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Edinburgh Reporter
15-05-2025
- General
- Edinburgh Reporter
Community council lodges complaint to Edinburgh Council
The New Town and Broughton Community Council has lodged a formal complaint with The City of Edinburgh Council in relation to a planning decision for a new home on Blenheim Place. The complaint centres on the council's Planning Local Review Body (LRB) and the way it dealt with an appeal heard on 2 April. This was an appeal against the council's decision to refuse planning permission in October 2024 for a new house on the site between Greenside Parish Church and 12 Blenheim Place and it was heard by the LRB. Council officers said in the 2 April papers that the proposal was unacceptable as it would have a 'detrimental impact on the New Town Conservation Area and the wider World Heritage Site'. The community council says its members have reviewed the proceedings at the meeting on the recorded webcast and find that there were 'serious procedural failures, apparent bias, and lack of adherence to statutory requirements and council guidance during the review of the appeal'. NTBCC claim that the convener and others on the quasi judicial body were casual in the way they examined the issues, failing to consider whether a building was suitable for the World Heritage Site. They also gave no consideration to the objections from four local representative organisations (including Edinburgh World Heritage) and 28 residents. During the presentation at the LRB councillors heard that Historic Environment Scotland said there would be some visual impact on Greenside Parish Church and on some viewpoints from Calton Hill, but that the organisation considered these would be minimal. They confirmed no objection to the application. Edinburgh World Heritage said they noted that 'significant efforts have been made to keep the building low minimising the impact on views however changing a historical landscape setting that contributes to numerous heritage values would have negative heritage impact'. They did not support the application. This is a site of archaeological potential and the City Archaeologist said a condition about the need for investigation should be attached to any permission granted. The key issues in the report of handing included this statement: 'The erection of a building on this site would create an unsympathetic and disruptive addition to the immediate streetscape.' The LRB had the option to decide on the application before them for review or to ask for more information to be provided – including holding another hearing. The clerk advised that the LRB had to consider the Listed Building – the church – when making any determination. Community Council Peter Williamson, Chair of NTBCC, said: 'Community councillors were shocked at the conduct at the appeal meeting when they looked at the council's webcast. Quasi-judicial processes of this importance to local people need to be conducted in a proper manner.' NTBCC has demanded that the appeal process is rerun, that the shortcomings of the original appeal are not repeated, and that safeguards for any future appeals are put in place. At the meeting the LRB allowed an appeal paving the way for a Passivhaus standard flat-roofed two level five bedroom modern house with external area to be placed between the church, a modern office building and a Georgian terrace at 12 Blenheim Place. There will be windows on the elevation facing towards the church. The site is currently clear, but would be used for the house which would be fitted with photovoltaic panels. The plans are for an eco-efficient house with a ground source heat pump. The railings would be maintained on the street side of the site but a new entrance would be created for access to the home. This is a site which lies on a slope as viewed from the street with the church sitting higher than the terrace at Blenheim Place. The majority of the roof would be a flat green roof with terrace. Proceedings at the meeting Cllr Tim Jones was the acting Convener of the LRB on 2 April when the decision was made. He commented that Blenheim Place is a beautiful Playfair terrace and a 'precedent' had been set by the building of the modern office block next door. He said: 'I think too much is made of the blocking of the view because this is really very low down.' He said he was of the mind to uphold the application and allow the planning permission to be granted. Cllr Jones asked about the design and how it compares in relation to the height of the modern block of offices next to it. He was referred to the street elevation plans in the presentation pack where the roof of the offices was shown as 'significantly higher' than the proposal. Cllr Key said that the church itself blocks any views of Calton Hill and said the low profile nature of the proposed building did not pose any problem for him. Cllr Hal Osler opposed the application for review. She said: 'There is an important aspect here which is that the church has a definitive gap on either side that puts it in a particular setting. This removes that aspect and makes a continuation where no continuation existed beforehand. It does alter the church's setting which is the whole point of looking at impact on historic buildings. I feel that an opportunity has been taken to fill this site and I don't believe there is a necessity to fill this site. I think it is possible to reduce it further. I think it is too much.' Cllr Ben Parker