The Edinburgh Reporter January 2021

@EdinReporter /EdinReporter edinburghreporter theedinburghreporter.co.uk NEWS 7
Revised plans for £5 million Filmhouse take shape
Revised proposlas for a new
Filmhouse in Festival Square have
been revealed.
Now the plans - shaped and
formed by online consultation -
have been lodged with The City of
Edinburgh Council.
The £4.8 million building is
intended as a centre for Filmhouse
and The Edinburgh International
Film Festival.
Ken Hay, CEO of the Centre
for the Moving Image, which
incorporates both of these bodies
said the plans represented a lot of
effort over the years.
Rather than use the former
church building on Lothian Road
there has been talk for decades
of moving. Mr Hay said in a video
produced by Filmhouse CInema
Festival Square
Better Broughton just want
things to be - well, better, and
better in Broughton Street.
This is the main road leading
north from Picardy Place
roundabout towards the London
Street roundabout.
The group is not advocating on
behalf of cyclists, or pedestrians
or businesses - as what they
would like to see put in place
would actually benefit everyone.
The main aim of this, as yet
loosely constituted group,
is to create less space for
vehicles, more space for active
travel, including more room for
pedestrians - and they recommend
an uphill segregated cycle lane.
A segregated lane is included
the council's plans for Broughton
Street under Spaces for People
measures, but these are not
likely to be introduced under the
Covid-19 emergency measures
until January. Better Broughton
have already participated in the
democratic process behind the
new measures by submitting a
written deputation to the council's
Transport Committee.
They say on their website: "The
full potential of Broughton Street
is undermined by the fact that it is
frequently congested, and unsafe
for all road users. Footpaths are
too narrow, provision for cyclists
in non-existent, traffic frequently
speeds, pollution is often present,
and pedestrian crossing facilities
across the street, and the entrance
to side streets, are poor. We want
to see a street with safe crossing
that it was recognised quickly that
the building was not going to be
appropriate for the long term. He
said: "Simple things like disability
access stopped being a nice thing
to have and became absolutely
critical to have. Adapting the
190-year-old Georgian church with
its various add-on buildings to be
fully accessible was just one of
the issues."
The new Filmhouse will also
have spaces for community
engagement and learning, talent
and skills development, film
programming and audience
engagement, innovation and
enterprise, and networking to
benefit both Edinburgh and
Scotland's film industry.
The revised plan includes a
reduction in height with improved
access arrangements inside, and
detailed proposals for managing
the public space in what is
regarded as the Festival Square.
All the five auditoria (with double
the number of seats) will be on
one level underneath the Square.
There will be a rooftop terrace
and public viewpoint, a larger café
bar and separate restaurant, and
state of the art cinemas.
Asked about the impact of
Covid-19 on the Filmhouse project,
Mr Hay said that hopefully we will
get over the impact of Covid-19
points, where people can meet
and talk, and stay longer in local
shops and cafes, restaurants and
bars. Some comments at a recent
public meeting question whether
a segregated cycle lane would
prevent other infrastructure being
introduced later.
So this is a movement which is
just beginning and by no means
offering all the answers at once.
Discussion ensued around
whether Broughton might be the
ideal 15 minute neighbourhood,
with pointers to the Scottish Place
Standard and the Edinburgh Street
Guidance.
Architect David Jamieson has
produced lovely illustrative plans
to show what could be possible
if the traffic lanes were reduced,
and founder member, Piotr Mazur,
suggested introducing parklets,
particularly at the wide junction
with Broughton Place and Barony
Street about half way down,
making it a place to linger rather
than simply a place to pass
through. A parklet is something
like a bench usually made of wood
and often incorporating a bit of
greenery.
The council's interactive map
(edinburghspacesforpeople.
commonplace.is) shows in the
pop-out legend what people have
already said they would like to
see in their area. One of the other
points discussed was to introduce
measures to promote local
business - something like Totally
Locally which has had great
success elsewhere, beginning
and that the new Filmhouse will
take about five years to complete.
