SAVE OUR OLD TOWN CAMPAIGN
The Canongate Community Forum has been campaigning against plans to demolish listed buildings and people`s homes on the Canongate, the lower part of The Royal Mile in World Heritage Site October 2005. Caltongate is the name given to the controversial £300million project.
News June 21st 2008 **Sadly the Scottish Ministers have decided it is up to the City of Edinburgh Council to go ahead with this vandalism if they so wish. But it is far from over...lets all move forward together in securing a sustainable, caring, sharing future for all who live in the core of the capital, work in it and visit it. It can be done, we are living in an age of greed over need...but this can change, the will, is there in the hearts of the many, not in the wallets of the few.** Let us continue to let the council know that this will be their St James Centre
www.independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com
What will be lost
Affected buidlings
- 1930s Stone Tenements by E J McRae at 221-229 Canongate
Demolished to make way for road to link East Market Street with the Canongate and part of the 5 star 200 bed Hotel
- The Canongate Venture, 5 New Street. (formerly North Canongate Infant School) which is a Queen Ann Style Red Sandstone by Robert Wilson 1900-1901. Listed 13/08/1987
Completely demolished to make way for a conference centre and with a 4 storey bridge built over New Street to connect it to hotel (think Cumbernauld) creating a tunnel for cars to drive under, obscuring present view down New Street toward Calton Hill
- The Old Sailor's Ark building (formerly Maddocks Tie), 231 Canongate. Mountgrange who now own 75% of it , with the Ark Trust owning the remaining 25%, which they run their homeless service from. Listed 01/02/2000
Mostly demolished to make way for a 5 star, 7 storey 200 bed hotel
- The former Vegetable Market on East Market Street (known to be Common Good Land) To make way for a supermarket.
Other losses
- Jeffrey Street Wall, Vaults, Railing and Pier `C` listed 24/01/03 would be affected greatly by the building of the land mark office building, and change of use to upmarket retail and an artists quarter.
- The development layout would block existing views across the Waverly Valley, up to Calton Hill from Jeffrey Street, St Mary’s Street, The Royal Mile, Cranston Street and New Street, and obscure the spine of the Royal Mile from Calton Hill, North Bridge and Regent Terrace.
Other changes
In the masterplan, East Market Street will be renamed Parliament Way and a large area of the Canongate district will be renamed Caltongate.
- Private car parking is to be provided for all parts of the development.
