and now for some good news...

The Light, previously derelict, but now repaired and converted to commercial uses. A landmark building on the border between Shoreditch and The City

In London local campaigners formed OPEN Shoreditch in January 2008 to resist inappropriate development in the area which offered insufficient community benefits and which threatened some of its unique buildings, the settings of its conservation areas and aspects of its local economy. You can read further details of the campaign here and here.
Save Shoreditch website

Sounds familiar doesn't it? But sometimes we have to remind ourselves that good things do happen..even though its not over

watch this space...........

watch this, it is sickening to watch, especially when you hear them talk about how to get rid of people who won't sell to Trump, falling into peat bogs??

Spies, Statues and CPOs

A statue of Trump in Edinburgh?

Sign petiton to stop him clearing people from their homes

Anti Trump Protests held across Scotland see STV piece here


Remember CPOs would have to be enforced to enable Caltongate to happen.
see item 4.1 in this document by council
see more news at tripping up trump on spying story...

Malcolm "award winning hypocrite" Fraser

You can imagine our surprise when we read that one of Caltongate's architects, Malcolm Fraser is hitting out at his own inconstistency in approaching green building.....

Read article here -

headline -

Malcolm Fraser hits out at his inconsistent approach to "green building"

Then we read again and he was hitting out generally at green building approaches, which he must feel has nothing to do with him.

"Particular scorn was reserved for the practice of demolishing existing buildings, often justified by touting the sustainable credentials in their replacements, but this was rubbished by Fraser who said: “the idea that you take a 100 year old building, cowp it in a landfill site replace it with cardboard and that will save the planet is extraordinary”.
Oh, the cheek of the man....does he think people have short memories...

you were all for knocking down this 100 year old building and putting it in a cowp!

Canongate Venture to be demolished for conference centre

remember this green building he was going to dump on the the world ?

Remember the buildings he was supporting the demolition of and the views he wanted to ruin? see here

Perhaps if Mr Fraser admitted his past intentions and ate a piece of humble pie, perhaps people would believe his words he so freely spouts nowadays, now that the hey day of anything can be demolished in the name of economic benefit is over and attending developer's champagne receptions..

Glasgow Council Plans to Bulldoze Meadow

What is happening?....homes and places that people value are just dispensable to the likes of Trump and all too powerful councils...

North Kelvin Meadows Campaign

The North Kelvin Meadow Campaign has learnt that Glasgow City Council
has made plans to destroy the Meadow.

Remember this is the council that took two of the locals to court to evict them for looking after the space neglected by the council.
see here

sign their petition here

Kids in the meadow below

Stop The Trump Clearances

This is the Newsletter from the Tripping Up Trump campaign -

There is only 10 days left until the 1^st of October which is an extremely important day because it is the day the council will decide on how they are going to deal with the issue of compulsory purchase orders (CPO). Tripping Up Trump has grown rapidly this week , more and more people are becoming unsettled about Trump’s aggressive tactics. If Trump’s request to use CPO’s is granted it will set a dangerous precedent, this is not for a hospital or a school but for the private interest of an exclusive golf course and housing development. We all need to try our very best to be in there on the Big Day and stand up for the families affected. Please mark the date in your diary and please make a special effort to be there on the 1^st of October, because if this power is granted then no-one's home is safe.

Weekly News

This week Trump publicly displayed the plans for his development but still failed to adequately address the issue of the unjust Compulsory Purchase Orders. Residents are getting more and more concerned about the issue and have called for clear dialogue on the matter. Click link above for latest news.

How you can help

October the 1^st

We are calling for your support and would ask if you could come and join us on the 1^st of October. It is vital that there is a strong support for the councillors that are brave enough to stand up to Trump. This will be a pivotal point in this campaign and if we all gather together for this one occasion then we have the chance of helping to deliver justice to the families and residents threatened.

Wherever you are please come and join us on this eventful day. Organise others to come and inform as many people as possible about the occasion. We need the thousands of Tripping Up Trump members to rally together on this one. Thank you.

We have accommodation available the night before if anyone would like it.

Contact – trippinguptrumpATgooglemail.com

“We would be extremely grateful if you could come and support us on this very important day." David Milne (Local Resident)

Petition

Please sign our petition to stop the council using Compulsory Purchase. We are approaching 6,000 signatures so thank you all for your help. We will deliver it to the council on the 1^st.

Write to the councillors

Please show your concern and support to the residents by emailing the councillors that will have to vote on the 1^st.

Spread the word

Thousands of people have joined the campaign but please keep spreading the word. The website is constantly being updated so it is always good to point people in that direction.