agreed with Cllr Key that it is a low level building and the views are unaffected. He said he believed the development was quite 'sensitive' but building right up to the church is inappropriate. Cllr Key proposed that the permission was allowed, and it became clear that with Cllr Osler proposing the opposite (and to support the refusal) the LRB – with four members present – were equally divided. Cllr Key said the development would not have a detrimental impact on the application site, it does have regard to the existing characteristics of the area, has minimal impact on the listed building next door and would not have a detrimental impact on the application site and the surrounding area. Cllr Key and Cllr Jones both voted to allow the permission and Cllrs Key and Osler voted to refuse it. With his casting vote Cllr Jones overturned the officers' recommendations and the development was approved with a condition as provided by the City Archaeologist. Other councillors due to appear at the LRB on 2 April included Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron who joined online but was too late for this item, Cllr Neil Gardiner (but Cllr Key substituted for him) Cllr Alys Mumford (but Cllr Ben Parker was in attendance for the Green Group) and Cllr Hal Osler. All of the visualisations of the proposed home are included in this pack here: Loading… Cllr Tim Jones who convened the meeting Like this: Like Related
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘We're just asking for a vote:' Vineyard residents launch referendum against new $35M city hall
VINEYARD, Utah () — A group of concerned residents in has launched a referendum against a resolution to finance up to $35 million for a new city hall. On April 3, the held a special session, during which they voted on Resolution 2025-15. David Robertson, a financial advisor with Lewis, Robertson and Burningham (LRB), presented it to the council. 'Vineyard City intends to finance the acquisition, construction, equipping, and improvement ofthe Vineyard Center — a multi-use building that will house Vineyard City Offices, theMountainland Association of Governments ('MAG'),' the background of the resolution reads. It continues: 'To that end, the City proposes to issue Sales and Franchise Tax Revenue Bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $35,000,000 (the 'Series 2025 Bonds'), pursuant to the Utah Local Government Bonding Act and the Revenue Bond Act.' IN VINEYARD: Huntsman Cancer Institute breaks ground on new $400M Utah County cancer center After more than an hour of discussion on the resolution, a motion to adopt the resolution was passed, with all but one council member's vote. 'My understanding is that we'll come back to the city council on May 14 and present numbers and — all the various numbers we talked about — and if the city council likes it, we'll continue chugging forward. And if not, we'll stop,' Robertson said shortly before the vote. The council will meet again on May 14, where the resolution will be reviewed, and the council can finalize a decision on whether to move forward with the resolution. In a release from the concerned residents launching the referendum, they share their concerns about the city council meeting. Jacob Holdaway, the one council member who did not support the resolution, is quoted in the release. Distracted driving? Law enforcement statewide is increasing `covert` enforcement 'We were told this vote wouldn`t happen over spring break, and we were promised public comment before any decision,' Holdaway is quoted in the release. 'None of those commitments were honored. This kind of process erodes public trust.' The release from concerned residents further states that this Sales Tax Revenue bond could cost between $920,000 to $1.7 million annually. They are concerned that the city will not be able to keep up with payments without increasing taxes or removing public services. 'This isn't about politics, it's about principle. This decision was made without the basic financial transparency Vineyard residents deserve. Now we're just asking for a vote,' said Zack Stratton in the press release. He is named as a Vineyard resident and business owner. reached out to Vineyard City for more information. In a joint statement from Mayor Julie Fullmer, Councilmember Mardi Sifuentes, Councilmember Sara Cameron and Councilmember Brett Clawson, they clarified their stance on the resolution. Salt Lake Bees celebrate first home game at new Daybreak ballpark 'The project has strong community support, does not increase property or sales taxes, and passed with the support of all but one council member. It is designed to provide essential civic services to our growing community with maximum efficiency,' it reads. 