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The Herald Scotland
10 hours ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Are clumsy streetscapes threatening Edinburgh's heritage status?
'Whilst we may not be under imminent threat of being considered a World Heritage Site in danger, there is this steady, slow creep of issues which need to be addressed to reinforce the city's commitment to its inscription and the value that being a World Heritage Site brings,' says Terry Levinthal, director of the Cockburn Association. Conservation of the city's architectural heritage and its landscape on a macro scale has been relatively good (with a few noted exceptions), but small-scale interventions have been slowly slicing at the overall look and feel of the city. 'Death by a thousand cuts,' says Levinthal. 'One thing Edinburgh does not do well is streetscape, or how it manages the surfaces and the spaces in between buildings in an urban context.' Charlotte Square (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) The Cockburn Association, whose civic guardianship of Edinburgh hinges on heritage as civic responsibility rather than nostalgia, has sounded the alarm about the state of the city's streets. Two months on from the association's public forum, On the Road to Nowhere? Edinburgh's Streetscape and Heritage Places, Levinthal is cautiously optimistic. It would take a very long and substantial decline for the city to lose its World Heritage status, or for it to be considered endangered. But decades of 'chronic undermanagement' and an ethos that streetscape insertions have nothing to do with World Heritage when 'of course they do' has given heritage enthusiasts cause for concern. 'One of the one of the biggest risks in a historic city is not necessarily just to do with altering buildings or building new architecture, but it's actually making sure that you look after the historic streetscape, which is the setting for all of these beautiful buildings,' says Fiona Rankin, the head of public realm conservation at Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH). She explains that the city's streets don't have the same protections as listed buildings, which leaves them vulnerable to a lack of coherent design and maintenance standards. 'It's the cumulative effect of lots of small interventions that can really start to change the character of a place,' she adds. Modern times have brought a myriad of new street objects, like EV charging points, bins, defibrillators, phone charging stations, seating, bollards, planters, sandwich boards, cycle racks and more. They change how people see the street, plucking it out of its historic context and clashing with the Old and New Towns. 'We have to minimise the appearance of these interventions and design them so they coordinate well with each other,' says Rankin. 'It's really important that they're not just installed on a random basis, but the whole street design is taken into consideration, the positioning and design of such objects.' Frederick Street (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Frederick Street (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Piecemeal funding from local and national governments has resulted in a patchwork of streetscape elements. A project gets designed by one team; other teams are responsible for different areas. Working separately means they don't choose the same materials, the same style of seating or they might install signage under slightly different guidelines, and everything lacks continuity. Rankin points to Picardy Place as an example. Cycle lanes, tram lines, street lighting, and pedestrian crossings have created a confused urban landscape. 'You end up with a sea of poles,' Rankin says. 'Poles with signage, poles for crossing the road, poles for holding up tram lines. Areas like that, to me, have a negative effect on the heritage location.' Rather than just following engineering guidelines, she suggests that urban realm works begin with the aspiration to have as little intervention as possible and to find the option that suits the heritage best. 'I think it's very difficult to retrofit guidelines for a historic place when the guidelines are generally written for new places, new streets, new junctions,' she says. The EWH is currently working alongside the City of Edinburgh Council to develop a standalone Street Design Guidance Factsheet on Street Design in the Historic Environment, which will be added to the council's suite of Street Design Guidance Factsheets. Rankin has been seconded two days a week to work alongside the local authority's World Heritage officer to ensure that processes of thinking within the council are putting heritage first. 'Making it the starting point, the baseline,' she says. With the council, they are currently looking at coordinating the street furniture so that bins, cycle racks and seating all come from one design. 'We have a huge amount to learn from historic cities,' Levinthal says. 