Failing to learn the lessons of planning history

Top priority was to make sure any winning bid was adhered to and to this end all the reports necessary were done in advance so nobody could claim a discovery later to lower their winning bid. Another priority, given this was intended to be part of an arts quarter, was to have firm plans for an arts centre and “interesting retail” and hence the council asked me to liaise with developers and also introduce them to local businesses. In the end Peveril won the bidding process while ignoring the council’s brief. The “quick deal“ took years and the council has just revealed it received £9M and not the £17M widely believed at the time to be the winning bid something the council did not confirm or deny when asked. At the Tron Kirk Edinburgh World Heritage were given a couple of years to get lottery funding and the council would provide the building at a reduced rate but no funds. This timescale was then extended and finally in December the council quite understandably refused to guarantee a minimum funding of £560K. After all this time the building is still at risk. And so on Thursday the council will decide whether to give the hotel developers for the Old Royal High School enough time to make a new application. If anything the problem here appears to be that the developers took the council’s wishes of a 120 room hotel too seriously. The council preferred no building on the west side while not wanting any new building to tower over the school essentially meaning there had to be building on the west side! They also insisted there must be access for the public The only plus for the developers from the public Inquiry was that the Reporters made it clear what would be an acceptable footprint for the hotel which essentially means a 75 room hotel. Quite why it took the Scottish government two years to make a decision isn’t known but that delay denied the hotel developers the time to take on board the findings and fulfill their contract.Meanwhile the proposed music school waits in the wings with a plan the Reporters said was more damaging to the fabric of the building, clearly unable to offer public access and very much like EWH saying, at least for now, that they won’t need public money. Given the Reporters’ comments on the invasive nature of the music school proposal, often glossed over, only the hotel gives a safe option to restoring the Old Royal High School while not being a burden on the public purse.To repurpose another quote – To leave one building at risk may be regarded as misfortune; to leave two looks like carelessness.

Failing to learn the lessons of planning history - Kevin Buckle