East Princes Street Gardens to remain out of bounds indefinitely as revamp drags on into summer

One of Edinburgh’s flagship parks is set to remain out of bounds indefinitely after council chiefs decided to put a new drainage system in as part of an overhaul in the wake of the city’s controversial Christmas market.

East Princes Street Gardens is still being restored following Edinburgh's Christmas market.

Council officials are still unable to say when East Princes Street Gardens, which has not been fully open to the public for around 18 months, will be fully restored – 14 weeks after Edinburgh’s winter festival ended.

Specialist contractors have been called to overhaul the drainage facilities in the lower gardens two months after they became badly waterlogged due to prolonged bad weather.

The introduction of social distancing measures last month has also held up the work in the gardens, which were expected to be returfed by now.

It could now be well into the summer before full access to the lower lawn is restored and the council has warned there could be further delays in the event of more bad weather or an escalation of the current Covid-19 restrictions.

The gardens have not been fully open since work on a revamp of the Scottish National Gallery, including relandscaping a large part of the park, began in the autumn of 2018.

Work to resoil and returf newly-created embankments on the north side of the gardens also needs to be complete before the revamped gardens can be enjoyed properly.

Controversy flared last October when it emerged that winter festival producers Underbelly had been given approval from the council to erect new scaffolding across the gardens under an expansion of the market agreed as part of an extension of the company’s £800,000 annual contract to produce the city’s Christmas and Hogmanay events.

The market opened even though Underbelly did not have planning permission for the new infrastructure. Heritage groups have demanded it is scaled back in future years due to its impact on the gardens, which date back to 1771.

Although Underbelly pay to hire the gardens from the city council and also have to meet the costs of reinstating the gardens, the cost of the new drainage system is to be met by the council because it is related to bad weather, although the final bill is not yet known.

The local authority said it had “taken the opportunity to do drainage works which will a long-term benefit within the gardens.”

The latest delays have emerged days after the council insisted that its parks would be remaining open as “a haven for us all” during the lockdown.

Edinburgh's Christmas market attracted more than 2.6 million visitors during the city's most recent winter festival.

A spokeswoman for the city council said: “Our contractors are working in East Princes Street Gardens to progress and complete the reinstatement works, as well as improvements to the drainage of the lower lawn.

“To allow them to do so safely and in line with strict government guidance, there is currently no public access, to ensure the protection of staff and the public. The team are working as quickly as they can in unprecedented times.

“The next stage is to carry out soiling and turfing of the embankments, two of which will need to be accessed from the upper tier.

“The biggest issue is the safe movement of staff and equipment throughout the site, especially deliveries of bulk materials (soil and drainage materials) being brought to site by HGV.

“We will restore public access to sections of the gardens as soon as it is safe to do so. Although much progress is being made, this could be halted at any time by a run of poor weather, a supplier difficulty or a Covid-19 incident or policy change. Safety and following guidance must be priority.

“Whilst we fully recognise the importance of the gardens to residents of the city centre at this time, we also need to ensure that the reinstatement and drainage improvement works are able to be properly undertaken and the area is protected to allow the turf to fully establish so that the gardens can be enjoyed by all when the time is right.

“West Princes Street Gardens remain fully accessible and will remain so throughout the summer months.”

Cliff Hague, chair of the Cockburn Association heritage watchdog, said: “While Princes Street Gardens are enjoyed by people from around the world, for many households it is their local park.

“People are angry with the damage that has been done, and the disregard for their concerns about surrendering much-loved green space to commercial purposes.

“Sadly, the dreadful mess in the gardens detracts from the important message about public parks being ‘a haven for us all’ during the coronavirus lockdown.

“After the lockdown we need to unlock our parks from commercial handcuffs and see them instead as vital for community cohesion and wellbeing.”

Underbelly director Charlie Wood said: “We’re pleased to learn that the council is making improvements to the gardens, for their long-term benefit.”

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