UP TO 5,000 people are expected to march through the Old Town of Edinburgh on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the independence referendum.
Organisers successfully sought permission from Edinburgh Council yesterday for a march whose main aim is to call for another referendum.
Yes 2 Scotland are behind the march, which will leave King Stables Road, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, and then proceed through the Grassmarket and down to the Holyrood Parliament.
Details of speakers and the timetable are sketchy, but it is understood that the march will link to a number of pro-independence events being held around the capital next weekend.
Edinburgh Council’s Licensing sub-committee approved the march with conditions that have been agreed to by Yes 2 Scotland.
They include a programme of rolling road closures that will ensure public safety and keep traffic disruption to a minimum.
Police Scotland had no objections and neither were any formal objections notified to the committee, which considered the matter because it was thought that the march might be “controversial”.
It is not known if “controversial” referred to the decision by Glasgow Council not to grant permission for a pro-independence rally in George Square on Saturday, September 19, after an opposing pro-union rally was organised; the Hope over Fear event is taking place in Glasgow in any case.
The report to yesterday’s licensing sub-committee stated: “The council has limited powers in respect of marches.
“It can take no action and the march would proceed as the organiser intends. Alternatively it has the power to attach conditions or, under limited circumstances, to ban the march.”
An Edinburgh Yes campaigner told The National last night: “The fact that no pro-Union march had been organised for the same time and same place made it impossible for the council to ban our march, and the fact is that the council did not want a ban.”
Had the council imposed a ban, the organisers would have had the right to appeal to the courts, and legal sources indicated that any such ban would likely have been reversed at a cost to the public purse.
Deputy Lord Provost, and SNP councillor, Steve Cardownie said: “This is a legitimate march to celebrate the political activity of the people of Scotland over the last year.
“The organisers want to refer to the hope and optimism of the campaign. My understanding is that the police have no problem with it and I am looking forward to a weekend of celebration.”
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