Scottish Government reporters have today granted a sist (a legal delay) to the appeals by Duddingston House Properties (DHP) and the Urbanist Group against refusal of planning permission/listed building consent for their hotel scheme at the old Royal High School.
As first reported here on 31 August, the developers wanted to suspend their appeals until they could bring forward a different planning application which, they say, addresses the reasons why their earlier applications were refused.
In an email to interested parties (see foot of page), an official of the Scottish Government's Planning and Environment Appeals Division (DPEA) explains that neither the Council nor Historic Environment Scotland had objected to the sist, but unnamed others did on the grounds that: (1) the circumstances surrounding it did not match guidelines; (2) granting a sist would prolong uncertainty and they would suffer prejudice as a result.
The reporters agreed with Point 1 to some extent, but felt that other considerations outweighed objections. In particular, they feared that the appeal scheduled for late November and into December might be overtaken by events surrounding the new application.
Therefore, agreeing the sist and then considering both sets of proposals together ‘in the round’ would be ‘a more efficient deployment of resources for all participants in the inquiry process’.
This is not an open-ended delay. If the reporters feel that the developers are not making prompt enough progress on their new application, they will close the sist and set a new date for the inquiry into the current appeals.
Meanwhile, a great deal of speculation surrounds the timing of the developers’ new proposal. Enquiries into this continue.
Update, 5.25pm: From comments on their Facebook page this evening, it becomes apparent that the Cockburn Association were opposed to the sist being granted.
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If developers are working on a new proposal then they should wthdraw the existing one rather than stall the appeal.