Key update issued on closed paths below Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Council said access to parts of Castle Hill will be reinstated in the spring, however some paths which run directly under the rock face "will need to remain permanently closed".

It comes after a new fence was installed in Princes Street Gardens in September to catch rocks falling from the historic landmark - allowing for access to the gardens from King Stables Road to be reopened.

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Historic Environment Scotland, who manage the Castle, said previously there have been “no recorded rockfalls on external rockfaces since 2018” and “inspections of the rock face are carried out on a regular basis”.

In a new update, officials said "significant parts" of a network of paths at the southern base of Castle Hill, accessed from The Mound, will reopen in the first half of next year. It is understood these have been closed since around 2018.

They said this "should include access from the Mound down to the second rail bridge at the rear of the Ross Bandstand".

A health and safety inspection scheduled for this month will identify "how we progress moving to the next stages of opening wider sections of the Castle Hill area," a report stated.

"Previous risk assessments have identified all areas around the castle hill are High Risk which means the risk is intolerable and must be reduced and if the risk cannot be reduced then access needs to be excluded.

"There are various control measures which can be introduced to lower the risk, and these vary around the different parts of the hill.

"These can include low level mitigation including, signage warning of the rockfall risk, additional tree and shrub planting to act as a natural barrier. But also, up to introduction of rock catch fence - which has been done at King Stables Road - and in some areas permanent closure of part of the path."

Parks staff said "significant maintenance works" are still required to reopen the paths.

"All paths for example need scrapped, cleaned and edges cut back. There is also significant overgrown vegetation from trees etc which will need cut back.

"This work will progress over the winter months."

The report added: "It is anticipated some paths which run directly under the rock face will need to remain permanently closed as there is no opportunity to put any control or mitigation to reduce the risk from debris.

"Part of the remit for the Health and Safety inspection will be to identify these areas and how members of the public will be restricted from entering them.

"It is a similar position with the entrance and path from Johnstone Terrace and there are currently no plans to open this section as there is limited space for any type of protection to be included which will reduce the risk.

"Further dialogue will continue with Historic Environment Scotland as they continue to conduct de-scaling and stabilising works on the castle rock face."