the Brutalist building, Argyle House - on Lady Lawson Street - is expected when its owners finally submit a planning application, within the next couple of months.

The likely amendment - which is expected to include the upper floors to the proposal being ‘stepped back’ - follows two public consultation events as part of the developer’s original ideas, contained in a Proposal of Application Notice (here, ref: 25/05912/PAN).

Says the PAN: “Demolition of existing building and redevelopment of the site for mixed-use development comprising residential, hotel and office use with ancillary commercial spaces, associated open space, car parking landscaping and ancillary works.”

The amendment details were shared at a third public event, held on the 14th.

The story is picked up, here, by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

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Residents reportedly asked to move out of their homes, to allow for mineshaft repairs

RESIDENTS of new housing in Gilmerton have reportedly been asked to move out of their homes, for an estimated eight weeks, to allow for repairs to mineshaft workings underneath their properties.

Reports Chloe Goodall, on the Edinburgh Live website, here, the affected properties are on Gilbert View.

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Wanted: community heritage officer for Granton

A PROJECT ‘linking and restoring the fragmented heritage of Granton Waterfront’ is looking to recruit a ‘community heritage officer’.

The job advert - with a deadline for applications being the third of next month - can be found, here.

Also wanted: a Heat Network development officer, at Porty Community Energy. Deadline: the sixth of next month. Details here.

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Currie plot of land being marketed for sale

AN 0.2-acre plot of land in Currie - with planning permission for nine flats - is being marketed for sale, at offers over £500,000. Here.

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Cowgate experience gives former council leader confidence of Princes Street recovery

THE way the city responded to a major fire in the Cowgate in 2002 (as reported here, by the BBC) has given former city council leader, Donald Anderson, reason to believe Edinburgh will recover from the fire that a couple of weeks ago severely damaged the Debenhams building on Princes Street.

In his regular column for the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper - here - he writes: “The destruction [in the Cowgate] was immense and there were genuine fears that the area could take decades to recover. But recover it did.”

Image details: Circus Lane, Stockbridge; copyright Mike Wilson

Read more

TO walk the 400 metres or so that separates the relatively new housing in Muirhouse with the even newer housing just north, opposite the World of Football on Marine Drive, feels like traversing a Road to Damascus conversion.

The physical distance between the two neighbourhoods - Muirhouse and West Shore - might be relatively minimal, but the difference in their design could hardly be more different.

While the former is predominantly townhouses and quite low-rise, the latter is much more high-rise and therefore higher density.

It feels like a new generation of neighbourhood design has emerged.

But if West Shore has learned lessons from Muirhouse, so too should future neighbourhood designs learn from it.

Compared to Muirhouse, West Shore has little in the way of private gardens, presumably an acknowledgment that, unless people say otherwise, it’s probably safe to assume they are not into growing vegetables and pruning roses.

Instead, there is the opportunity to tend raised beds with one’s neighbours, in any of four almost fully-enclosed courtyards created, Marchmont-style, by the joining of the apartment blocks into an approximation of a rectangle (they are not fully enclosed, insofar as there is (code-controlled) gated access from the outside).

Not all of West Shore comprises courtyards.

Both neighbourhoods have lots of surface car parking - in West Shore, locals are understood to be concerned about a relative lack of bays. Clearly, underground (or semi-underground) car parking has been calculated to be more expensive than the value of the land that would be released by pushing car parking - securely - underneath people’s homes.

The paving in West Shore - paving surely as much a built environment ‘canary in the mine’ as anything - is high-quality, expertly installed. A litmus test will be how well it is looked after.

The trick is not necessarily to assume the worst of people but to not necessarily assume the best.

One can only speculate how the West Shore designers would have accommodated the siting of key institutions, such as health services, as they are already to be mainly found within walking distance in Muirhouse: Craigroyston Community High School, the Pennywell All Care Centre and the MacMillan Hub.

Which leads one to another possible question, worth considering: why did they have to be built standalone, as opposed to woven into the fabric of a coherent street?

Only yesterday, BuildEdinburgh was reporting a proposal for a further 275 new homes and a primary school, in Granton - here.

So, a shopping list of ‘serving suggestions’ for the next generation of city neighbourhoods (design being, arguably, partly about making sure one hasn’t forgotten anything) seems appropriate:

• Adjacent properties, for those with caring responsibilities;

• ‘Affordable’ homes;

• Apartment balconies;

• Bicycle parking;

• Bicycle secure storage;

• Bird boxes;

• Bird spikes;

• Bollard-controlled street access;

• Books, DVDs and seeds ‘pop-up’ libraries;

• Bouldering wall;

• Brise soleils;

• Bug ‘hotels’;

• Bus stops;

• Carbon-neutral design;

• Cycle lanes;

• Car and motorcycle parking;

• Car sharing;

• CCTV;

• ‘Chicane’ barriers on walking paths;

• Coherent streetscapes (rather than buildings placed like pick-up jacks);

• Common insurance (in apartment blocks);

• Community gardening, including the use of raised beds;

• Community noticeboard;

• Concierge support;

• Courtyards that are private, safe and a sanctuary;

• Dedicated car parking for people with a disability;

• Defibrillator and First Aid;

• Dementia-friendly design;

• Dog exercising park;

• Dog waste and cigarette butt bins;

• Easy-access conduits, both internally and externally;

• Easy-access underground pipes, drains and cabling;

• Emergency and delivery vehicle access;

• Energy efficiency;

• Energy generation, eg solar panels;

• Elevator access in all apartment blocks (mindful of people’s changing mobility, over time);

• EV charging points;

• Extreme weather mitigation - heat, cold, rain, wind, etc;

• Fire safety;

• Flag poles;

• Flower boxes and hanging baskets;

• Fully-enclosed courtyards; if not fully-enclosed then with controlled gate access;

• Garden ‘kit’, including tools shed, potting bench, cold frame, greenhouse, compost heap, etc;

• Gate access that is code-controlled and self-closing;

  

• Graffiti removal equipment;

• Greenery from every vantage point;

• Grit / salt boxes;

• Guest bedrooms;

• Gym equipment;

  

• High acoustic insulation (especially in an apartment block);

• High-speed broadband;

• High-quality paving and installation;

• Individual, private garden space only for those keen on gardening;

• Indoor safe deposit boxes (for passports, birth certificates, etc);

• Information boards, eg history, nature, etc;

