Edinburgh Zoo: We're gonna need a bigger enclosure

WORK on the new enclosure designed to house the giant pandas due to arrive at Edinburgh Zoo later this year has ground to a near halt after it emerged officials had failed to apply for planning permission.

The oversight has been blamed on the turmoil caused by the sacking and suspensions of senior managers and the resignation last month of Donald Emslie, the organisation's former chairman, following a members' vote of no confidence.

The error occurred because the zoo did not submit plans to the council planning department after deciding to expand the enclosure and surrounding walkways. The new proposals require both planning permission and a building warrant.

Yesterday Hugh Roberts, the interim chief executive who was appointed to the post three weeks ago, took responsibility for the mistake, saying the zoo would make all necessary efforts to resume building work again.

But Mr Roberts stressed that the completion deadline of July for the enclosure was an internal target only. He said the mix-up would not jeopardise the arrival from China of Tian Tian and YangGuang - a breeding pair of pandas born in 2003, expected to arrive later this year.

The pandas are expected to be a major attraction at the zoo, which has seen visitor numbers plummet recently.

Mr Roberts said a senior official had told the zoo last week it needed to submit its plans immediately, and it would have to stop building work until permission is granted.

"We should have applied for planning permission a few weeks ago," he said. "The original design didn't require planning permission, but we needed to do more than originally thought. This has slowed things down for us, but we'll do everything we can to push it (the planning application] through quickly.

"We are now doing everything in line with what the council want."

The 250,000 enclosure did not originally need consent as the aim had been to refurbish an existing gorilla pen - but later development plans included expansion for a nursery for baby bears and the building of a surrounding walkway for visitors. This means permission is now required, and has also led to concerns from the Health & Safety Executive about the need for on-site risk assessments.

Mr Roberts said: "We're not stopping all work, but we can't carry on at the same pace.

"Clearly this isn't the best thing for the zoo, but everyone makes the occasional mistake. We'll pick up, we'll move on and we'll sort it out."

Gary Wilson, director of business operations, who returned to the zoo last week after being suspended following "a malicious smear campaign" against him, will be in charge of the project.

The planning application was hand-delivered to council planners yesterday morning.A council spokesman said that, providing there were no objections to the plans, the matter could be resolved in about six weeks. Any ongoing building work would be at the zoo's "own risk".

A spokesman from the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the professional body representing Britain's zoos, said: "Mistakes can be made. We have every confidence that the necessary steps are being taken so that the zoo's reputation does not suffer and that the society is in good hands."