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[email protected]Editor: Phyllis Stephen
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Photos: Martin P McAdamDonate anchor.fm YouTube
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ACCORDING TO The Times the Secretary of
State for Scotland, Alister Jack, Nadine
Dorries, the former Culture Secretary (who
thought that Channel Four was publicly
funded), and the former Cop26 president,
Alok Sharma, have all been nominated for
peerages in Boris Johnson’s resignation
honours. All three are serving MPs and will
probably defer their honours until the end
of this parliament, so delaying any by-
elections. There are apparently many friends
and cronies on the list including David Ross
who funded the former Prime Minister’s
holiday to Mustique, and some of the
youngest appointees who were former
Downing Street advisers.
There does not seem to be a timetable for
a former Prime Minister listing their faves
after demitting office - and also, following
her resignation, we have to wait to find out
if the shortest serving prime minister in
history, Liz Truss, takes the opportunity to
do this. There will however be a New Year
Honours List at the end of the month - the
first in the name of the King.
The SNP do not accept any honours, but
they did take an action to the UK Supreme
Court to determine whether or not The
Scottish Parliament could unilaterally pass
legislation to hold a second independence
referendum next October. The unanimous
decision of the court determined that the
Scottish Government requires UK
Government consent before holding a
future referendum.
The matter put to the court was that the
referendum would pose the question
‘Should Scotland be an independent
country?’. This deals with ‘reserved matters’- so there would have to be an Order in
Council as there was in 2014. This was a
temporary transfer of powers to hold a
referendum signed into law in the
Edinburgh Agreement. As a rerun of this
scenario seems unlikely under Prime
Minister Sunak, Nicola Sturgeon has
declared that the SNP will contest the next
General Election on the single issue of
independence. Political commentators
suggest she uses a Scottish election instead.
Meantime, I wish you a Happy Christmas
mingling with those you want to be with.
Phyllis Stephen, Editor
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ter.ooo/subscribePlanning News
Dear Editor,
With the winter nights drawing in,
there’s no doubt that Christmas is
fast approaching.
In the North Pole, Santa and his elves
are busy getting ready to give every
child a magical Christmas.
Santa is once again expecting to
receive millions of letters from children
around the world with endless lists of
what they’d like to receive in their
stockings when the big day arrives.
To ensure children living with a vision
impairment in the UK get a reply from
Santa, he has teamed up with the Royal
National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
to make his letters available in accessible
formats, including audio and large print.
This year, Santa’s friends at card
company Hallmark have also helped him
write replies in Braille. This means that
every child with a vision impairment canread their letter independently.
Last year, the elves sent more than
1,400 letters from Santa to blind and
partially sighted children across the UK,
helping them experience the same
magic of Christmas as sighted children.
If you know a child who has a vision
impairment and who would love to
receive a letter from Santa, send their
Christmas letter to: Santa Claus, RNIB,
Northminster House, Northminster,
Peterborough, PE1 1YN.
Santa can receive letters through his
email address.
Email [email protected] by Tuesday
20 December for an email response with
a large print attachment.
Letters can also be requested through
RNIB’s website at http://www.rnib.org.uk/santa.
On behalf of Santa, his elves and all at
RNIB, we wish you a Merry Christmas!
Michael Owen, footballerHIDDEN DOOR Festival has just
announced that the 2023
immersive event will take place at
15 Dalkeith Road. It is an amazing
building inside and we looked
into the history - and the current
planning position.
Outline plans were submitted in
May this year for a mixed use
redevelopment of the former
Scottish Widows site, followed by
a public consultation on the £
million development.
In late September final plans
were submitted to the council for
redevelopment of the site which
would include partial demolition,
the redevelopment of the office
building and the addition of 194
houses in five blocks.
There will be 68 affordable
homes included in that number,
although Southside Community
Council noted that this was all to
be contained in one block which
they take objection to, and they
have noted that most flats are
smaller and not suitable for
families. Their biggest concern is
that the planned development is
shown as seven storeys high. The
community council says that
given that the building line will be
nearer to the road, the blocks willbe more intrusive to those living
opposite who will lose a lot of
daylight to their homes.
The last date for comments
has passed and planning
permission is due to be
determined by 21 January 2023.
The history of the Scottish
Widows site is interesting. The site
extends to 2.5 hectares and was
previously the home of Thomas
Nelson’s Parkside Works. Nelson
founded a second hand bookshop
at 2 West Bow and in 1839 he
founded a publishing firm alongwith his two sons at Hope Park
near The Meadows. This was
destroyed in a fire in 1878,
prompting a move to Dalkeith
Road which was home to Scottish
Widows from 1976.
The printworks sounds nothing
like the existing 1970s glass faced
building. It was designed and
built in ornate Scots baronial style
with turrets, towers and crow
stepped gables.
The Parkside works closed after
the publisher merged with the
Thomson Organisation in 1962.Developer Ronald Lyons bought
the site and obtained planning
permission. Scottish Widows
bought it from him at a premium
which was intended to make up for
his loss of anticipated profit.
The Board of Scottish Widows
had instructed a move to a new site
in 1969 from St Andrew Square.
Surveyors Bernard Thorpe sought
out the most suitable location
within Edinburgh, but outside the
city centre. Plentiful parking and
easy travel were two main points in
the brief. (It was after all 1969).Letters to the editor
The A-listed
building is made
up of 12 hexagons