Plans lodged for new public artwork mural in Scottish capital

Plans have been unveiled to create a “mural lane” in a suburb of the Scottish capital

The Colinton Amenity Association has put forward the proposal for work around Cuddies Lane by the artist who created the Colinton Tunnel mural, Chris Rutterford.

A statement to City of Edinburgh Council by the association reads: “The idea of a mural in the Cuddies Lane area was first mooted more than three years ago as part of wider discussions surrounding the Colinton Tunnel mural.

“The latter project was conceived as a means of raising the profile of Colinton by attracting more visitors to the area and hopefully to the village itself, in the interests of helping support the many local businesses following the closure of the only bank in 2016 and the commercial challenges wrought by the pandemic.

“Following discussions with council officers it was concluded that the prospect of signage being installed to guide tunnel visitors to the Village and vice-versa, was very limited.

“Thoughts then turned to an arts-based guide as being potentially more attractive than conventional signage. The obvious focus was on the Cuddies Lane area, the natural gateway to the village from Spylaw Park and the Colinton Tunnel.”

The statement continued: “In addition, although central to the Colinton Conservation Area, it lacks attractiveness, not least because of at least five colours of masonry paint in Cuddies Lane and Spylaw Street. This forms an unfortunate mismatch with the predominant off-white colour palette in this part of the Conservation Area’s Village Zone. An appropriate arts-based solution has the potential therefore to sympathetically enhance the appearance of the Conservation Area.”

A photomontage of how Chris Rutterford's mural might look (Image: Karen Parry Architects/Chris Rutterford)

The CAA said: “The task as a whole was significant, but so potentially were the rewards.

“The Colinton Tunnel Mural illustrated this. It has resulted in a trebling of footfall through the tunnel and is known to have helped local businesses to survive and thrive.

“Strengthening the linkages between Spylaw Park, the tunnel and village will generate even higher levels of support for local businesses and therein lies the potential of the Colinton Village Gateway Mural.”

The overall cost, including five years’ maintenance, is estimated at around £28,000.

Over £6,000 has been donated spontaneously by local residents and others, even in the absence of planning permission. Gift Aid will add a further 25%.

“We have had promises of significant funding from local businesses and other organisations and together with applications to grant-making trusts and similar organisations, we are confident that full funding will be achieved,” CAA added.

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Holidaymakers face misery with strikes ‘inevitable’

Strike action at Glasgow and Aberdeen airports is “inevitable” after workers overwhelmingly voted to strike in a pay dispute, the Unite union has said.

Unite confirmed the outcome of the vote on Tuesday with strike action supported by 98.5% of around 200 ICTS (UK) Limited workers at Glasgow and a further 100 or so at Aberdeen airport, for a total of 89.7% in favour of strike action.

Unite said that the ICTS Central Search employees, who deal with passengers directly in the security search areas and process them for flights, could start action in mid-July unless ICTS significantly moves on pay in the coming days.