John McLellan: Ross Bandstand could turn into new Royal High

The future of the Ross Bandstand looks like developing into a symbol of all that's wrong with the way Edinburgh manages its assets.

Everyone agrees the out-of-date Princes Street Gardens arena is urgent need of replacement and along comes a private trust to take on the cost of redevelopment.

The council was more than happy for this to happen, but it seems not so happy to foot the bill for its upkeep.

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The Trust admits this should have been thrashed out first, but maybe it can run it on commercial lines so the revenue will support the maintenance? Wait a minute, isn’t that privatising a public asset? And what about over-use? We don’t want Princes Street Gardens turning into an open-air Glasgow Apollo, do we?

Like the old Royal High, this saga will run for years and don’t be surprised if the new bandstand plans never get off the drawing board and the city is saddled with a decaying lump of concrete no-one can use.

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