It's curtain up on Edinburgh's campaign to retain arts body

Published on Monday 19 February 2007 14:30

LEADERS from the business and arts worlds joined forces with politicians today to launch a campaign to keep Scotland's main arts body in the Capital.

The Scottish Executive has announced that it is reviewing the location of Creative Scotland, the new body formed by the merger of the Scottish Arts council, based in Edinburgh's West End, and Glasgow-based Scottish Screen.

But city leader Ewan Aitken today announced he was setting up an online petition where members of the public can support the fight to make Edinburgh the future home of Creative Scotland.

He was joined at the launch by the directors of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, as well as representatives of the Edinburgh Business Assembly. The campaign also won cross-party backing from MSPs and council groups.

Speaking at campaign launch in the Scottish Storytelling Centre, Cllr Aitken said: "Edinburgh is not just Scotland's cultural Capital, it is a global cultural capital.

"Choosing a location for Creative Scotland is an immensely important decision and I implore ministers to make their decision based on what is best overall, and that can only be Edinburgh."

He denied the issue would have an impact on the relationship with the Executive, or with Glasgow City Council. He said: "One of the key aspects of being a capital city is getting that relationship right with national government.

"We need to understand what it is to be host of the parliament and parliament needs to know that by having its existence here it needs to have more than one type of relationship with the city council. I'm suggesting that if whether they make the decision we want them to make could improve that relationship.

"I don't think it will affect the relationship with Glasgow at all. What [Glasgow City Council leader] Steven Purcell says is that it needs Edinburgh to be a strong Capital."

The campaign brochure states the case for the agency being based in Edinburgh and will be distributed throughout the city.

It highlights three key strands to the argument for Creative Scotland to be based in the Capital: that the national economy needs a strong Edinburgh; that the city is already a premier arts destination; and that the agency would help regenerate the brownfield Waterfront area.

Although the campaign calls for the co-location of Creative Scotland with EventScotland and VisitScotland, Cllr Aitken did not rule out that the jobs could be shared between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

And he insisted that the campaign was not about the 70 jobs that the agency would bring to the Capital, but rather the importance to Scotland's artistic community of having its headquarters in the Capital.

Jonathan Mills, director of the Edinburgh International Festival, said: "I would hope that any decision about where to locate Creative Scotland would reflect a sense of the strategic role that Edinburgh must play in the life of this nation, while understanding the obligation on Edinburgh as the capital of a great small country."

Catherine Lockerbie, director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: "It makes sense for Creative Scotland to be at the heart of this dynamic environment, working in close partnership with the thriving and interconnected literary community to ensure maximum benefit for the whole community."

Brendan Dick, a member of the Edinburgh Business Assembly and national manager of BT Scotland, said: "It is vital that the Scottish Executive considers the location of Creative Scotland to nurture and enhance what our Capital city already contributes."