• Juxtaposed buildings, for ‘break-out’ visual interest;

• Laundry machines, eg Morrisons car park, Hunters Tryst;

• Library and music rehearsal space;

• Litter bins (including compacting and ‘talking bins’, as reported here, by the BBC);

• Meeting, crafting, young people, cafe, relaxing, micro pub, performance, exhibiting, etc space;

• Moat-like protection around buildings, eg on Harrison Road?;

• Mobile phone signal strength and equipment (eg masts);

• Narrow, ‘slow-down’ intimate and ‘characterful’ streets (as in Medieval village centres?);

• Natural light - lots of it;

• Neighbourhood website / eNewsletter / WhatsApp / etc communication channel(s);

• Outdoor seating and tables;

• Outside power sources, for outdoor lighting;

• Outside water sources, for gardening and even street washing;

• Pavement lighting;

• Pipes properly lagged against sub-zero temperatures;

• Playparks, age-diverse;

• Possible prohibitions: short-term letting, drive-through fast food, etc;

• Power and water sources;

• Power tools sharing;

• Public art;

• Public telephone box(es);

• Raised beds, including hugging walking paths;

  

• Repair and maintenance regime, including a rolling log of spare parts sources and materials;

• Resident decision-making, including during the design stage of the development;

• Resident handbook - welcome pack and useful information;

• Road junctions;

• Roof gardens and seating;

• Underground or semi-underground car parking;

• Underground refuse and recycling bins - with enough capacity to avoid having to draft in wheelie bins (pictured, below, at the back);

  

• Secure letter and parcel boxes;

  

• Shop front design guidance;

• Shop occupancy ‘test’ (giving preferential treatment to ‘social good’ operators);

• ‘Social capital’ infrastructure, such as ‘healthy eating’ cooking classes;

• Sports facilities; eg bowling green, basketball / football cage, padel tennis court, pétanque court, table tennis, etc (‘World of Football’ is close to both Muirhouse and West Shore);

• Spring flowers;

• Storm drainage, including downpipes and ‘sustainable’ drainage systems (SuDS);

• Street lighting;

• Street signage poles (kept to a minimum?);

• Super-secure door entry systems;

• Telecom boxes and cabling;

• Trees: for shade, wildlife habitat, visual interest and storm weather management;

• Video door entry;

• Walk-in showers (mindful of people’s changing mobility conditions, over time);

• Washing lines, including rectractable lines fitted to apartment balconies;

• Weed-suppressant planting or fabric;

• Wildflowers;

• Wildlife-friendly habitats: butterflies, bees, hedgehogs, etc;

• Workshop, warehousing and studio space - within walking distances of workers; and

• Young people services, social activities, hobbies, agency, etc.

Mike Wilson is editor of BuildEdinburgh

What to add? Email editorialbuildedinburgh [at] gmail [dot com]

All images: copyright Mike Wilson

In today’s edition:

• Planning-in-principle application being sought to demolish and develop Scottish Water offices;

• 275 homes proposal for Granton waterfront;

• Speculation that the fire-damaged Debenhams building might be sold, but then again…;

• ‘Grand vision’ call issued again for Princes Street;

• Updates on the day-to-day impacts of the fire;

• Expansion works completed at primary school;

• Talks expected to conclude with the sale of Powderhall former rail line;

• Site news;

• Work begins on new Liberton fire station;

• Litter picking dates for your diary;

• Further homes released for sale at ‘Edmonstone Village’;

• Residents reportedly urged to seek temporary accommodation, amid fire safety concerns;

• Bruntsfield Links golf hut refurbished;

• ‘Homelessness prevention fund’ issues first tranche of money;

• Office-to-hotel conversion reportedly set to soon open;

• Awards shortlisting for The Pitt;

• Residents reportedly ‘furious’ about resubmitted Leith planning application;

• Date set for palm houses re-opening; and

• Enjoy, see you next Friday!

Planning-in-principle application being sought to demolish and develop Scottish Water offices

PLANNING-in-principle is being sought to demolish a standalone office block on Buckstone Terrace owned by Scottish Water.

The application is to demolish and replace it with a mixed-use development, as explained here, ref: 26/02900/PPP.

The proposal was preceded by two public consultation events in March.

Should the PiP be approved, it is expected the site - which includes a large amount of car parking, some of which sits above vital water supply infrastructure - will be marketed for sale.

The next meeting of the city council’s Development Management sub-committee (where such applications are usually considered) is not until the fifth of next month (here), with no agenda as yet uploaded.

The local Fairmilehead Community Council is expected to soon host a public meeting, for residents to discuss the PiP.

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275 homes proposal for Granton waterfront

A PROPOSAL of Application Notice (PAN) has been submitted by the city council, to develop two plots of land in Granton into 275 homes - a mix of ‘council’ and private-for-sale.

The application - here, ref 26/02827/PAN - are for plots ‘B1’ and ‘B2’ within what’s being described as the wider Granton Waterfront Masterplan. Specifically, 250m east of 11 West Shore Road.

Being a PAN requires public consultation, ahead of submitting a more formal planning application.

Two such events have been organised - each taking place at the refurbished former Granton railway station, from 4pm to 7pm: the 24th of next month and the 28th of September.

The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

There are also primary school plans for the area - as detailed in this PAN, here (ref: 26/02763/PAN).

Read more, here, on The Edinburgh Reporter website.

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Speculation that the fire-damaged Debenhams building might be sold, but then again…

THERE is speculation that the owners of the fire-ravaged former Debenhams store on Princes Street could pull out, on account of it likely remaining a ‘gap site’ for a relatively long time.

Writes Ian Swanson, in the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper - here - a new planning application would be required to progress the hotel plans because of the need, as supposedly recommended by engineers, to remove the upper two floors.

Then again, because of the fire damage, the refurbishment conditions could be less onerous.

And there is further speculation - again reported by Ian Swanson - of a delay in the construction of a hotel, by the Ruby Group, in the empty (following demolition) plot immediately next to the Debenhams building. Here.

Meanwhile, the Edinburgh Inquirer website - here - considers what of the building might be saved.

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‘Grand vision’ call issued again for Princes Street

A CALL has been made for Princes Street to be the centre of a plan every bit as ambitious as that which created the New Town - according to The Scotsman newspaper columnist, the broadcaster Stephen Jardine.

