Agents representing Mr A. Belsham of Uxbridge have applied for listed building consent to create at 10 Picardy Place: '1. New front of building company fascia sign finished in powdercoated metal panel with black built up letters with halo illumination. 2. Roller shutter under bulkhead powdercoated in Hertz yellow RAL 1023. 3. Free standing sign post internally illuminated' (Ref. 11/00632/LBC).
Spurtle wholeheartededly commends the proposal on the grounds that there exists already nearby a gross overprovision of traditional sandstone-coloured Grade A-listed architecture which stifles innovation at this gateway to a modern city.
A more up-to-date shopfront – particularly one for an automobile rental company – would surely attract increased tourist numbers, whilst the introduction of a roller shutter under bulkhead powdercoated in conspicuous Noddy-car yellow would constitute a welcome splash of excitement in an otherwise ho-hum heritage streetscape. (See artist's impression, above right, for how invigorating it might feel to stand close to it.)
Given the proximity of Greenside public houses and an adjacent Tesco Express, the same colour-scheme would also benefit the locality by minimising the visual impact of projectile-vomit stains and unwanted 'Meal-Deals'.
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Listed building consent (not planning permission) has been granted for two new two-and-a-half storey dwelling mews with integral garaging on land 23 metres east of 12 Cumberland Street West Lane: possibly the least simple directions to anywhere in Edinburgh to give to a taxi driver late at night when three sheets to the wind (Ref. 10/01594/LBC).
The proposed structures would be in the gardens of Grade-A-listed Nos 68 and 70 Great King Street (designed by Reid and Sibbald, 1814–23) .
Following a site visit in June 2010, Planning officials reasoned that the loss of relatively short lengths of lane wall would be insignificant given the high quality of their replacements. The proposals – design and materials – are, they said, appropriate, a justifiable exception to the mews guidelines, and would not spoil the character of the listed building(s).
No representations of objection were received: a rare case of New Town harmony.
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After as many tentative approaches and sudden retreats as those of an amorous yet prudent gardener seeking intimate relations with a haughty noblewoman who is armed with a horsewhip, the Cameron Guesthouse Group (CGG) has at last remained long enough in the Planning process to win consent for its application concerning 38 York Place (Ref. 10/02678/FUL).
Patient readers will recall numerous will-they-won't-they moments over recent months (see Breaking news 4.10.10). Now, they have.
The result will most probably be the formation of a hotel with licensed bar for guest and public use, roof alterations to the rear, and facade alterations to Dublin Street Lane.
City of Edinburgh Council (Lady Edina) relented so long as certain very strict conditions regarding smell and noise were met, and provided also that cooking facilities should not exceed a single microwave and one toaster.
Who says romance is dead? Who says Scotland can't do hospitality?
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In the same way that we remain perplexed by Henderson Global Investors stooping to champion a humble posh-ish pancake stall outside the St James Centre (Breaking news 7.2.11), so we were curious about the Dunedin Partnership's (DP's) application to vend 'hot gourmet meat products' in roughly the same spot (Ref. 11/00143/FUL).
City Planners have now given DP the thumbs-down, although reasons remain unclear thanks to their glitchy website.
Whilst Spurtle may not fully understand this refusal, we did enjoy the superb, nostril-flaring sniffiness with which the Cockburn Association argued against the plan. The italics below are ours.
'The position of the proposed food kiosk will clutter the main pedestrian approach to the St. James Centre, decrease pedestrian circulation space in an already crowded location and be detrimental to the setting and appearance of Robert Adam's Grade A listed General Register House, one of the most important buildings in the city.
'Furthermore, we do not see the need for such a facility on the forecourt and believe it could be created more successfully within the shopping centre, a building perfectly suited for the purpose, where there are vacant small commercial units.'