THE leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics is trying to block plans to build a hotel in front of one of the nation's most important cathedrals.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien has personally intervened over the prospect of a modern development impeding the famous views of St Mary's Cathedral, in Edinburgh, from Leith Walk.
A roundabout in front of the cathedral would be replaced under plans to
redesign the area at Picardy Place to accommodate the new tram system.
Edinburgh City Council has agreed to sell off land it owns in front of the cathedral to the developer behind the £850 million revamp of the St James Centre.
Building firm Henderson's development would be constructed around a new public square, boasting new café-bars and restaurants. But church officials fear it will ruin views of St Mary's, which dates from 1814 and is the base of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh.
Cardinal O'Brien, who is also Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, has told the council the building of the hotels risks marring the 200th anniversary celebrations of the cathedral.
He and entrepreneur Sir Tom Farmer, who regularly worships in the cathedral, have gone public with concerns after negotiations over the plans dragged on for more than a year. However, a rethink is being resisted by the council on the grounds the site used to be occupied by tenements for about 100 years.
The roads between St Mary's Cathedral and the Omni Centre are due to be reorganised to accommodate a tram interchange in Picardy Place, thereby freeing a triangular parcel of land.
Richard Hamblett, secretary of fabric and planning for the archdiocese, said: "We obviously know the council is looking to sell the land in front of the cathedral once the area is designed for the tram. However, the current views of the cathedral would be completely blocked out."
Cardinal O'Brien added: "I will be meeting my planning and property advisers today to discuss how best we safeguard the important religious, social and geographical place the cathedral has in the life of the city.
"I hope the council can provide an assurance no structures will be built directly in front of the cathedral and that we will be able to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2014 without any changes to its precincts."
A council report for the new-look area, published earlier this year, said the tram project had provided a huge opportunity to transform one of the key "gateways" into the city centre.
A spokeswoman said: "The advent of the tram network in Edinburgh and proposed redevelopment of the St James Quarter have given us an ideal opportunity to explore potential improvements to the area.
"Despite major environmental improvements carried out in the 1980s, Picardy Place remains an area dominated by traffic and difficult for pedestrians to use."
However, Sir Tom said: "This is a hugely valuable site, and I don't mean that in financial terms. The tram project gives the city a huge opportunity to create a new public piazza in this area."
A spokesman for Henderson said the developer was keen to find a "compromise" solution with the cathedral.
In-house magazine urges Kirk to lead on gay clergy issueCRAIG BROWNTHE threat of a rift forming within the Church of Scotland over the appointment of an openly gay minister has increased after the Kirk's in-house magazine urged members to take a forward-looking stance.
In its editorial, Life & Work urged the Kirk to show strong leadership to other churches by taking a progressive stance and supporting the appointment of the openly gay Rev Scott Rennie to Queen's Cross Church by the Presbytery of Aberdeen.
The decision was challenged by a number of members, and following an appeal to the Commission of the General Assembly, was handed to the assembly for a final decision when it meets next month.
The magazine's editor, Muriel Armstrong, said that, having failed to deal with the issue of the role of gay people in the Kirk at the General Assembly two years ago, the forthcoming debate offered a fresh opportunity.
She said: "It has been suggested that if the Kirk stuck its neck out on this it would upset other churches that are still in a reflective no man's land on the issue. Isn't it time for leadership?" She also criticised the "selectivity" of those who used the Bible to justify their stance against homosexuality, choosing sections which support their position and ignoring others.
She said that those who did "presumably no longer accept biblical teaching on sexual matters such as polygamy and sex with slaves" but are happy to quote Leviticus 18:22 on homosexuality: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