Writes (here) Jardine, who is also president of the heritage body, The Cockburn Association: “Where is the great vis­ion or grand plan on the scale of the ambi­tion that young James Craig had when he designed the New Town in 1767?

“We are becom­ing stu­pidly care­less with our won­der­ful built her­it­age and his­tory.

“We need to safe­guard the build­ings and agree a bold vis­ion for the future before the wail of fire engines echoes down Princes Street again.”

It’s not the first time such a call has been made by either Jardine or others.

PS BuildEdinburgh has pulled together several long-form articles about Princes Street, available to read here. Does that make the website a ‘stakeholder’, eligible to take part in council-organised ‘summits’? It would be nice to think so.

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Updates on the day-to-day impacts of the fire

UPDATES of how the fire damage is affecting the likes of bus and tram travel (with the affected section of Princes Street expected to be closed ‘into August’ - says the city council, here), plus plans to temporarily pedestrianise George Street, are being shared on a dedicated website page, launched by the city council - here.

Meanwhile, the question is being asked: if Princes Street needed to be closed in the future (for whatever reason), where would buses go if George Street was also closed off, following it being wholly pedestrianised - as has been recently advocated? The question comes from local elected member, Cllr Iain Whyte, here in the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

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Expansion works completed at primary school

A NEAR £5m expansion of a primary school in the south of the city has been completed.

Six new classrooms, extra office space and ‘improved’ outdoor facilities have been added to Frogston Primary School. Costing, more accurately, £4.6m.

Says a media release (here) issued on behalf of consulting civil, structural and conservation engineers, Will Rudd: “The original school building, completed in 2021, was designed with future expansion in mind as part of The City of Edinburgh Council’s strategy to cater for several new significant housing developments included in the City Plan 2030.

“Foundations were extended at the time to allow the new accommodation to tie seamlessly into the existing substructure. The latest works also include new external facilities and landscaping, with materials carefully selected to match the appearance of the original building.”

The story is picked up by The Herald newspaper, here, and North Edinburgh News, here.

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Talks expected to conclude with the sale of Powderhall former rail line

TALKS are taking place between owners, Network Rail, and the city council with a view to the latter purchasing a former rail line, at Powderhall, to be turned in an ‘active travel’ (walking, cycling, wheeling) path.

It follows a Freedom of Information set of questions submitted by campaigners to Network Rail, which drew the response: “We are currently in discussion with Edinburgh Council about a sale for an Active travel project. As these talks are still underway, we do not have any definitive information as to what extent of the land would be sold or transferred. However, it’s anticipated that the full branch [line] would be sold.”

Read more, here, on the campaign website.

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Site news

LAST week’s offer of a discounted price to upgrade from free membership of BuildEdinburgh to paying is being extended.

The £30-a-year to £20-a-year offer was meant to end tomorrow.

But a community group eNewsletter mentioning the website - for which huge thanks - managed, for some reason, to give the impression the discount is going to continue until the end of the month.

So, the end of the month it is.

Your financial support of BuildEdinburgh will help the site develop its editorial offering.

It is much appreciated.

Work begins on new Liberton fire station

WORK has begun, building a replacement fire station in Liberton.

Says the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, here: “It will be the first new-build station in Edinburgh in more than 30 years and the first anywhere in Scotland since the creation of the national service in 2013.”

Its estimated cost is £10m.

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Litter picking dates for your diary

A LITTER pick is taking place tomorrow, on Calton Hill.

It is kicking off at 10am.

It is being organised by Calton Hill Conservation Trust. Details here.

And another litter pick is taking place - this time on Tuesday evening, from 7pm - at the foot of Cromwell Place, in Leith, where it meets Commercial Street.

It’s being organised by the Edinburgh Trash Club, which has also announced an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ appeal for people to take part in a litter pick on the 29th of next month.

At Marine Esplanade, from 11am-1pm.

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Further homes released for sale at ‘Edmonstone Village’

A FURTHER 14 homes have been released - for sale - in a housing development at ‘Edmonstone Village’, off Old Dalkeith Road, near Danderhall.

When it is completed, in about six years’ time, Edmonstone Village is expected to comprise 312 homes, costing £87m to build - developed by Avant Homes.

The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News, here.

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Residents reportedly urged to seek temporary accommodation, amid fire safety concerns

WIDELY reported in the media: Residents of an apartment block in Bonnington have been reportedly urged to find temporary accommodation, due to concerns about the fire safely of their building.

Read more about Bonnington Bond, here (BBC), here (STV), here (The Scotsman) and here (Edinburgh Evening News).

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Bruntsfield Links golf hut refurbished

THE wee golf hut at Bruntsfield Links, opposite Barclay Church, has been refurbished - thanks to sponsorship from the owners of the nearby JA The Bruntsfield hotel.

The story is picked up by The Herald newspaper, here.

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Office-to-hotel conversion reportedly set to soon open

A CONVERTED office block, barely 400m from Haymarket rail station, is reportedly set to open as a hotel on the fifth of next month.

The block is to be a Meininger hotel.

The building is understood to be owned and been developed by S Harrison.

Among the media outlets reporting the story is Urban Realm website, here.

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‘Homelessness prevention fund’ issues first tranche of money

BEGINS a news release issued by the Scottish Government, here: “Halfway through the first 100 days of the Scottish Government formed in May, the rollout of an expanded ten-year £50 million Homelessness Prevention Fund is underway.

“£1 million is being made available for a second year to enable social landlords and third sector organisations to support tenants to stay in their homes.”

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Awards shortlisting for The Pitt

THE Pitt street food, venue and ‘community hub, in Granton, has been shortlisted by awards recognising the retrofitting and reuse of buildings.

The awards - (here) being run by the Architects’ Journal - have been organised over various categories, with The Pitt shortlisted in the ‘Future Reuse’ one.

Its designers are S+CO.

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Residents reportedly ‘furious’ about resubmitted Leith planning application

THE front page of today’s Edinburgh Evening News is reporting that residents in Leith are ‘furious’ at a resubmitted planning application that they say is barely any different to one that was recently withdrawn.

The application is to sub-divide and redevelop a car park adjacent to the Malmaison Hotel, on The Shore, into a five-storey block comprising 18 apartments - here, ref: 26/02684/FUL.

The withdrawn application can be found here, ref: 26/00167/FUL. It is not known why the original application was withdrawn (if there is a reason in the documentation accompanying the current planning application, it’s not easy to find).

