Mission to make Edinburgh’s Royal Mile fit for a king
The Royal Mile Pic Neil Hanna
IT is one of the Scotland’s most popular attractions, thronged with visitors drawn to centuries-old architecture, historic seats of power and colourful street entertainers.
But council leaders have admitted parts of Edinburgh’s showpiece thoroughfare have become “dreadful” to visit – as they triggered a new action plan aimed at transforming its fortunes.
Officials and councillors have conceded key parts of the Royal Mile are too clogged with traffic, have poor quality roads and pavements, are unsafe and unwelcoming, and are over-run with tartan tat shops.
The local authority is now expected to appoint a Royal Mile tsar to help enforce a tough new “charter” which businesses, tourism operators and council officials will be asked to enforce.
A “spring clean” initiative will be held in the next few weeks to try to remove unnecessary clutter, tidy up rundown closes and remove unsightly graffiti.
Handing over more space to pedestrians, stricter controls over who is allowed to lease shop units from the council, reviving sealed-off or rarely-used closes, and banning tour buses from Castlehill throughout the year are among possible longer-term measures.
A major summit yesterday heard complaints that the street was being ruined by a “monoculture” of tourist shops, cluttered and overcrowded pavements and empty shop units.
The event – attended by heritage groups, business leaders, community groups, police officers and councillors – heard how parts of the Lawnmarket and Castlehill were said to be in an “awful condition” thanks to the number of vehicles allowed to use it and shoddy repairs by utility companies.
Will Garrett, a senior council official responsible for the city’s World Heritage Site, said: “The Royal Mile is the most important street in Edinburgh, if not Scotland. We need to make sure that we do our best for it. There are parts where I think we’ve got it right, such as outside the City Chambers and St Giles’ Cathedral, but not in other areas, where the pedestrian environment is pretty dreadful.”
Tom Buchanan, the city’s economic development leader, said: “We are not necessarily talking about pedestrianisation. It may be about giving over more space to pedestrians in areas like the Canongate and the Lawnmarket, where there is just not enough space for them. I have real concerns over the quality of areas like Castlehill where utility companies have come in, dug up historic setts, and simply filled the hole back up with tarmac.
“The other area where the council could have a real influence is with the large number of properties we have on the Royal Mile, so that we do not necessarily accept the highest bid for a site, and instead encourage more artisan businesses and local craft-makers to try to improve the quality of what is on sale, rather than cheap kilts, which you can get for less than £50.”
Andrew Johnston, director of the Camera Obscura visitor attraction, near Edinburgh Castle, said: “The worst aspect of being up here is definitely the streetscape. It is an awful state and it is down to the sheer volume of traffic coming up and down, as well as more than two million visitors a year. Closing it off to traffic all year round would make a big difference.”
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Comments
There are 46 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
AuldLochinvar
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 12:23 AMDear Charles Linskaill, you ask a good question: "Why pay £200 for a Kilt, When you can get the same for £50, from our nice Asian Friends!" If nobody here minds me admiring the distinguished Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University, Adam Smith, his response to the question was that whoever made the goods for the least expense should get the business. There is a modern, perhaps liberal, reply, that it depends upon whether the seller deals as fairly with his employees as we require by law in this country, and indeed whether their conditions of manufacture damage the planet in a way prohibited here. But here's another question: Why pay millions for a genuine Vermeer, when you can get an imitation one, that can deceive all but the greatest experts, by a modern painter (or even Van Meegeren) for mere thousands?
AuldLochinvar
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 12:08 AMDear Curious Yellow, I suppose that the fascination with cobbles and other out of date stuff is a certain romantic love of historic achievements. Cobbled streets were an improvement upon bare dirt, just as steam locomotives were a miracle compared with bio-fueled horse drawn carriages. As a physicist and proponent of nuclear power as the cleanest option, I know that coal-burning locomotives were guilty of abominable pollution, but I still feel proud that the "Mallard" pulling the "Flying Scotsman" will forever hold a certain world record for speed. I also wonder if a fleet of Ferraris travelling from London to Edinburgh carrying the same number of passengers as a loaded "Flying Scotsman" would actually create more or less pollution, and would it make any difference if they carried four people per car? Let us by all means discourage petrol fumes in the Royal Mile, and if cobblestones will do it, so much the better.
panayiotis
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 07:12 PMThis summer I was in a tourist shop in the Royal Mil and witnessed a conversation between an American lady tourist and the shop assistant. The lady asked to see some Scottish dolls as she wanted to buy some for her many grandchildren in the States, the shopkeeper pointed out the display that they had. On inspecting them the lady said " ..but these are all made in China! I want a real Scottish doll made in Scotland.,why would I buy something in Scotland that is made in China,I could do that in any store in the US" Alas said the assistant " .that is all we have and can get" ,'to which the US lady replied "..yes just like all the other shops we have tried on the street" Enough said ??? Perhaps anything which is described as Scottish should be made in Scotland and properly marked otherwise the word Scottish cannot be used. Something along the same lines as Harris Tweed. The tak really has to be dealt with, it is so embarrassing at least to me a Scot
Tartancult
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 06:25 PM#4 Strictly speaking unless it is constructed from a worsted or woollen tartan"................................Strictly speaking the Royal Mile isn't a mile. Do you like it when people talk strictly Hector, mmm?
