Sir Sean Connery to lead Scottish Parliament opening parade - Saturday 9th October at 11am
05-Oct-2004 • Event
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James Bond legend Sir Sean Connery is due to lead a 1000-strong parade featuring schoolchildren, community groups and community representatives from every constituency in Scotland at around 11am.
Motorists and residents are facing almost 24 hours of massive disruption to accomodate Saturdayâs ceremony, which will be led by the Queen, reports the Edinburgh Evening News.
Nearly 40 roads will be shut several hours before the ceremony and during the event, with most of the Royal Mile closed to traffic from 8pm on Friday. Parking restrictions will be rolled out across the city to coincide with the road closures.
Bus services throughout the Capital will also be severely affected. All the measures - which have been drawn up jointly by the city council, the bus companies, the Scottish Parliament and Lothian and Borders Police - will be in place until either 5pm or 6pm on Saturday.
City leaders today apologised for the inevitable disruption but said it was necessary for the event to go smoothly. But critics have accused them of going "over the top" and sending out a message that the city centre will be effectively closed.
Controversy has already flared over the cost of the event to taxpayers in the city, with the authority expected to run up a £200,000 bill from the event.
It is not yet known how much Lothian and Borders Police will have to pay for the massive security operation needed to protect the VIPs attending Saturdayâs events.
Thousands of spectators are set to line the Royal Mile, where entertainment is due to be staged along the famous thoroughfare from around 9am, while a ceremonial event is being held at Parliament Hall on Parliament Square from mid-morning.
Around 11am, James Bond legend Sir Sean Connery is due to lead a 1000-strong parade featuring schoolchildren, community groups and community representatives from every constituency in Scotland.
Around 300 people from "all walks of life" are expected to attend the official opening ceremony in the main chamber of the parliament building, which will feature performances from singer-songwriterEddi Reader and violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti.
Parliament chiefs have promised to lay on a selection of Scottish dance, music, poetry, drama and recitals throughout the day, and television footage is expected to be beamed around the world. Full details of the entertainment package being lined up is due to be unveiled over the next few days.
Edinburgh Lord Provost Lesley Hinds said: "This event will be a wonderful occasion for the people of Scotland and Edinburgh. The eyes of the world will be on our beautiful capital city and we will do all we can to ensure this historic day goes smoothly.
"The many bodies involved in the event have made every effort to minimise disruption to those travelling in and about the city.
"I hope that people will understand that certain road and public transport changes are necessary and can plan their day to avoid any delays."
A spokeswoman for the council said: "Every effort has been made to minimise disruption while ensuring the safety of everyone attending the event.
"Residents and visitors are advised to take note of these temporary measures when planning their travel arrangements into and around the city.
"All the bodies involved apologise for any inconvenience that these temporary measures will cause."
Sue Nicholson, spokeswoman for the RAC in Scotland, said: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, which has been scheduled to take place for several months now. I think most people will be happy to make allowances on this occasion."
But Tim Steward, chairman of the Edinburgh branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, claimed the measures were "excessive".
"The message to people seems to be that when the parliament building is opening, the city is closing down," he said.
"These measures do seem very excessive. Iâm sure there will be a boost to some of the businesses around the Royal Mile from the day but itâs definitely going to affect people who are trying to get around the city and have business to do on Saturday.
"There will be some benefit to Edinburgh out of the parliament opening but I just hope that it outweighs the cost of all this."
Lothian Buses and First, the two main bus operators in the city, have announced plans to divert or split more than 20 services.
Most will be affected from 7am to 3pm on Saturday, although the main service serving the Royal Mile, Lothian Buses No 35, will be diverted down Princes Street from 8pm on Friday.
Lothian Buses services which are being either diverted or split are numbers 3, 5, 7, 8, 14, 23, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 37, 41, 42 and 49. First services affected are numbers X95/62, 86 and 86A, X77 and X81.
Iain Coupar, marketing chief with Lothian Buses, said: "The various road closures, diversions and changes to bus services are fairly extensive and itâs probably only Hogmanay that sees more disruption.
"Our message to people is that delays to bus services are inevitable while these measures are in place and there will be people who will be caught up in it. All our services will still be running but we will do our utmost to minimise the inconvenience to our passengers and we would advise people to allocate extra time for their journeys."
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "Weâre used to policing major events in the Capital and Saturdayâs opening of the Scottish Parliament will be no exception.
"Officers from across the force will be involved on the day, and will be situated on the main routes of the procession, the City Chambers and Holyrood.
"Months of planning has gone into the policing of the event and we hope that everyone who turns up to watch the dayâs events will enjoy this historic day.
"The public are reminded that several roads in the city centre will be closed before and during the event and we encourage people where possible to use public transport."
Thanks to `JP` for the alert.
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