Residents produce images to show impact of 10-storey hotel on Leith waterfront
Objectors step up their protest as Inquirer reveals Dominic Cummings-linked pro-growth group is campaigning for the development
They say every picture tells a story… and the residents of Rennie’s Isle are hoping images they’ve had created to illustrate the potential impact a new hotel would have on their waterfront neighbourhood tell a powerful tale.
The residents - who have shared the images exclusively with The Inquirer - have created a campaign opposing plans for a 10-storey, 121-bedroom hotel near the conservation area by The Shore in Leith. Once complete, the hotel will be operated by Travelodge.
The developers describe the building, which would replace a much smaller office building, as a “landmark” and “iconic”.
The Inquirer can reveal the London-based campaign group Looking for Growth, whose advisors include Dominic Cummings, is promoting the development as “bringing much-needed economic activity to this corner of Leith”.
But the residents - backed by their local MSP – maintain it is simply too big, too impactful on its historic environment, and too generic in design.
What is planned?
The developers are VRS (Rennie’s Isle) Ltd, set up by Newcastle-based businessman Raj Sehgal, whose Union Property Services has a number of properties in Scotland, including One Lochside in Edinburgh Park.
They seek full planning permission for the redevelopment of 1 Rennie’s Isle, which occupies “a prominent corner at Ocean Drive and Rennie’s Isle, close to Victoria Dock and the Leith Conservation Area, and is currently occupied by a small, under-used office building of limited architectural and environmental quality.”
In the planning statement, they say: “The development is intended to enhance the character of the waterfront while contributing to the area’s ongoing regeneration and economic vitality.” Four full-time and more than 20 part-time jobs would be created.
The developers say their designs treat the nearby Leith Conservation Area with sensitivity. A mural reflecting the area’s links to the historic wine trade is included, while two lower shoulder blocks “step down to meet the scale of neighbouring residential buildings.”
View of residents?
The 90 homes developed three decades ago at Rennie’s Isle have become a well-established part of the community around The Shore area of Leith, and the community appears overwhelmingly opposed.
They have raised funding through a GoFundMe page to hire expert planning advice and create a series of “before and after” images demonstrating the impact the building would have if it goes ahead.
One resident, Jonathan Hines, is himself an architect: “We believe it is an overdevelopment of a sensitive site. It is not just on the footprint of the existing building, the visa office, they are building across the entire site including the existing car park right across to the perimeter, and to a maximum of ten storeys. That means the entire site, which is relatively small, is completely filled with building which creates a number of problems.
“It turns its back on the residential area it is close to and tries to make reference to much taller buildings on the dockside. It is also next to the A-listed swing bridge.
“The Shore is a very special area, a mix of history and vibrancy, and from walking around Leith and Shore you will be hit by very visible blank façade. It almost turns its back on the quality and character of a very special place.”
Another, Mike Stevenson, said: “The Shore area doesn’t need a ‘landmark’ hotel building. It is a historic area with a strong identity. The developer says the lower ‘shoulder blocks’ step down towards Rennie’s Isle and the conservation area. But stepping down the edges does not remove the visual dominance of the tower above them.”
Linda Irvine Fitzpatrick added: “We are not against developments per se but we are standing against a development that does little to enhance our heritage, environment or community. Let’s not have another example of planners putting profit before people.”
Nimbyism?
Residents say emphatically not. Jonathan said: “I haven’t spoken to anyone who is against the redevelopment of the site, but it needs to be appropriate in scale and mass.”
Ben Macpherson, MSP for North Edinburgh and Leith, is supporting the residents. He told us: ““Like many Leithers, I’m very concerned about the plans to build a large, ugly, commercial building at Rennie’s Isle, obscuring views and negatively impacting the urban environment. Well-designed, appropriately sized hotels can be a welcome addition to the Shore, but the current ideas from this developer would undoubtedly impact the skyline and surrounding community in detrimental ways.”
And Edinburgh’s conservation watchdogs, the Cockburn Association, say that while they support redevelopment of the existing site in principle, they have “significant concerns about the scale and massing of the current proposal, particularly the ten-storey tower element and the suggestion that the site should accommodate a new landmark building.”
What happens next?
Public comments on the proposal are invited until 27 November, after which it will be taken to committee for determination. Full details on the application can be viewed through the council’s planning portal.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
BRUTALIST DEVELOPMENT PLANS: Detailed plans for the proposed demolition of the Brutalist 1960s office block Argyle House have been submitted to the city council. Developers Henderson Herd and Mayfly Capital want to create a new residential, hotel and business quarter. Their plans include 130 homes, a 244-bedroom hotel, 156 long-stay aparthotel rooms and office space, as well as a new pedestrian route between West Port and King’s Stables Road. A public lift would connect Castle Terrace to King’s Stables Road.
D-DAY VET SALUTE: One of Scotland’s last surviving D-Day veterans died last week, at the age of 100, just a few days before Remembrance Day. Charlie Horne was 18 when he worked on a small wooden minesweeper off Omaha Beach during the Normandy landings. The former trawlerman, from Prestonpans, East Lothian, previously told the BBC of the lasting impression which the scenes of devastation he witnessed as Allied forces landed in France made on him. He died at the Erskine Veterans Charity home, where he had been living, in Gilmerton.