Appinhighlander
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 04:08 PMAs a resident (just off) the Royal Mile in one of the highly traveled closes betwen the High Street and Cowgate, my fellow tenants and I were forced to install an iron swing-gate on our door step to prevent drunken or just ill-mannered sods from urinating on our door step (and then running under the doorway into the vestibule)! Teaching respect for other peoples' property and perhaps installing some public toilets along the Royal Mile would also help make it fit for a king? Also, our precious Council Tax seems to be spent elsewhere, while our close longs for a good sweeping and dousing from the local sanitation workers---who seem to bypass the close on a regular basis. Having said that, kudos to newer establishments like The Royal MacGregor pub for taking dismal older bars and turning them into welcoming, quality pubs for visitors and locals alike! We need more of those---and less of the tartan tat shops.
insiderscoop
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 03:40 PMTAXI I wish to go to Camera Obscura! Sorry mate, no cars allowed up there, you need to walk 2 miles that way. The alleged Two million visitors per years starts to evaporate...
bifteroonie
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 02:43 PMIconic! I note not one reference to the actual residents of the Mile. Besides, more than enough money has been poured into this area over the years, installing expensive and anachronistic road surfaces, yet festooning the area with bizarre incongruous street furniture and modern signage. How about coming down to Leith and giving us some roads and pavements that wouldn't embarrass Lagos. And how about a dog poo tsar?
CASHKING7
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 01:18 PMWhat chance has this of succeeding when they can't even evict tramps out of St Andrews square. is there any point in doing improvements when anarchists and layabouts can pitch their scruffy tents where they like.
Charlie McFarley
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 01:17 PMThe Royal Mile would benefit from pedestrianisation (which by definition also excludes morally superior [?] cyclists) and a total wipeout of these nasty downmarket Gold Brothers tartan tat bazaars. I'm not a great fan of the Walter Scott version of Scotland but tartan goods should adhere to standards of quality and provenance rather than downmarket tat made in China. Tartan products should enjoy the same protection of identity as Scotch whisky, Parma ham, Melton Mowbray pies etc., and it is surprising that the genuine players do not form a marketing group to set standards, lobby for legislation and clean up the image of their sector. Given that our parliament sits on the doorstep of the Royal Mile, you would think that our MSP's would be aware of this problem and debate it.
B K
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 01:00 PM#30 it is quite common to see wardens ticketing cars on either side of it, but leaving it untouched. And police walking by and ignoring it.
Ewan Macintyre
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 12:54 PM35# -- The second search should have read "fr(forward slash)breacan"+"chrsouchon" but the forward slash key does not seem to work! This useful site which contains authentic historical evidence should be available in all shops selling tartan goods.
Ewan Macintyre
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 12:21 PM4# Hector the Lessor -- "Strictly speaking unless it is constructed from a worsted or woollen tartan and contains seven yards of material, it is really just a pleated skirt." ================================================== Good point! A simple Google search for "Am breacan uallach"+"postcolonialism" lists some daunting requirements expected of an eighteenth-century kilt-wearing clansman. Military service and extraordinary physical hardiness (e.g. bivouacking) would seem to be two of them. A Google search for "frbreacan"+"chrsouchon" enables us all to translate Alexander MacDonald's song into sixty-four languages.
young reekie
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 12:14 PMThere is no doubt that the Royal Mile needs attention. Pedestrianisation is the way to go. Definately no cyclists ( try cycling down on a wet day. Try cycling up any day.) As for the tartan tat shops. If the tourists didnt like them they wouldnt buy from them. Regarding the rent aspect any landlord would look at his property portfolio and decide on the mix of shops suited to the client. Hopefully the council will do their homework properly. But remember it's not you and I who are the customer base it is the tourists.
Deleted
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 11:49 AMWrong!! The royal mile is a smelly embarrassment. I've seen nicer open sewers in Zimbabwe!
Niebiosa tam sa naprawde nieskrzydlowe ludzie tam
Friday, January 13, 2012 at 11:46 AMLeave the cyclist alone, they are morally and ecologically superior beings and have the freedom of the city
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