Fury over plans for five-star hotel in Edinburgh

A row has erupted over plans to turn the site of a former school in Edinburgh into a luxury hotel and retail mall. The site has been semi-vacant for nearly 50 years since the Royal High School moved to the outskirts of the Scottish capital. The developers Jones Lang LaSalle are meeting this week with shortlisted operators to draw up detailed plans for the conference and event facilities. Experts from the UK committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) will also visit Edinburgh this week to examine the impact of the proposals on the city’s heritage standing. Historic Scotland, the official architectural watchdog, has formally objected, arguing the development would cause “unacceptable harm” to the site and warning that it would refuse listed buildings consent, a legal requirement for the project to proceed. Now The Dunard Fund has offered more than £20m to convert the building to house St Mary’s music school, The move has raised claims of a “conflict of interest” as this plan is backed by James Simpson, a founding partner of architect firm Simpson & Brown, a vice-president for Scotland at Icomos. Edinburgh city councillor Cameron Rose claimed Simpson’s role “possibly brings into doubt the independence of Icomos”. Adam Wilkinson, director of Edinburgh World Heritage, told The Guardian newspaper that a decision to build the hotel would have huge repercussions. He said: “If the old Royal high proposals go through then it will be seen that our systems for protecting the world heritage site are not functioning as they should. Historic Scotland couldn’t state more clearly the impact on the world heritage site, and if it’s not working properly then there is absolutely a case for people from outside to investigate.”