Summerhall must be protected for artists and the community
Scottish Greens culture spokesperson Q Manivannan MSP has welcomed moves by Edinburgh Green councillors to protect Summerhall’s future as a cultural, creative and community space.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Planning Committee meeting, Q praised the work of councillors Steve Burgess and the Edinburgh Green councillor group, and urged councillors from all parties to support stronger planning guidance for the site.
Councillor Burgess’s motion calls for a Place Brief to guide future development at Summerhall, which houses more than 100 small businesses alongside artists, performers and community activities.
Q Manivannan MSP said:
“Summerhall holds so much of what we should cherish about our city. It is somewhere people build friendships, find their confidence, invent new technologies, and share the things they have created with others. For many, it is also where they earn their living.
“The uncertainty about its future is deeply worrying for the people who have put years of care and work into making it the place we love.
“I am grateful to Steve Burgess and our Edinburgh Green councillor group for their work to protect Summerhall and ensure these communities have a say in what happens next.
“A Place Brief would be an important step towards recognising what this space means to Edinburgh. Any redevelopment must guarantee affordable places for artists to work, protect its performance spaces and keep its doors open to the community.
“People deserve to know that they have a future here. That means secure arrangements for the artists, organisations and small businesses whose work sustains Summerhall every day.
“I urge councillors from every party to support this motion. We have an opportunity to protect something precious, and we must take it.”
Councillor Burgess said:
“On Wednesday, Greens are calling on every party on the Planning Committee to protect Summerhall. Planning guidance must be strengthened so that any future development takes account of the hundreds of artists, performers and small businesses who make Summerhall what it is.
“With artistic and cultural spaces at St Margaret’s House and Argyle House already lost, the city can’t afford to lose another. It has the power to save Summerhall, but it must act now rather than let developers preside over its destruction.”