Terry? Terry who?

Above is our favourite Terry here in the republic and a song from him with a great video..
that could be played to accompany the other Terry`s departing speech today in Edinburgh where he seemingly was the citys design champion for the past 5 years?

What the other Terry said at the beginning of his post here in Edinburgh in 2004 in The Telegraph


"How can a city be densely built without repeating the mistakes of post-war planning? How can the city be made socially inclusive?
How can it be made friendly to both walkers and car-users?
And how can Edinburgh's new waterfront development be integrated with the city as a whole?"

Now heres what he`s saying 5 years later in The Times from yesterday

“a lack of vision is ruining the city” and that its £512 million tram project highlights the failures of its moribund planning system."

On the eve of a conference of politicians, architects and planning professionals, Sir Terry said that Edinburgh's wonderful legacy was being undermined by a dangerous complacency among civic leaders whose lack of “bigger thinking” is allowing even its most famous street, Princes Street, to sink into “a shambles”.

and today as he leaves the city The Scotsman

"While reluctant to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the £300 million Caltongate project, which intended building shops, offices and a hotel in the Canongate in the Royal Mile, Sir Terry has outlined his vision for many other parts of the city.

These include plans for redeveloping a stretch just less than seven miles long in the Leith docks and Newhaven area, which he dubs "Waterfront City" and which he says would be on a par with the creation of the New Town."

Quality of capital`s new buildings slammed

This article appeared in last Wednesday`s Scotsman 21st January page 16 by Brian Ferguson and has the title -

Quality of capital`s new buildings slammed and was a Scotsman Exclusive, it strangely has not appeared online, although this short version appeared in their sister paper The Evening News later that day.

"Scotland`s capital is being saddled with sub-standard develpments and poorly-designed new landmarks, a leading architectural body has claimed.

The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS)warned that inferior schemes were being appoved by Edinburgh council in the rush to secure economic investment.

The society said a vacuum in the planning system means no-one was able to exert influence to ensure high-quality designs.

The AHSS accused the city`s design leader Sir Terry Farrell of remaining "mute" while controversy has raged over major developments such as Haymarket and Caltongate, which triggered a Unesco investigation into the city`s world heritage status.

It also questioned the influence and role of Architecture Design Scotland(A&DS), the government-funded "national champion for good architecture, design and planning"

Concerns have been mounting among heritage groups in the capital over the quality of recent designs for major developments, including the scheme earmarked for the Cowgate fire site, a new hotel development on Princes Street, the 17-storey Haymarket complex and Caltongate, which will see more than 200 new homes, a five-star hotel, and conference centre built on The Royal Mile.

Euan Leitch, spokesman for the AHSS`s Forth and Borders cases panel said: "There is a perception in Edinburgh that the need for economic developent over-rides the desire for good design and that the planning department must accept proposals already agreed by the economic development team.

Better design need not have been more expensive. Too often we accept inferior architecture hidden behind a thin veneer of sandstone"

Jim Lowrie, convener of planning at the city council, acknowledged improvements were needed in the way major developments were handled , but insisted action was already taking place.

Sebastion Tombs, chief exectutive of A&DS, said "We get involved with major developments at an early stage, but we always agree that our comments during those discussions remain private. Having design competitions could improve things, but they would need developers to agree to co-operate

This is from Conservative Cllr Cameron Rose`sBlog who is on the Planning Committee

"The Cowgate site which was cleared after the much publicised fire five years ago has now received planning permission for a replacement development. The full planning committee supported the proposals earlier this week and this article gives more details including a brief quote from me. 'Angular and boxish. . . ' may not be a description which slips off the tongue - but it describes the outline of part of the proposal. I welcome many modern forms of architecture but what seems to be a growing tendency to celebrate square and rectangular shapes just does not look right - especially in an historic context. Some of the Waterfront buildings which have been built in recent years exibit a penchant for geometric designs which jar with the senses. In the case of the Cowgate, the proposals were passed as a whole but certain matters were reserved for further consideration..."


