Scotland on Sunday

Last week two heavyweights of the Edinburgh architectural scene, the Cockburn Association and Edinburgh World Heritage, issued a joint statement damning the "insensitive" nature of the latest in a rapidly increasing number of developments threatening a radical makeover of the capital's historic city centre. The development in question, 'Caltongate', will link Calton Road with the Canongate on the Royal Mile, across the former New Street bus depot in the Waverley Valley. While the Chamber of Commerce came out in favour, Canongate Community Forum website likened parts of the proposals to the much-maligned Cumbernauld. Stifled cries of "vandalism", "corruption" echoed around the shadier alleys of the architectural world, while besieged developers Mountgrange cried foul for "unwarranted early criticism".