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Monday, 2nd November 2009 Change Date Latest Issue

£12,000 for Holyrood to dig then fill in holes

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Published Date: 19 May 2009
By Ian Swanson
HOLYROOD bosses are to spend £12,000 digging holes in the pavement outside the Scottish Parliament – and filling them in again.
They have brought in contractors to spend the next two weeks carrying out excavations in the Canongate, Horse Wynd and Reid's Close to look for utility pipes and cables ahead of installing new security bollards along the building's perimeter.

But critics said the location of the pipes and cables should already be known because it is only five years since the £414m parliament was built.

Independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald said: "I can hardly believe this. There was that huge hole in the ground for so long; there was an archaeological dig; but no-one kept a record of where the gas pipes and water pipes went?

"Just when you think the parliament is showing a degree of maturity and cohesion, something else pops up."

And Edinburgh Pentlands Conservative MSP David McLetchie branded the excavations a waste of money.

He said: "I almost despair at the seemingly never-ending stories concerning Holyrood which to the general public would seem to reveal one incompetence after another.

"In a new building which cost so much money and took so long to construct, one would have thought there would be a clear idea about the position of the gas, electricity, telecoms and sewerage pipes, cables and drains. It is elementary that the whole site should have been fully surveyed."

Work started yesterday on digging "trial holes" in Reid's Close before the workmen move on to the Royal Mile and the area in front of the parliament's public entrance. Officials said there would be a total of nine holes dug in the footpath in the Canongate and Horse Wynd.

It is in preparation for the installation of 162 new bollards along the pavements, six leaf-shaped benches at the corner of the Canongate and 18 rectangular concrete benches near the ponds at the front of the building, all part of a £1.5m package of security measures which also includes new gates and turnstiles.

A memo has been circulated by the parliament to MSPs, staff and others in the building to warn of likely inconvenience while the excavation work is carried out.

The memo said: "The purpose of digging these holes is to determine the location of utility services. Building users will appreciate that before commencing works of installation of bollards and planters it is essential that we know where the services are."

A parliament spokeswoman said the main work on the new security measures was not due to start for a while and there was no estimate yet of how long they would take.


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  • Last Updated: 19 May 2009 1:47 PM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: The Scottish Parliament
 
1

hubris,

19/05/2009 12:06:43
World class building with these daft crowd control barriers in front of it in case someone falls into the one foot deep pond!
I despair.

When they do find where the utilites lie lets hope the new security arrangements allow for removal of these silly looking barriers
2

Foo,

19/05/2009 12:07:45
£12,000?

I can lift slabs, dig a 6 foot hole, fill it in, and lay the slabs again all in a day with just a few tools.

How can it possibly cost £12,000? Just get six men working with six shovels. Give them a week to do it, £1500 expenses account for replacement material and a week to do it otherwise they're fired and someone who can do it be brought in.
3

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 19/05/2009 12:11:05
What do they hope to achieve with these "security bollards".

I smell another knee-jerk that is gong t cost us all money.
4

PDubbs,

19/05/2009 12:16:25
Surely the utilities can tell them where the pipes are? I could print them out our system that covers one of the utilities concerned.
5

alfonsa pedrosa,

embra 19/05/2009 12:17:35
Never mind the brown envelopes,i will do it for a quarter of the price.
6

Pond Hall,

19/05/2009 12:20:18
and at the same time, they could put a proper bus stop
at Horse Wynd/Holyrood Road Corner.

Instead of the stupid Stick Me Out bus stop on the corner, dangerous or what.
7

Flying Upsidedown,

edinburgh 19/05/2009 12:40:47
When the workmen are at the front of the building they should look at the ridiculous 'temporary' barriers tied together round the ponds at the front of the building. They don't even fit properly.

IF fences are needed, and surely it should have been known when the holes were dug, get the contractor to put them up. If they are not needed remove them, they look cheap and are silly at a major tourist attraction.
8

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 19/05/2009 12:59:14
#7:

They are not needed. They've just been put their because of insane "health and safety" rules.
9

DAVID,

Edinburgh 19/05/2009 13:33:25
This is Keynesian economics designed to boost the economy, is it not?
10

Skip McClendon,

19/05/2009 13:46:38
£12k kind of pales into insignificance compared to the £300M (approx) that TIE/CEC have spent so far digging big holes all over the city.

Maybe the Parliament could consult TIE on how it can raise costs further, possibly by printing some informational napkins or by constructing some kind of fibreglass model?
11

PaulB,

Edinburgh 19/05/2009 14:02:07
If the pools at the front of the building need fenced off, there should be properly designed barriers installed - not the eyesores currently in place. Mind you I can't believe people are so stupid they could fall into these pools by mistake.
12

I love to eat Sellotape,

19/05/2009 15:16:25
You people are being selfish. We need bollards. It's a bollard world, in case you haven't looked. Bollards here, bollards there. Bollards - literally - everywhere. I've even encrypted a bollard in this message.
13

Ray Merrall,

Edinburgh 20/05/2009 08:42:28
Oh Dear, I've joined the ranks of the numpties who write into the Scotsman and Evening News. I think I'll have to go and have a lie down. 6 foot under the ground would probably be good.
Picasso was once asked for his autograph, and promptly charged $10,000 dollars for the signed napkin. The tourist complained that it only took a few seconds to sign it, but the artist replied that it had taken 20 years to learn how to do it.
If the Numpties who would dig a hole for less than £12k, also have the knowledge to decipher the mess of pipes, wires and drains, some of which have been in place for up to a couple of hundred years, then yes, let them dig away, write the detailed reports required and put their reputations on the line.
Otherwise, let them dig the holes but please, someone push the earth over them and make sure a couple of tons of concrete is added on top.

 

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