Read the Edinburgh Evening News article, here.

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Date set for palm houses re-opening

HISTORIC palm houses at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh are set to re-open to the general public, follow a restoration programme lasting, it is understood, five years.

Says RBGE, here, a date of October 2 has been set for the re-opening of the Category A-listed buildings.

The story is picked up by the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

Image details: Just off Ferry Road / Crewe Toll; copyright Mike Wilson

MY favourite building in Edinburgh is one many people pass without quite seeing: the Chapel of St Albert the Great, tucked quietly behind the Georgian terraces of George Square, beside Middle Meadow Walk.

There are grander buildings in the city, older buildings, more elaborate buildings and buildings that command the skyline. But this modest chapel is the one that stays with me.

Part of that affection is deeply personal. Part of it is architectural. Together, they make this one of the city’s most remarkable modern buildings.

When I first arrived at the University of Edinburgh in the late 1980s to study for my MSc, the chapel that exists today had not yet been built. The Catholic Chaplaincy occupied rooms within the Georgian houses on George Square. It was a much humbler setting, but one that became an important part of my university life.

Like many students arriving in Edinburgh from elsewhere in Scotland, university could sometimes feel anonymous. Lectures, libraries and laboratories filled the days, but St Albert’s offered something different: a place where people knew your name, friendships formed easily, and conversations ranged far beyond academic life.

Those memories remain among the happiest of my time as a student.

Returning years later to discover the new chapel was therefore a moment of genuine delight.

Rather than reproducing a traditional church, the architects created something unmistakably contemporary while remaining profoundly respectful of the building’s purpose.

Completed in 2012 and designed by architects, Simpson & Brown, the chapel has deservedly received wide architectural recognition. It demonstrates that modern ecclesiastical architecture can be both innovative and deeply rooted in tradition.

What impresses me most is not simply the quality of the architecture, but the way it creates atmosphere.

From Middle Meadow Walk, the chapel reveals itself only gradually.

It sits quietly within its garden, neither competing with the 18th-century townhouses nor attempting to imitate them. Instead, it finds its own language through restrained materials, careful proportions and thoughtful detailing.

The sandstone walls anchor the building firmly to Edinburgh’s architectural tradition, while the great curved roof introduces warmth and movement.

Four weathered Corten steel columns rise like the trunks of trees, supporting an oak-lined ceiling that appears almost to float overhead. The effect is surprisingly organic, as though the chapel has grown naturally from the garden rather than simply been placed within it.

Inside, the experience becomes even more compelling.

Architecture often succeeds not because of what it contains, but because of what it allows us to feel.

The interior of St Albert’s is calm without being austere. Light enters indirectly, filtered through carefully positioned glazing and reflected across the oak ceiling before gently illuminating the worship space. There is very little distraction. Instead, attention is drawn naturally towards the sanctuary.

It is an object lesson in how daylight can become a building material in its own right.

Perhaps the most beautiful feature is the great glazed wall behind the altar. Rather than presenting stained glass or elaborate decoration, it opens directly onto the garden beyond.

Throughout the year, the changing seasons become part of the chapel’s interior life.

Spring blossom, summer greenery, autumn colour and winter light each find their way into worship. Nature becomes part of the liturgy without a single spoken word.

For someone interested in architecture and landscape, this dialogue between inside and outside feels entirely appropriate.

Edinburgh’s best buildings have always understood their setting. This chapel continues that tradition in a thoroughly modern way.

Yet it is more than simply well-sited. Through its generous glazing and its relationship with the surrounding gardens and pathways, it remains anchored in the everyday life of the university.

Students crossing Middle Meadow Walk, changing seasons, birdsong and weather all become part of the experience of the building.

Rather than turning away from the world, the chapel gently embraces it, reminding us that faith is lived not apart from daily life but within it.

There is another reason why I value the building.

University chaplaincies occupy an unusual place within the life of a city. They are neither wholly academic nor wholly ecclesiastical. They provide spaces where students from many backgrounds encounter questions of purpose, ethics, friendship and belonging alongside their formal studies.

That was certainly my experience. Looking back nearly 40 years, I remember not only the liturgies but the people: fellow students, chaplains and volunteers whose kindness created a genuine sense of belonging.

The chaplaincy was woven naturally into the rhythm of university life. One could drop in after lectures, meet friends over coffee, attend Mass, or simply find a quiet place to gather one’s thoughts before returning to the demands of study.

The new chapel reflects that same openness. It is unmistakably Catholic in its liturgical purpose, yet its architecture feels generous rather than exclusive.

It invites stillness without isolation. Even when empty, it possesses a quiet hospitality that welcomes visitors to pause for a few moments before returning to the movement and activity of George Square beyond its walls.

As someone who now spends much of his professional life thinking about Edinburgh’s built and natural environment, I often argue that successful buildings and their surroundings contribute something beyond their immediate function. They enrich the public realm. They make places memorable. They help shape how people experience a city.

The Chapel of St Albert the Great does all three.

It also reminds me that architecture is ultimately about people. Buildings become meaningful because they gather memories as well as occupants.

Every visit reconnects me with friendships formed nearly 40 years ago, with the excitement of arriving in Edinburgh as a young post-graduate student, and with the sense that the city was opening itself, one discovery at a time.

The old chaplaincy gave me many of those memories. The new chapel gives them a beautiful architectural home.

In a city celebrated for castles, monuments and Georgian crescents, my favourite building is a modest chapel hidden in a garden: quiet, generous and easily missed.

Perhaps that is exactly as it should be.

James Garry is assistant director of The Cockburn Association

Image details: copyright Mike Wilson

MY friend, Isabel, and I had lost ourselves in talk as we strolled the northern boundary of Leith Links, pausing by the cricket pavilion to duck a sudden hailstorm.

“Nearly June,” we muttered, watching the white pellets bounce off the turf.

When it cleared, we pushed onto the Restalrig railway path and branched off towards Seafield.

We had hoped to take the beach all the way to ‘Porty’, but a high tide had other ideas.

The road, meanwhile, was busy and featureless. And the ‘Seafield Stink’ was thick in our nostrils.

As cars swept past at an unsettling pace, I made my position plain: “This is why I take the paths.”

Filmmaker, Werner Herzog, is believed to have once said that “the world reveals itself to those who travel on foot”.

I think about that often when looking for quiet routes through Edinburgh; a search for calm in a congested city, a way to step off the obvious routes and find corridors that feel private, sheltered and purposeful.

