Middle Meadow Walk

Cockburn Response

The Cockburn Association accepts the principle of a temporary Fringe venue at Middle Meadow Walk, recognising its contribution to Edinburgh’s cultural life and the wider Festival.

However, The Meadows is a highly sensitive and intensively used public green space, and proposals must demonstrate that temporary use does not result in long-term environmental or landscape harm.

In its current form, the application raises concerns regarding:

• the protection of trees and landscape features
• the cumulative impact on The Meadows
• the appropriateness of any permission extending beyond a single festival season
• the lack of clear, enforceable safeguards for ground and landscape protectio
•  insufficient evidence that climate mitigation, green-space resilience and restoration have been properly addressed

Support could only be contemplated if a robust Tree and Ground Protection Plan is secured by condition or prior approval

• permission is limited to a single year, subject to revie
• clear limits on scale, layout and duration of occupation are defined and enforced
• post-event monitoring and reinstatement requirements are secured
• a clear landscape restoration and climate-resilience strategy is provided

Without these safeguards, the application does not adequately protect the long-term character, condition, climate-resilience function and public value of The Meadows, and should not be supported in its current form.