Upcoming Events

Tripping Up Trump Gig (Sept 25^th)

Local musicians and poets will perform their work at the Blue lamp Pub in Aberdeen on the 25th. All the work has been inspired by the controversial development. Should be a fantastic night and starts at 7.00pm.

Menie Tour (Sept 27^th)

Local residents will be giving a tour of the dunes and the properties that are under threat. It will be a unique opportunity to hear the story of the families affected and get some real insight into how Donald Trump is using aggressive tactics to try and get this way.

Please email trippinguptrumpAgooglemail.com for more info.

Thank you all again for your support and keep spreading the word because this is a pivotal campaign for human and environmental rights.

Let’s make it happen on October the 1^st!

TUT Team

www.trippinguptrump.com

"Murrayburgh" on TV last night

What a shock to the people of the republic last night when Allan Murray appeared on our screens in yet another Coast spin off type programme,"Scotland Revealed".



The first part of the programme concentrates on Edinburgh, pretty basic stuff and it's 11 or so minutes in, that the architect of Murrayburgh appears to wake you up out of your primary school mindset with teacher Charles Mckean of Edinburgh World Heritage Trust watch here


Another programme we caught this week was Jonathan Meades "Off Kilter" where he visits Aberdeen.

50 mins in he ends the programme with an entertaining and to the point piece on "Trumpton" Remember you can sign the Tripping Up Trump petition

Say NO to compulsory purchase and sign their petition!

Answers from Council on Calton Hill

If you want information from the City of Edinburgh Council don't bother with an FOI, just get Brian Ferguson of the Scotsman to write a misleading article, see yesterday's post.

Remember it takes around 3 months with an FOI, remember when they were asked about the council homes they cleared on Caltongate developer Manish Chande's behalf...which they never got the rent for, now thats a scandal

FOI on Tenements at what do they know

Hill to stay open - letter in today's Scotsman

The claim of your report "Public faces Calton Hill ban at night in bid to cut crime" (15 September) is misleading. While Edinburgh council is drawing up plans for Calton Hill to preserve and protect the area for the enjoyment of residents and visitors, these do not include any proposal that it should be shut at night.

We are looking at ways to deal with antisocial behaviour and vandalism, and the closure of Carriage Drive to all vehicles earlier this summer has already contributed to a significant reduction in these problems, as well as ensuring pedestrian safety.
We want to promote the hill as a safe and well-maintained public space, making it cleaner, safer and more attractive, and it is simply not true that the council intends to restrict night-time access . CLLR ROBERT ALDRIDGE Environment leader City of Edinburgh Council

Scooby Doo, Edinburgh needs you!

Our Common Good of Edinburgh includes Calton Hill, and today we hear that the council are intent on closing it to the people who own it at night, due to crime.

Now will they apply this argument to all crime spots and will they impose a curfew on the entire city streets at say 10pm?

It is known across the city that the Omni centre provides more crime for the police to deal, now will they close that at 10pm?

There is an underlying reason for this story in today's Scotsman, they are up to something...Scooby Doo where are you? We've got some work for you now.

Today the republic was sent this video link....Youtube video Edinburgh Trams Fiasco

Image from Leith Links Site

Mountgrange Greed knows no bounds

Full Article here in Reuters

from article -

'LONDON (Reuters) - Fund manager Mountgrange spies more money-spinning opportunities in the housing market than in commercial property, where prices are rallying fast under the glare of the world's wealthiest bargain hunters.

Nick Berry, a partner at the privately owned fund manager, said sheer weight of money chasing discounted UK offices and shops was inflating values quicker than the fundamentals alone would support, pushing the firm to consider alternatives.

"There's a stronger case for optimism in the residential sector at the moment. There is an overwhelming shortage of housing, in particular affordable housing so demand is easily identified," Berry told Reuters.

"Available commercial property stock is much less abundant and when you're thinking about where demand is coming from in that sector, it's not so obvious. Unemployment is rising and that is pushing up vacancy rates too," he said.

Berry said the appeal of the residential sector was underpinned by lower construction costs and cheaper land prices, as well as a willingness on the part of some UK banks to take action on their problematic residential assets.'

Mountgrange, which was set up by veteran property entrepreneurs Martin Myers and Manish Chande, made its last acquisition in August 2008 when it bought a portfolio of retail and office properties from PRUPIM for 140 million pounds.

Berry said Mountgrange's investors -- a mix of sovereign wealth funds, European and North American fund of funds and state pension investors -- have been supportive of a decision to remain on the sidelines and placed no pressure on them to rush back into the UK property market.

