Hopes and concerns were expressed at last night’s New Town & Broughton Community Council about draft proposals for improving George Street and the First New Town (Issue 280).
Guest speaker Terry Levinthal, Director of the Cockburn Association, began discussion by stressing that any design must take a holistic approach to central Edinburgh’s overall context.
It should include consideration of: traffic management (City Centre Transformation); tourism; short-term lets; a changing economic environment on the high street; attracting inward investment for non-ground-floor premises currently left vacant; the effects of 10 years’ budget cuts on Council management and maintenance capacities; and development of adjacent sites such as Edinburgh St James and the Registers.
Levinthal criticises the draft design concept’s apparent lack of a heritage statement encapsulating the area’s key qualities. The First New Town (including George Street) must be regarded as ‘a single totality, not a collection of streets’, he said. It was designed as, and should remain, a ‘hard landscape’ expressing neo-classical formality, Rationality over Nature.
Improvements here should retain or restore an austere simplicity and a limited palate of traditional materials. This is no place for cluttering pop-up parklets (which would soon deteriorate without attention) and small trees. Underground services mean large Ramblas-style trees are a non-starter. Alternatives should be found to raised ‘performance plazas’.
In the discussion which followed, NTBCC members echoed Levinthal’s calls for strategic vision and a clear sense of purpose for the First New Town. Some voiced a perception that certain design principles were firmly in place before consultation even began, others criticised the online questionnaires as simplistic. How much would it all cost and how could Edinburgh afford it?
There were differences of opinion over what kind of traffic should be allowed on George Street. Some favoured as little motorised traffic as possible (with the exception of disabled access), and reorganisation of junctions which are currently designed around the turning circles of articulated lorries. Others argued George Street’s prime purpose as a thoroughfare is vital to its commercial health and an uncongested city centre.
Perhaps most passion surrounded Edinburgh Council’s contradictory ambitions to improve the First New Town whilst treating parts of it as events spaces. More beautiful, useable, and accessible streets are not compatible with ugly, temporary structures which exclude non-customers. Councillors must decide whether Edinburgh is for tourists or residents.
What kind of civility do we want? Some of these questions may also be addressed by contributing to the next Local Development Plan.
The NTBCC discussion came in advance of another chance to view the draft concept design in a public exhibition. It will be held in St George’s and St Andrew’s Church (13–17 George Street) on Thursday 17 January, 10am–7.00pm.
Whatever your views about the proposals, organisers want to hear from you. The online survey is available until 25 January 2019. Further information about the project can be found on the project website.
Got a view? Tell us at spurtle@hotmail.co.uk and @theSpurtle
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