Letter: Reclaim our city

WITH the festival season underway, it is timely to remind ourselves that research repeatedly shows that one of the things that tourists most enjoy about cities is the feeling that they are engaging with local communities and experiencing their lives.

If Edinburgh continues in the way it has in recent years, it risks losing this quintessential quality of "a vibrant city", a vision much promoted by the city authorities.

We suffer: low-flying aircraft that cause passers-by to flinch and Tattoo fireworks that rattle the windows even of Heriot Row in the New Town; a Royal Mile rendered virtually impassable by the clutter of A-boards and the overspill from shops whose goods speak more of sweated labour than Scottish culture; a night-time economy which owes more to vomit and violence than cutting-edge entertainment.

While council staff valiantly struggle to clear up the mess, their superiors appear to take the view that "anything goes".

Fifty bed apart-hotels transform into 220-bed backpackers' hostels without requiring planning permission. In the face of council policy regarding over-provision of liquor licences, hostels gain the right to sell alcohol to residents on the grounds that female backpackers are frightened to leave the premises at night.

The voice of local residents goes unheard in the Council Chambers as outdoor table and live music licences are extended ever later.

As a city centre resident, I increasingly feel like an extra on a film set, here to add "vibrancy" and colour for tourists.

It is time for local communities within the World Heritage site to reclaim the centre stage and for the city authorities to recognise that authenticity is an integral element of a quality visitor experience.

ELSPETH WILLS

Browns Place

Grassmarket, Edinburgh