A bigger gap

In your article, “School that saved lives of poorest children fights for its own survival” (14 October) economic development leader Tom Buchanan is quoted as saying that any new developer would want to avoid going through the planning process again.

He believes that demolishing the school is essential for the redevelopment of the gap site where the New Street bus garage once stood. Councillor Buchanan’s comments are frankly nonsense. It is quite feasible to redevelop the gap site without demolishing the school.

The existing redevelopment proposal by Mountgrange, approved by the council in 2008, was financially unrealistic even before the financial crash later that year. Most of the approved masterplan comprised offices and housing.

We all know what’s happened to the housing market, and judging by all the empty new office blocks in the city, that market has collapsed too. No sensible developer would want to stick to such an outdated plan.

Has Tom Buchanan been asleep for the past three years? Why does the council continue to believe that developers want big sites when the clear message is that smaller, less risky sites are the only way forward at the moment?

Demolishing the North Canongate school will only enlarge the gap site the councillor is so concerned about.

Jim Johnson

King’s Stables Road

Edinburgh town