Shop on the Prom

[wangi]

Portobello shopkeepers will be celebrating a boost to local business following the announcement of two projects that will see the town become the must-visit destination for 'staycation' Brits this summer.

It will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday 30 May) that Scotland’s leading charity for the environment, Keep Scotland Beautiful, has awarded Portobello, Edinburgh’s Seaside, with the coveted ‘Resort Status’ Beach Award.

Meanwhile the City of Edinburgh Council has launched a scheme, ‘Shop on the Prom’, to promote links between the Promenade and the High Street through a 'shop window reflection' visual display located next to the Fun City amusement arcade.

Porty Pusses Promotion on Prom by Lee Kindness, on Flickr

Shop on the Prom. Promoting Portobello High St on the Prom (although it's still a bloody mess on that site!)

[Pal of Porty]

I never knew about - I would have been totally up for it!

[Porty]

Great idea!!

[Mark Cameron]

That is good news.

Also noticed in the EEN tonight that there is a govt. proposal to look at rates for empty high street units to try to revitalise High Streets....hopefully more good news to promote business into Porty.

W need to ensure PCC don't comment 'on our behalf' against any future proposals for new business without consultation having taken place first.

[Sceptic]

What does Portobello High Street have to attract shoppers?
Charity Shops?
One of the best butcher's in Scotland, although you can buy from Joe Findlay online.
A good wine shop, but again Fine Wines are available online.
An excellent Barber Shop in Bluto. A Very Good Fishing Tackle Store with Mike.
Little else. We have had a shop waiting for a fast food franchise for long enough.
What is there to attract someone from going to Morrison's, ASDA, Sainsbury's or Tesco?
Am I being true to form, sceptical?

[Mark Cameron]

Yes you jolly well are.....

I thik there are two strands to understand a way forward

1) What trades do locals want on their High Street and whow do we get more to shop locally.

2) I think we need to understand why people currently come to Porty or what is likely to bring future visitors here.

Is it the beach or is it something else? Seems to me its the beach and if that is the draw what are the services visitors are likely to want when here.

I'm not sure if there has ever been a study into this or whether we can find evidence from other successful seaside towns to demonstrate which traders are most successful?

[Pal of Porty]

Sceptic - I agree that there is tons of work to done to make Portobello more attractive but I think your list could have been expanded to add the following:

* A very good Fishmonger that has graced Porty High Street since the 1930's
* The new Victor Hugo deli, which was originally started in the 1940's
* In- House design
* Cove

[Makaveli]

You are forgetting Malvarosa which is excellent too.

[cocoa]

I read an interesting article a few weeks ago about the demise of the high street, the conclusion was that you need to offer something different, to be a destination shopping experience. I think in Portobello we are ideally placed to be able to do just that, instead of seeing the charity shops as a negative when you put them together with molly sugars, Maratha's attic, and Friday street add in some cool arty shops like cove, in house design and Annie and Bells some nice hip places to eat like victor hugos, the beach house, Malvarosa and the soon to arrive skylark, what begins to emerge is a mix very like stockbridge in the 80's. If I ruled the world I would try to get the charity shops to stop competing with each other and all have a specialism. What could be better than a day out searching for collectibles, clothes, and quirky one off bits of art, a nice lunch, a stroll along the prom, and pick up dinner at the same time from the excellent butchers, fishmongers or deli?

[regent]

Earthy, bluto's, williamsons, findlay's, wood wares, block buster, piza hut, cove, opticiansx2 chemist x 3 , card shop, Annie and belle, semi chem, scotmid, sweet shops 2, estate agent x 3, chiropodists, multiple hair dressers, range of cafe, take away, greggs, bike shop, fishing shop, nurseries, highland fling, cash brokers, swimming pool, Portovello, community centre, enjoyable, Joppa tennis courts, pits, golf club, wool shop, plumbers, decorators ,
pubs, sailing club, orcadia, cubs, bb's newsagents, florists, banks, indoor bowls, outdoor bowling clubs plus plus, Molly sugars, mart has attic, wine shop, bingo..........I getting bored the list is so long. I use all of the above except the bingo. Things are not bad in porty, there is room for improvement. Let's support these guys and hopefully others will follow. I didn't say wood wares I go in there at least weekly.

[regent]

I did say wood wares!

[Pal of Porty]

You are forgetting Malvarosa which is excellent too.

I agree - I was hoping just to provide a wee spark for others to throw in their views too!

[fresian]

Reckon they could at least pull it forward onto the Prom itself and hide the broken up concrete. Although to be honest the prom itself could do with a bit of decent landscaping, possibly with some good feature lighting ( which I would be more than happy to design). So how about getting CEC or some other funding to encourage a bit of urban regeneration.

