Legal threat to city on plan for former Odeon cinema

The city council is being threatened with court action over claims that it is blocking the conversion of a listed landmark that has been lying empty for eight years.

Councillors agreed yesterday to put off a decision over the fate of the former Odeon cinema after Duddingston House Property accused the authority of putting at risk 120 new jobs and 5 million worth of economic benefit a year.

The firm claims planning officials have been biased against a bid to bring the B-listed cinema, in the South Side, back into use, despite securing backing for its scheme three years ago.

Councillors had previously voted in favour of Duddingston's scheme, before it was called in by the Scottish Government following a public outcry and rejected after an inquiry.

The firm agreed to put the site up for sale on the recommendation of the government reporter, only to reject two bids because they were nowhere near its own 2.9m valuation. It has also offered to sell the building to the council for 2.5m.

However, critics have cast doubt on the firm's valuation of the site, with the council pointing out that Duddingston paid only 1.5m for it in 2003.

Council officials are now against the plans, which have attracted more than 421 objections, with 4294 signatures collected on a protest petition.

However, a formal complaint has now been made against the council's handling of plans to knock down the auditorium to make way for an "arts hotel".

Bruce Hare, chief executive of Duddingston, has told council chief executive Sue Bruce that several sections of a planning department report on the scheme were "incomplete and false".

Mr Hare said there were no "credible and realistic" bids for the site on the table and insisted there were no "serious alternative uses" for the building.

He added: "Failure to act will lead to further significant delays in bringing the building back into use, with the risk that it could remain a significant blight to the local streetscape and economy."

The new planning department report states there is now a "compelling argument" to retain the existing cinema building intact and repair of the site is "not economically unviable".

Nancy Jamieson, principal planner at the council, said Duddingston had told the council it believed it did not have to seek fresh planning consent.

But she added: "We have taken our own legal advice on this and believe there are other precedents that will support our position. We will obviously be responding to the criticisms from Duddingston of the report for the planning committee."Plans for a live music venue and nightclub, and a separate scheme for student flats and a bar-restaurant, floundered due to protests from community groups and heritage watchdogs.