A leading heritage boss has blasted temporary developments in Edinburgh’s city centre for rendering the Capital’s UNESCO-listed site as a “visual mess”.
Cockburn Association chairman, Professor Cliff Hague, branded the city as an eyesore due to the erection of temporary wooden platforms outside bars on Cockburn Street.
A number of raised drinking pods have been placed along the striking curved thoroughfare during the easing of coronavirus restrictions, allowing pubs including the Scotsman Lounge to continue serving customers outdoors.
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The organisation previously warned the stripping of Liverpool’s UNESCO world heritage status should serve as a “cautionary tale” for City of Edinburgh Council as a result of ‘unregulated’ development.
The heritage group previously took aim at the controversial W Hotel building in the new St James Quarter development, noting “formal concerns” had previously been lodged with the global architectural preservation society.
However, Prof Hague warned the Capital was in a “race to the bottom” following recent planning decisions.
He told Edinburgh Live: “If I had come to Edinburgh as a visitor, drawn by its reputation and the World Heritage status of its city centre, I would have been underwhelmed by walking through the Old Town.
“The city seems to be in a race to the bottom. It's not just a visual mess, Cockburn Street this morning, which should be a joy, was a very unfriendly street to walk through, especially for anyone with a disability or a buggy.”
He added: “It does not have to be like this; we have a planning system to ensure that development serves the long term public interest.
“Effectively the Scottish Government and the City Council have suspended the operation of planning controls over 'temporary' developments: the fear is that 'temporary' will be allowed to slide into normality and permanence, eroding the quality of the city's unique environment.”
Bosses at The Scotsman Lounge were ordered to remove their decking by the end of September despite the area being designed to encourage drinkers to socialise outdoors.
Owner Daniel McNally said social distancing requirements meant it would be “difficult” for the pub to continue operating when the platforms were introduced with Scotland still in level two of the governments coronavirus roadmap.
Council planning convener, cllr Neil Gardiner, said: “We carefully manage all new and existing developments in our World Heritage Site with our partners Edinburgh World Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland. During the pandemic our focus has quite rightly been on supporting businesses in the city to thrive where they can.
“This has involved allowing the hospitality sector to provide additional outdoor structures for their customers to allow them to remain open while following public health guidance.
"This is a temporary measure and is being balanced with wider community needs.”
