Just been. The proposals have good and bad points I think.
Firstly, I think recreating a hotel building where the old triangular block used to be is a good idea, particularly if the block is mixed-use, with shops etc on ground level, hotel above, and reinstates the old street pattern (the 'street enclosure' thing mentioned by Crowriver).
Unfortunately, in terms of public space, and for pedestrians and cyclists, the proposals are frankly pathetic.
The main issue, I think, is that new block is severed from the rest of the St James Centre redevelopment by the road joining Leith St and Broughton St.
This creates several serious problems:
1. The 'high quality public space' shown between the Cathedral and the hotel block, will, in reality, be dominated cars; all the traffic currently going down Leith St will pass through there!
2. It makes safe, easy pedestrian and cyclist conections athrough/across the whole area very difficult.
Someone staffing the consultation (from GVA Grimley...) said that Sustrans had raised objections to this too, and would prefer a straighforward two-way connection between Leith St and Leith Walk.
He also thought that the developer would also likely prefer a more direct, pedestrianised connection between the hotel and the rest of the St James area, and that the main party pushing for the currently proposed gyratory system is CEC traffic dept...
I think given that the developer isn't actually pushing for inclusion of the Leith St/Broughton St road, might mean that the scheme could concievably be changed, if enough pressure is put on the council to prioritise the quality of public space/pedestrians/cyclists over ease of traffic movement.
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