Something about them feels both deliberate and accidental, shaped by history but available to anyone willing to look.

Of Edinburgh’s core paths, the old railway lines are the finest; the easiest way to traverse the city and the richest in character.

These narrow industrial corridors, once used to move freight and passengers, now sit like seams from another era threaded through the modern city.

Many were formally converted into public footpaths by the city council during the 1980s, but they survive as traces of the city’s industrial past.

Built to take something somewhere, they now take people somewhere.

Walking them is a way of reading history, while moving through it.

You can see where routes diverge, meet and reconnect, and begin to understand the logic that once shaped this place.

Old infrastructure repurposed for everyday life, including former stations at Corstorphine and Trinity, is one of the things that keeps drawing me back.

Railway paths often feel warm and sheltered.

Lined by trees or hedgerows and quieter than exposed open ground, they have a built-in directionality that makes them easy to follow.

In winter, they hold the cold a little longer; in summer, the shade is welcome and the light falls differently.

That steadiness matters. Some years ago, when things were personally not going well, the railway paths came into their own.

They felt welcoming and safe: places that would take me somewhere and bring me back.

That is exactly what you need when you are trying to think something through.

Walking these routes is about more than movement. It is the sensory details that mark time and offer comfort: blackberries ripening along a bank, wild garlic in spring, the way autumn leaves settle and low light catches a sheltered burn.

Those details make each walk a lived experience rather than simple exercise, and their accumulation is why I keep returning.

I have also been writing about these paths: less detailed history, more emotional response.

The feelings and sensations of walking, the way a route can shift your mood before you consciously notice.

These excursions into ‘psychogeography’ have given me permission to let my thinking roam, to imagine routes opening ahead, and to capture the discoveries I still make after years on the same ground.

The places I am most drawn to are dense networks: the North Edinburgh Path Network, riverside shortcuts, burns, and hidden glens.

The Burdiehouse Burn Walkway, which takes you through picturesque Ellen’s Glen, is a particularly under-appreciated route.

The gentle Figgate Burn from Duddingston towards Portobello is another.

These are well-used paths that rarely make guidebooks but are rich in atmosphere and easy to reach.

The routes often connect in unexpected ways, creating journeys that feel like private discoveries even when walked by locals every day. Finding something that has always been there but largely overlooked brings a particular kind of satisfaction.

These paths are one of Edinburgh’s great assets.

They preserve fragments of the city’s industrial past while offering quiet, useful routes for everyday life; a generous gift from the past to the present.

They make the city layered and surprising: even when popular spots are crowded, something peaceful is usually only a short walk away.

A different Edinburgh sits just off the main routes.

To walk these paths is not to turn your back on the city, but to know its other faces.

And I will keep walking them because, after a lifetime on this ground, Herzog’s promise holds.

Keep your eyes open and the world keeps showing itself.

Charlie Ellis is an Edinburgh-based researcher, writer and EFL teacher, who covers culture, education and politics.

This article first appeared in The Leither magazine, here, for which grateful thanks.

Image details: copyright Charlie Ellis

OVER the years, the Scottish Design Awards have showcased architecture projects, including the categories, ‘single home’, ‘multi-unit’, the more catch-all ‘residential’ and ‘affordable housing’.

In other words, for an inspiring collection of ‘affordable’ housing design ideas, there can be few places better places than the awards winners and nominations, from over the years:

2026 - Here - Says the awards blurb: “The first phase of the Victoria Infirmary redevelopment, in Glasgow, comprises 136 new-build flats and 11 retail/commercial units set within a new landscaped public realm.” Architects: Collective Architecture.

2025 - Here - Says the awards blurb: “The Standard building is the first phase of the Midsteeple masterplan, a community-led and owned regeneration project which aims to revive Dumfries town centre.” Architects: ARPL Architects.

2024 - Here - Bedford Street, Laurieston, Glasgow. Says the awards blurb: This development of 24 flats for social rent occupies a prominent and important position within the Laurieston regeneration area in Glasgow, sitting between a first phase of the masterplan and the A-listed Old British Linen Bank, the last remaining structure from the original old Gorbals and a distinctive tenement designed in 1897. Architects: Anderson Bell Christie.

2023 - Here - North Gate, Gorbals, Glasgow. Says the awards blurb: “North Gate develops a longstanding vacant brownfield site, providing a new residential city landmark that completes the Gorbals masterplan [in Glasgow]. It contains 31 homes, comprising of one and two-bedroom flats for 100 per cent social rent and is designed to suit the needs of primarily older residents.” Architects: Page/Park.

2022 - Here - Fielden Street, Camlachie, Glasgow. Says the awards blurb: “A landmark development which signals a gateway into the Camlachie neighbourhood [in Glasgow]; knitting together a historic industrial area and newer housing stock. This is the final phase of a 20-year programme of regeneration in the Camlachie area.” Architects: Anderson Bell Christie.

2021 - Here - There were two winners: Gannochy Lifetime Neighbourhood (by Anderson Bell Christie) and Fraser Avenue, Inverkeithing, Fife (by 7N Architects).

2020 - Here - The winner was a refurbishment of an 1890s, now ‘B-listed’ former industrial building in Glasgow. The work on Bell Street Stables was carried out by Collective Architecture.

Image details: Primrose Street, Alloa - a silver award winner in the 2023 Scottish Design Awards; copyright Mike Wilson

In today’s edition:

• Huge fire at the former Debenhams building;

• ‘Affordable’ homes for ‘visitor economy’ workers;

• Relocation achieved by Social Bite Village;

• St James Quarter reportedly to soon hit the 100 million visitors mark;

• Padel tennis application submitted for Braid Hills Golf Centre;

• Leith Theatre removed from at-risk register;

• Site news;

• 1960s Edinburgh house named ‘the most perfectly-preserved example’;

• Edinburgh Napier University campus expected to be put up for sale;

• New arena stalled?;

• Muriel Spark monument competition announces its winner;

• Several city streets to be closed for the summer;

• Walking tour of ‘20th century Morningside’;

• ‘Climate-conscious design’ - drinks and conversation;

• Tenth birthday for Balgreen Community Garden;

• Inch Park litter pick;

• ‘Topping out’ ceremony celebrated at Leith student accommodation project;

• Call made to support the repair and maintenance of ‘at risk’ outlying buildings and locations;

• Cycle group issues appeal for commendations;

• History of former bingo hall and the La Scala cinema; and

• Enjoy, see you next Friday!

