The story behind Edinburgh’s most controversial sign: ‘smug middle-class World Heritage NIMBYs’ vs ‘fake smiles and nipple-tassels’

Founders of the new Edinburgh Street Food market have told The Edinburgh Guardian they will appeal after the council rejected planning permission for their controversial neon pink sign. 

The sign sparked a fierce row that has split local opinion and spiralled into name-calling, including: “bonkers NIMBYs” and: “all fake smiles and nipple-tassels”. 

The council’s decision almost went under the radar until local newspaper The Spurtle published this Tweet: 

The subsequent debate across various Twitter threads, forums and newspaper columns has been described as ‘peak Edinburgh.’
⮑ Highlights from the backlash (and the backlash to the backlash) are further down the page. Quotes include: “Wind yer neck in Torquil” and “Free the Pink Neon 3, lol.”
⮑ You can also vote in a poll later in this article.

Meantime, I spoke to some of the people involved to get their side of things: 

🛠  The sign was made by local signmaker Emery Boardman at his Solas Neon Sign workshop in Slateford. He is no stranger to controversy, having built an even bigger sign for COP26 in Glasgow. Boardman told The Edinburgh Guardian he was ‘puzzled’ by Edinburgh council’s decision:

“The space beside the Omni has been rejuvenated thanks to the ESF market. It’s been empty for years. Now it’s a vibrant place supporting independent food traders. When the New Town was built, it was an innovative design. To then critique and judge something new that is also innovative I find hypocritical just because it’s not Georgian architecture.”

🏗 The 1.5m x 2.7m sign was installed on the Greenside Place / Leith Street site last month, before a planning decision had been made. It cost ESF ‘around £20,000’ but now faces the axe after council planners cited safety fears, calling it an “unacceptable intrusion into the streetscape, which would result in the advertisement creating visual clutter, to the detriment of amenity in the New Town World Heritage site.” 

Ben MacMillan, co-founder of ESF, spoke to The Edinburgh Minute over the phone while stood next to his ‘beloved’ sign. He said: