EDINBURGH council bosses have ordered large boards erected around Princes Street Gardens be taken down after outrage from locals.
During the festival season, the Ross bandstand at the west end of the gardens is being used as the venue for Edinburgh’s Summer Session, run by DF concerts.
Tom Jones played earlier this month, and Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys is due to perform next weekend.
The promoter, keen to keep the gigs exclusive to their paying punters, has fenced off large parts of the park with large, black, panels.
Not only was the view obscured, but the benches that line Princes Street also had barriers put in front of them to stop anyone standing up and peering over the edge of fence.
Residents complained that their public spaces were being sacrificed for private profit.
A picture of the barrier blocking off the gardens from view was shared widely on Twitter.
Green MSP Andy Wightman tweeted: “Princes Street Gardens are common land - part of the Common Good Fund. Time to change the law & given citizens greater democratic control”.
Over a photo of the wall, Bella Caledonia’s editor Mike Small tweeted: “This image doing the rounds will be remembered. It’s the moment large sections of Edinburgh went from Festival sceptics to actively anti-Festival. The commodification of public space and the endless profiteering far outweighs any culture experience.”
Resident, Ian MacPhail tweeted: “the fence here is unnecessary, it is overkill and – above all – it represents a jackboot approach to [mis]appropriate a collective public garden. This is no way to showcase Scotland.”
Gill Maxwell, a director of the Scottish Music Centre leapt to the fence’s defence.
“Of course there’s a fence,” she said. “Just like every other commercial gig that takes place in outdoor (rented) spaces like Glasgow Green, Bellahouston, Kelvingrove, Castle Esplanade, Scone Palace, Linlithgow Palace, etc etc. Should non-ticket buyers be able to see commercial gigs for free?”
But Adam McVey, leader of the SNP Edinburgh City Council, said he was “deeply concerned that the special character of Princes Street and the Gardens [was] being seriously undermined by the erection of these barriers.”
He added: “While ticketed events can provide a strong use for the current facilities as we look to take forward a newly developed bandstand for the capital, these events cannot be to the detriment of the city.
“I’ll be working with Council officers to explore how we can remove these barriers as soon as possible to reinstate what are public views and I’ll be seeking assurances that this doesn’t reoccur for any future events.”
The National was unable to contact DF yesterday.
The Summer Sessions were marketed as “Edinburgh’s newest music festival”.
Bastille and The Vaccines played last Thursday, while Kasabian, Paloma Faith and Rag’N’Bone Man are all still to come.
The final summer session will be headlined by Brian Wilson and fellow Beach Boys Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin.
There are plans for a £25 million arena to replace the Ross Bandstand. The council is working with a trust, which has been set up by property developer Norman Springford.
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