A MASSIVE advertising banner covering the side of a city centre hotel is to be allowed to stay after the Scottish Government overturned a council order to remove it.
The distinctive banner on the side of the Rutland Hotel has looked over Princes Street and the Edinburgh Castle since late last year.
Although the council initially granted permission for the banner – which was put up by Glasgow-based firm Forrest
Media – to be put up, they demanded in November that it was removed otherwise enforcement action would be taken.
But chiefs at Forrest, furious that the popular advertising space which showcased the likes of Ricky Gervais was to be lost, appealed to the Scottish Government.
Yesterday, ministers returned their verdict in favour of the firm and granted the banner a six-month extension.
Paul Flynn, a spokesman for Forrest Media, said they felt their case was worth appealing and were delighted at the outcome.
He said: "We were disappointed when the application to extend the poster was denied, because it was down to a change in council guidelines rather than anything we had done.
"We pointed out to appeal that the banner was covering scaffolding and was preferable to plain green mesh, and they obviously agreed with that.
"We don't want to fall out with the council because we have to work with them. Some things get rejected and you don't bother appealing because it isn't worth it, but we felt strongly about this one."
Mr Flynn added: "The work on the building isn't far off completion, so it won't be there for much longer anyway."
When the banner was first unfurled at the end of last year, it was praised not only for its imposing effect on the city but also because it protected the Rutland – which is currently undergoing a £3m renovation – from bad weather.
Planning guidelines recently introduced had stated large-scale advertising was no longer acceptable on Princes Street, or the Waverley Valley. Council chiefs declared it was ruining Edinburgh's World Heritage Site.
City centre councillor Joanna Mowat said that although advertising remained a thorny issue with residents, the banner at the Rutland was not causing any great offence.
The Conservative, who also sits on the planning committee, said: "Things like adverts and window displays is something we get a lot of complaints about, but no-one seems to be too fussed about this one. It is passed by a lot of people each day but there aren't too many people who see it from their home.
"From a planning point of view we had to go by the regulations in front of us and I wasn't surprised when they appealed."
The full article contains 450 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
