Big screen is switched to Festival Square for 2012 Games

A GIANT television screen is set to be erected in Festival Square later this year as part of the build-up to the London 2012 Olympics.

The city council is bidding for funding from the Olympic Committee to put up the huge viewing screen in the city centre.It had hoped to place the screen on the Mound, having previously abandoned plans for Castle Street and Princess Mall.

But the threat of significant opposition from heritage groups and the National Galleries of Scotland lead council officials to press ahead with the alternative site at Festival Square.It is now expected proposals for the 25 square metre screen will be approved by members of the council's planning committee next week.The council must be able to have the screen in place by April 30 this year in order to qualify for funding from the Olympic Organising Committee.

It is hoped the screen will contribute to a growing "cultural quarter" on Lothian Road, where it will be sitting opposite the revamped Usher Hall and close to the newly opened Picture House music venue.It is expected to screen coverage of sporting and cultural events, such as Scottish international football and rugby matches, and coverage of the various Edinburgh festivals, in the years before the Olympics.It would then be used in the summer of 2012 to show highlights of the London Olympics. The screen would be available for use 24 hours a day, with sound available from 7am until 10pm every day.There will be no mainstream advertising on the screen, with costs covered by the Olympics organisers.Tollcross community councillor Paul Beswick said: "It is disingenuous to link it with the 2012 Olympics as they do not begin for another three and a half years. "If it was temporary for the purposes of displaying the Olympics then that would be acceptable, but there is no requirement for other content for the next three years." JP Kavanagh, the general manager of the Sheraton Hotel, added: "We are broadly in favour of the screen, but there simply isn't enough detail about how it will be managed."Unlike the other businesses here, we would have to live with this 24/7."Heritage watchdog The Cockburn Association said it was broadly in favour of the plans, saying the square "presently lacks vitality". John Bury, the council's head of planning, said noise would not be an issue, as the sound would only be audible in front of the screen, and would be shut off after 10pm.He also said major events at the screen would have to be properly licensed and controlled, and added that it could be a huge benefit to the area."The encouragement of activity in the square as originally envisaged has the potential to enhance the character of the conservation area," he added