Thor’s Tipi may be on the way back to Waverley Mall

by Joseph Anderson Local Democracy Reporter

Council set to allow Thor’s Tipi to come back to Waverley Mall this winter.

Edinburgh City Council is set to approve plans for Thor’s Tipi to return to Waverley Mall this year.
The seasonal event, which is run by Leeds-based tipi business Papakata and puts on yearly events in York, Leeds, Sheffield and Lincoln, has again applied to  planners to return to the roof of Waverley Mall for winter 2020.
The temporary development will feature a single canvas six-metre-high tipi tent, housing a bar area with external and internal seating, as well a food truck and festive lighting and decorations.
Earlier plans for the site were much larger in scale, including a large transparent marquee, an outdoor bar structure, food trucks and seating to the north west, but these plans were shelved due to social distancing guidelines.
Last year, the event ran for 51 days and according to the organisers hired 30 local staff with a total payroll of £35,000, and this year, organisers plan to double the number of staff.
A statement from the organisers reads: “This year, we plan to use over 60 staff who will all be employed locally, with a payroll of over £70,000.
“The menu is being designed to ensure that as many products as possible will be locally sourced and we are introducing food within our event, all of which will be local street food providers.
“The bar is one of the only in the UK that does not use single-use plastic in a pop-up environment.
“The tipi itself is a sustainable design, using 100-year-old poles from Scandinavia.
“The logs that are burned for the fire are also sustainable, using clean waste timber to make a sustainable modern solid fuel.
“The wood comes in the form of shavings and sawdust from the timber milling industry and would otherwise be used for animal bedding or even just put into landfill.”
Councillors are set to approve the plans, on the recommendation of council planners, despite the proposals attracting 11 objections.
A report, set to go before the council’s development management committee on Wednesday 28 October 2020, reads: “This temporary commercial development will contribute to the city centre’s vitality and role as a strategic business and regional shopping centre.
“Whilst the site is within a prominent location, the proposal will clearly be a temporary addition associated with the festive season and relatively contained within Waverley Mall’s roofscape.
“As a time limited temporary development, the proposal will not have a significant or long term detrimental effect on the special character or appearance of the conservation area or detrimental impact on the outstanding universal value of the Edinburgh World Heritage Site or setting of the surrounding listed buildings.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency : funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector, and used by qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.