28th of October 2019 - Gardening Leave

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28th of October 2019

Dear Sir/Madam,

GARDENING LEAVE

I am increasingly exasperated at the moans of self styled "conservationists" about essential economic development in Central Edinburgh whose latest complaints arise from some temporary scaffolding in Princes Street gardens, the effects of which will have long since gone when it comes time to re-erect it for next year's Xmas Market.

When will these dinosaurs realise that as so few locals now live in the City Centre due to Airbnb (and even fewer bother shopping in Princes Street on account of the Council's exorbitant parking charges), visual amenity is irrelevant. Instead, if Edinburgh is to flourish financially in the current Brexit uncertainty, we must encourage tourists (and day visitors from elsewhere in Central Scotland) to come and spend their money on whatever tawdry items may appeal no matter what it does for the city's appearance.

Vegetation can easily be replanted, but unemploment and poverty can blight entire lives.

John Eoin Douglas