- Tickets on sale today for Deep Time
- Planning review
- Our newspaper is out now
- Impromptu concert by the Royal Regiment of ScotlandÂ
- Macmillan looking for volunteers
What looks like an amazing opening event of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival takes place on 7 August and tickets go on sale today at 10am.
“Blending trailblazing technology, narrative drama and emotional storytelling, the Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time embraces the work of academics from across science, arts and humanities, celebrating the wonders and beauties of the natural, the geological and the man-made, exploring the very foundations of Edinburgh itself.”
A second limited release will be available on Monday 1 August, with a further very limited release on Saturday 6 August – the day before the event.
The Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time is a free, outdoor artwork which will see the western façade of Edinburgh Castle and Castle Rock used as the 20,000m2 canvas for digitally animated projections inspired by the city’s past. The work is created by 59 Productions and set to a specially compiled soundtrack by Scottish rock band Mogwai, with an audience of up to 27,000 watching from the event arena.
The event is one of the largest architectural mapping projects ever undertaken by International Festival Artistic Associates, 59 Productions. The Tony award-winners created the acclaimed Harmonium Project which opened the 2015 International Festival, and were key to the 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony, and world-wide hit stage play, War Horse.
Free tickets will be required for the event arena. Full details of how you can book tickets are available here.Â
The Scottish Government will reform planning to help deliver more homes and speed up the planning process, Housing and Planning Minister Kevin Stewart has announced.
Building on the momentum that gathered during the work of the independent planning review panel, the Scottish Government has identified 10 immediate actions including:
- Extending permitted development rights – where planning permission is not needed – to more types of development. This could mean removing uncontroversial minor developments from the system, as well as using permitted development to encourage developments which support low carbon living and digital infrastructure. de
- Strengthening skills and capacity, and consulting on enhanced fees to ensure planning authorities are better resourced to deliver more homes.
- Improving planning performance, ensuring users of the system receive a better service.
- Introducing pilot simplified planning zones for housing, so that planning permission is granted for housing up front, allowing developments to progress more quickly and flexibly.
- Identifying how digital transformation of the planning service can be taken to another level, using tools including the web and 3D visualisations to make information about how our places will evolve over time much easier to access and understand.
The Scottish Government says it will work with local authorities, developers and community groups to develop more detailed proposals for reform, which will be fully consulted on later this year. This will pave the way for a new Planning Bill to be brought forward to the Scottish Parliament in 2017. The programme of work will deliver more community engagement to ensure that more people can get actively involved in shaping the future of the places where they live and new and better tools to assist housing delivery.
Mr Stewart said:
“Planning affects everyone’s lives, from ensuring that we have enough of the right types of homes in the right locations, to driving forward regeneration and supporting business development which provides jobs.
“It is clear from the recommendations of the independent panel, and the feedback from local authorities, developers and communities, that our planning system can do more for Scotland.
“I firmly believe that Scotland’s planners can lead the delivery of great places, empower communities and provide a stable environment for investment through the uncertain times we live in.
“I welcome the positive report produced by the panel and am impressed that public and private interests in planning are willing to work together and with government to make changes happen. We must now work together to ensure our planning system is best placed to support economic growth and house-building, whilst protecting and enhancing the quality of life of all our communities.
“We will now develop proposals for further reform of the planning system over the coming months and will bring forward consultation proposals by the end of the year. The review’s proposed outcomes – including strong and flexible development plans, more high quality homes and collaboration rather than conflict – are all aims we share.”
Our newspaper (all 5,000 copies of it) is now available. If you would like some copies delivered to your business then please get in touch. editor@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
Just spotted a lively concert in the city centre! @The_SCOTSpic.twitter.com/MGve4KXuf6
— Edinburgh Reporter (@EdinReporter) July 10, 2016
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
