Leader: Primark deal

They have been disappointed many times in the past, after all. Hopes that the retailer would come to Edinburgh were first raised no less than 10 years ago.

Even specific plans for a move into the old Marks & Spencer ladieswear store at 91 Princes Street, revealed in 2006, have been put off ever since.

While the city council's sometimes glacial speed at dealing with planning applications has been blamed for delays and even the collapse of other developments, in this case it seems as though this was not to blame.

Instead, Primark itself took its time to get the right location and then get its plans correct, especially when it decided to increase the scale of the shop.

As a result, it finally looks as though an 80,000sq ft behemoth will open in time for Christmas shopping in 2011.

It certainly seems like an age since a few critics sniffed at the prospect of the low-cost clothes retailer opening up on the Capital's most famous shopping street.

But times have changed, not least with Primark leading the way in changing how people shop for fashion, especially young and trendier buyers.

In the current economic climate we can think ourselves lucky to get such a welcome addition the city, and especially one willing to pay a 150,000 "tram tax" and spend 340,000 helping develop Rose Street.

Centre stage

OUR congratulations go to all the winners of the Evening News Drama Awards, which are contested each year by local amateur companies.

We launched them three years ago to acknowledge the work of local groups which are often overlooked in the Festival crush.

This year we made them more democratic by inviting audience members and Evening News readers to cast their votes. They made up half the points awarded to the finalists.

So Forth Children's Theatre and Saughtonhall Drama Group can be extra proud when they take their final bows.