So all those boxy and angular historic buildings in the city by people like Adam etc... we just ignore? (Charlotte Square, anyone?) So does that mean we need wild organic shapes to fit into the historic context? Oh my god........This former policeman hasn't a clue!

Caltongate - Unesco`s Biggest Worry in UK

Remember this, Caltongate Developer Mountgrange`s Manish Chande wheeling his "Braveheart" cow , through Princes Street Gardens, in the early days of his bid to ruin Edinburgh, and can you believe he is on the board of English Heritage..oh, and he`s the head of Edinburgh`s Chamber of Commerce Property Group, friends with Malcolm Cooper of Historic Scotland and so on...see earlier posts

The cow sat opposite the Council`s City Chambers on The Royal Mile as part of the Cow Parade in 2006

This full page article

"UN threatens to act against Britain for failure to protect heritage sites"

by Severin Carrell appeared in the Guardian yesterday Monday September 08 2008 on p3 of the Top stories section.

Listen to short audio with Severin Carrell: 'UK is too keen on prestige development'
Below follows Edinburgh comments from the Full Article
The UN is threatening to put the Tower of London on its list of world heritage sites in danger after its experts accused the UK of damaging globally significant sites such as Stonehenge, the old town of Edinburgh and the Georgian centre of Bath, the Guardian has learned.

Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, has told ministers in London and Edinburgh that it wants urgent action to protect seven world heritage sites which it claims are in danger from building developments, and said in some cases the UK is ignoring its legal obligations to protect them.


Their complaints range from decisions to approve new tower blocks in central London, such as the 66-storey "shard of glass" at London Bridge, to the failure to relocate the A344 beside Stonehenge despite promising action for 22 years, to a proposed wind farm which threatens neolithic sites on Orkney.

"In its strongest criticism, Unesco's world heritage committee has said it "deeply regrets" the decision by Edinburgh city council to press ahead with a hotel, housing and offices development called Caltongate next to the Royal Mile, despite expert evidence it will ruin the medieval old town's unique form.

In the committee's final report after its annual meeting in July in Quebec, which has just been released, it also accuses the UK of breaching world heritage site guidelines by failing to warn it in advance about the Caltongate scheme. Last month, Koichiro Matsuura, Unesco's director general, told the Scotsman there was growing concern about Edinburgh. "It is crucial that its outstanding features are preserved and protected," he said.

Leading architects and conservationists, including Sir Terry Farrell and Marcus Binney, chairman of Save Britain's Heritage, have said they share Unesco's anxieties. Farrell, appointed Edinburgh's "design champion", told the Guardian the city urgently needed a proper urban design masterplan. "I'm very supportive of Unesco's position," he said.

Binney said: "Heritage has taken a back seat to Cool Britannia and encouraging everything modern, and we're now uncomfortably in the limelight for failing to have proper policies to protect our world heritage sites, and timely criticisms are now being made."

John Graham, chief executive of Historic Scotland, said he shared Unesco's anxieties about plans for high rises in Edinburgh's Leith docks and a tower to replace the St James' centre, a 70s concrete shopping centre in the New Town due for demolition.

But he had no fears about the Unesco inspectors' visit in November.
"The judgments we've reached are sound and defensible; that is the stance we will be taking when the mission arrives," he said.

Does Edinburgh Deserve Caltongate?

Edinburgh is Being Vandalised yesterdays posting found us this great image, source unknown....and got us here in the Republic thinking, is Caltongate merely a reflection of the self obsessed, greedy times we have been living in for the past decade or so? Maybe now that those times are coming to an end....so will the threat of Caltongate ...

This article Architect Hits Back in Edinburgh UNESCO Row in Building Design "The Architect`s Website" on the 29th Aug 08 the following comments on it are worth more of a look than the article ....

The Oracle Speaks

Architect Malcolm Fraser enjoying his Caltongate Masterpiece

Photo from SOOT Bloid see more at Cuboid.org

Nightmare on Jeffrey Street Pics

The following is from an article entitled Malcolm Fraser objects to Planners full piece here - ArchitectureScotland from 24 Jun 2008

The piece is very confusing, perhaps Malcolm is beginning to realise the errors of his ego but still cannot see he has been part of the problem, ach as Rabbie Burns would say "if only we could see ourselves as others see us"

He says -

"Usually traditional Planners get poor press; but my recent experience of them in Edinburgh, picking their way sure-footedly through the maelstrom of the "Caltongate" process, has left me with great respect for what they can achieve when they are properly-resourced and concentrate on their statutory role. However, where traditional amenity planning should lead, there is now a perception that it is only one of a four-headed monster, made up of often conflicting design leaders."

