Heritage groups perform U-turn over cinema plan

LEADING heritage watchdogs have joined the campaign against controversial plans to turn a rundown former cinema into an "arts hotel" - despite failing to object to the same plans when they were first put forward four years ago.

The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) and the Cockburn Association are demanding the city council throws out plans which would see the listed auditorium of the former Odeon in Edinburgh demolished.

Neither group intervened when the local authority backed plans to remove all but the art deco facade of the B-listed building - only for the scheme to be rejected by the Scottish Government after protests.

Developer Duddingston wants the council to rubber-stamp its original decision after the firm rejected three new bids of up to 1.6 million to buy the building, claiming they were nowhere near its 2.9m evaluation.

However, the AHSS and the Cockburn Association have joined high-profile objectors including Historic Scotland and the Cinema Theatre Association to help persuade the council to reverse its original decision.

The letter from the AHSS states: "We would fully support the council in refusing consent, thereby forcing Duddingston to sell the former atmospheric cinema to an owner who would preserve a rare element of Scotland's heritage."