FORGIVE the crude mathematics.

There’s a property on Princes Street - being advertised here, online, if not boards on the building itself - with an asking price of at least £3m.

The advert is revealing, insofar as it says that an annual rent of £250,000 is being charged for two ground floor units in the building, which - and here’s where the crude mathematics come in - is comfortably more than the cost of servicing a £3m loan.

As well as the two ground floor units, there are upper floors, which could - following refurbishment - be turned into visitor apartments, to deliver even more of a return (which could be used towards purchasing even more property on the street).

It’s not known whether the city council or a possible ‘Three streets consortium’ (Princes Street, Rose Street and George Street) are considering a bid.

But if either entity were to succeed in acquiring the property, it could signal the start of a slow and steady reconfiguration of Princes Street, to turn it into the ‘world-class’ boulevard that everyone - locals and visitors, alike - would wish it to be.

We might not quite know what ‘world-class’ looks like; but we definitely know ‘poor quality’ when we see it. And Princes Street - and its adjoining streets - is unquestionably less than ‘world-class’. Much less.

All three streets are Edinburgh’s ‘show-off’ streets and, arguably, they together constitute the single most urgent built environment issue among Edinburgh residents - it’s what is most mentioned whenever BuildEdinburgh comes up in conversation.

To own property is to have several options at one’s disposal, including being able to decide who can make use of it and its look. Conversely, to not own property can limit room for manoeuvre, reduced - in the main and in the absence of strict regulation - to having to ask nicely.

It was almost seven months to the day when the city council’s Planning committee (here) sent a proposed ‘Princes Street and Waverley Valley Strategy’ back to the ‘drawing board’, amid concerns about ‘timidity’.

Little has been heard about the strategy since.

If there has been any ‘progress’ these last few months, it’s hardly being advertised.

Previously, this website has suggested (here) what might end up a 25 year-long strategy (it was around 25 years ago when Dynamic Earth was opened) that sees Princes Street becoming predominately cafes and visitor accommodation, Rose Street predominately food and drink and George Street predominantly retail.

It was an idea that fell mostly on deaf ears, the same fate that met another proposal: to host an open design competition for, specifically, Princes Street (here).

Princes Street is not just an Edinburgh street. It’s our shop window to the world, it’s the street that local people should be able to feel most proud about.

One person who clearly thinks a lot about Princes Street is local, renowned architect, Richard Murphy, who last year was advocating a broad new vision for it, here.

This year, he was at it again, this time musing (here) about one of the two corner sites where Princes Street meets Hanover Street, which had a planning application (here, ref: 25/04852/LBC) - to turn it into serviced apartments - recently rejected.

One option for Princes Street is rerouting buses (as happened when the tram tracks were being laid), to enable a narrowing of the street to two vehicular lanes (trams and taxis sharing, maybe with one passing place) and a widening of the northside pavement.

In other words, it does not envisage burrowing under the Princes Street Gardens embankment - as Murphy’s main, above, vision does.

But a difference of opinion is the stuff of lively debate, which could be hosted by an ambitious, entrepreneurial, transparent, hungry-for-ideas standalone organisation.

I move.

And might anyone have a spare £3m?

Mike Wilson is editor of BuildEdinburgh

Image details: copyright Mike Wilson

THERE are patches of municipal grass in Oxgangs which - were local residents of a mind - could be turned into communal gardens, with all the food and mental health benefits that could potentially follow.

But they haven’t - notwithstanding the existence of a group of local residents that go by the name, Oxgangs Community Gardeners - and it’s not difficult to speculate why.

It can feel quite exposing for individual households to pipe up with an idea for their locality, the possibility of ridicule and finger-pointing being too much to contemplate.

It most likely requires a third party to parachute in with a project and just get on with it or to have a set of pre-conditions set in stone at the get-go.

