Princes Street update: Every 'slight gust' of wind is delaying everything
Who will pay? The council says it will try to bill the former Debenhams building owners. But transport leader wishes they could: 'Just knock the building down'.
🌤️ Good morning Edinburgh. It's a bit windy out there. And still eerily quiet on Princes Street. These two things are linked... Here's a quick update on Princes Street.
It's now more than a fortnight since the overnight fire at a row of empty shops at 109-112 Princes Street, formerly Debenhams. The site is owned by Criterion Capital, which has planning permission to build a Zedwell hotel there.
The council says ‘slight gusts’ of wind are delaying work on site (affecting the reinstatement of trams to Leith) because repairs are being carried out by engineers in a basket hanging from a crane. They’re removing stonework piece by piece. But their work gets stopped any time the wind picks up.
Unless things change, more delays are forecast. Gusts will peak between 21mph and 36mph all next week, according to the Met Office.
Images courtesy of Rachel Cohen, @travelswithmyphone + City of Edinburgh Council.
🏗️ Why is it taking so long?
“Due to the unstable nature of the building much of the initial work is being done by hand from above, using a crane with operatives in a basket. This work also requires pieces of stonework to be removed individually which adds to the timescale. Unfortunately, the wind will restrict when this can be done safely with even slight gusts causing work to be paused.”
💰 Who will pay for this work?
The council says it will try to get the owners to pay:
“Under the Building (Scotland) Act, we’ll seek to recover costs incurred by the Council in carrying out these urgent works from the building owners in due course.”
Council Leader Jane Meagher added: "Our focus remains on making sure that the public is safe, continuing our work on the site, and keeping the city moving. These latest details demonstrate the complex and painstaking nature of the task at hand, and why making the building safe and restoring this key piece of Edinburgh’s heritage will take time.
"I’m acutely aware of the impact that the closure of Princes Street is having across the city each and every day, and I want to reassure everyone that we’re doing everything we can to ensure it reopens as soon as it’s safe to do so. In the meantime, we’ll continue to work closely alongside Edinburgh Trams and Lothian Buses to minimise disruption as much as we can across the network, particularly with the August festival season just around the corner. I want to repeat my thanks to everyone for their patience and understanding at this challenging time, but I’m confident we can still enjoy a fantastic summer here in the world’s cultural capital."
🏗️ But council Transport leader Stephen Jenkinson admits he'd prefer a quicker solution:
"Look, if it was down to me I’ll just knock the building down and get the road reopened asap however like most things it isn’t quite as simple as that."
🚉 On the fact Leith has been left with no trams, Jenkinson added: "I do think that Edinburgh Trams need to rethink their one depot strategy though. Hopefully that is a single point of failure that can be addressed as we expand the network in the future."
- The council published a full update here.
- Local historian Andy Arthur has compiled a fascinating history of the building and the site on the Threadinburgh website.
- And last year's Minute & London Centric investigation into those shops is here:
Jim Waterson
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