The only piece where he loves the city`s planners, perhaps because they love his Caltongate masterpiece???

"First, there is the Heritage Lobby: a diverse bunch, ranging from an increasingly-surefooted Historic Scotland through to the toxic wing, led by a desurgent Cockburn Association.

There are significant sections of the lobby that forget that it is architects and master-masons and not them that have led the conception and adornment of this breathtaking city, and believe that design leadership is now somehow theirs."

This is what Malcolm Fraser has said about Malcolm Cooper of Historic Scotland!

"Malcolm is great because he puts himself around, he comes and sees people and he is interested in listening as well as talking."Historic Scotland has changed. The understanding of the value of heritage is evolving, and I welcome their readiness to enjoy good modern work."

More here on Historic Scotland

And do remember -

Caltongate Developer Manish Chande is a Commissioner of English Heritage as well as being on their finance and business committees. Cooper moved from English Heritage in April 2005 to Historic Scotland. Mountgrange bought the New Street site "known as Caltongate" in late 2004

"New Urbanism is a very different disciple from traditional amenity planning. For all its faults the amenity agenda can be bent to support the things that I care about in building happy communities: sunshine, view, fresh air, gathering places etc." Have a look at your building above Malcolm!!

"The new Dundee waterfront is a New Urbanist "utopia", with its "joined-up" urbanist blocks a solid wall of mediocrity blocking most of the city from the sun glinting off the silty, silvery Tay." Again look at your own buildings!

Then its me, me, me -

"My practice has won the Edinburgh Architectural Association's "Building of the Year" five times in the last ten years and I lecture on the city, on behalf of the city, frequently. On what basis am I to understand that some architect who has - let's say Ð built a couple of hospitals abroad, taken a Planning course and been appointed as an Edinburgh Design Planner, should lord-it over me, secure in his superiority?"

"The last big issue is how the Council procures its own work. My practice regularly wins work from other authorities but has not, to date, been able to from our own city. Scotland's three Stirling finalists reside in Edinburgh, but we three have submitted maybe forty times for work and have never even been shortlisted. (On a project like the Grassmarket, which I was instrumental in initiating, and even raised finance for, the "reason" I was given for not making the OJEU second stage being the truly-numbing "...that we lacked experience in the historic built-environment of the Old Town".) "

Currently Allan "award winning architect" Murray gets all the jobs, why? see earlier postings on this wee man fae New Town Glenrothes.

"These are all reasons for Edinburgh to change its behaviour; but there are also reasons to believe that this might happen. What I would like to see (at both local and national level) is our Heads of Planning concentrating on doing their own job a bit better, and getting their tanks off our lawn."

Fighting talk Malcolm!

"We also need to rid ourselves of our planning obsession with what things look like, and care instead about how they work - concentrating on getting our infrastructure right before we start to think about how to form buildings and space to suit our aspirations, rather than making re-heated Victoriana our starting point." Well this says it all Malcolm!

And now he`s really getting cross -

"And somebody needs to audit the performance of Design Champions and identify the best model while, in Edinburgh, Farrell and Marini need to learn how to be useful. (I note that Council Leader, Jenny Dawe, has asked for better links to Planning in Farrell`s second term, but I believe that much more work is needed to cement that relationship)."

Now he gets excited...now Dave Anderson is a high flyer from the Oil Industry...just the man eh Malcolm!

The best news is that we have a new Director of City Development, Dave Anderson, and are soon to get a new Head of Planning, and we have to believe that they will bring a fresh perspective to bear: re-assert and resource traditional Planning, utilise our creative talent, bring the Design Champion into useful play, invest small sums wisely and create the framework necessary to reinvigorate our city.