Huge fire at the former Debenhams building

A HUGE fire - on the upper floors of the vacant former Debenhams building (pictured) on Princes Street - has received widespread media coverage, with the BBC among those ‘first on the scene’ (here).

Reports the BBC: “Debenhams closed in May 2021, following a large fire that April.

“In 2021, [pensions, life insurance, etc company] Legal and General planned a £50m revamp of the building including a 207-room boutique hotel and ‘hospitality hub’, but this fell through.

“The old department store site was then bought by Criterion Capital, the development company headed up by billionaire, Asif Aziz.

“He planned to turn it into a ‘Zedwell’ hotel, which would be the first in Scotland if successful.”

It is believed that work on the Zedwell hotel has been recently taking place in the building.

Adds fellow broadcasters, STV, here, the upper floors have been completely destroyed and the building is deemed too unsafe to enter.

Meanwhile, The Herald quotes, here, a Criterion Capital spokesperson, as saying: “In respect of the fire at the former Debenhams building on Princes Street, Edinburgh, in the early hours of this morning, our immediate priority is the safety of everyone involved.

“There have been no reported injuries, and we are very grateful to the emergency services for their swift response and professionalism.

“This building is an important and historic part of Edinburgh’s city centre, and we continue to liaise with the emergency services and relevant authorities.”

The building is understood to be Category B-listed. The Scotsman newspaper reports, here, of fears that an ‘ornate Victorian library’ might be among the ‘architectural treasures’ lost in the fire.

The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland has - here - called for specialist conservation engineering advice to be sought before any decisions are taken about demolition.

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‘Affordable’ homes for ‘visitor economy’ workers

OVER hundred ‘affordable’ flats are being built for people working in the city’s ‘visitor economy’.

Reports Emma Newlands, for the Edinburgh Inquirer website (here), the blocks are due to open - Meadowbank and Fountainbridge - in 18 months’ time.

And they are going to be paid for by a visitor levy, a modest charge from later this month - the 24th - for overnight stays by visitors (explained here).

Last year, the city council agreed to ring-fence £5m per annum from the levy, for what it calls a Housing and Tourism Mitigation Fund.

As explained in council papers, here: “On 24 January 2025, The City of Edinburgh Council approved the adoption of the Visitor-Levy-for-Edinburgh scheme, including a Housing and Tourism Mitigation Fund which is £5 million per annum between 2026/27 and 2028/29.

“This report sets out a recommendation for spend of the fund. This could enable around 472 affordable homes to commence construction between 2026/27 and 2028/29; with more than 75 per cent of those being for social rent.

“The provision of new, permanent social rented homes would enable households in unsuitable bed and breakfast temporary accommodation to access settled accommodation, enabling B&B’s to be returned to the visitor sector.”

The paper adds: “It is acknowledged that people may change occupation during their tenancy and the council would not end tenancies because of this.”

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Relocation achieved by Social Bite Village

THE relocation and official opening has taken place of a ‘village’, comprising ‘tiny houses’, in Granton - for people experiencing homelessness.

The village has been moved just five minutes from its original location.

Operators, Social Bite, announced the opening, here.

PS Apologies: a limit on word length in last week’s news round-up meant it was not possible to slip this story in.

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St James Quarter reportedly to soon hit the 100 million visitors mark

ST James Quarter is reportedly about to break the 100 million visitors mark, as it celebrates its fifth birthday.

The Herald’s Scott Wright interviews estate manager, Anne Ledgerwood, here.

He notes that the mall is to be rebranded ‘Westfield St James Quarter’ in September.

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Padel tennis application submitted for Braid Hills Golf Centre

A COVERED padel tennis facility is being applied for, at Braid Hills Golf Centre.

Says a planning application - here, ref: 26/02521/FUL - the proposal is for the area to the east of the centre entrance, that is currently a ‘short game’ practice area.

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Leith Theatre removed from at-risk register

LEITH Theatre has been removed from a theatres-at-risk register.

Says the Theatres Trust, here, Leith Theatre is joined by Sheffield’s Abbeydale Picture House in being removed from the list.

Reports The Herald newspaper’s Gabriel McKay, here: “The historic Edinburgh venue was given £4.5m for renovation last year in a bid to see it reopen, with the entire project expected to cost around £10m.”

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Site news

THANK you to those of you who took up the offer of the site’s discounted (from £30 to £20) paying subscription.

As announced last Friday.

Every £ helps in shaping how the website might improve its offering, to readers.

That discounted rate will continue until a week tomorrow (Saturday, the 18th), at which point all the longer-form content will be for paying subscribers only and potentially - from Friday 24th - the weekly news round-up too (still swithering, on that one).

BuildEdinburgh now comprises almost 250 individual posts, none of which have been produced out of thin air.

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1960s Edinburgh house named ‘the most perfectly-preserved example’

A 1960s Edinburgh house has been given star billing on a website that describes itself as ‘the home of hip houses and stylish interiors’.

Says WowHaus, here, of the property on Braid Hills Road: “This 1960s mid-century modern house in Edinburgh is perhaps the most perfectly-preserved example of the style I’ve seen.”

In its email to subscribers, WowHaus also said: “I don't usually do newsletters for one house, but this is one I'll make an exception for.”

A ‘closing date’ of Wednesday had been set for the house, it being advertised for sale at offers over £725,000, here.

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Edinburgh Napier University campus expected to be put up for sale

THE Merchiston campus - near Holy Corner - of Edinburgh Napier University is expected to be soon put up for sale.

It is understood an estimated £220m would be required to carry out repairs to the site, partly because of the existence of the ‘crumbling concrete’ build system, Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

It is understood there is a relatively small amount of RAAC at the Merchiston campus, with the £220m estimated repair figure relating more closely to increasing costs of materials and construction and the working lifespan of the building.

Says a statement issued by the university: “We continue to provide life-changing teaching for students alongside leading research and innovation.

“Our Merchiston campus is no longer fit for the future, and we want to provide enhanced facilities going forward. We are therefore now considering alternative options elsewhere, and this process is in its early stages.”

There is speculation (including here on the Edinburgh Inquirer website) that a replacement site at South Gyle might be already on the cards.

More reading: The Edinburgh Reporter website, here.

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New arena stalled?

