Hotel protester facing £50k bill

AN activist who camped in a tree to protest against a hotel development is facing a crippling legal bill of up to £50,000 after losing his appeal against a court ruling.

Simon Byrom lived 20ft above ground in a sycamore for a week to demonstrate against a 225-bedroom hotel being built in a historic part of Edinburgh.

The community councillor slept in a tent which overhung wooden hoardings around the perimeter of the site in the city’s Cowgate.

He argued development plans would put the nearby Central Library at risk and destroy the unique atmosphere in the Old Town. He was backed by more than 5,000 people who signed a petition to protect the library and stop the hotel development.

But he says his home is now ‘on the line’ as he expects a legal bill of up to £50,000 following a Court of Session ruling.

Mr Byrom, 49, had appealed against Judge Lady Wise’s ruling in October that the council acted correctly when it allowed developers Dreamvale Properties to create a 225-bedroom hotel.

He said: ‘What’s more important than the money is the future of the Old Town and the reputation of the city. It didn’t go well and I was shown no mercy. I was told I was there to represent myself, not others.’

Dreamvale went to court to get him removed from the tree last year. It claimed it was unable to carry out work which had a significant financial impact on the city and argued the tent was potentially dangerous.

Lawyers acting for Mr Byrom argued that councillors failed to follow correct procedure when they granted permission for the scheme in November 2016.

But Lady Wise disagreed, concluding that the local authority had acted correctly.

Her judgment said ‘no errors in the decisionmaking process have been established’.