But he is also confident that
people will return to cinemas. He
said: "Nothing beats sitting in a
big dark space with a bunch of
strangers watching a film you
have no idea about. It plays out
in front of you in that communal
experience of enjoyment, fear or
Innovative new Filmhouse building
Better Broughton gets busy with improvement plans
in the north of England. It was
hoped that by promoting local
shopping, it would encourage
people to walk to the shops and
build relationships with the traders
in the street. There is a wide
range of shops here from Daniel
at Something Fishy to Crombies
Butchers on the opposite side of
the street. Then there is Joey D
and of course Fred Berkmiller who
runs the L'Escargot Edinburgh.
Former Labour councillor and
MP, Mark Lazarowicz, is a founding
member of the group. He chaired
the meeting which he concluded
by saying: "We all recognise you
cannot have everything, but we
think that what we need is ways
of looking at some moves in the
interim.
"So an uphill cycle lane would be
an advantage and we could then
look at the longer term aims for
the street. We just want to make
it better for active travel, cyclists
and pedestrians.
"We have spoken to local
businesses, and we don't think we
should just wait until something
happens. We want to be proactive.
"If you make a street better
for people to use with more
sustainable forms of travel then
you benefit local shops as well. It
is all a long term objective, but we
want to start doing things now,
and we will be discussing this with
the local community council.”
Keep an eye on this group which
could be going places
broughton.scot
terror, excitement or dismay."
Author Irvine Welsh added his
support to the new project.
He said: “Edinburgh can’t remain
bereft of cultural ambition.
"A custom built Filmhouse would
put the city on a par with some of
the great cinema capitals of the
world.
"It would be a marvellous
resource for our community and
provide a fitting home for the
world’s oldest international film
festival.
"Why settle for being an also ran
when you can be one of the very
best?”
www.newfilmhouse.com
Ready, steady, go for new plans?
The owners of Stead's Place on
Leith Walk, Drum Property Group,
have submitted a new planning
application.
The plans for the 2.9 acre site
include 146 apartments to the rear,
replacing the industrial units there
which would be demolished, and
refurbishment of the sandstone
building to the front. This would
become spaces for commercial
occupation, as it already is.
When Drum began the planning
process, it brought the commercial
leases of most of the occupiers
to an end. Only the Leith Depot
remains in place, but others such
as the Bed Shop and the Indian
Restaurant, Punjabi Junction, have
long since moved on. The majority
of the homes in the new scheme
would be build-for-rent and 36 are
earmarked for affordable housing
in line with planning requirements.
The buildings will be four and
five storeys high with what Drum
describe as significant green
space and access routes through
the site.
Graeme Bone, Group Managing
Director of Drum, said: “This new
planning application represents
a culmination of more than
three-and-a-half years of intense
planning, consultation and hard
work since Drum first purchased
the site in 2017.
"Our proposals will now bring an
added dimension to Leith Walk
and the wider area, transforming
what is currently an inhospitable
industrial site by creating an
attractive, open and accessible
homes-led community for
residents and visitors alike.
"This provides a comfortable
living environment, away from the
busy Leith Walk and linked through
accessible and landscaped
walkways and cycle routes to
Pilrig Park and the rest of the city.
“By retaining and refurbishing
the red sandstone buildings
facing on to Leith Walk, we are
also contributing to the wider
regeneration of the local area,
providing investment to create
an attractive and distinctive
destination and focal point which
is needed now, more than ever.
"We are pleased that our designs
have been well-received by the
local community throughout
an extensive and positive
consultation programme, and
now look forward to progressing
the application with the City of
Edinburgh Council.
“Our revised proposals will
maintain the red sandstone
building whilst incorporating
sympathetic design for the
residential quarter to the rear of
the site, creating a much-improved
access linking Leith Walk with
Pilrig Park.
"This will continue the traditions
of vibrancy and independence
which makes Leith Walk such an
exciting destination in which to
live, work and visit.”
This follows the earlier
application in 2018/19 which
was rejected by the council
and on appeal by the Scottish
Government Reporter.
www.steads-place.com