Edinburgh council rejects luxury hotel plan for former Royal High School

MSPs and business leaders were among those to speak at the meeting, at which it was claimed the latest designs strayed from the original brief in a contest won by the developers, set out in a conditional 125-year lease for the building.

Its backers include Edinburgh Airport chief executive Gordon Dewar and Marshall Dallas, of Edinburgh International Conference Centre, but heritage concerns prompted Unesco advisers to call for an investigation into how the city deals with planning issues in its World Heritage Site.

Councillors voted nine to six against.

Plans for a £25m rival project, pictured below, have also been lodged to move St Mary's Music School across the city into the building, but were not examined at the meeting.

Sarah Boyack, Lothian Labour MSP, told the committee she was a former pupil and in the first intake of girls at the Royal High School, but not in the Calton Hill building.

She said her “heart sank” when she saw the plans.

She said: “My view is that it is overdevelopment.

She said it failed to respect the landscape or the history, adding: "I think in the long run it will damage our World Heritage status.”

Alison Johnstone, Lothian Green MSP, said the Hamilton building “cemented our reputation as the Athens of the North”.

She said the proposals will “obliterate the site” and it means removing 26 of 29 trees.

She said: “There is a list as long as your arm of policies that this flies in the face of.

“It almost goes without saying that this would threaten our World Heritage status."

Future generations would view it as “historical and cultural vandalism", she added.

Edinburgh World Heritage Trust's Adam Wilkinson said the classical buildings, below, would be "dwarfed".

Marion Williams, of the Cockburn Association, said there is "too much risk and too much at stake to grant this proposal".

Mr Dewar, also board member of VisitScotland, told the committee the building is a wasted asset and said bringing Rosewood Hotel Group, which will operate the hotel, was a positive move.

He said luxury brands sell in Scotland and that "there is ever more growing demand for world tourism, the question is will we get our fair share of the pie".

He said: "We are selling £10,000 bottles of whisky once a week."

Graham Birse, of Edinburgh Napier University and the Edinburgh Business Forum, said that "for some time now thee has been a shortage of five star bed space in Edinburgh".

He said: "Edinburgh's ambition must always to be to achieve best in class.

"This proposal is the result of a process commissioned by the city council.

"The council has been consistent that hotel is the most viable option for this site."

He added that the hotel guest profile would offer "higher spend per head than any other".

Bruce Hare, of Duddingston House Properties, said the development team had held workshops, consultations, public viewings and over 60 private showings and had responded to key points put forward by the council as a result of the findings.

They had reacted to other concerns raised such as changing the wings and façade, he said.

Gareth Hoskins, project architect, said: “We have responded to those points that have been put forward by the council.”

Mr Hare said: “I think Gareth’s design will add to the outstanding universal value (of the World Heritage Site) in the future.”

It was claimed the proposals for the former boys' school, which opened in 1829 but unused since 1968 when the school was relocated, would create up to 640 in the hotel jobs and contribute on average around £30 million annually to the local economy.

Adam Wilkinson, Director of Edinburgh World Heritage said: “We are very pleased that councillors have supported the view of their officers, Historic Environment Scotland and Edinburgh World Heritage. This decision demonstrates that the system of protection for the World Heritage Site is functioning. We look forward to the council moving forward with the St Mary’s Music School proposals as swiftly as possible.”

A spokeswoman for the development team said: “We are obviously disappointed with the decision today. We put forward a proposal that matched the brief we were given, and both the planning and economic development departments of the council acknowledged the exceptional economic benefits it would deliver.

"Our contract with City of Edinburgh Council remains in place and we will now reflect on today’s outcome and consider our next steps. We remain committed to find a solution that ensures Edinburgh will not miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure a fully-funded and sensitive restoration of this important building.”        

Gareth Hoskins, Managing Director of Hoskins Architects, said: “This was always going to be a tough decision for councillors.  I remain confident that this is not just an ambitious design but a sensitive and appropriate proposal that would revitalise

"Thomas Hamilton’s iconic building and breathe new life into Calton Hill for the people of Edinburgh and visitors alike.  We will now take some time to review our options on how to take this important project forward.”