Edinburgh to demolish 200-year-old mews houses
Councillors in Edinburgh are likely to give the go-ahead this week for the demolition of a row of 200-year-old mews houses behind the city's Charlotte Square, as developers seek to transform the area into an international-level business centre.
Developers are hoping to take down the decrepit mews buildings in Hope Street Lane, and planning officers have recommended that councillors vote the plans through.
The recommendation of approval has come despite reservations expressed by Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, who said that the move was regrettable. Spokesman, Euan Leitch, said that the buildings were exceptionally rare.
"These buildings are at the back of the townhouses and so are of less architectural interest, but their historical relationship with those townhouses is still important and this is one of the sole remainders of that in the area," he said. "We would prefer to see conservation and restoration of the fabric that's already there and the different layers of history that are already there."
The company behind the development, Fordell Estates, said that the their plans for the site - which would see a garden glass atrium constructed where the mews currently stand - would hopefully attract financial institutions and investment to the historic square.
The council's planning chief, John Bury, said there was precedent for the demolition. He explained, "The mews were previously consented for demolition in both 1988 and 1994. Whilst these consents were never taken up, the overall principle of demolition of these particular buildings remains acceptable."
