A judge has given permission for a traveller family to be evicted from a site earmarked as a new home for Scotland’s national art collections in Edinburgh.
Lawyers for the Scottish government said the man, woman and 11 children, along with a number of “itinerant workers” had “no right or entitlement” to occupy the future site of The Art Works project in Granton.
The family argued that being removed from the site without a “culturally appropriate” alternative being provided would breach their human rights.
However, in a judgement issued at the Court of Session, Lady Tait ordered the family to leave the site immediately and said the government’s claim on the land was “legitimate”.
Planning approval for The Art Works was granted by City of Edinburgh Council in October 2023.
The £100m development, scheduled to open in 2030, will house a facility capable of storing 120,000 works from Scotland’s national collection when not on display in a conventional gallery, while allowing the public to view them.