[Makaveli]

You are forgetting Malvarosa which is excellent too.

I agree - I was hoping just to provide a wee spark for others to throw in their views too!

I think Regent pretty much covered them all on their post!!!

[regent]

Yes it was wine o'clock when I wrote it. Sorry bit OCD and OTT but I was feeling the porty magic!

[Mark Cameron]

Lovin your work Regent

[Silver Surfer]

Like the idea of the posters except they aren't hiding anything. Unfortunately! Help! We need a bigger fence.

[Lizzie]

I walked along the prom today to find the posters have gone - they have all been blown down and are lying in amongst all the rubble!

[Silver Surfer]

So we have more mess to live with at this end of the Prom! This is the popular end and is the worst looking giving visitors a bad idea of Portobello and the people who live here. Surely something more permanent is required?

[BeachBum]

The whole thing was half arsed.

Who was the mastermind of the scheme?

Im sure it looked good on paper, delivery not so good though.

[Lizzie]

So we have more mess to live with at this end of the Prom! This is the popular end and is the worst looking giving visitors a bad idea of Portobello and the people who live here. Surely something more permanent is required?

Yes I agree the whole Fun City site is the biggest eyesore in Portobello!!

[Grunk]

The issue is that it can't be developed, because no matter what the plans are a campaign group will sprout up against it.
The last plan, I think, was for a modest amount of housing, some greenspace and more shops.

but much better to have a vacant site. Same with the site at Baileyfield. we really need a place to keep old tyres.

[Maria]

Planning consent for flats was granted, so the site will be developed Grunk.

The mesh posters were meant to cope with the wind, but obviously the weather was a tad beyond the norm!

[Grunk]

Really, I didn't realise that, I thought there was still an issue with some of the flats being 5 storeys instead of 4 or something.

[Maria]

When I looked up the planning portal for the application (09/00248/FUL ) it does give the status of the application as 'pending', but here's an old post from Porty about the decision;

From Minutes of the Sub-Dev Committee meeting 16/12/2009- not exactly a foregone concusion.

3 1 Pipe Lane, Edinburgh - Flats

The Sub-Committee considered a planning application (ref. 09/00248/FUL) for the demolition of amusement arcade and the erection of 73 flats with associated underground parking, amusement arcade and café with landscaped public and private gardens, at 1 Pipe Lane, Edinburgh. The site was located at the western end of the promenade at Portobello and extended to 0.6 hectares in area.

The Head of Planning reported on the application and the planning considerations involved. The scheme had been the subject of extensive community consultation and the original scheme had been revised. In summary, he considered that the revised proposals would introduce a positive element to the promenade frontage and would maximise the historic environment of the kilns. He recommended that planning permission be granted subject to conditions. A total of 90 letters of representation had been received.

Councillor Hawkins, as a local ward member, said that there was considerable opposition to the proposals from local residents and he considered it to be contrary to the Design Brief for this site and likely to have a detrimental effect on the setting of the promenade and the kilns and on the amenity of the surrounding area.

Motion

To grant planning permission, as recommended by the Head of Planning, with a further condition to be added in regard to ‘landscaping/fencing’ (relative to gardens, etc. for the flats) and subject to a prior legal agreement, as detailed in the report by the Head of Planning.

- moved by Councillor Lowrie, seconded by Councillor Rose.

Amendment

That the Sub-Committee be minded to refuse planning permission on grounds principally that it was contrary to the guidance contained in the North-West Portobello Development Brief regarding the promenade frontage; that the height and design, and materials proposed, were inappropriate for this key site; that the importance of the setting of the kilns and their historical character and attraction were not respected in the design, and that the development would result in over-shadowing of the promenade and the beach – with the Head of Planning requested to report back on suitable wording of these reasons.

- moved by Councillor Child, seconded by Councillor Hinds.

Voting

For the motion - 7
For the amendment - 7

There being an equality of votes cast, the Convener gave his casting vote in favour of the motion.

Decision

To resolve to grant planning permission, as recommended by the Head of Planning and with a further condition to be added in regard to ‘landscaping/fencing’, and subject to a prior legal agreement and other informatives, as detailed in the report by the Head of Planning.

(Reference – by the Head of Planning, 16 December 2009, submitted.)

[Silver Surfer]

Can understand the Financial problems that probably exist now but does that mean the state of things are allowed to go on? Surely if a wall falls/is knocked down by the elements round ones property it is attended to and what of the rest of the wall - is it safe or will it be due for collapse with the next storm?