The Stockbridge Slug, the Inverleith Toad, the Zit, call it what you will, not since the Golden Turd adorning the St James Quarter has an Edinburgh planning decision grabbed so many national headlines.

The giant green inflatable dome now nestling behind the Grange Cricket Club’s historic grandstand, an all-year-round cover for a couple of tennis courts, is set to become another case study in the remarkable dossier of Edinburgh development decisions which defy the application of that most fickle of criteria when it comes to planning policies, common sense.

In fairness to the St James Quarter’s architects, the Walnut Whip, to give it its kinder moniker, above the W Hotel is now just a quirky addition to the city skyline, a modern creation as much a departure from its surroundings as the North British Hotel clock tower was at the turn of the 20th century. After the initial shock at seeing what was proposed I think the way it wisps into the low clouds works quite well, although that may not be a popular view.

But as for the Raeburn Place Plook, to give it a good Scottish name, I doubt the lurid, chequered green monstrosity, like a BP garage gorged on steroids, will ever fit in with the leafy surroundings of the beautiful cricket ground, the meandering Water of Leith and the towering grandeur of Saxe Coburg Place.

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The view from the slopes of Inverleith Park above the pond towards the castle are........

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