City set to pledge £5m for new outdoor concert arena
A new concert arena in Edinburgh’s West Princes Street Gardens is set to win a £5 million funding pledge – after plans to hand over control of the park to an arms-length operator were dropped in the wake of a public backlash.
A rescue deal for a longawaited replacement of the Ross Bandstand will see the city council retain full responsibility in return for helping to bankroll a £25m revamp.
Design and fundraising work on the project is expected to begin within weeks on the new facilities, which could host up to 200 events a year if councillors endorse new proposals. However a planned completion has been pushed back from 2021 to 2023 due to shelving the plans for an arms-length body to run the gardens, the arena and a visitor centre. The £5m will only be paid out if the remaining funding is secured by the Ross Development Trust, which was set up by Apex Hotels chain founder Norman Springford. Councillors previously said there would be no call on the taxpayer.
An official report said there was a need for a new “developer agreement” to be drawn up to ensure the“continuation of the project.” The council was asked to contribute after pledging £5 m for a concert hall in the New Town, £4m for an overhaul of the King’s Theatre and £1m for Leith Theatre’s restoration.
Paul Lawrence, the council’s executive director of place, said: “The council has not made any financial commitment to the infrastructure development or there development of the bandstand. This funding would only be used in the event the trust secures 80 per cent of the project costs from external sources.”
The council has insisted there will be no additional “major events” allowed in the gardens, above a current cap of five. It has previously stated that a run of concerts staged there under the banner of a festival counts as one event.
Less than a third of those who took part in a survey on the plans for the gardens were in favour of handing over any control, while almost half were opposed. Although more than half of the 1,200 people surveyed backed the overall vision, just over a third said a replacement bandstand was a priority. Nearly half of those polled wanted the gardens retained for “enjoyment and relaxation,” as well as “areas of tranquility.”
Trust managing director David Ellis said: “It was clear that the public were not in favour of the council giving up the day to day management of the gardens. We’ve worked closely with the council to come up with a new solution.”