THE City of Edinburgh Council have been warned that more delays in processing Hearts' application for the redevelopment of Tynecastle could affect a land deal between the two parties.
Hearts last year agreed a £1.8m purchase of the council-owned Tynecastle nursery school and adult learning centre, buildings which sit on land the club require to rebuild the main stand. A further £4.1m deal to buy Tynecastle High School is in place,
with that site earmarked for phase two of the Tynecastle redevelopment. A private purchase of land owned by the North British Distillers, behind the Wheatfield Stand, has also been agreed. All these agreements are subject to planning consent for the £51m redevelopment.
The scheme currently remains in the hands of the council, who have set no date for a decision on whether or not planning permission will be granted. It is unlikely that announcement will arrive before next month; something which has concerned Hearts officials.
The Edinburgh property solicitor and former Hearts chairman, Leslie Deans, echoed such frustrations. "If I was still the chairman of the club, as more time passed, I would feel inclined to make an attempt to re-negotiate the financial aspect of the deal," said Deans. "There is turbulence in the property market, it is not as strong as a year ago and it is a fact that assets are over-valued. I wouldn't sell a house to someone for a price it was valued at in 2007."
If Hearts share such strong sentiments, the first signs of the redevelopment being precarious will arise. The club will be asked to contribute possibly as much as £850,000 towards a tram stop on Stevenson Road, with the council also believed to have issues over the height of the new stand.
Hearts contest, though, that permission has recently been granted for a 17-storey hotel at Haymarket and that such questions did not arise until the middle of this year.
"The plans are well thought-out, well put-together and reasonable," added Deans. "They are in the interests of the wider community, not just Hearts. Finance apart, the council need to accelerate this scheme to allow the club the opportunity to develop something which offers social and economic benefits."
A spokeswoman for the city council said: "This application will be considered as part of the usual planning process."
The full article contains 408 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
