Marion Williams: Council needs to up its game on flagship street

IT IS time Edinburgh city council took a whole new approach to how it manages the Royal Mile to show this prestigious street off at its best.

The council needs to improve signage, clear up the litter and control the rash of “tartan tat” that spills out of the numerous souvenir shops. The experience of walking the Royal Mile for residents, workers and tourists has become an obstacle course as we weave our way past stuffed animals, racks of tartan tat and advertising boards.

The beauty of the Royal Mile’s architecture and history is self-evident. Riddle’s Court, off the Lawnmarket, is just one building on the Mile, hidden down a close, which has an amazing 400-year history that we can learn from but is passed by most on a day-to-day basis.

Hidden treasures like this deserve far better treatment than they currently receive, not with banners and flags but with discreet signage that alerts people to their existence and importance. Tourists regularly ask for directions to the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood Palace and, believe it or not, Edinburgh Castle.

The city is compromised by lack of management and stewardship, poor logistical traffic controls and lack of adequate investment and care. The Royal Mile is the perfect place to set an example and I urge the council to focus on this and get it right.

With the recent appointment of a town centre co-ordinator for the Royal Mile we can only hope that she will have the powers needed to influence the future management of the space.

The council owns a third of the retail properties and we must expect some action to match their words in terms of offering a higher-quality environment and more creative atmosphere worthy of a World Heritage Site.

• Marion Williams is director of the Cockburn Association.