Princes Street and the Waverley Valley

Closes 21 Feb 2025

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E. Princes Street Gardens and Ross Bandstand

Priorities for improving the Gardens

View of West Princes Street Gardens from the foot of The Mound

To continue to serve as a green heart within the Waverley Valley and achieve the Council’s Thriving Greenspaces 2050 Vision, Princes Street Gardens need an improvement plan. In the Draft Strategy, we suggest the plan considers the following key issues:

  • Access and Inclusion - ensuring the Gardens provide an accessible, healthy and welcoming space for all the city’s communities.
  • Children and Young People – offering a social and playful space in the city centre for all ages.
  • Community – establishing a Friends Group to represent the Gardens, support volunteering and fund-raising activities.
  • Climate and Nature Emergencies – managing stormwater, adapting planting, connecting habitats and pollinator pathways.
  • Facilities – creating a quality visitor experience, toilets, café offer and exploring the role of the Gardener’s Cottage and shelters.
  • Heritage – conserving and raising awareness about our historic landscape whilst meeting modern-day needs.
  • Safety – ensuring the Gardens address safety considerations, including feedback from Women’s Safety consultations.

Read more about Princes Street Gardens and the Ross Bandstand

Princes Street Gardens

At 15 hectares combined, East and West Princes Street Gardens are integral to the New Town's layout. The Garden’s formal layout of flower beds, specimen trees, shrub borders and sloping lawns represent a relatively intact example of a Victorian public park.

For their historic, scenic, and architectural value and as works of art the Gardens are recorded on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

Recent changes in the Gardens include:

  • restoration of the Gardener’s Cottage, Ross Fountain and new memorials in the West Gardens.
  • accessible ramps formed in the East Gardens as part of the Scottish National Gallery’s extension.

Princes Street Gardens now require an  improvement plan to deliver the Council’s Thriving Greenspaces 2050 Vision

The Ross Bandstand

Cultural venues have long been part of Princes Street Garden’s history, from the original 1880’s bandstand to the 1930s version we see today.

In 2017, the Ross Development Trust proposed a new pavilion, welcome centre, café and events spaces as part of the £25m Quaich project. The Quaich was not progressed due funding shortfalls, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its potential impact on the city’s heritage.

There remains a need for an open-air, accessible venue in the city’s cultural landscape to provide for both small civic and community events and larger concerts during the city’s festivals.

27. In addition to the priorities listed above, are there any other aspects that you think we should include when considering improvements to Princes Street Gardens?
28. What would add to your enjoyment of the Gardens and encourage you to visit them more often? (please tick all that apply)
29. What activities would add to your enjoyment of the Gardens more and encourage you to visit them more often? (please tick all that apply)
30. Keeping you informed

Please let us know if you would you like to be kept updated on improvements to Princes Street Gardens, and/or be part of a Friends Group, or take part in volunteering activities? (please tick all that apply).  If you select any of the below, we will use your email address that you provided in Page 1 Your details.

31. Upgrading the Bandstand

View of the Ross Bandstand, West Princes Street Gardens and backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

A bandstand has long been part of West Princes Street Garden’s history, from the original 1880s bandstand to the 1930s version we see today. In the short-term, the Ross Bandstand need upgrading. Subject to funding this will include:

  • Adapting the existing building to create a better equipped facility, power and data supply, minimising generator use.
  • Ongoing use of temporary stages to extend the venue for key events, for example Hogmanay

Longer-term, as part of the improvement plan for Princes Street Gardens, the feasibility of a replacement facility may be explored.

To what extent do you support or oppose the following?
32. Rethinking the Amphitheatre

Photo of the Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow, courtesy Page Park architects © Andrew Lee

The existing Bandstand is set in front of an amphitheatre of concrete terraces to provide audience seating.

The image above shows the £2.1 million restoration of the 1920s Kelvingrove Bandstand by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust in partnership with Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life. Image courtesy Page Park architects © Andrew Lee

As part of the improvement plan for Princes Street Gardens, the Ross Bandstand amphitheatre space could be redesigned to:

  • Design a welcoming amphitheatre space that can be used year-round outside of events, replacing the concrete surface with a mix of paved and landscape terraces.
  • Improving access for all by adapting the steep ramps down to the bandstand.

To what extent do you support or oppose the following?