'We have an approach at the moment which is just not working with that outstanding heritage value that Edinburgh has.' (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Edinburgh's Waverley Station (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) One of the biggest changes within the council is the introduction of statements of heritage significance commissioned by EWH. The key is not to try and take what they have done in say, Copenhagen or Amsterdam or Prague or Berlin and try to replant it in Edinburgh. The specific issues that the capital faces requires its own unique approach. The heritage statements are set to be given out at the very beginning of a project, defining the importance of a location and its history. The hope is that they will allow designers to develop a keen understanding and analysis of what they are dealing with right off the bat so they can carry out their work from start to finish in a sympathetic way. The first major heritage statement has been commissioned for Princes Street and the Waverley Valley ahead of its forthcoming redevelopment. 'This statement will give those designers information that tells them what the priorities are, what's important, and should steer the direction of their design so that it is compatible and complementary to the heritage,' says Rankin. 'We're all guardians of this wonderful city, and we have one chance to get it right.' The redevelopment of Waverley Station is one of the biggest concerns for the Cockburn Association at the moment. Levinthal is anticipating the launch of a master plan consultation 'sometime soon'. 'It is very much a wait and see what that brings with it,' he says. Previous plans involved demolishing large portions of the category A-listed station. At this point, Levinthal says, it's just speculation as to whether a consultation would 'alleviate any fears or give cause for concern.' A glaring issue with maintaining the decadent fabric of the historic streetscape comes down to cost. Council budgets are tight. Temporary fixes, like the tarmac on Frederick Street or the ramp at Charlotte Square, can easily become permanent when they serve a good enough purpose. But, as Levinthal points out, Edinburgh's UNESCO World Heritage City status is the 'golden goose' for both the city's and the country's coffers. Edinburgh'sGeorge Street looking west (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Edinburgh's Waverley Station. (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) The city welcomes more than four million visitors annually who contribute £1.2 billion to the local economy. And the main reasons tourists flocked to the Lothians was for a castle or fort (42%) and to view architecture and buildings (32%), according to a 2023 survey by Visit Scotland. While it's difficult to pinpoint just how much heritage contributes to the figures or any heritage-specific revenue, it's clear that historic attractions play a key role in Edinburgh's tourism economy. 'Just for that reason alone, it really justifies the investment in it and its added protection,' Levinthal says. The Cockburn Association is optimistic about the forthcoming Visitor Levy, which came into law in September 2024. The tax on overnight accommodation is expected to raise up to £50m a year by 2028/9 which will be reinvested in Edinburgh to manage the burden of propping up a flourishing tourism economy in an ancient city. 'The income, if properly redeployed to help deal with deficiencies like streetscapes and the management of tourist parts of the city, will help deal with concerns the we have with the undermanagement and under maintenance of places,' says Levinthal. He hopes that over time, the trend of places being in slow decline will be transformed. Protecting Edinburgh as a small heritage city 'that punches well above its weight globally' will be on the forefront of civic and political thinking. 'A lot of those death by a thousand cuts could be healed with income that comes from the Visitor Levy, if properly spent and applied,' he adds. 'I think we are at a very exciting but critical point in time,' says Rankin. 'The city is aspiring to grow and transition, and for that reason, we have to proceed carefully. We can't just forge ahead.' In due course, Charlotte Square will be levelled out, as it was before the 1960s, and the unsightly ramp will no longer be needed. The crusty black tarmac on Frederick Street will ultimately be replaced with granite setts. (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) 'For all projects and wider work carried out in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, we take great care to ensure that it respects and where possible, enhances the special character of the area,' says Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, transport and environment convener at City of Edinburgh Council. 'This is in conjunction with making sure that project considerations are properly taken into account, including both the specific and cumulative impacts. 'Under our City Centre Transformation strategy, we're committed to improving our streets and public spaces, creating safer conditions for walking, wheeling, and cycling, along with reducing air and noise pollution. We're taking these goals forward with ambitious projects such as the Low Emission Zone (LEZ), George Street and First New Town and improving the setted streets in the Old Town. Occasionally, we need to make emergency temporary repairs to ensure the safety and usability of streets and spaces. In these instances, permanent solutions will be brought forward as soon as possible. 'We work closely with partners such as Edinburgh World Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland, along with other key stakeholders, including the Cockburn Association, to achieve this consistency and respect for our World Heritage Site – and we'll continue to do so in the future.' Marissa MacWhirter is a columnist and feature writer at The Herald, and the editor of The Glasgow Wrap. The newsletter is curated between 5-7am each morning, bringing the best of local news to your inbox each morning without ads, clickbait, or hyperbole. Oh, and it's free. She can be found on X @marissaamayy1
