The Royal Scots Club at 30 Abercromby Place has been granted permission – finally – to install 6 Vodafone/02 antennae within 4 replacement GRP pretend chimney pots, with all associated equipment contained inside an internal cupboard and ancillary development (Ref. 12/01410/FUL).
A Council report noted that: 'In terms of the impact on the visual quality of the conservation area and the building, it is proposed, as revised, to site three antennae within GRP replica pots in tandem on the front right hand chimneybreast, and one each on the left hand front chimneybreast and one on the rear end of the rear chimneybreasts. The pots will be 0.74m high and 350mm diameter. These will be taller than those existing, but there is an eclectic mix of pots on this terrace as a whole.'
Historic Scotland criticised the standard of the developer's drawings, but had no other serious objection. Neither they nor anybody else shared Spurtle's esoteric concern about ersatz additions and the ship of Theseus (Breaking news, 30.4.12).
In the end, officials determined that the proposals complied with the city's development plan and non-statutory guidelines, and would not adversely impact upon the building, its setting, the character and appearance of the conservation area and the Edinburgh World Heritage Site. However, the developer now awaits a further Council decision on whether to grant listed building consent.
This was the third such application for this site in recent years (Refs 10/02371/FUL; 11/02122/FUL).
Whilst welcoming the Council's refusal to compromise on earlier inferior schemes, some Spurtle staff were growing concerned that, if consent were withheld again, older members of the Royal Scots Club might revert to type and start firing field telephones across Broughton from the barrel of a gun.