Edinburgh International - 'The reaction is cautious excitement'

A long-awaited concert arena, several hotels, an office complex to rival the Royal Bank of Scotland campus nearby and even a world trade centre are being proposed for the site, to be known as Edinburgh International.

There is no doubt that this land has enormous development potential which could benefit the Capital and all of Scotland, if it can be effectively harnessed.

Half of the nation's working population live within an hour's commute and it has great transport links by air, road and, all being well, eventually tram.

Building beside Edinburgh Airport, which is bucking the UK trend by continuing to expand its services month after month, makes a lot of sense.

The two would feed each other, creating an important new hub of business and leisure activity, well connected to the rest of the city and the world beyond.

That is why the development plans should create excitement. The caution that comes with it stems from the fear that, as with so many previous ambitious visions, we may never see this plan come to fruition, or that what is eventually delivered may be a significantly downgraded version of this blueprint.

But, to put the site's potential into some kind of context, analysts estimate it could generate up to 4.4 billion for the Scottish economy - more than the nation's entire tourism industry.

It may cost millions of pounds in public funds to get it off the ground, but this suggests there is certainly potential worth investing in.

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Council leader Jenny Dawe has ended speculation by insisting she will stand for election again next May.

What's more, the Lib Dems are re-jigging their candidate list to increase her chances of returning to the City Chambers as group leader.

Some will be surprised that Councillor Dawe has the appetite for more after what will be, by then, a tough five years of budget problems, school closure wrangles and, of course, the tram debacle.

It says much for her that she is prepared to step back into the fray, though cynics will note that the electoral runes predict that even if she is re-elected she won't be the head of the council's biggest party.

And, if nothing else, that means she won't have to continue in uneasy alliance with the SNP.