The issue of the three, now four, portaloos, erected against the south-facing foundation wall of the National Monument, was taken up by the Times, on Tuesday 2 September.
The Times article by Marc Horne entitled Portable toilets at Calton Hill war monument ‘crass and disrespectful [paywall] quoted Terry Levinthal, Director of the Cockburn Association:
“The National Monument is a grand memorial to honour Scots who had died in the Napoleonic wars. Edinburgh was then at the height of its Enlightenment prestige, proudly styling itself the ‘Athens of the North’. Appropriately, the design by Charles Robert Cockerell and William Henry Playfair took inspiration from the Parthenon, with plans for a vast colonnaded structure that would cement Scotland’s place in European civilisation.”
“To use it as the site for a set of portable toilets is not only inappropriate from any architectural or heritage perspective, but it is disrespectful to the memorial and its purpose. Simply put, it is crass example of the commodification of one of Edinburgh’s most important civic spaces. It should be moved now!”
The issue was also taken up by the Sun in an article by Eilidh Rowe, also on 2 September, see SHEER LOO-NACY Scots council blasted as ‘horrid’ portable LOOS plonked right next to major tourist attraction. This quotes Simon Holledge, Chair of the Calton Hill Conservation Trust, who said:
“We are certainly concerned about the appearance of portaloos, their location up against the National Monument, and particularly the fact they are causing damage to the grass. We’ve asked the council to remove the portaloos to the hard surfaced car park as soon as possible.”
The Trust is in contact with the City of Edinburgh Council and city centre councillors to try to resolve the problem. We note that there are nine existing toilets in the Collective Gallery (City Observatory) and the Nelson Monument and we would like to see them all brought into public use.