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Edinburgh must not kill off the golden goose that makes its fortune
A prominent lawyer and judge, Cockburn was also an early heritage conservationist. In 1849 he wrote 'A Letter to the Lord Provost on the Best Ways of Spoiling the Beauty of Edinburgh' in which he outlined his fears for the future. 'Edinburgh is not exempt from the doom that makes everything spoilable,' he said at the time, urging the citizens of the city to take an interest in their civic surroundings and to hold local officials to account. The Cockburn Association was formed 21 years after his death to carry forward his concerns and passion for Edinburgh. The success of the Cockburn Association over 150 years lies in what you cannot see. Read more Thanks to its campaigning, there is no dual carriageway through the Meadows or skyscraper over Haymarket, no shopping mall beneath Princes Street or high-rise hotel looming over George Street. Civic amenities such as Inverleith Park, Corstorphine Hill and the Water of Leith Walkway were the result the Cockburn's efforts. The demolition of the First New Town was averted and historic buildings like Moubray House in the High Street conserved. With Unesco World Heritage Site status in place since 1995, the past has been protected, but what about the future? I became President of the Cockburn Association this year at pivotal moment for the city. Recent years have seen growing dissatisfaction about over tourism and creeping development. The population of Edinburgh is rising fast and could soon catch up with Glasgow. Some believe it could reach 750,000 in the next 20 years. But where will those people live and work and how will they move around an Old Town and New Town where history is baked into the cobblestones? Those are some of the questions authors Cliff Hague and Richard Rodger set out to answer in a new book published by the Cockburn Association. 'Campaigning For Edinburgh' lays out two possible visions for the future. One has overseas investors throwing up buildings wherever they want as deregulation opens up the city to market forces with a 24-hour party zone attracting even more revellers from all around the world. In the other, removing VAT from repairs and maintenance leads to a conservation boom with old, empty buildings carefully repurposed based on the wants and needs of the citizens rather than consultants or developers. Edinburgh already faces a housing emergency with more children in temporary accommodation in the city than in the whole of Wales. The priority for those kids is not architecture or heritage, they just want a home, but it's our job to ensure the myriad housing projects now taking shape around the capital are of the best possible quality and standard for them. Crucially, these places need to be communities with heart and soul and the facilities to live meaningful lives, not just dormitories for workers to eat and sleep. Edinburgh should not be pickled in aspic, with locals moving about simply as extras in a heritage theme park for visitors. But if the next few years are not carefully managed, progress risks killing the golden goose that attracts people in the first place. The architect behind the controversial W Hotel project promised it would be 'expressive… and make people happy'. Despite all the objections it went ahead. Once built, it was then named the worst new building in the world. That's not an accolade anyone wants. The revelation this month that Edinburgh is now the most expensive city-break destination in Western Europe prompted more negative headlines. But the answer is not to relax short-term let restrictions or build more cheap hotels. The solution is to manage numbers and the 5% visitor levy coming next year will help do that. The revenue also provides an opportunity to invest in the civic realm or to employ an army of workers to clean the streets, remove graffiti and pick up litter… all paid for by the tourist tax. There is a lot to be optimistic about. Management of the Old Town is already better with short-term let restrictions rejecting 90% of applications. Council plans to cut traffic volumes are also welcome provided they come with continued investment in transport alternatives. The Cockburn Association is always looking to support what is right for Edinburgh. The reborn Jenners site and the exciting new Dunard Concert Hall are two current projects we've backed with enthusiasm. More than anything, we need bold vision, based on sound heritage and architectural principles rather than the latest trend on Tik Tok . Princes Street remains an eyesore and visual proof of the decay and death of retail. The ambition that led 26-year-old James Craig to design the New Town is required now to revitalise that key thoroughfare and to guide where we go from here. Edinburgh has never been more popular but much of that popularity comes down to what has been s0 carefully protected and preserved. Over the past 150 years a lot of battle have been fought over Scotland's capital and a lot of lessons learned. They should provide the blueprint for the future to protect Edinburgh's beauties for the next generation. Stephen Jardine, President of the Cockburn Association, is a journalist, broadcaster and presenter. He has worked for the BBC, Scottish Television, GMTV and Radio Tay.
