A MASSIVE expansion of Edinburgh's main waterfront shopping complex has been scaled back over fears of the damage it will do to the city centre.
The Scotsman has learned controversial plans to double Ocean Terminal in size have been shelved after an outcry from business leaders.
Forth Ports, the developer masterminding a 20-year transformation of Leith's docklands, has had to promise
to restrict the amount of new retail space it will create. The company has been forced to redesign the proposed new harbourside arena that will be created next to the existing centre.
About 25,000sq metres of retail space had been sought by the developer – about double what is currently on offer. But it is understand Forth Ports has been forced to chop 10,000sq metres off that figure and pledge that of the remaining 15,000, just 5,000 will be developed between now and 2015.
The developers of the St James Centre and a number of major retail operators in the city centre are understood to have been lobbying the city council to block Forth Ports' plans.
Council officials' stance is thought to have hardened as plans for the replacement the new St James Centre have taken shape. Forth Ports has had to resubmit its outline planning application for the docks – the biggest ever submitted in Edinburgh – almost a year after finalising its initial plans.
It was hoping to lure Selfridges to Leith for its first store in Scotland, as well as to offer existing tenants Marks & Spencer and Debenhams bigger stores.
However a source at the city council said: "A major priority for Edinburgh at the moment is getting the city centre back on its feet as a retail destination.
"A huge effort is going into attracting interest in Princes Street and surrounding developments like the one at the St James Centre. Allowing Ocean Terminal to double in size doesn't make sense." Andrew Murphy, general manager of John Lewis, who chairs Essential Edinburgh, a new consortium of city centre businesses, said: "The damage was done to an extent when so much out-of-town retail development was allowed in Edinburgh in the 1980s and 1990s. There's a real danger the city centre could be dragged down if new retail developments on the outskirts are allowed.
"Some form of new retail would be acceptable in and around Ocean Terminal, as long as it is only in the form of retail to support the new housing in the area, such as supermarkets or newsagents."
Retail expert Niall Macdonald, director of retail at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: "We shouldn't close the door on out-of-town retail development particularly given the fact that the proposed St James Quarter redevelopment will greatly improve the retail offer in the city. But you have to question whether there is a requirement for additional retail space in Leith as the residential developments haven't sold as well as expected."
A spokesman for Forth Ports confirmed a number of alterations had been made to the outline planning application, but added: "The original 25,000sq metre figure was very much an indicative figure that was always likely to come down."
