LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Plans for a new city centre concert hall for Edinburgh are back on track following IMPACT Scotland (the developer of the concert hall) and Edinburgh St James (the developer of the Edinburgh St James site) reaching an agreed way forward to work together.

The positive outcome came from a process of mediation, initiated by the City of Edinburgh Council, and led by Stephen O’Rourke QC. It was agreed that:


· IMPACT Scotland will submit a revised planning application;


· The City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh St James will jointly seek the permission of the Court of Session for the appropriate disposal of the current Judicial Review proceedings; and


· IMPACT Scotland and Edinburgh St James will work in partnership to strengthen ongoing dialogue and work together to ensure the successful delivery and then operation of the new concert hall within the context of the wider regeneration of the area.


Sir Ewan Brown, Chair of IMPACT Scotland, said:
“Our ambition is to create a world-class concert hall for Edinburgh and Scotland. To deliver this timeously we have made significant changes to the concert hall plans in order to reflect the sensitivities of the site and the needs of our neighbours. We are hugely encouraged by the positive discussions we have had with Edinburgh St James and the City of Edinburgh Council and look forward to continuing to work with them to deliver a world-class concert hall.”


Martin Perry, Director of Nuveen Real Estate said:
“We welcome the initiative to substantially reduce the size of the concert hall and we are happy to work with IMPACT Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council as IMPACT Scotland develops a new design which addresses our principal concerns. We hope the new design will better accord with the aspirations for this quarter of the city.”


Adam McVey, the Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council said:
“I am delighted that agreement has been reached between the parties to get the concert hall back on track. This is an important new venue for our city and in one of the most sustainable locations, with fantastic public transport connections. We will now work with IMPACT Scotland and Edinburgh St James to continue the delivery of the regeneration of the east end of the city centre.”

 

BACKGROUND
August 2018 – IMPACT Scotland submitted a planning application for a concert hall immediately behind, and directly connected to, Royal Bank of Scotland at 36 St Andrew Square (“Dunard Centre”).
April 2019 – City of Edinburgh Council granted planning consent for the concert hall.
July 2019 – Edinburgh St James (through Nuveen Real Estate) petitioned the Court for Judicial Review, contending that City of Edinburgh Council had failed to follow proper procedures in granting the planning consent.
December 2019 – IMPACT Scotland paused all work on Dunard Centre.