6 NEWS
River Almond improvements near completion
Final phase for
river project
Sir Geoff’s handprints for posterity
New names
for Leith Walk
By STAFF REPORTERLEITH WALK IS already becoming a go
to area with the tram to Newhaven
opening in Spring. Now, some new
independent retail businesses will open
on the street in the next few months.
Drum Property Group developed the
Red Sandstone at Stead’s Place where
there are new shops available to let from
106 to 154 Leith Walk.
The two storey building was first
completed in 1933 in the Scottish Art
Deco style, and it provides flexible space
for up to 10 ground floor retail units,
along with a range of open-plan
first-floor business suites. Rather than
their original plans to demolish it, Drum
bowed to reaction from locals and the
planners, and refurbished the building
for let to commercial tenants. It is now a
gateway to the new £50 million
residential development to the rear
where 148 new homes will be built.NEW TENANTS
New tenants include Hobz Bakery,
Cornelius Wines, vintage clothing store
Rhinestone Cowboys, Chorrito Sauce
Company and Design Eat Repeat, a
design store and gallery space. They join
Leith Depot, the established bar,
restaurant and music venue which
became the only remaining tenant after
Drum Property cleared the building in
the hope of demolishing it for a clear site
development.
Graeme Bone, Drum Group’s Managing
Director, said: “The Red Sandstone, as a
distinctive entry point for our new
development, will provide both a new
focus and destination for the foot of Leith
Walk. And with more tenant and business
announcements to be made shortly, the
eclectic mix of occupiers attracted to the
building will bring something a little
different to the city centre, continuing
the rich tradition of diversity and
independence which makes this area
such an exciting destination in which to
live, work and visit.”
http://www.steads-place.comBy PHYLLIS STEPHENON 14 NOVEMBER a formal
civic reception will be held at
the City Chambers when
Professor Sir Geoff Palmer will
receive the Edinburgh Award,
Sir Geoff is pictured above
having his handprints cast in
clay. These will then be carved
into a flagstone in the Quadoutside the council building.
He joins a list of people who
have been honoured in this
way such as Sir Tom Farmer and
Ken Buchanan, MBE.
With a long association with
the city of Edinburgh, the
scientist arrived here in 1964 to
study his PhD in Grain Science
and Technology jointly with the
then Heriot-Watt College andthe University of Edinburgh. He
completed his doctorate in
1967 and began working at the
Brewing Research Foundation
where he developed the
industrial process of Barley
Abrasion, and pioneered the
use of the Scanning Electron
Microscope to study cereal
grains. In 1977, he returned to
Heriot-Watt University as a staffmember and gained a DSc
degree for his research work in- In 1989 he became the
first black professor in Scotland
and remained in Edinburgh
until his retirement in 2005. In
2021 he was appointed
Chancellor of Heriot-Watt
University. He was knighted in
2014 for services to human
rights, science and charity.
By DONALD TURVILL
Local Democracy Reporter
THE FINAL PHASE of a project aimed at
improving fish migration along the River Almond
is set to get underway, after plans for changes to a
historic Edinburgh weir were approved.
Councillors on the culture and communities
committee were told that without investment in
Dowies Mill Weir in Cramond, a “great majority”
of the river will remain “largely inaccessible to
migratory fish”.
Fish migrating through the Almond are said
have been obstructed by seven local authority
weirs in “very poor condition” in recent years,
with Dowie’s Mill set to be the last to undergo
alterations as part of the Almond Barriers Project.
Councillors were told: “If this weir were to fail,
this could potentially put the upstream
riverbanks, gas main, sewer, and Cramond Brig at
serious risk of erosion and damage. The weir is in
a noticeably poor state of repair and would appear
likely to further degrade in the future. This is
likely to alter passability for fish in unpredictable
ways and be a risk to the long-term success of
future improvement works unless action is taken.”
Officers found that completely removing the
barrier, which dates back to the 1600s and sits
180m downstream from the A-listed Cramond
Brig, would be the best option to aid fish
migration. However, the solution was opposed by
the local community, and proposals were drawn
up to create a ‘rock ramp’ instead.
In order to “enhance the historic fabric,” a
roughened slope will be constructed on the
downstream side of the weir to create the rock
ramp fishway. The estimated cost of the project is
between £900,000 and £1.6 million. Cllr Hal
Osler raised the issue of maintenance costs for the
new ramp, saying: “I’m a little nervous that there’sno understanding of how much maintenance
costs would be for this, it could place quite a large
burden on the city.”
Council environment officer Steven Cuthill
said that in the medium term removal of
sediment could be required, costing “probably
a few thousands pounds to do on occasion”.
He added monitoring at other local weirs
where changes to enhance fish migratory
conditions have been completed found
some debris including shopping trolleys had
been collected.
“None of these have actually caused any
blockage of the low flow channels and as a result
hasn’t required maintenance, intervention, other
than having to remove trolleys and such like,” Mr
Cuthill said.
“We’ve got an ageing structure at the moment
that will need quite substantial investment if it
was to remain in its current format.”