"I'd say that whilst rents continue to fall and it is unclear where new occupier demand is coming from, it is difficult to argue that funds who have adopted this approach are in danger of missing out," he said.

This is the same Mountgrange (another one of the companies now in administration) that owes £18,000 n rent to the City of Edinburgh Council for the rent on the council tenancies they had cleared to make way for a 5 star hotel and luxury housing.....and owes HBOS £70million smackeroonies see BBC piece here

You couldn't make it up. Have these people no shame?

Tripping up Trump

Tripping Up Trump is a fresh energised movement standing up for the local people and environment threatened by Donald Trump’s development in Aberdeenshire.

This real life story is no longer just about whether you agree or not with the controversial golf and housing complex. This is now about the human rights of the local people threatened by Donald Trump’s aggressive use of power. Trump is pushing to use compulsory purchase to clear local people from their land, not for a school, or a hospital, but for his profit.

Worse still, Trump received outlined planning permission on the grounds that he had all the land he needed. This is why Tripping Up Trump stands strong, demanding that Donald Trump doesn’t abuse the law and locals affected by his controversial golf course.

Say NO to compulsory purchase and sign their petition!

Like the Caltongate Clearances its a case of homes not hotels, our homes are not on a monopoly board for the rich and greedy.

Photo below shows SOOT campaigners setting up their demonstration outside City of Edinburgh Council City Chambers on the Royal Mile on the morning of the 15th June 2006 before the planning committee met for the third time to consider the revised Masterplan The Forum attended and gave a deputation calling for a council and community led plan.

RMJM's Gazprom Tower in St Petersburg

RMJM's Gazprom Tower in St Petersburg

Sad news from St Petersburg, read the full story here on what is a great blog for keeping up to date with people and buildings under threat from the monster they call progress.

Below you can read this skewed justification by Tony Kettle of RMJM the article appears here in Architects Journal

UNESCO should realise that special sites require a special architectural response, says Kettle

I have been pretty clear in the past about my views on UNESCO’s intervention in RMJM’s Okhta Centre project for Gazprom in St Petersburg, Russia. The plans we have drawn up are for one of the world’s tallest buildings in one of the world’s most horizontal cities, where only special buildings are allowed to break the grain.

These special buildings include 30 churches, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Admiralty and the TV tower (which is the height of the Eiffel Tower). Each is special in its own right. A city needs a hierarchy of buildings so that the ordinary and the special work with each other. If every building attempts to be special, then they will all become ordinary; so there needs to be a good reason for a building to be out of the ordinary.

The issue of energy is the central concern of our time and Gazprom, as the largest supplier of energy in eastern Europe, is one of the reasons for Russia’s wealth and rebirth, putting it into the ‘special’ category.

The Okhta Tower must symbolise rebirth for Russia and the city of St Petersburg, while demonstrating that an innovative, low-energy building is possible in the extremes of the Russian climate. UNESCO has never disputed the quality of the design, nor the fact that the tower sits some 6km from the historical centre. But it feels it cannot allow one project to break the city’s height limits, potentially opening the gates to a ‘free-for-all’ of new development in the city. In this case, there is no latitude in its thinking, no allowance made for creation of the ‘special’.

Back in my home town of Edinburgh, UNESCO has reviewed proposals that have already been approved and has expressed concern over two in particular, which have the potential to change the city. The sites fall into two categories, the ‘ordinary’ and the ‘special’.

The ‘ordinary’ is Caltongate, a scheme which builds on the urban grain of the past. It does what any good urban design should: it repairs, it removes the bad,

Macrae tenements on the Canongate that are to be demolished

replaces with the good

Malcolm Fraser's brave new world for Jeffrey St

and creates new spaces that will benefit the city.

Caltongate's mostly in shadow for the day wind tunnel

There is not much to argue about as it is an obvious solution, which will improve a sadly neglected part of the city.

Richard Murphy's Haymarket Tower

The ‘special’ is the Haymarket site, a location which marks the entrance to the historical city centre. This is indeed a site for a gateway building, one which will give a sense of arrival. The proposal is for a 17-storey slab block containing a hotel in a form which tries to be special.

But its use, size and commercial drivers do not allow the building to be other than ordinary. UNESCO has criticised its height and suggested a buffer zone be created to stop new development close to the city centre. Surely it should have been recognised that a special site requires a special response?

The fundamental issue is not about banning all development because it is new, but instead asking whether developments really celebrate place and realise the full potential of each individual site.

Tony Kettle is group design director of RMJM
comment@architectsjournal.co.uk