Two community groups on either side of the New Town are sharing notes in resisting large scale apart hotel and hostel developments in their neighbourhoods.
The residents in Atholl Crescent at the West End had lodged hundreds of objections to plans for a 544 bed super hostel in a New Town Crescent. The council failed to decide on the planning application in time and the developer referred the matter to the government Reporter, thus denying locals their say.
At the east end of the New Town people in and around Forth Street are objecting to an aparthotel proposed there by a separate developer. The two groups are now planning to support each other.
Philip Flockhart, the conservation architect who is leading the Atholl Crescent campaign, said the two groups were introduced by Claire Miller, the local Green Party councillor.
He added: “The similarities are startling. They might be different streets, with different labels on the application, but the story is the same. Historic townhouses are being pushed towards high-density visitor accommodation, with little thought for communities or the buildings themselves.
“Communities fighting these battles in isolation are easier to ignore. There is real strength in recognising shared threats and shared values and in making sure decision-makers know that people across the New Town are organising to resist the degeneration of their neighbourhoods.”
Councillor support
City centre councillor, Claire Miller, has brought these two groups together and Philip Flockhart praised her for doing so. He said: “This is an example of how helpful our elected representatives can be in coordinating local action. Councillor Miller has already supported our campaign and has now asked me to share what we had learned with the Forth Street residents.”
Cllr Miller said that she was struck by the parallels between the two cases – each involving a historic residential street in the UNESCO World Heritage Site threatened by high-density visitor accommodation. Both sites also have narrow lanes to the rear likely to suffer when lorries are servicing the proposed hotels.
She said: “There may be other similarities, so I am hoping that Philip and the Atholl Crescent group will be able to offer analysis and insight that will help the Forth Street residents with their campaign.”
Edinburgh World Heritage
Atholl Crescent campaigners said that Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH) appeared to support the development plans, although EWH director, Terry Levinthal, explained that he begs to differ.
He told The Edinburgh Reporter that there have been misleading statements uttered about EWH. He explained his position over the West End site and said: “Edinburgh World Heritage has a long and substantial track record of preserving and enhancing the heritage of the Old & New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site.
“Our advice is always based on protecting the Outstanding Universal Values of the World Heritage Site, and on that basis, we have made comments on the Atholl Crescent project within the agreed protocols with the City of Edinburgh Council and Historic Environment Scotland. Our comments neither gives support to the proposal, nor objects to the proposed change of use from commercial offices to visitor accommodation.
“This position is in line with that taken by both The City of Edinburgh Council and Historic Environment Scotland.
“We fully understand and appreciate that others may arrive at different views on specific developments, for different reasons. We await the outcome of the appeal into this proposal.”
Plans for the townhouses on Atholl Crescent involve converting four Category A-listed Georgian townhouses into a high-density dormitory hostel. The townhouses sit within the New Town Conservation Area and Edinburgh’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. The West End Community Council has formally objected.
The Forth Street proposals are to convert a row of B-listed Georgian townhouses into an apart-hotel.
In its formal response to the Forth Street application, EWH warned that the proposals would have a negative impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage Site. It highlighted the loss of gardens and mature trees, the effective “slapping together” of individual buildings and the erosion of a street pattern historically designed and valued for residential use.
Campaigners have welcomed the EWH position on Forth Street.
New Town & Broughton Community Council (NTBCC) have objected to the plans saying that “the scale, interventions and intensity of the proposed development raise significant concerns” and “risks undermining the spatial character and architectural integrity of the listed Georgian interiors”.
A decision on the Atholl Crescent plans is awaited.
