£75m hotel PR chief ‘too close’ to Government
CAMPAIGNERS have hit out after it was revealed a controversial former spin doctor will be handling PR for one of Scotland’s most contentious developments.
Jennifer Rober tson, who married SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson last year, will handle press and marketing for developers seeking to transform Edinburgh’s historic old Royal High School into a £ 75m luxury hotel.
The former special adviser to Alex Salmond previously came under fire when she was involved in arranging a £ 150,000 funding package for a Scottish music festival in 2015.
Now heritage campaigners insist her appointment by the hotel team last month represents a “clear conflict of interest” due to her links with the SNP.
The bid to turn the A- listed old Royal Hi g h School on Calton Hill into a posh hotel is one of the country’s most fiercely contested planning applications. Despite amassing high-profile support, critics have blasted the blueprints as “the architectural equivalent of drawing Mickey Mouse ears and a moustache on the Mona Lisa”.
The scheme was thrown out by Edinburgh Council in December 2015 but is currently the subject of an appeal to the Scottish Government.
Developers recently put this on hold to advance scaled-down plans, but these could also end up being ruled on by the Government.
Meanwhile, rival proposals to turn the 19th century building into a music school have been gaining support. Marion Williams, director of heritage group the Cockburn Association, which is fighting the hotel bid, said: “If Jennifer has been brought in, I think that’s a very strange move, given that it’s an SNP minister taking the decision on the appeal. It’s too close. It’s not reasonable.
It’s something we’d certainly highlight when we make our case. Do the developers really think nobody is going to take notice of this? It’s a bit of a gift to us.”
As project manager for promoters DF Concerts in 2015, Mrs Robertson brokered a meeting which resulted in £150,000 being pumped into T in the Park.
Critics questioned why a commercial event was given public funding – and raised fears of “cronyism”. But Watchdog Audit Scotland later found there had been no wrongdoing.
Mrs Robertson told The Sunday Post she was no longer involved in politics and would have no engagement with politicians in her new role.
She said: “Spey is a creative communications agency and has been appointed by the developers to do media relations and website design.
“We do not do public affairs or political engagement on this or any other project.”