In today’s edition:
Welcome;
Ross Bandstand;
Community Council path plans;
The capital’s corporate HQs;
High Street leasing letter;
Water of Leith walkway;
Awards shortlisting for office-to-hotel conversion;
Tickets released for Edinburgh book event;
Photographic celebration of ‘unsung heroes’;
Pic of setts being laid for Leith bike lane; and
Enjoy, see you Wednesday!
WELCOME to the now 2.5 months-old BuildEdinburgh, a three-times-a-week update on the rapidly-changing face of the city’s built environment. We were initially a weekly update, but that proved to be just too many stories for readers to catch up on.
And don’t worry: we are trying to keep those more frequent updates within manageable proportions.
-
A CONTRACTOR is being sought to operate the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens.
An invitation to tender has been posted on the website of Public Contracts Scotland, here, with Local Democracy Reporter (his post paid for by the BBC), Joe Sullivan, writing: “Under plans set out in February, two ‘large’ community events will be run at the bandstand this year, as well as several smaller events put forward by community groups, with some of the smaller events being free.”
Sullivan continues, on the website of Edinburgh Live, here: “According to a council spokesperson, the city is currently looking for initial expressions of interest from contractors, with contracts being put out for application in early autumn.
“The contracts are part of a wider plan to reform how the bandstand is used, which councillors decided on in February.”
He writes too about it on the website of The Edinburgh Reporter, here.
-
AN Edinburgh Community Council is seeking planning permission to turn an ‘informal’ (liable to getting muddy) path into a permanent one.
Currie Community Council’s application (here, ref: 25/03486/FUL) is for east of Muir Wood Road, through an agricultural field, and has already attracted the support of several local politicians.
-
EDINBURGH is home to an estimated 118 ‘large’ corporate HQs - according to research published by the bank, HSBC.
UK-wide and outside of London, it places Scotland’s capital behind Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Buckinghamshire, and three ahead of Glasgow.
Says Insider website, here: “Together [the corporate HQs in both Edinburgh and Glasgow] employ nearly 315,000 people [with a] collective turnover [of] more than £71bn.”
Read more, here, on the website of HSBC.
-
THE family owners of several shops on the High Street have reportedly questioned how a lease - for retail premises also on the High Street - was issued to someone else.
Says the Edinburgh Inquirer website (here), it has seen a letter from the Gold Brothers sent to the city council leader asking to what extent ‘best value’ considerations were taken into account when a council committee last month agreed to lease 249 High Street (owned by the council).
The recommendation (here) to the Finance and Resources committee (here) was to lease the premises to hospitality business, Cobbs Group, and it was agreed by committee members.
Adds the Edinburgh Inquirer: “The council leader must decide whether or not to investigate the Gold Brothers’ concerns. If it has not followed best practice, it runs the risk of being investigated by Audit Scotland. The council declined to comment at this stage.”
-
REPAIRS to the walkway along the Water of Leith are understood to have been delayed - due to what is being claimed as “unforeseen circumstances”.
When work does commence - on the stretch between Roseburn Cliff and Wester Coates - correspondence from the city council suggests it will take two months to complete.
The correspondence, here, has been published by the local Community Council: Murrayfield.
-
AN Edinburgh office block that has been turned into a hotel has been shortlisted in awards recognising retrofitting projects around the UK.
The transformation of the offices - into the Resident Hotel, on Drumsheugh Gardens - has earned itself a shortlisting in the Retrofit & Reuse Awards (here), being run the Architects’ Journal magazine.
The winners will be announced on September 10.
Last month, the conversion won gold in the Retrofit category (here) at this year’s Scottish Design Awards.
The architects are Michael Laird Architects.
-
TICKETS have been released for a book event, celebrating the work of local conservation body, The Cockburn Association.
The event - on Thursday September 11 - is taking place at the bookshop of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, in Rutland Square.
The book - ‘Campaigning for Edinburgh, The Cockburn Association 1875-2049’ - is by Cliff Hague and Richard Rodger.
Order tickets (which are free) here.
-
ROAD repairs to several key junctions - including Tollcross and the west end of Princes Street - in the city have been paused.
It follows a report to the city council’s Transport and Environment committee (specifically appendix seven, here).
In a statement issued by the council, Cllr Stephen Jenkinson, Transport and Environment convener, is quoted as saying: “As part of the prioritisation exercise which we undertook for the City Mobility Plan, we considered the feasibility and suitability of a multitude of projects across the city – which included some projects which were previously part of the Major Junction Review.
“Each scheme recommended for pausing was assessed against a number of key criteria points including impact on road safety, public transport, inequality, and capital raising challenges.
“We’ll continue to carefully monitor our roads as part of the Road Safety Delivery Programme. Should there be the need for any changes or interventions, these will be taken forward in the usual way. Safety on our roads is a key priority across our city, in this financial year alone we’ve allocated over £6m to the service.”
The story has been picked up by Ian Swanson, of the Edinburgh Evening News, here.
-
A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition of several of the city’s ‘unsung community heroes’ is being held next month.
Photographer, Chris McCluskie, has taken shots of individuals considered to be vital to the community spirit in areas such as Granton.
Says the eventbrite billing, here, of the exhibition launch on August 3: “Community organisations from across north Edinburgh nominated the folk who keep the community together, without asking for anything back. Don't miss this opportunity to be inspired and uplifted by the stories behind each image.”
It is taking place at the Granton Hub at Madelvic House, Granton Park Avenue.
Read more, here, on the website of the Granton Hub.
-
A PHOTO has been unloaded on to the website of Deadline News (here), showing setts being laid on what will be a dedicated bike lane on Henderson Street in Leith, as part of a dedicated cycling, walking and wheeling project called Leith Connections.
-
WE welcome news stories and feature suggestions, by email: editorialbuildedinburgh [at] gmail [dot] com.
Image details: W Hotel, St James Quarter; copyright Mike Wilson