Hansard

I thank the committee and put on record the Conservatives’ support for the principles of the bill.

Claire Baker mentioned that, 12 years ago, the Parliament passed the National Galleries of Scotland Act 2003, which sought to disapply the effect of section 22 of the schedule to the City of Edinburgh District Council Order Confirmation Act 1991 to a piece of land within Edinburgh’s Princes Street gardens. That was for the Playfair project—a huge undertaking by the National Galleries of Scotland that transformed its presence on the Mound by integrating the magnificent national gallery and the renovated Royal Scottish Academy building. The success of that project is plain for all to see, in terms of the way in which it has enhanced the rich arts culture in the capital city for exactly the reasons that the cabinet secretary set out earlier.

Although I was not an MSP at that time, I remember those developments very well and it is a pleasure to speak in today’s debate. The debate arises from the fact that the National Galleries of Scotland has lodged another private bill that I believe shows its commitment to continuing art, culture and education. It demonstrates NGS’s ambitions to expand its collections to make a gallery fit for a modern capital city for many years to come.

The project has a number of impressive benefits, not least the fact that it will triple the size of the current gallery for Scottish art. It was interesting that, when Michael Clarke gave evidence to the committee, he mentioned similar projects that have been undertaken by galleries in other cities around the world, such as the £45 million refit of the Tate in London, the renovations to the American art galleries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the magnificent Musée d’Orsay in Paris. It is very fitting that another international city like Edinburgh should enjoy similar galleries for our national art.

If the expansion leads to a greater number of visitors—the cabinet secretary talked about the impressive progress that has been made on that—there will be huge financial benefit to the economy. That can bolster the ability to preserve and enhance not only the collections, but the galleries and all that they stand for, for future generations. Of course, the project has the additional benefits of ensuring that there is better access—including better disabled access—to the gardens and improving the landscape for that area.

Given the relatively tight timetable for the project—to start in 2017 and be completed by the autumn of 2018—and the fact that the consultation between the National Galleries of Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council has been on-going for a considerable length of time, it is right that the bill encompasses all the relevant legal changes that are required for the project to proceed as quickly as possible.

Seeking a court order to make the change in the common good status of the land is absolutely right. I again state the Conservatives’ support for that. Moreover, I understand why both the National Galleries of Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council have explained why they were hesitant to attempt to amend the 1991 act, given that that could have had the unintended consequence of allowing further building works in the gardens. It is very important to balance the relevant merits of this project with the desire to keep the gardens as a valuable green space in the city centre.

I congratulate the National Galleries of Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council on working together on a very significant project that will advance Scottish art in a way that was perhaps unimaginable some decades ago.

I thank the committee; I thank the cabinet secretary for her enthusiasm, too. I am sure that the project will be something that future generations will be very proud of in years to come.