Work could start within months on the notorious Caltongate development site in Edinburgh, the Scotsman newspaper has reported.

The original blueprint triggered an international inquiry into Edinburgh’s world heritage status.

Developers Artisan will now scale back some of the more contentious elements of the plan.

A listed former school building that had been earmarked for demolition could now be saved after new architects were called in to redesign the southern half of the blueprint for the site.

It dates back to 1901 and could become an arts centre, under a bid by the Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust.


New plans are expected to be submitted to the city council in the autumn, but Artisan insists some elements of the scheme do not need planning permission for work to begin.

The sections of the site where work is due to begin shortly include housing blocks, office space, retail units and a car park.

Lukas Nakos, frontman for the South African consortium which bought the gap site out of administration last year, said it had an "open mind" on parts of the site now and pledged that the final blueprint would only be decided at the end of an ongoing consultation process.

He told the Scotsman: "We have not made any final decisions over this area. We are well aware of the plans for the literary centre in the Canongate Venture building.

"We will not be submitting a new masterplan for the site as we are planning to start work on some elements within the next few months but will be submitting some changes to other areas by the end of the year."

(NE)