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author Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
date Wed, 22 Oct 2025 20:55:26 +0100
parents 57c0b1592367
children
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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1 Correspondance between Martin Ward (MW), Clerk to AM Trustees and John
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2 Renshaw (JR), contracted to carry out the Quinquennial Review.
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3
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4 MW, 23 September:
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5
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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6 Thank you for all of the documents which you sent through on 29th
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7 August. While we were able to discuss these briefly at the meeting on
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8 2nd September our trustees understandably wanted more time to consider
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9 them before making substantive decisions. We have a further meeting
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10 planned for 8th October, and if you were able to answer the following
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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11 questions before then it would be appreciated.
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12 The QS's estimate of £90k for the courtyard work is far higher than the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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13 indicative £22,750 in the QR. Does it cover additional work which is
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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14 not in the QR figure? Assuming the higher figure is the more reliable
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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15 trustees may be inclined to focus on weatherproofing work around the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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16 courtyard and be more selective about replacement of windows. Would
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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17 you have a view on which windows should be a priority (in addition to
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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18 those to the creche area which you flagged as urgent in the QR)?
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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19 Within the weatherproofing work would you be able to advise on what
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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20 proportion might reasonably be requested from the owners of the other
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21 properties which would benefit?
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22
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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23 JR, 6 October:
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24
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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25 The budget cost prepared by Gus Simpson of Ralph Ogg & Partners
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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26 chartered quantity surveyors includes more extensive work than is
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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27 covered by the QFR and also won’t include inflation since the draft
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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28 report was issued. Also apologies for not making it clearer - this
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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29 cost also includes repairs and re-decoration of the neighbours
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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30 windows c. £9k. There is also a contingency sum of£11,740 which
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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31 isn’t included in the QFR budget cost and the budget costs don't
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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32 include a full allowance for preliminaries. I assume that the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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33 adjoining proprietors will have a shared responsibility for the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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34 repairs to the external fabric of the tenement. I assume that the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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35 works would be carried out in a similar way to the external repairs
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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36 to the front elevation of Upper Bow undertaken in 2021 when the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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37 condition of the windows was checked when safe full external access
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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38 was available, costs confirmed and repairs carried out once each
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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39 proprietor confirmed that they wanted to proceed.
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40
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41 MW:
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42
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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43 We are interested in moving to improve the Bow Room, possibly as a
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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44 separate project which might attract funding and would rather not delay
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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45 that work by tying it in with the courtyard. How much synergy there
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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46 would be in practice between the two in terms of possible contractors
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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47 and access? We assume that work on the Bow Room would be carried out
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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48 from Upper Bow, whereas the scaffolding in the courtyard might be
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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49 approached (by agreement) from Riddle's Court. I had assumed that the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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50 scaffolding would need to be taken through the common door to the flats
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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51 rather than down from the Lawnmarket/Riddle’s Court. Do you have
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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52 contact details of who needs to be asked if this is acceptable as it
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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53 may change the preliminary costs for the erection and removal of the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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54 scaffolding? I am then happy to contact them. My assumption was that
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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55 the main contractors for the external fabric repairs could also manage
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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56 the internal works and it would be more efficient in terms of
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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57 contractors overheads to carry out the work at the same time. Please
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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58 let me know how you want to proceed.
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59
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60 MW:
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61
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62 Because of the possible uses of the Bow Room we feel that accessibility
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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63 from Upper Bow is more of an issue than access to the rest of the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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64 meeting house. Would it be possible to cut a ramp into the floor
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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65 within the building to achieve level access to the existing pavement?
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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66 How would this work with an inward opening door? Rising hinges?
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67
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68 JR:
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69
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70 I think that the best solutions would either be to set the door back
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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71 and form a triangular ramp within the thickness of the external wall
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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72 or to discuss the possibility of altering the levels of the pavement
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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73 with the Council to form a level platt of Caithness stone outside
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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74 the entrance door which then slope downward to the south and west to
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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75 meet the existing pavement levels. I guess the cheapest option would
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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76 be to obtain and temporary triangular ramp which could be put in
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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77 place when needed. We designed a similar temporary ramp for a shop
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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78 on the South Bridge which was fixed to the side of the stall riser
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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79 and then folded down when needed. This is likely to require LBC
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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80 which would likely delay a start to the external repairs although we
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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81 could commit to applying for this before the end of October if you
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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82 want us to proceed. We would like to agree a finalised version of
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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83 the quinquennial report now, but the plans for the two flats should
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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84 be added in, page and section numbering checked (for example there
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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85 seems to be a gap in the summary between point (d) and point (g)),
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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86 and the estimate of costs may need to be adjusted in the light of
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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87 the QS assessment. I am finalising this at the moment with the
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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88 additional information to include the plans of the two flats and
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Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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89 their condition.