Scotsman
24-05-2025
- General
- Scotsman
How Edinburgh was saved from skyscrapers – and why the fight continues
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... What do you want Edinburgh to look like in 2050? That's the question posed in a new book celebrating this year's 150th anniversary of the Cockburn Association. Scotland's oldest conservation charity was established to continue the work of Lord Cockburn, who called for the preservation of the beauties of Edinburgh in the face of those who believe 'everything can be valued in money'. So much changes, yet so much remains the same. When you look around Edinburgh today, the work of the Cockburn Association is in everything you don't see. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There is no motorway through the Meadows or underground shopping mall the length of Princes Street, no high-rise hotel on George Street or skyscraper towering over Haymarket because of battles that were hard fought and won against developers and planners down the years. If you want to see what Edinburgh might have become, just take a trip to Glasgow. Edinburgh would still be recognisable to people who lived there in the 19th century (Picture: Andrew Milligan) | PA Preserving the past, looking to the future 'But the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there', as novelist LP Hartley once said. Preserving what went before is one thing but Edinburgh needs to have a future as well as a past. That's why I agreed to become the president of the Cockburn Association as it reshapes for the challenges of the future. In their new book, authors Cliff Hague and Richard Rodger set out two competing visions of what the city might look like. In one, Edinburgh development runs rampant with Chinese and Middle Eastern investors throwing up high-rise buildings wherever they can, as deregulation allows revellers to party non-stop in the city centre. In the other, an Edinburgh model emerges where decision-making is led by citizens, based on lived experience rather than the view of consultants or investors. VAT is stripped from repairs and maintenance leading to a building conservation boom with empty churches and shopping centres repurposed for housing, community hubs and youth centres, the tram network spreads throughout the city, and local neighbourhoods thrive. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The difference between the two really comes down to intervention. When people do nothing, market forces will always dominate. However if we want the best possible outcome, then we have to roll up our sleeves and help shape our own future. Every day is a school day Experience shows us Edinburgh's future is most likely to be somewhere between the two extremes. Holding back commercial forces is incredibly difficult as the controversial W Hotel project proves. Built with American pension fund money, it overcame all objections with the architect saying'it is communicative, it is expressive and it is supposed to make people happy'. Instead, it topped a poll as the worst new building in the world. However, every day is a school day and there are lessons to be learned from that project as well as from all the developments that are turned down and every attempt to commercially exploit what should be free public space in the city centre. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Edinburgh outdoor breakfast plans spark noise concerns
Edinburgh's heritage watchdog has raised concerns after city councillors approved plans for food businesses to serve customers outdoors from 07: businesses can only serve customers at outdoor tables and chairs from 09:00 until 21: a new year-long trial could see outdoor eating and drinking areas open an hour-and-a-half earlier from the start of heritage watchdog the Cockburn Association said the new opening times must be policed by council officials to prevent early morning noise for nearby residents. The rules for the Grassmarket, where businesses can only use outdoor furniture from midday until 21:00, will remain the same. Tony Crolla, chairman of Vittoria Group - which includes Vittoria, Divino, Bertie's and a Taste of Italy - was behind the campaign for the longer operating successfully argued that visitors to the city should be able to sit outside for breakfast when they paid a tourist tax - which starts in summer council report said: "This will allow businesses with permits more flexibility in terms of their operating hours and has the potential to increase footfall and boost the local economy in both the city and town centres." But Terry Levinthal, director of the Cockburn Association, told BBC Scotland News that he had concerns around how the trial would be warned that the noise impact on nearby homes would need to be closely said he wanted the council to add conditions to its licensing which would protect people living in densely populated areas of the Levinthal also raised issue with the "steady creep of commercialisation of public space" which could eventually put people off living in the city centre."Very frequently the people who are making these decisions don't have skin in the game when it comes to that direct impact on residential amenity," he Jenkinson, City of Edinburgh Council's transport and environment convener, said: "This is an example of us listening, acting to support our business community while maintaining robust management."We're also clear that accessibility for pedestrians is a priority, with strict conditions to maintain appropriate widths for pedestrian access."We'll continually monitor the scheme and address any concerns regarding noise, compliance or any other issues with businesses and other key stakeholders as appropriate."