UNCIVIL SERVANTS: Civil servants working at Leith’s Victoria Quay are being balloted on strike action in protest at being ordered to return to work from the office two days a week. Some staff have been asking for pay rises to cover the cost of commuting and even pet care, while The Sun reports even greater unhappiness, with one staff member describing the largely empty offices as looking like “a post-modern Pompeii”.
PRINCES ST PAVEMENT: The pavement outside the fire-hit former Debenhams building will be reopened to pedestrians by the end of December, almost six months after the blaze destroyed most of the building, the council has announced.
SUMMERHALL RETHINK: Luxury housebuilders AMA have delayed their second consultation on their plans to redevelop the Summerhall arts village site. They say they are revisiting their proposals, which include major demolition to make way for a hotel and student flats, after 13,000 people signed the Save Summerhall petition. It is as yet unclear how significant any changes might be, with AMA consistently stressing the need for significant investment in the buildings and a commercially viable development.
GROOMING GANG INQUIRY: The Scottish Government has announced a public inquiry into grooming gangs in Scotland will start next week. The inquiry, led by Prof Alexis Jay, a leading expert on child protection issues, will look into child sexual abuse and exploitation at the hands of groups of men. The Inquirer has previously reported on police investigations into allegations of abuse at care homes in the capital.
GOLF HISTORY AT RISK: The future of the historic Musselburgh Links golf course, one of the oldest in the world, is at risk due to damage caused by salt water. The course beside Musselburgh Racecourse hosted the Open Championship six times during the 19th century and Mary Queen of Scots is reputed to have played there. However, its watering system using salty water from the mouth of the River Esk is causing serious damage. East Lothian councillors are to consider installing a new system at a cost of £150,000 in order to secure its future.
COVID DEATH FAILINGS: NHS Lothian and the privately-run Addiewell Prison in West Lothian have admitted failing to provide proper care for a prisoner, in the first UK criminal prosecution over a death from Covid. Calum Inglis, 34, died alone in his cell in October 2021 as he neared release from a three-year sentence for assault. He was asthmatic and unvaccinated. Prison operators Sodexo Ltd and the health board pled guilty to a single charge each under the Health and Safety Act and are due to be sentenced next month.
DEMO CHARGES: Three people have been charged under the Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organisation following a Palestine Action demo in Edinburgh. Police say investigations to identify people wearing Palestine Action t-shirts or holding banners continue following the protest outside the US Consulate, on Regent Terrace, on Halloween.
COOL PROPERTY: Rising energy and household bills, financial uncertainty including around interest rates, and global economic and political uncertainty has seen the property market in Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians remain flat in the latest quarterly sales report from leading property portal ESPC.
Pic of the week
THE BUSINESS
Haymarket Hyatt finally set to open
Scotland’s first Hyatt Centric hotel – costing around £100 million and with around 350 bedrooms – is set to open in 2028 in Haymarket, reports The Scotsman.
The hotel is a key part of the £350 million Haymarket Edinburgh regeneration development, which has seen the creation of a new district which includes high quality offices, eateries, shops and public realm spaces.
The hotel, which was originally to have operated as a Hyatt franchise in partnership with EICC, was at the centre of a contract wrangle between City of Edinburgh Council and Haymarket Edinburgh developers M & G which saw the council – arms-length owners of EICC – pull out of the deal.
That led, in turn, to tensions between the local authority and EICC, who maintained they were left with liabilities of £2m and were set to lose tens of millions of pounds in future earnings. EICC Chief Executive at the time, Marshall Dallas, handed in his notice shortly afterwards.
BOX SET: Acclaimed city centre restaurant Wedgwood has further built a revenue stream introduced during the Covid pandemic as a survival measure. The Canongate restaurant introduced “meal boxes” during the pandemic but are now expanding that part of the business following the acquisition of a new production kitchen in Leith, which allows the restaurant to expand its dine-at-home operations including a new Christmas Box.
CAPITAL ASSET: Global private markets manager CVC Capital Partners is opening a base in Edinburgh, boosting the asset management sector in the city reports Daily Business. A new office in South Gyle will be home to 20 staff as the firm sets about building its presence.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
PUSHING IT: Edinburgh’s international poetry festival Push the Boat Out returns from Thursday to Sunday with a stellar line-up of spoken-word performances, music and boundary-pushing new work. This year’s programme features Jackie Kay, Anthony Joseph, Joelle Taylor and Henry Normal among many others, at the Pleasance and other venues across the city.
BEATLEMANIA: Enjoy every Beatles album in their entirety, back to back, in a fantastic 11-hour Fab Four splurge. The Beatles Marathon returns to Portobello Town Hall for its third outing on Saturday. All proceeds go to the My Name’s Doddie Foundation.
WEE GAY MARKET: Showcasing queer crafts people and offering free, fun craft activities, the Wee Gay Market comes to Leith’s Out of the Blue Drill Hall, on Saturday, 11am-5pm.
QUICK BITES
BAKER’S FAREWELL: The popular Bearded Baker in Canonmills is to close its Rodney Street shop in Cannonmills along with its nearby café Seventy One Steps. Owner Rowan Walker has said rising costs and changing family priorities are behind the decision to close at Christmas.
POPEYES OPENING: New Orleans inspired fast food chain Popeyes has announced that its newest Edinburgh restaurant will open its doors at 46 North Bridge on Wednesday, with room for 60 covers.