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Tribute act gigs at the Ross Bandstand are happening at the wrong place and wrong time, writes Kevin Buckle

I was disappointed to be accused on social media of being too cynical about the City Centre Transformation Plan consultation after last week’s column.

I’ve not had time to read the full City Centre Transformation Plan and the webcast for the transport and environment committee meeting is on while I write, but all the summaries seem agreed on what it is about.

Tomorrow is the first Open Streets event, in which a number of city centre streets will be closed to cars from noon to 5pm.

It was interesting to see the first shops being named for Edinburgh St James, even if they were just four different brands with one owner. No great surprise they were all clothing brands and it will be interesting to see what other types of retailer sign up and how many move from other locations.

I was shocked this week to see that Edinburgh council had almost tripled the rent of the Stills Gallery at the bottom of Cockburn Street. A petition had been set up and yes that confirmed “This year we face an almost trebling of our rent, from £16,000 a year to £47,000, which poses a huge threat to our future”.

Often when Avalanche was in the Grassmarket I would be met by a large group of whooping and boisterous folk as I left the shop after work. Undoubtedly annoying and certainly a little too noisy to say the least they would be making their way from one pub to the next on a stag do.

Whenever there is a major change in people’s behaviour it takes a while for those affected to adjust. This applies especially to businesses so whether it is folk no longer going to the pub or changing their shopping patterns the consequences are well documented.

Hot on the heels of the wise family of Verona in my column a few weeks ago who saw little wrong with Edinburgh I had a long conversation with a family from Copenhagen.

There have been lots of old customers from West Nicolson Street and Cockburn Street days visiting the new Waverley Mall shop, but what I didn’t expect was the large number of young people that have been in from our time in the Grassmarket which ended only a few years ago.

Recently I’ve seen figures quoted about Madrid’s closing of its city centre to cars last Christmas claiming it to be a great result for the businesses there

With Avalanche now reincarnated as Avalanche Gapinski at Waverley Mall I’ve been in every day this week as I find the only way to get a feel for a place and the customers is to be there.

News that Carol Grigor, often labelled as Scotland’s most generous arts patron, was leaving Scotland after changes in the UK’s “non-dom” tax laws threatened to wipe out the family fortune came just as ministers will be starting to consider the fate of the Royal High School Hotel after the public inquiry.

The sniping between the cycling lobby and motorists means it is impossible to reach agreement on how many parking spaces are needed in the city centre, says Kevin Buckle

Good to see that a new project manager for the proposed Old Town BID has been appointed. Currently there is a very one-sided competition between businesses in the New Town and Old Town with Essential Edinburgh representing many of the big businesses and institutions and the Old Town without any organised representation.

Good news this week that planning to develop the roof of Waverley Mall had been approved. There had been the usual talk of views being spoilt but thankfully common sense ruled the day.

With PledgeMusic in trouble and HMV’s future in the balance, record companies need to look at what sales models work best for artists and the people who buy their music, writes Kevin Buckle

Interesting times with news on HMV’s owners now not expected until next week. The longer it goes on the more it feels like the administrators KPMG are just putting off the awful day they have to announce Mike Ashley as the buyer. Either that or they are still desperately hoping for a good reason to sell to somebody else.

Much excitement on my Twitter feed on Thursday as it was announced that Topping & Company, the booksellers, were seeking permission to convert the Royal Bank of Scotland building in Blenheim Place.