The Herald Scotland
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Heritage expert points to hotel 'salvation' of famous street
Is the historic core, a World Heritage Site, to become a holiday resort? What kind of development brings best returns to international investors, and should that decide what gets built where and for whom? Whose centre is it? The 2008 financial crisis, with the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS, sent shivers through the Edinburgh administration. The result was a pre-Covid decade in which the city council, further incentivised by austerity, worked closely with Scottish Government agencies to monetise assets, particularly in the city centre, where the unique historic environment and sense of place offered exceptional investment opportunities. Being 'open for business' reached its apotheosis in 2019 when a huge space deck for the Christmas market was allowed to be erected in East Princes Street without planning permission. The Cockburn Association, the city's civic trust, led public concern, expressed in the theme of a huge public meeting in January 2020, 'City for Sale'. The most significant development since then was the opening in 2021 of the St James Quarter behind the east end of Princes Street. It is a private space where the public are invited as 'guests'. It exemplifies what happens when global investors control space and promulgate the narrative about the heart of a city. READ MORE: Back in 2007, the city council identified the need for a 'main flagship covered shopping centre' to 'maintain an intensely developed vibrant city centre character'. Stalled by the 2008 crash and then by Covid, the St James Quarter with its galleria and 850,000 square feet of new prime retail space, was a welcome replacement for the despised 1970s St James Centre – a glum mall. In their marketing hyperbole, it is a 'lifestyle destination'. The Quarter's website proclaims pride in developing 'a fully inclusive community', while boasting 'exclusive new stores, restaurants, bars, entertainment, and more'. The W Hotel with its 'bundle of coiled ribbons, culminating in a pennant flying in the Edinburgh breeze', is part of this development. It now commands Edinburgh's historic skyline with Trump-like swagger. The decline of Princes Street is a recurrent theme in Edinburgh chatter: trams, traffic and tartanry have all been bemoaned across the decades. However, the impact of the St James Quarter on what was the prime shopping street, was brutal. The developer, Nuveen, claims 'foresight' as one of its strengths, so presumably knew its £1 billion investment to generate rental income for pensioners in North America would create vacancies on Princes Street and drive it downmarket. Conventional department stores are making way for mixed retail and hotel offerings. (Image: Getty Images) Salvation of sorts for Princes Street has come from the buoyant hotel industry. Profit margins on hotels have been over 20%, with Deloitte ranking Edinburgh ninth in Europe as a place for hotel investment. Therefore, hotels are filling vacant office buildings and some of the gaps on Princes Street, often with the promise of ground floor cafés and restaurants. More are in the pipeline across the city centre, from Haymarket to St Andrew's Square. But, as the Cockburn Association has argued: 'Without robust intervention, Princes Street risks transforming into a corridor of mid-market hotels, global fast-food chains, and uninspired retail, with diminished upper-floor activity.' The profitability of hotels has been boosted by the city's tourism, culture and events-led economic strategy. The historic environment and the qualities of the city centre as a place have been key assets to exploit. Festivalisation has seen not just a growth in the scale and number of festivals staged, but also an intensification, during the Fringe in particular, in the concentration of events in the Old Town. This cultural agglomeration effect has infused the economic and social ecosystem of the city centre, a finite space physically constrained by the historical legacy of its streets and buildings. While cities such as Manchester have repopulated their centres, Edinburgh's traditional mixed resident community in the centre has been hollowed by short-term lets, a fate shared by other attractive historic cities. A successful judicial review by the short-term let industry thwarted council plans to use planning and licensing powers to reclaim for permanent residence the thousands of homes lost to that industry. Similarly, purpose-built student accommodation has gobbled up scarce city centre sites, as well as land around the fringes of the centre. This form of development is not required to contribute affordable housing. In the office sector, prime rents were predicted (pre-Trump) to achieve a healthy increase by 2028, though demand for 1500 to 3000 square feet offices remains weak. In summary, what we are seeing across the city centre is polarisation and contestation. Edinburgh is fortunate in being an attractive location for investors, but it comes with a price – loss of affordable housing and pressure to commercialise public space and accommodate an ever increasing number of visitors in a confined historic area, while austerity rots the quality of the public realm. Civic campaigning against the commercialisation of public space, led by the Cockburn Association, saw the council row back on the takeover of Princes Street Gardens by the events industry. The Summer Sessions gigs have migrated to Ingleston, restoring tranquillity and public access to the gardens in August. Plans for a big wheel fairground attraction from July to January were rejected but show what may yet come. Might a sandy beach alongside a recreated Nor' Loch in Princes St Gardens generate more tourist income? The Cockburn Association is planning a civic workshop in the autumn to produce a medium-term vision for the city. Civic greenspace, heritage conservation and streetscape enhancement are essentials, but, above all, ways need to be found to replenish the stock of affordable housing. Professor Cliff Hague is past chairman of the Cockburn Association, Scotland's oldest independent conservation charity