BEGINS The Herald newspaper’s Brian Ferguson, here: “Edinburgh’s long-awaited indoor concert arena [at Edinburgh Park] has stalled due to challenges in the Scottish construction industry, The Herald can reveal.

“Work is yet to start on the 8,500-capacity venue, more than two years after planning permission was secured, due to problems finding a main contractor and supply chain issues.”

The story is picked up by the DailyBusiness website, here.

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Muriel Spark monument competition announces its winner

FROM 54 entries, an artist has been chosen to produce a permanent public monument in Princes Street Gardens to the acclaimed Scottish novelist, the late Dame Muriel Spark.

Jacqueline Donachie has been named the winner of a Spirit of Spark competition, which was launched in November last year.

Say the organisers, the next stage in the project will be the unveiling of Jacqueline’s detailed design for the memorial in the autumn, with autumn next year the scheduled date for completion and installation.

It is believed that it will be the first-ever permanent memorial to a woman in the gardens.

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Several city streets to be closed for the summer

GEORGE Street and several streets in the Old Town are to be closed between a week on Sunday and September 7.

The ‘summer streets’ scheme has been announced - here - by the city council.

Adds the council, here: “In summer, we see over 5,000 people moving through the Lawnmarket every hour.”

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Walking tour of ‘20th century Morningside’

TICKETS are - at the time of writing - all sold. But it might be worth periodically checking for returns for a walking tour of ‘20th century Morningside’.

The event - being hosted by Docomomoscotland, which campaigns for the conservation of Scotland’s 20th century built heritage - is taking place a fortnight tomorrow.

Details, here.

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‘Climate-conscious design’ - drinks and conversation

ALSO for your diary, if you are interested in ‘climate-conscious design’, the Scottish Ecological Design Association is hosting drinks and conversation in The Diggers’s sister pub in Leith.

On the 28th. Details here.

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Tenth birthday for Balgreen Community Garden

A COMMUNITY garden in Balgreen is celebrating its tenth birthday, after being created from a ‘neglected corner’ of the walkway along the Water of Leith river.

Says the Water of Leith Conservation Trust - here - the garden site had been previously “battered by construction works, tram developments and even hungry rabbits”.

Adds the Trust: “A decade on, Balgreen Community Garden remains a wonderful example of how a neglected space can be transformed through partnership, perseverance and a shared love of nature; oh, and of course, many hundreds of hours of volunteer time to maintain.”

Inch Park litter pick

A LITTER pick is taking place at Inch Park tomorrow, from 11am.

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‘Topping out’ ceremony celebrated at Leith student accommodation project

A ‘TOPPING out’ ceremony has been celebrated at a 604-bed student accommodation project on Baltic Street, Leith.

‘Topping out’ is when the building construction reaches its maximum height.

Says the scheme’s design and build contractor, McAleer & Rushe, here: “The milestone was celebrated on site with developer, HUB; funding partners, Bridges Fund Management and Housing Growth Partnership; and members of the wider project team, recognising the completion of the scheme’s main structure and the continued progress being made across the development.”

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Call made to support the repair and maintenance of ‘at risk’ outlying buildings and locations

A CALL has been made for Edinburgh’s more outlying historic buildings and locations to be considered every bit as worthy of repair and maintenance as those within the UNESCO World Heritage site city centre.

Donald Anderson - a former city council leader - used his weekly column in the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper (here) to celebrate the fact that the city centre no longer has any buildings deemed ‘at risk’.

But he urged attention needs now to be turned to the city’s more outlying properties and locations, such as the underground tunnels at Gilmerton: Gilmerton Cove.

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Cycle group issues appeal for commendations

THE Lothian cycle campaigning group, Spokes, has issued an appeal for commendations.

The appeal is to help the group celebrate its 50th birthday next year - as detailed here.

And Spokes is specifically looking for testimony as to how the group has benefitted people.

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History of former bingo hall and the La Scala cinema

THE history of a former bingo hall and the La Scala cinema on Nicholson Street - now the subject of a refurbishment planning application - has been penned by local historian, Andy Arthur, on his website, Threadinburgh.

Here.

The planning application - to turn it into a cafe and occasional event space - can be viewed, here (ref: 26/01757/FUL).

Photos of the building’s current interior can be viewed on the website of the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper, here.

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Image details: copyright Antonia Reeve

OVER the years, the Scottish Design Awards have showcased architecture projects, including the categories, ‘single home’, ‘multi-unit’ and the more catch-all ‘residential’.

In other words, for an inspiring collection of multi-house design ideas, there can be few places better places than the awards winners and nominations, from over the years:

2026 - Here - The winner was Pine Place, for the New Gorbals Housing Association in Glasgow, which comprises ten terraced, large family homes and 18 flats, including two accessible flats at ground level. Architects: Reiach and Hall.

2025 - Here - Says the ‘gold medal’ blurb: “Dundashill [in Port Dundas, Glasgow’ is a vibrant, climate-resilient, creative destination where community living blends with canalside adventure.” Architects: Stallan-Brand and Ann Nisbet Studio

2024 - Here - A housing development in the foothills of the Ochil Hills, Athron Hill, was a joint winner in the ‘residential category’ - designed by Fraser/Livingstone Architects. The other joint winner was a single home, Caochan na Creige, in the Outer Hebrides, designed by Izat Arundell.

2023 - Here - Winner of the ‘multi-unit’ category was Simon Square - designed by Fraser/Livingstone Architects.

2022 - Here - In the ‘residential’ category for this year, the winner, the commendations and nominations were all ‘single home’ entries.

2021 - Here - Winner of the multi-home category was Spencer Courtyard, Finchley, London - designed by architects, Kennedy Twaddle (which has an office in Dundee).

2020 - Here - The winner of the ‘residential’ category was three individual townhouses: Havenfield Mews, in Portobello, Edinburgh - designed by Sonia Browse Architects LLP. Commended was Maryhill Locks, by jmarchitects.

Image details: Annandale Street, Edinburgh; copyright Mike Wilson

OVER the years, the Scottish Design Awards have showcased architecture projects, including the categories, ‘single home’, ‘multi-unit’ and the more catch-all ‘residential’.

In other words, for an inspiring collection of single house design ideas, there can be few places better places than the awards winners and nominations, from over the years:

2026 - Here - The winner of the awards’ ‘single home’ title in 2026 was Grianan (Gaelic for sunny place), in Stirlingshire. The architects were Cameron Webster.

