TO say that Edinburgh is a beautiful city would probably be viewed as an understatement.

With the elegant Georgian terraces along orderly streets in the New Town to the cobbled and higgledy piggledy warren of streets in the Old Town, it is undoubtedly worthy of its double UNESCO status.

All this, of course, plus the world-renowned castle which looks down on the entire city from it’s dominant position atop Castle Rock.

The massed throngs of visitors every year cannot fail to be impressed by the grandness of the city which looks as if it hasn’t really changed for hundreds of years.

But of course, Edinburgh, like other great European capitals such as London and Paris, has modernised over the years with shiny new glass frontages now commonplace.

In all the cases, it hasn’t made a huge difference to their beauty and stature as the old and new live side by side.

However, not everyone is happy with the modern makeovers and heritage conservationists are left battling to retain the original charms.

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Unfortunately, while well meaning and undoubtedly having a good intention generally, sometimes they let themselves down a bit.

This week a bid by Netflix to fit a plaque marking the hit TV series One Day at a historic Edinburgh landmark was thrown out by city planners after complaints.

The streaming service wanted a red plaque with a quote from the show erected in The Vennel Steps, where its lead characters have a key scene.

It had applied to City of Edinburgh Council, for planning permission as the sign would be secured to the wall of a listed building, built in 1910.

But a heritage watchdog condemned the proposal as a “simple exercise in product marketing” and the council has now refused permission, external on heritage grounds.

The sign was proposed for the bottom of the steps, opposite the 16th-century Flodden Wall – which once marked the perimeter of Edinburgh.

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One Day is based on the book by David Nicholls and follows the lives of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew on St Swinthin’s Day – 15 July – every year.

They meet at their Edinburgh University graduation ball in 1988 and have a failed one-night stand.

The series explores the couple’s relationship as they grow up, move apart and together, and experience joy and heartbreak.

One memorable scene in Edinburgh was filmed on The Vennel Steps, a historic staircase that runs from The Grassmarket along the boundary of George Heriot’s School. At the top of the steps is a famous view of Edinburgh Castle.

David Givan, City of Edinburgh Council’s chief planning officer said the application received 38 objections.

He said: “The proposal fails to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the character of the building and would adversely impact on its special architectural and historic interest.”

The quote on the proposed sign reads: “It’s one of the great cosmic mysteries. How someone can go from being a total stranger to the most important person in your life.”

Last month Terry Levinthal, the director of the Cockburn Association, spoke out against the proposal.

He said: “If every production or every connection with a novel or film or TV series did the same, one wouldn’t be able to see parts of the city due to the proliferation of plaques.”

The Cockburn Association is one of the world’s oldest architectural conservation and urban planning monitoring organisations and was founded in 1875.

The first major campaign by the association was to resist the removal of trees at Bruntsfield Links and the association has campaigned for Edinburgh’s open and green spaces ever since.

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One of their biggest successes was when it resisted plans to build an inner city motorway system in Edinburgh in 1965.

Thank goodness that they did, too, as having the M8 running through the heart of the capital would have changed it forever, like many say happened to Glasgow.

But while the renowned association undoubtedly does a lot of great work, the plaque furore suggests that sometimes they go too far.

Having a small plaque, smaller than a side plate on a wall, is not going to change the city in any way shape or form.

Also, suggesting that Edinburgh would soon be overrun with plaques honouring its starring role on the screen is also a tad far-fetched. Other cities cope just fine with honouring the great and the good and so should Edinburgh.

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In fact, on Friday, a a blue plaque commemorating Hollywood star Cary Grant was unveiled in his home city of Bristol.

UK Arts and Tourism Minister Sir Chris Bryant and Historic England chief executive Duncan Wilson were among those attending the unveiling at 50 Berkeley Road.

If Bristol isn’t shy then neither should Edinburgh be. Fans of One Day will come to the city anyway.

Conserving the past is absolutely essential and heritage bodies such as the Cockburn Association should be applauded. But we shouldn’t oppose change just for the sake of it.

We must ensure our most historic buildings are preserved but not simply as museum pieces.

They can play a key role in modern, vibrant cities but their surroundings should be allowed to evolve too, otherwise the cities will die around them.