In July last year, Spurtle responded to recent downpours by examining the current and long-term efficacy of Edinburgh’s £43M Water of Leith Flood Prevention Scheme (FPS).
As part of that, we reported the conclusion of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA):
Dear Spurtle,
As a resident of Broughton, I am becoming increasingly dismayed by the preponderence of estate agents' To Let & For Sale signs across the New Town. They seem to be breeding!
Surely they only serve to provide advertising for the estate agents rather than for the properties that they are attached to! In my opinion, these days, every potential customer uses the Internet to search for suitable properties rather than stumbling across a board on a particular street.
Twenty years ago, I lived in Westminster, where – even then – the Council had banned the use of boards as part of the City's World Heritage status. Surely Edinburgh's New Town, with similar status, should be able to offer residents and visitors alike the opportunity to enjoy the streetscape free of advertising.
Would the Spurtle be able to lobby the Council or lead a campaign for them to be banned? I realise that estate agents would be opposed, but would anyone else?
Gareth Parry
This morning we woke to a third day of miserable damp gloom.
It may seem grim. But Edinburgh has known worse.
The following article is extracted from a longer piece published in the Scotsman on 16 November 1929 – the day after weather conditions had combined with smoke from coal fires to spectacular effect.
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As first reported back in September, MMMARS Dundas Limited aims to demolish the existing structure and erect a new mixed-use development (residential, office, retail, and café/restaurant) at 108–14 and 116 Dundas Street (20/03923/PAN).
To avoid further binge-watching of US Presidential election coverage, one Spurtle correspondent today opted for a walk in the Botanics.
In no particular order, what follows is what they saw.
1. The usual peppering of young mothers and their little monkeys.
2. A short story on a wall.
Drum Property Group and CAMVO123 Ltd will seek public feedback on new proposals for the 2.9-acre site at Stead’s Place as part of their proposal of application notice for a major development.
As a companion piece to last month's 'Desecration of the Calton Hill', we reproduce this article from the North Briton (8 December 1877).
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As you read this, early copies of the November Spurtle are already filtering out across the barony like leaves borne on an Edinburgh autumn breeze. Horizontal, at high speed, and soggy.
Page 1 starts with reports about roads, rubbish, riverbank accommodation, a new place to stay, and an enormous inflatable monkey.
It continues on Page 2 by examining space and what to do with it, capital nuisances, fresh fish, a lack of therapy, and a movie-related fart in the dark in Warriston.