I have just picked up my copy of February’s Leith Gazette (that’s Leith Gazette not Edinburgh Leith Gazette) and read Jenny Mackenzie’s piece on the back page regarding the name change that has been proposed for the development at the Leith docks. While I find myself in agreement with 90% of what Jenny says I am a little astounded about the last paragraph. She is suggesting a compromise over the proposed name change, no longer is it to be Leith Harbour or Edinburgh Harbour but Edinburgh Leith harbour. Sorry Jenny but if Edinburgh want to have their own docks I suggest they start pumping water back into into the Nor’ Loch so they can jump straight off their trams in to their weekend leisure boats.
The people involved in the waterfront development obviously believe there is a problem with marketing their money machine using the name of Leith. No doubt they intend to spend millions on selling the waterfront lifestyle to their urbanite target audience, and it is equally apparent they have no intention of including Leith in that PR assault. It’s really very very simple, there is an Edinburgh dock and it is situated within Leith docks so let them market that area as ‘Edinburgh dock’ but don’t try and fool people into thinking that Leith docks is about to become the 21st century’s Newtown.
Perhaps it’s time Leithers started to refer to Edinburgh as the Grassmarket or the Cowgate and maybe then we would get some support and understanding from our Edinburgh neighbours in protecting what for a very long time was all Leith had, its own individual identity.
So no to compromise, the dock’s have a name and everyone in Leith and Edinburgh know what it is, and I hope when prospective buyers come looking for addresses in Edinburgh Leith Harbor we smile and shrug our shoulders because I for one have no idea where it is.