Bill for restoring Princes Street Gardens costs firm £150,000
MORE than £150,000 was needed to reinstate the famous Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, after it was turned into a mudbath by the Christmas market.
More than 2.6 million people visited the controversial market, which was held at East Princes Street Gardens for seven weeks.
Pictures of the aftermath showed the gardens in a terrible state, as heritage campaigners urged for a rethink on mass tourism in the capital. Grass had been entirely worn away in places, and was severely discoloured in other areas.
It has now been revealed the cost of reinstating the gardens was more than £150,000 – three times higher than previous years.
Producers of the Christmas market, Underbelly, paid the City of Edinburgh Council in full for the works as it is part of their contract to deliver the event.
But the council also paid an additional £40,000 for drainage work on the site, which led to the delay in the gardens reopening fully to the public until just a few weeks ago.
Underbelly said this year there was more ground to reinstate following an expansion of the market for the first time, leading to an increase in cost.
The entertainment company said
“no decisions” had been made about 2020’s Christmas Market and Hogmanay, which are under threat due to coronavirus.
A spokesman said: “Edinburgh’s Christmas, produced by Underbelly, pays all the costs of reinstating the gardens and no costs are passed on to the council tax payer.
“The drainage works are for long term improvements to the Gardens and are not a direct result of the Winter Festivals taking place.
“While active discussions are continuing about the 2020 Winter Festivals, no decisions have been made.
“Every aspect of our thinking for 2020 puts Edinburgh’s residents, businesses and communities first.”
Conservative Lothian MSP Miles Briggs said the Christmas market and the Winter Festivals must be “in the best interests of Edinburgh”.
He said: “The dramatic increase in the cost for reinstatement works at East Princess Street Gardens shows the extent of damage caused by the
Winter Festival.
“While the Christmas Festival is a popular destination for residents and visitors in December, this must be weighed against East Princess Street
Gardens being inaccessible at other times in the year.”
Councillor Amy Mcneese-mechan, the city’s culture and communities vice-convener, said: “We appreciate everyone’s patience as work was under way to restore the garden.
“During this time we also took the opportunity to undertake drainage improvement works. The benefit of the drainage is that it will enable the lower lawn to recover much more quickly following heavy rainfall and allow our residents and visitors to have greater use.
“The council will discuss plans for this year’s Christmas and Hogmanay events once the appropriate public health advice is available.”
After the market, campaigners urged the city council to consider how it balances mass tourism with the
“climate emergency” declared by the local authority last May.
Terry Levinthal, director of the Cockburn Association, said he felt tourists were being given priority over residents.
Mr Levinthal said: “The implications these events have is that it removes green spaces for people who live in the city for much longer than the Christmas market takes place.
“All of these things have come to a point where we will be holding a public summit on it. It is increasingly recognised the impact that green spaces have on civic wellbeing and mental wellbeing.
“We have got to the point now where the commodification of the city is a major public concern.
“A climate emergency has been declared not only in the city but in the country, but there is a question over whether mass tourism is consistent with the imperative of dealing with the climate emergency.”
He described the Christmas markets as “super-sized” and said a family ticket for a ferris wheel – for two adults and two children – cost £28, saying it was out of the price range of many families.
Mr Levinthal added: “I think the feeling is tourists are given priority over residents.
“All of these things have come together and people are beginning to get cross.”
“To date, managing tourism has really been about marketing – but bigger is not better.
“We need to work on a more sustainable model, that starts from the perspective of improving things for people who live and work in the city.”
I think the feeling is tourists are given priority over residents