Edinburgh bus station: Owners say they could extend lease after all or even sell site to council

The pension fund which owns Edinburgh bus station in St Andrew Square has told the council it is willing to consider renewing the lease after all - or even selling the site to the local authority.

It was revealed earlier this week that Coal Pension Properties, which manages property investments for a coal industry workers’ pension scheme, had indicated it did not intend to continue leasing the site when its current agreement with the council runs out in 2027. 

The bus station lease expires in 2027 and owners Coal Pension Properties had indicated they were not planning to renew it, but now they say they are willing to consider renewal or even a sale of the site.

But in an apparent change of heart, it is understood the fund contacted the council and discussions have now taken place. Council transport convener Scott Arthur said: “They say they are open to either the council perhaps extending the lease or even buying the site from them.”

Cllr Arthur told the Evening News: “The bus station is a key part of Edinburgh’s sustainable transport infrastructure and I’m disappointed a pension fund would consider putting its future at risk. I’m pleased they are open to negotiations around the council either buying or leasing the site.

“I’ve discussed it with council officers and they will bring a report to committee after the summer, which will look at the future of the bus station, including leasing, purchase or alternative locations within central Edinburgh.”

The current 20-year lease runs out in September 2027. There are no obvious alternative locations for the bus station if it was forced to move from its current site. One possibility said to be under consideration was to use Ingliston park and ride site near the airport.

In a video on Friday evening, Cllr Arthur said: “I was not surprised to see so many people were concerned at the news that the people who own the lease of it might be unwilling to renew it when it comes up for renewal in 2027.

“It’s a pension fund that currently owns that lease and they’re reviewing their options. Personally, I have a pension and I expect that pension to be invested sustainably, so if it was my pension fund that was thinking of demolishing a bus station and perhaps replacing it with something like a hotel I wouldn’t think that reflected my values or the values of my pension fund. It does not seem like the best decision to make in 2024 in the middle of a climate emergency.”

But he said the council was taking the matter very seriously. “We have had negotiations with the pension fund today and it seems they are open to renewing that lease in 2027. Of course ‘open’ to renewing the lease isn’t the same as the terms being possible for the council to accept in terms of cost and perhaps other restrictions it comes with. Nonetheless, there is a starting point for negotiation there.”

However, he indicated the council would also have to look at other possible sites should the talks on renewing the lease fall through. “I do think the buses that currently come into the city centre do need to have a place where they can come right into the city centre and where the drivers can access welfare facilities as well. The notion it could be run from the edge of the city, almost like a park-and-ride, I’m less than convinced.”