Now that Princes Street has reopened – what now?

After seven long weeks since the fire at 109 Princes Street the reopening of the main public transport route was conducted last weekend without much fanfare.

The Edinburgh Reporter met the Council Leader on Princes Street on Saturday morning, 31 August, to find out what she thought about it, why it had taken so long – and also to ask if any other options had been explored.

Council leader, Cllr Jane Meagher, stood opposite the site of where the fire took hold on 9 July and said that she was delighted to see the whole street open for business again. She said: “I cannot tell you how pleased and relieved I am. We are even a wee bit early. It is brilliant.” Cllr Meagher had announced the reopening of the street at the meeting of the full council on the previous Thursday – which appeared to be a surprise to some of the other political groups on the council, with one of them telling The Edinburgh Reporter they had not been forewarned.

The Council Leader admitted that many people have asked her why it was not possible to reopen the public transport corridor more quickly.

She said: “When I learned about the painstaking nature of the work necessary to get this building safe, safety was our main priority. Then I understood why it took so long because everything had to be done – operatives lowered from a crane into the building on cages – and doing everything by hand.”

The Scottish Government

The Scottish Government announced a fund of £5 million to assist in the aftermath of the fire. The detail of the government funding is that the council will be in control of dispersing the funds, which will include spending on “incentivising and assisting with travel around the city”, and also acknowledging the concerns of businesses facing reduced footfall after Princes Street was closed.

The council was asked to provide details of expenditure incurred since the beginning of August.

The Scottish Government was also asked for similar detail.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is making up to £5 million available to help support recovery from the fire on Edinburgh’s Princes Street.

“City of Edinburgh Council are responsible for the allocation of this funding.”

When making the announcement about the funding available to the council, Deputy First Minister, Jenny Gilruth, said: “This fire has caused widespread difficulties in Edinburgh, not just in the city centre but extending north into Leith and Newhaven, as business and commuters adjust to the disruption caused by the fire.

“The Scottish Government has been determined from the start to ensure that we are ready to support the council in assisting those affected and the funding being set out today will help to keep the city moving and to adapt, while also enabling long term recovery.

“The impact in the capital has been significant at a time when the August festivals are getting underway. The Scottish Government is committed to working urgently with partners to ensure there is the fullest possible recovery, including the reopening of Princes Street as soon as is safely possible.” 

How much has been spent so far?

When The Edinburgh Reporter asked how much of the £5 million has been drawn down to date it was not an exact figure. But the council has confirmed that of the funds used to date, around 30% has been for remedial works, 30% for business and festival support and the remainder “assigned to a range of support and recovery initiatives with some of that to be allocated in the future and on an ongoing basis”.

Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “The Scottish Government funding package has been, and will continue to be, used to support our ongoing recovery efforts following the devastating fire in July. This includes covering costs we have already incurred for the complicated works on site, our legal costs and support for our transport partners as they’ve worked tirelessly during this time to keep residents and visitors moving.

“For all it is fantastic that Princes Street has reopened to transport and pedestrians, by no means is work on the building over – our engineers remain on site as painstaking remedial work continues largely behind the scenes. 

“As we have already set out, our focus now is supporting businesses affected by transport disruption over the past two months to get back on their feet. Through our More by the Shorecampaign we are encouraging residents and visitors to visit, explore, and spend locally in the Leith and Newhaven areas. Thanks to the funding support, this campaign will run well into the Christmas period and beyond.  

“We remain in contact with Scottish Government colleagues as we allocate funding, coordinate ongoing work on site, and help businesses to recover.”

The council confirmed they will report to The Scottish Government in early 2027 with full details of all spending.

All options

Cllr Meagher also confirmed that all options had been looked at to keep the city moving – including the possible demolition of the unsafe structure, but she had been advised that it “would have taken just as long to demolish a building like this safely, if not longer than the process of making the remains of the building stable.”

The council is also examining the possibility of making a compulsory purchase order of the building, but the council leader stressed that the first priority was to make the building safe – and said the owners also have to make a decision on what to do with the building.

