Caltongate was a highly controversial project promoted by the previous City of Edinburgh Council administration in 2006/07 which generated heated, and at time acrimonious, debate.

The local authority and developer appeared to be pitted against local heritage organisations and the local community. All parties wished the former New Street bus station to be redeveloped but problems arose when the project expanded.

This proposed the demolition of the former Canongate School, Old Sailors Ark and tenements on the Canongate to house a five star hotel and conference centre, with social housing shunted down beside the railway line on Calton Road.

The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland (AHSS) objected to the loss of the buildings due to their architectural merit (the school and Sailors Ark are category C(S) listed), historic interest as examples of the varied uses found on the Royal Mile, not to mention their social history.

There were few, if any, gains made in changes to the proposed scheme. The community and heritage groups were left thoroughly disillusioned by the developer-led planning process which resulted in the entire master plan receiving planning permission from the Council.

Following this, a delegation from UNESCO visited to review the state of conservation of the Edinburgh World Heritage Site, reporting in 2009 that it was satisfactory but that Caltongate would impact upon the Outstanding Universal Value of the site were it to proceed.

It specifically called for the retention of the listed buildings and the re-planning of development on Jeffrey Street to retain the open view across the Waverley valley.

It further requested that the public space was redesigned to better respect social needs. In other words, UNESCO agreed with what the local groups had been saying.

The global recession brought the developers of Caltongate into administration, halting the project, but the demolition of the former bus garage had left a great big hole in the Old Town.

Sadly, residents had already been put out of their homes on the Canongate but the school found temporary use during the Festival and the Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust was exploring its reuse as a Literature and Literacy Centre.

Things were looking up until the news last week that a buyer for the site was seeking to resurrect the whole scheme.

The new buyer for the site is reportedly seeking to continue with the consented scheme for the five star hotel, conference centre, offices and housing but this requires the sale of council owned property: the former Canongate School, arches beneath Jeffrey Street, Market Street garage and nine flats on the Canongate.

Edinburgh’s elected Councillors must decide on Thursday whether or not to proceed with the sale but they have not been reminded by Council officials of the recommendations in the World Heritage Committee’s report; it has been left to groups like the AHSS to raise it.

Heritage organisations are often accused of standing in the way of progress but the reality is that we are more often demanding a higher standard of change than local authorities want.

The potential developer, Atterbury, appears to have worked primarily in out-of-town developments in South Africa and their portfolio presents no work in a context similar to the Old Town, nor does it exhibit architecture of significant merit.

Edinburgh deserves better. There are other sites available for a conference centre that are better served by multiple modes of transport, such as Morrison Street and the St James’ Centre. And if we have capacity for another five star hotel, is Donaldson’s School not a more obvious choice?

Demolishing the Canongate School while keeping the facades of the Old Sailor’s Ark and adjacent tenements reduces our rich architectural and social history to a mere superficiality, theme park style.

The Old Town’s earlier saviour, father of ‘conservative surgery’ Sir Patrick Geddes, must be burling in his grave.