2025 - Here - Joint winners this year: (1) on the Isle of Skye (architects: Dualchas) and (2) Rock Cove, on the Roseneath Peninsula (architects Cameron Webster).

2024 - Here - A single house was the joint winner of the ‘residential’ category, along with a housing development in the foothills of the Ochil Hills (here). It was Caochan na Creige, in the Outer Hebrides, designed by Izat Arundell.

2023 - Here - The winner of the ‘single home’ category was Ceangal House, in South Lanarkshire - designed by Loader Monteith.

2022 - Here - The winner of the ‘residential’ category was a ‘single home’: Ostro Passivhaus, designed by Paper Igloo Ltd.

2021 - Here - There were two joint winners of the ‘single home’ category: (1) Lower Tullochgrue, a refurbishment and extension of a house in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park - designed by Brown & Brown Architects; and (2) House in Bearsden - designed by McGinlay Bell.

2020 - Here - The winner of the ‘residential’ category was three individual townhouses: Havenfield Mews, in Portobello, Edinburgh - designed by Sonia Browse Architects LLP.

Image details: New home in West Linton, Scottish Borders; copyright Mike Wilson.

THREE weeks ago, I wrote about Craigmillar - for the think tank, Enlighten (here).

For the past year and a bit, I’ve been doing a bit of pro bono work there.

As I remarked, it’s been a life-enriching experience, and I’ve genuinely found the people and the place to be inspiring.

As a child, I’d be driven through Craigmillar with dad to visit ‘granny’ in Newcraighall.

Even then, with Craigmillar a relatively new entity, it looked tired. Meanwhile, visiting Newcraighall was like stepping back in time.

Roll forward to 1999 and I was the city council leader, and the regeneration of Craigmillar was a huge challenge.

The council had already been working with the local community to establish the Craigmillar Partnership and a formal delivery body, PARC (Promoting and Regenerating Craigmillar) was established in 2001.

PARC worked with the local community to create a masterplan that became one of Scotland’s largest regeneration projects.

The early work of PARC was run by one of the smartest and most consequential figures in Edinburgh’s modern economic renaissance, Ian Wall.

Ian was chief executive of the council’s property development company, EDI.

Importantly, the investment had extensive input from the local community. That masterplan formed the basis of around £200million of investment that has proven to be transformational.

For the article - and indeed also for a column I penned for the Edinburgh Evening News newspaper - I rattled off several statistics to make the case that Craigmillar is no longer the place of depressed and depressing mythology.

By any measure - including unemployment, educational attainment, home and car ownership, life expectancy, drug and alcohol misuse, average income and, importantly, crime - Craigmillar is a ‘good’ place to live, getting ‘better’ all the time.

That’s due, in no small part, by the local committed volunteers who have worked tirelessly to restore the area, such as the Craigmillar and Niddrie Litterbusters group, whose inspiring leader, Miranda Baird, was specifically praised by Prime Minister Keir Starmer when he last year launched the UK Government’s Pride in Place funding.

Organisations like Lyra, which is Scotland’s only performing arts venue for teenagers, is an amazing success.

Sandy’s Community Centre has been at the centre of huge success in tackling the anti-social behaviour that arose in the community on November 5.

And the Venchie is an adventure play facility where kids can be active in a safe and secure environment and can have some of the best experiences of their young lives.

Of course, Craigmillar still has its challenges, but - little by little - it is getting there.

But, in compiling my statistics, in trying to both verify and add to them, I couldn’t believe the ‘evidence minefield’ I was soon about to enter: using sources of information I already knew and also Artificial Intelligence (AI).

My first port of call was the Craigmillar Community Council boundary as set out on the city council’s website (here).

Depending on which source of information you use, or AI, it is possible to come up with several divergent statistics: for instance average household income for Craigmillar at £41,765 which seems to be at odds with the average for Scotland and the UK.

Meanwhile, the unemployment figure was given as 2.67 per cent for the Community Council area, which is difficult to reconcile with a Portobello/Craigmillar council ward figure of over five per cent in separate analysis of the same site.

Unemployment stats from the 1980s were easier to pin down and for that I am grateful to Ian Wall, for a copy of a District Council leaflet from the mid-1980s.

That showed the unemployment rate in Craigmillar and Niddrie was 25.3 and 24.1 per cent respectively, and describes the proportion of ‘long-term unemployed’ as 54.4 per cent and 53.3 per cent - much higher than the figure AI gave me.

When Ian handed me the leaflet my heart both sank (at how ‘bad’ it was all these years ago) and swelled with pride (at how far things have got so much better).

Population figures were similarly tricky to detail, with the Edinburgh council website figure of 22,939 much higher than the 16,500 figure I ended up using.

The difference is most likely the relatively new housing on the Edmonstone Ridge, which might be technically within the Community Council area, but is not what anyone thinks of as Craigmillar.

Some figures, however, were to tally between sources and AI calculation: especially higher education qualifications and car ownership.

The crime statistics were probably the hardest to get. To source police statistics, you must formally submit a Freedom of Information request. Especially hard to get are figures compiled before the relatively recent creation of Police Scotland.

And while the council does record crime figures per thousand residents by ward (and the figures for Portobello/Craigmillar show a drop by 23 per cent since 2018), there appears to be no long-term data to support what one hears anecdotally: that there’s been a huge reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour since the 1990s.

Which leads me to a single, over-arching conclusion: getting easily-accessible statistics on what is happening in our regeneration areas is tortuously difficult.

I remember once speaking at an European Mayors conference in London the secretariat for which was provided by the London School of Economics. I did wonder then why we couldn’t have such strong partnership links with universities and I still wonder it today.

Anyone seeking to understand the full impact of any regeneration effort in Craigmillar, and Scotland more widely, faces a patchwork of statistics - from various sources - that are just very hard to pin down.

We know the intricate details of microscopic processes in human cells, and we’ve studied the farthest reaches of the universe, but our knowledge of what goes on in our poorest communities is vanishingly small.

Our universities should be queuing up to help analyse and learn the lessons from such areas.

Regeneration costs money, often lots of money. If we aren’t able to measure exactly whether we are getting good value for that money, we are all losing out.

Donald Anderson is a former leader of Edinburgh’s city council and is a director of Playfair Scotland public affairs company.

Image details: White House, Craigmillar; copyright Mike Wilson