An item of "Breaking News". Will appear on the Breaking News page and the front page.
At today’s meeting of the Policy and Sustainability (P&S) Committee, members discussed a Report written by the Chief Executive Andrew Kerr and recently summarised by the Spurtle here.
The Report examines decision making around the controversial Christmas Market in East Princes Street Gardens, which has been erected and is now operating without planning permission.
Following an emergency motion by Cllr Joanna Mowat, a report (pp. 282–288) has been published for consideration by the City of Edinburgh Council’s Policy & Sustainability Committee on 26 November.
Prepared by CEC’s Chief Executive Andrew Kerr, it examines decision making around the East Princes Street Gardens Christmas Market.
COUNCIL LEADER DEMANDS ANSWERS AS A MATTER OF URGENCY
Readers are doubtless aware of the furore over Underbelly’s lack of planning permission for this year’s Christmas Market.
Spurtle has now discovered that Underbelly also lacked planning permission for its previous Christmas Market in 2018–2019.
Underbelly’s Ed Bartlam (EB) and Charlie Wood (CW) this morning made a presentation on Edinburgh’s Winter Festivals (Edinburgh’s Christmas and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay) 2018–19 to the Culture & Communities Committee.
Below we summarise their points, and the question-and-answer session which followed. Then we move on to a motion by Councillor Staniforth and the Scottish Greens.
Presentation
Today we present the second in our series of recipes first published in the pages of Mrs Williamson’s 1854 book The Practice of Cookery and Pastry, Adapted to the Business of Every Day Life.
For more on this remarkable local figure, see Barclay Price’s article in Issue 289.
A short and moving service of remembrance was held early this morning in Warriston Cemetery.
Led by the Rev. Joanne Foster of Inverleith St Serf’s Church, it recalled those lost or injured in the service of their country, as well as those civilians who suffered as a result of conflict on and off the battlefield.
Warriston contains 72 First World War burials, 27 from the Second World War, and one Belgian war grave.
The service was attended by around 20 people: cemetery volunteers, local residents, and Councillor Hal Osler (Ward 5).
The Ross Development Trust and City of Edinburgh Council are consulting the public about proposals for West Princes Street Gardens (WPSG) as part of their Proposal of Application Notice (Ref. 19/05115/PAN).
Underbelly has now submitted its Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) for East Princes Street Gardens.
The major development comprises market stalls, fairground rides, a maze, bars, box offices, associated site offices, and ancillary facilities.
Following approval of the PAN, the applicant can next submit a full planning application after 12 weeks, which – according to some local observers – the Development Management Sub-committee is unlikely to determine until April 2020 … long after the Christmas Market has packed up and gone.
As you read this, early copies of the November Spurtle are already flittering across the halloween Barony like vampire bats out of a witch’s haunted coffin carried by zombies covered in spiders. Or something.
Page 1 rattles its chains with news of disquiet, an abandoned station, the borderland between one world and the next, and things that cling in the night.
On Page 2 we look at the quick and the not-so-quick, odd noises from liminal spaces, mysterious diggers, and the folk who failed to materialise.
Last night, the Council issued a briefing note to councillors about the situation in East Princes Street Gardens.
You can read it on Cllr Scott Arthur’s blog HERE, or in the pdf at the foot of this page.
Spurtle thinks the briefing raises as many questions as it answers. We summarise some key statements from it, and give our responses below.