Demolition at 50 Gillespie Crescent
Monday is the last day to make comment on the fresh application to demolish the Sight Scotland building in Gillespie Crescent. There is no accompanying application to replace the building with purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) – but there have been such applications in the past, and these remain extant. The references are Building application: 25/02255/FUL and Demolition application: 25/02256/CON.
This is a site where an application to demolish the building in 2020 was refused, an application to demolish the existing building and replace it with PBSA in 2023 were both deemed refused. Edinburgh company S Harrison along with Sight Scotland appealed to Scottish Ministers against the apparent delay by the council in deciding their application. That appeal was refused.
The building which Sight Scotland occupies is not listed, although it lies in a conservation area. It was built between the wars and Historic Environment Scotland said that they had no objections to the building being demolished. There is little about it that is rare or architecturally distinctive – but it is structurally sound. S Harrison has said that none of the conversion options for the building are currently viable. While the Reporter who determined the previous planning appeal did not wholly agree, she did admit that the cost to repair the building to meet modern standards would render such a scheme unviable. She said that the form or the location of the building would not present a “significant challenge to reuse”. Read more here.
There are 135 public comments on the planning portal, 134 of which are objections and 1 is a supportive comment. Have your say here.
This week at the council
Monday, 27 October, 2025
- 9.30 am Meeting of Licensing Board on 27/10 at 9.30 am – Dean of Guild Court Room – City Chambers
Tuesday, 28 October, 2025
- 10.00 am Meeting of Edinburgh Integration Joint Board on 28/10 at 10.00 am – Main Council Chamber – City Chambers. The Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) continues to face financial problems. In 2025/26 the latest financial position shows a projected overspend of £11 million (an improvement of £1.7 million on previous estimates).
- In March 2025 when drafting the medium term financial strategy (MTFS) the EIJB was required to make savings of £31 million for this financial year and £87 million by 2026/27. By August 2025 the programme has delivered 43% of the total savings needed – £12.5 million.
- At the same time as listing all these financial woes the EIJB has a report on developing a “spend to save initiative – part of ongoing work to support collaboration with third sector and other partner agencies. It is a way of using the expertise and ideas from partners to “make best use of resource”. Providers have been asked to put forward their own ideas. The first area where savings of this kind will be explored is in the area of housing support. This is all at an early stage, but 88 service users (who all receive less than 20 hours housing support each week) have been identified. These 88 all have a care plan in place and combined receive a total of 585 hours of housing support each week. The full year cost of that is £730,038. The project will examine ways of reducing that expenditure but continuing to meet the needs of the 88 people in the cohort. Ways of reducing the expense include technology, using volunteers, community groups and networks. In Edinburgh there are more than 1500 service users who receive less than 20 hours of housing support – the cost is £11.7 million per year.
Wednesday, 29 October, 2025
- 10.00 am Meeting of Planning Local Review Body (Panel 2) on 29/10 at 10.00 am – Dean of Guild Court Room – City Chambers
Thursday, 30 October, 2025
- 10.00 am – 5.00 pm Meeting of City of Edinburgh Council on 30/10 at 10.00 am – 5.00 pm – Main Council Chamber – City Chambers
- Cllr Margaret Graham is the Culture and Communities Convener and she has lodged a motion on the agenda to recognise Finlay Menzies.
The motion reads: “Council: Notes the recent achievements of 19-year-old Finlay Menzies, a member of Costorphine AAC, who represented Great Britain at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
“Understands that Finlay won a bronze medal in the T72 100m event, setting a personal best in his international debut; received the Novuna GB & NI Team Performance of the Championships award and was named Sports Person of the Year at the 2025 Lothian Disability Awards.
“Proposed Action/Decision “Council – Acknowledges Finlay’s contribution to the sport of frame running and his role in promoting inclusive athletics, with his success being a credit to his hard work, the support of his club, and the wider community.
“Requests that the Lord Provost mark this achievement in an appropriate way.”
Bill Lothian, our local sports journalist has written about Finlay many times – and most recently about his bronze medal here.
Not to be outdone Cllr Graeme Bruce has also lodged a motion to have Finlay recognised by the Lord Provost.
Friday, 31 October, 2025 – no meetings
Pentlands Book Festival 2025
This volunteer run festival which has been running since 2015 is based in Colinton from 6 November. All the events run for around an hour and most authors will be happy to meet the public afterwards.
Books may be on sale and might even be signed. Tickets are free, available from the link below or Colinton or Currie Libraries.
There is a page for donations to keep the festival free to access.
Our top picks are Elspeth MacGregor who will be talking about her book A Foghorn Called Charlie on 14 November, Slurp and Sleith: A Body at the Book Festival on 29 November with Stef Lyons and Hannah Lavery talking a bout Discovering the Unwritten Woman on 1 December.
Söderberg pop up
The city bakery Söderberg has popped up for this month only at Dovecot on Infirmary Street. Enjoy the cinnamon buns in the café all designed to dovetail with the exhibition IKEA: Magical Patterns which continues until 17 January 2026.
Magical Patterns explores six decades of groundbreaking textile design by IKEA. The exhibition features 180 iconic fabrics that showcase the rich history of the Swedish furniture retailer’s commitment to innovation, collaboration, and experimental design.
Read more here.
RSA 200
The Royal Scottish Academy will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2026. This is one of the most prestigious buildings and cultural institutions in the capital. To be an academician is what many artists aspire to.
The anniversary will be celebrated with hundreds of artists in a wide ranging programme, including a focus on women artists past and present. The women include Barbara Rae, CBE, and Joyce W. Cairns. The celebrations will also include work by new artists in the annual New Contemporaries.
RSA Director, Colin Greenslade, said: “’I am delighted to share the full gallery programme for our 200th anniversary year. There is truly something for everyone; the finest in Scottish contemporary art and architecture, made by those just beginning their careers, through to those with a revered, established practice. For the Summer we have an important retrospective by Joyce W. Cairns and we round off the year with a major new exhibition by Dame Barbara Rae. As a membership organisation with threads of activity across the sector, our group exhibitions for 2026 will explore our history, our legacy and our future. Complimenting the vast range of associated activities of our partners across the length and breadth of Scotland, the exciting programme for the galleries here in Edinburgh will be an opportunity to learn more about our extensive support of Scottish artists’ and architects’ practice during this important anniversary moment.”