But the crucial advice which the council leader wanted to give to everyone in Edinburgh was that they should double check the timings of buses and trams and also keep an eye on the council’s website for any updates.

Comparison to Glasgow

Edinburgh Trams ran a partial service from Edinburgh Airport to the West End stop since the fire until last Saturday, effectively cutting off all businesses and people living in the north of Edinburgh from the convenience of the tram service.

In Glasgow the site of the Union Street fire reopened more quickly after the devastation earlier this year. The council moved in swiftly to issue a demolition order. Following the fire on the afternoon of 8 March, fire appliances and Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS) remained on site for several days.

By 12 March the council said they were “now in control of the Union Street site” and had decided that “demolition must happen in the interests of public safety”.

This is in stark contrast with the position in Edinburgh where it took almost two months for the council to allow public transport to run the full length of Princes Street – trams were prevented from servicing the whole route and buses were diverted away from Princes Street between Castle Street and Frederick Street.

Even though the street is now fully open, it remains the case that buses will omit three stops on the northern side of Princes Street from their services.

There was no possibility of putting on a replacement bus service according to Cllr Meagher as it would have simply added to the congestion.

She said: “The issue of extra buses going down Leith Walk was something that was considered very carefully. If anyone had been on the bus with me recently going towards Leith Walk, they would have seen the congestions caused by tail-to-tail buses, Yes, perhaps there could have been extra buses, there was a problem of course finding drivers, but equally we did not want the whole of Leith Walk to be congested.”

Knock on effect for businesses

We suggested to the council leader there was little comfort for businesses in Leith which have missed all the extra custom which they expect in August, and some of whom have been vocal about the lack of information from the council.

Cllr Meagher said: “We’re going to spend the £5 million in part on making sure that the businesses on Leith Walk, on the Shore, and down in Newhaven – that have suffered because of the partial closure of Princes Street – we’re putting money into incentives to get people back down into those areas and spending their money.

“It’s important to note that it won’t just be for the duration of the the summer or the festivals, but it’ll go right through to Christmas and into the New Year.”

Business reaction

The owner of Argonaut Books on Leith Walk accused the council of radio silence during the seven week period.

On social media the business owner, Adam Barclay, wrote: “Regardless of whether they actually meet this deadline, the residents and businesses of Leith have been dealing with 20 minute plus delays on buses massively reduced footfall and a council effectively asleep at the wheel.”

The business reported a fall in sales in what should be their busiest “non-December period”. While they factored out sold out Fringe events in their calculations, Mr Barclay said: “We have performed worse than an average month. Wages, stock costs and business rates are significantly higher than in previous years.”

He analysed their sales according to their customers and found that two out of three in the last month was a regular – and that the “lack of tram access has essentially prevented hundreds of potential new readers from reaching Leith.”

After the announcement of the re-opening of Princes Street Argonaut said: “In what is surely some sort of cosmic joke the trams will be up and running just in time for the fringe to be over!

“We wanted to add our voices to all of the businesses in Leith who have felt woefully under supported and under informed by the council throughout the whole thing.

“It has undoubtedly had a profound negative impact on our trading this summer and it will have knock-on effects far beyond this month.

“We really should be able to expect better from our elected representatives but we have been numbed by years of poorer and poorer service every year.”

On social media one commenter asked why they were complaining so much – the building was unsafe and the council had said it would take about a month to make it safe. 

This was questioned by Argonaut who said that while they recognised it was a delicate procedure and there is no question it should be done “with the utmost care”, but they claimed they had no firm timeline until just a few days before the likely reopening: “We’ve all been dealing with overcrowded and delayed buses, confused tourists at closed tram stops with no information and no obvious leadership in a moment when the city could have very much used it.”

Another comment said: “They couldn’t have picked a funnier date to reopen them if they tried!”

What now?

We continue to press the council to find out the detail of exactly how much of the £5 million government funding is being used on an ongoing basis – and what it has been spent on. And we will continue to ask if and when any new funding is required or asked for.