'We've worked carefully to ensure we minimize the financial impact to avoid escalating interest, construction and land costs in the future.' The full statement can be read below: On April 3, 2025, the Vineyard City Council voted to initiate a bonding process to fund the long planned and critically needed Vineyard Center. The Vineyard Center project is the culmination of years of public process and extensive planning. It will establish a civic and community center to support Vineyard's unprecedented growth. The project has strong community support, does not increase property or sales taxes, and passed with the support of all but one council member. It is designed to provide essential civic services to our growing community with maximum efficiency by sharing the building cost and space with numerous community partners. We've worked carefully to ensure we minimize the financial impact to avoid escalating interest, construction and land costs in the future. Additional financial analysis is in progress to confirm the city's safe financial position. We are concerned that the efforts of a small, vocal minority to mislead the public and push for a referendum on this will be a waste of city resources and taxpayer dollars and will ultimately cost the city much more in the future and sacrifice the City's ability to deliver day-to-day services to our growing community. Joint Statement on Vineyard Center Bond from Mayor Julie Fullmer, Councilmember Mardi Sifuentes, Councilmember Sara Cameron and Councilmember Brett Clawson Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Those Passions: on art and politics by TJ Clark review – show me the Monet
What exactly is the relationship between art and politics? Is it the job of a painting to illustrate its own times, in the way that Picasso's Guernica appears to show the chaotic aftermath of the fascists' bombing of the Basque Country? Or does it do something more solidly material, standing as evidence of the times in which it was produced – the cost of paint, the politics of patronage, the whirls and waves of the original wooden frame as with, say, a Rembrandt? Is painting there to provoke, console, explain or even conceal the political and economic conditions of its own making? The art critic TJ Clark may not have the answers – he is all about the dialectic of claim and counter-claim – but he does have an awful lot of fun sketching out some possible positions. His writing, most familiar from his work in the London Review of Books, is famously tentative (no one second-guesses and self-corrects quite so much as Clark), yet, simultaneously, slightly gleeful in its own cheek. In this collection of 22 essays, harvested from 25 years of writing in the LRB and elsewhere, Clark starts with a bravura reading of Visions of the Hereafter, Ascent into Heaven, in which he imagines himself as one of Hieronymus Bosch's odd little people squinting at the sky trying to work out what happens next. The figure he chooses to ventriloquise has a tonsure – so, a holy man of some sort – but is as nakedly greeny-white and vulnerable as a stick of asparagus. Tonsure-man is so keen to enter heaven that he is stretching on tippy-toes, yet Clark grants him the earthly faculties required to make art-historical assessments of the scene around him: the cherubim on a nearby fountain, a naked woman with tumbling hair who may be a reference to Eve in the Garden. Tonsure-man even remains sufficiently prissy to notice a couple who are getting handsy in the bushes, apparently unaware that their immortal souls are about to be weighed in the balance. Bosch is the earliest artist dealt with in this dazzling book, and something of an outlier. Clark's research interests have always clustered in the 19th and 20th centuries, and it is from this period that the best essays emerge. His ostensible subjects here include Henri Matisse's painting of his wife in a hat, Walter Benjamin's Parisian arcades, and LS Lowry's matchstick men. The real matter in hand, though, remains art's response to the conditions of high and late capitalism and its many discontents. Specifically, Clark sets out to unsettle received ideas about how artistic modernism, with its privileging of pure form over narrative content, swept away the stuffy representational conventions of the 19th century. In a clever reading of Matisse's Woman With a Hat, which is usually viewed as a bravura expression of non-literal art, Clark suggests that, actually, the woman's green skin, purple chin and orange neck might be a truthful account of what happens to colours, including black, when viewed in a particular light. From here he makes a detour into biography – a no-no as far as critics of a formalist persuasion are concerned – to explain that this woman is in fact Mme Matisse AKA Amélie Parayre, an accomplished hatmaker whose craft skills kept the household financially afloat during Matisse's lean years. Mme Matisse's crazy colouring, so derided at the time by critics including André Gide, may actually be Matisse's attempt to express his wife's triumph over the brute realities of economic production, whether of hats or paintings. Far from being unmoored from the material world, Woman With a Hat presses more deeply into it. At least, I think that is what Clark is 'saying' in his essay. If he allows himself constant doubts and corrections, it is only fair that his readers should have an equal right to express uncertainty, and an occasional feeling of having only just made it through. 'Phew!' he says at one point, having quoted a passage of Proust which he maintains will better help us understand what Matisse is up to. 'Is that the right word?' he asks rhetorically when dealing with Gerhard Richter's 'cocking a snook' at his East German parents. In other places, Clark simply runs out of puff and tails off with three dots of ellipsis as if he can't quite imagine what comes next. These, then, are essays best read in a spirit of delighted, if occasionally sceptical, play. Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion Those Passions: On Art and Politics by TJ Clark is published by Thames & Hudson (£40). To support the Guardian and the Observer buy your copy from Delivery charges may apply