If the latter, it’s instructive to reflect on the near universal observance of the ban (introduced 20 years ago) on smoking cigarettes in indoor spaces. If there was a fear of people simply sticking two fingers up at the regulation, it almost entirely never happened.

So, in a similar vein, it could be that whenever the city council embarks on its next ‘affordable’ housing scheme, it thinks beyond any already existing requirements of residents, by adding a handful more.

As frequently mentioned on BuildEdinburgh, residents could potentially save themselves hard cash by sharing stuff.

This culture could be easily built into the bricks.

People could share cars - and BuildEdinburgh has explored how this could be practically achieved, here - power tools and even washing machines (again, BuildEdinburgh has advice on this topic too, here).

And of course, depending on what - if any - spare land there is, residents could run a communal garden (with accompanying potting shed, raised beds, cold frame, greenhouse, compost heap, rainwater harvesting, etc kit).

It all depends on what stage of a housing development residents begin to get involved.

At the end, when properties are being allocated (which is the assumption of this writer), or at the beginning (which is the hope)?

Administratively, there should not be much difference between placing residents at the start of the process to having them at the conclusion.

Maybe a workshop or two, the serving of tea and coffee and a facilitator (who could be part of a voluntary network, in the same vein as the charity, MCR Pathways, provides volunteer mentors for young people).

All the facilitators would require to have to hand is a menu of the options: car and bike sharing, recycling and refuse, a residents’ handbook (as in here, on BuildEdinburgh), communal gardening, power tools sharing, gym facilities, ‘later living’ requirements, communal laundry facilities, litter picking, storage space, social and meeting space, repair and maintenance, wildlife havens, acoustic and thermal insulation, elevator access, bowling greens and tennis and pétanque courts, acoustic and thermal insulation, super-secure door entries, outdoor seating and lighting, secure car and bike parking, guest bedrooms, children’s play park, bulk buying of provisions, adjacent properties for extended families (not least for those with caring responsibilities), trees, common insurance, dedicated indoor space for young people, book clubs, crafting space, spring flowers, sanctuary courtyard, solar panels, balconies, ground floor retail, co-working space, treatment rooms and offices, etc, etc.

And then walk people through each of them.

It is a simple choice: set the parameters at the beginning or hope for the best after the ‘ship has effectively sailed’.

And out of the whole exercise might emerge that most valuable of commodities: trust.

Imagine the bonds of trust that could emerge if residents were to sit down together and agree how their housing might be designed (of course, there could be fallings out; but at least being forewarned is to be forearmed).

From the state’s perspective: potential savings in repair and maintenance bills, in policing budgets (reduced anti-social behaviour?) and health budgets (the mental and physical health benefits from ‘cohesive’ communities).

And with recent research from The David Hume Institute (here) suggesting that cost-of-living worries are the single biggest concern among Scots, the sharing culture underpinning this proposal could save households quite a bit of money too.

Mike Wilson is editor of BuildEdinburgh

Image details: copyright Mike Wilson

THIS is not really a Big Idea at all. In fact, it’s a very tiny one - at least in terms of its practical implications, were it to be implemented.

The city council’s determination to be as transparent as possible in its deliberations - not least when its elected members gather to take part in any of several committee meetings - is a bit like justice: not only being done, but being seen to be done.

As things stand, committee meetings are broadcast live, online, with a recording then available for later viewing. They are accompanied by extensive background papers, albeit some can be over-long and technical. And meeting decisions are eventually later communicated in the form of minutes.

It all adds up to a commendable commitment.

But there is one tiny aspect that could do with being thought about.

It is at most evident when main meeting motions are merged with amendments and addendums submitted by elected members on behalf of their political parties.

These additional documents are not always that straightforward to follow.

The language is often procedural and they can very quickly get referred to not by the substance of what is being called for, but simply a paragraph number (often in parts, eg 1.1.2.4).

And in a flash, the vote has taken place (with or without those numbered amendments / addendums meshed in) potentially leaving us mere onlookers - the general public and the media, alike - wondering what exactly has been decided.

