A MASSIVE campsite capable of housing up to 15,000 demonstrators for eight days has been set up at Craigmillar.
The temporary facility at the Jack Kane Centre and Hunter's Hall Park will be open from 10am on July 1 to July 8, with fresh water, showers, first aid services and toilets all provided.
A 600 metre-long wire fence has been erected around the site
to restrict campers to the designated area only.
Guards from the Rock Steady security firm will mount round-the-clock patrols to steward the site, while CCTV cameras will also be in operation.
Council chiefs said that organising the site was a "challenge", adding that their aim was to create a "friendly, relaxed, festival-type atmosphere".
G8 protesters registering at the campsite will be asked to provide their names, the number of people in their group, an email address, home contact details, and information of any equipment they are carrying.
Registration can be completed on the council's G8 website at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/g8summit by following the links through to the accommodation section. Successful applicants will be sent more details about visiting Edinburgh via email.
Council officials have maintained that pitches at the site will be provided on a strictly first come-first served basis, with registering no guarantee of a space.
A £5 service charge will be applied to each pitch per night to contribute towards the cost of stewarding and other services.
Showers in the Jack Kane Centre will be open between 8am and 8pm daily.
Extra buses will also be provided on Saturday to transport campers to the Make Poverty History March on July 2, as well as for the duration of the campsite.
Councillor Brian Fallon, Edinburgh's property management leader, said: "While the campsite is largely functional, we are trying to achieve a friendly, relaxed, festival-type atmosphere.
"Members of the Craigmillar community are also keen to get involved in G8 and plan to welcome visitors.
"Certainly, setting up the campsite at Hunter's Hall Park to a tight deadline has been quite a challenge.
"We have needed to take into account an array of things like security, lighting, toilets, rubbish disposal, parking and first aid provision.
"As well as the existing toilet facilities on the site, there will be another 210 temporary toilets on site."
He added: "The site will be a professionally managed and well controlled campsite, which means that disruption will be kept to a minimum for everyone.
"We want to make sure it is a safe environment to try to minimise the impact on local residents and to make the site secure for campers who won't be there all day."
A plan of the campsite
Local residents have complained that floodlights and noise from the camp will leave them suffering from sleepless nights. They also demanded a share of the profits from the site after representatives from Craigmillar Community Council met council officers.
Improvements would be made to the Jack Kane Centre if their bid for half the takings is successful, while Hunter's Hall Park would be re-turfed after the event. Security guards were drafted on to the site after vandals ripped down large pieces of the wire fencing.
Cllr Fallon added: "As part of the planning process, council officials considered the limited number of public sites available and assessed them against the Event Safety Guide, commonly known as the 'Purple Guide', produced by the Health & Safety Executive.
"Hunter's Hall Park met most of the requirements and was deemed as the most appropriate venue."
All parking, waiting, loading and unloading is prohibited from 7am tomorrow until July 8 on the road leading up to the Jack Kane Centre.
Cars will also be banned from parking on the Wisp from Niddrie Mains Road to Millerhill Road, and Niddrie Mains Road from The Wisp to Niddrie Marischal Road. In addition, there will be no right turn available on the Jack Kane Centre access road.
£3m
cost but 'Edinburgh will feel the benefit'
PLAYING host to the demonstrations and events surrounding G8 is expected to cost Edinburgh more than £3 million, but city leaders are convinced the Capital will benefit.
The cost of the protesters' campsite in Craigmillar is estimated at £1m, while traffic management is predicted to cost more than £850,000.
The city is also paying more than £500,000 to bring roadworks around the city centre to a halt during the G8 protests. It expects to spend around £3 million and the huge cost of extra policing will add significantly to the bill.
Initial estimates of the cost have tripled, raising fears that the Scottish Executive's pledge to cover "all reasonable" costs will not extend to the full amount. City leaders may face a wrangle with the Executive over who pays for what as they did after the official opening of the Scottish Parliament.
But, regardless of any potential dispute, city leaders are convinced that the chance to showcase the Capital to the world is a golden opportunity.
Lord Provost Lesley Hinds said: "One view that has been largely overlooked in the past weeks is the large-scale benefits the city will experience as a result of the world attention and focus in the weeks leading up to and during the actual G8 summit.
"Money couldn't buy that level of publicity and promotion."
The council has led calls for businesses to stay open to ensure that visitors are given a warm welcome. They have also taken the chance to introduce the new Edinburgh "brand" which will be used in future to sell the Capital around the world. The slogan Inspiring Edinburgh will be placed around the city for tens of thousands of visitors to see. Television coverage means the potential audience will stretch to millions.
The full article contains 985 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
