Seeing the wood for the trees on Princes Street - Kevin Buckle

A view of the Edinburgh skyline showing the Balmoral Clock and Princes Street.

So when I saw that three community councils had banded together to label Princes Street “an embarrassment” it reminded me that it has been a while since there has been this sort of news in the paper.

Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that long since people were up in arms over the plans for George Street, but certainly it feels like there has been a lull in Edinburgh’s notorious planning wars recently.

Funnily enough it reminded me that while the council were being taken to task for the lack of trees in George Street, they had also recently put forward the idea that close to home for me, the Waverley Market roof should be covered in trees.

I stopped paying attention to all the controversies over cycle lanes some time ago but I do know that whenever I am on Princes Street the majority of cyclists I see are actually delivering food.

The statement from the New Town & Broughton, Old Town and West End community councils says Princes Street is “urgently in need of a plan for ongoing regeneration and restoration”.

It continues “Our members are aware that Princes Street has fallen into poor condition. For many years there has been no clear and agreed view for its future. The street has become an embarrassment for residents and visitors alike.”

Strong words indeed, especially as the council thinks it has a plan in their Princes Street and Waverley Valley draft strategy, revealed last year.

The very strategy that suggests that instead of my shop being hidden under a sprawling collection of pubs, as happened previously, it should instead be covered by a small forest.

As regular readers will know there are now new plans for the roof from the owners of Waverley Market, which I hear will involve an element of greenery.

To be fair to the council, they did eventually realise that there were never going to be enough businesses wanting or able to afford a shop on Princes Street, so some of the buildings being converted into hotels was the only solution.

But in the same way nobody seemed to think through what the opening of the St James Quarter would mean to the city centre, I’m not sure things will be as expected once all these hotels are built and running.

The statement also says that the strategy lacks priorities and timescales and I do have some sympathy with that, in that while post-pandemic things are certainly different, it has become the fallback excuse for projects taking far longer than might be expected or nothing happening at all.

Without doubt Princes Street is one of Europe’s premier streets and with the Gardens opposite it will always be impressive even with its flaws.

So while the community councils do make some valid points, hopefully in a year or two they will be happier with how it looks.