In the absence of a plain language summary being voiced at the conclusion of a vote, the risk is misunderstanding (including among elected members themselves), misreporting and confusion.

It’s a two-minute gig, at worst, to neatly wrap up what has just taken place.

And it would certainly save BuildEdinburgh having to trouble the city council’s media team, asking: Have I got this right?

Mike Wilson (who still hasn’t quite worked out the difference between an amendment and an addendum) is editor of BuildEdinburgh

Image details: copyright Mike Wilson

THE concept of the ‘20-minute neighbourhood’ is all about providing important local amenities within a short distance from where people live.

And, clearly, that requires relatively dense housing. Four-storey apartment blocks hugging narrow, intimate streets - anyone?

Edinburgh now operates a city plan - City Plan 2030, adopted in November two years ago - …

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A FRIEND’S scepticism got me thinking.

Without sharing exactly the expletives attached to his email, he did have a point when suggesting my article (here) about ‘Woonerfs’ (described here on Wikipedia) in Amsterdam amounted to a re-heating of an old story.

For those of you who have still to read the article, in summary it was about narrow streets hugged b…

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IT might well be that the battles that often take place around a major planning application are, to coin a phrase, ‘water off a developer’s back’ - where the sometimes huge costs of preparing a plan, and any rejection, are absorbed into successful later applications and prices.

But that’s not to say that developers are glad of the rough ride that they mi…

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THEY pretty much always find a way, on Amsterdam’s ‘Woonerf’-style streets in the city’s Old Town districts.

Whether small van, car, sit-up-and-beg bicycle, cargo bike or fat-tyred electric bike, the weaving in and out seems to just work.

If there is anything to be concerned about, it is most likely with the electric bikes, which can be ridden at some spe…

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THE word, ‘prevention’, appeared at least once in the letters pages of the Guardian newspaper, the other day.

It was in response to an article (here) by the columnist, Polly Townbee, who was considering a commission on adult social care (here), being chaired by Baroness Louise Casey.

Said Townbee: “With her trademark brutal honesty, [Baroness Casey] laid …

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THIS is an idea that needs people’s help; needs people willing to share their expertise.

And maybe even their labour.

While many cities operate their own architecture and design centres - eg London, Milan, etc - Edinburgh has only intermittently come close (indeed, the chief executive of the London centre recently wrote about it, for BuildEdinburgh, here).

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THERE is no obvious reason why the city council does not require development proposals for ‘significant’ sites in the capital - say all those over one acre in size - to be the subject of a design competition.

Maybe developers have consistently and successfully lobbied against it, because they have done the numbers and the numbers tell them that a design …

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THERE are quite a few parts of Edinburgh just crying out for what you would call ‘masterplanning’, imagining what might be for a whole area.

BuildEdinburgh has already advanced the idea of thinking comprehensively (here) about the acres and acres of land to the west of Seafield (for which there is a masterplan) that is currently being, developed bit by b…

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VIEWED from the air, the layout of the housing estate bounded by Stenhouse Drive and Saughton Road is almost skeletal, such is the volume of mostly unloved ‘municipal grass’.

In a city where land is at such a premium, the solution seems a no-brainer: fill the gaps with new housing, not least because, almost certainly, the land belongs to the council.

A fe…

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TO watch a football match taking place on the artificial surface 11-a-side pitch at Saughton Arena involves having to stand on the other side of a high fence.

It is not the only experience that is less than optimal, the lack of decent spectator facilities joined by a nearby changing rooms block that is definitely showing its age.

Meanwhile, a stone’s thro…

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IDEAS are not cheap - as some might be tempted to claim: they are the foundation stones of prosperity and progress.

And with regard to the ambitions of BuildEdinburgh, they are central to its very being.

Without ideas, BuildEdinburgh would be just a gathering of news links, with several ideas having already been aired in the site’s Saturday column section.

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