Odeon hotel plan 'worth £5m to city'

THE developer behind plans for a hotel on the site for the former Odeon in Clerk Street say it will create 120 jobs and bring £5 million a year into the local economy.

Plans for the controversial development have been submitted to the city council after a recent four-month marketing period failed to bring forward a buyer prepared to pay the 2.9 million valuation.

Now owner Duddingston House Properties hopes to secure permission to build a 230-room hotel on the site.

Protesters who want to see the building earmarked for community use plan to protest in nearby St Patrick Square on Saturday. However, DHP director Bruce Hare insisted the hotel plans would feature many of the items they wanted, including a function suite, meeting rooms, exhibition space and cinema.

The hotel plan would see much of the auditorium area replaced by a new bedroom block and a sculpture garden with an outdoor cinema screen.

Mr Hare said the proposals had been supported by groups including the Cockburn Association, Scottish Enterprise and the chair of Edinburgh World Heritage. He added: "We are now in a position where we can push ahead with a plan which is fully funded, viable, and has been supported by leading conservation groups, creating much-needed employment and injecting millions into the economy."

However, chair of Southside Community Council, Hilary McDowell, said: "The reason that the businesses around here are all so keen to get this building back into community use is that they perceive that they will get much more benefit from a cinema, arts venue and cafe than from a hotel."

Southside/Newington councillor Ian Perry has submitted a motion to today's full council meeting calling for a meeting between the city and DHP to try to get the building back into use.