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Picardy Place

OH JOY, IT'S A GYRATORY

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Proposals for a new gyratory on Picardy Place were approved at a meeting of the Transport & Environment Committee this morning. Councillors voted in favour by 9 votes to 2, with only the Scottish Greens against.

What follows is an impressionistic summary of the main points. For local-government enthusiasts whose Netflix subscriptions have run out, the whole meeting is available to enjoy here for free.

Deputations

FINAL PLANS FOR PICARDY PLACE?

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New Picardy Place proposals emerged today in a report going before the Transport & Environment Committee on 25 January.

They may be the last.

The changes partly fulfil what the public asked for in the extended consultation process before Christmas, which drew around 1,000 responses from Edinburgh stakeholders and residents. 

The 34-page report lists key features of the revision as:

THE LONG VIEW ON PICARDY PLACE

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Trevor Davies, formerly Edinburgh Council's Planning Convener  (2003–2007) and now  Honorary Professor of Urban Studies at Glasgow University, has been rather quiet of late about Picardy Place. Today, he breaks his silence. 

Let’s take a step back 

It is Edinburgh’s topography, its built heritage and its status as capital city that have attracted the skills and learning and investment which together make our city prosperous and of worldwide renown.

PICARDY PLACE COUNTER-PROPOSAL

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 DRAFT 2 – MORE DETAIL

Transport & Environment Committee Convenor Lesley Macinnes has announced that the Council will prolong consultation about redesigning Picardy Place until January 2018.

The extension from an already extended December deadline is to improve debate about how the area may be used and improved.

TIME FOR T ON PICARDY PLACE?

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To join the debate about Picardy Place, writes David Jamieson of ZONE Architects, we offer the attached solution.

It's a proposal which, unlike the Council’s traffic-centric plans, is based on enhancing the sense of place and adding to the cultural quarter generated by the Playhouse,  Omni Cinema and St Mary’s Cathedral. 

The space for a potential building, no longer marooned in the middle of a roundabout, could be a worthy site for a new 1000-seat concert hall, for example.

PICARDY PLACE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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 LAWRENCE MEETS LOCALS IN LIVELY DISCUSSION 

City of Edinburgh Council’s Executive Director of Place Paul Lawrence addressed the New Town & Broughton Community Council yesterday evening, and took questions from members of the public about the controversial Picardy Place proposal (PPP).

He initially covered much of the same ground covered during the Transport & Environment Committee on 5 October.

NO MAJOR RETHINK ON PICARDY PLACE

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 ONLY LIMITED ROOM FOR MANOEUVRE 

Fundamental redesign of the proposed Picardy Place gyratory is not possible if it entails spending more money or time on the project. 

So said Paul Lawrence, City of Edinburgh Council’s Executive Director of Place, in answering questions at today’s Transport & Environment Committee. 

PICARDY PLACE REACTIONS

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 COUNCIL U-TURNS ON BAD PLANS AND FLAWED PROCESS  

With a surprising turn of pace, the Transport & Environment Committee convener Lesley MacInnes has responded to an avalanche of protest at poorly designed and inadequately consulted plans for Picardy Place.

Individuals, lobbyists, ‘stakeholders’, councillors and community councils railed against the proposals and the method of their delivery.

PICARDY PLACE IS CHANGING

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 WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT 

Together for Edinburgh is the team behind the ‘regeneration’ of Edinburgh’s East End.* 

In a recent circular to Broughton addresses, they describe themselves as ‘looking at making improvements to Picardy Place and enhancing the eastern gateway to the city’.