AI-assisted research summary: The Act lets the City of Edinburgh Council dispose of the relevant land to the National Galleries of Scotland for gallery expansion, and it changes the land’s status so it stops being part of Princes Street Gardens.
National Galleries of Scotland Act 2016 An Act of the Scottish Parliament to change the status of a piece of land currently within Princes Street Gardens so as to enable the City of Edinburgh Council to dispose of it to the National Galleries of Scotland and to provide for that same piece of land to cease to form part of Princes Street Gardens, thus disapplying section 22 of the Schedule to the City of Edinburgh District Council Order Confirmation Act 1991 to that land. Subject to subsection (2), for the purposes of Part VI of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 the relevant land is deemed to be land forming part of the common good of the Council with respect to which no question arises as to the right of the Council to alienate. For the purposes of subsection (1), no question shall arise as to the Council's right to alienate the relevant land only to the extent that the alienation in question consists of the disposal of the relevant land to the Board of Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland for the purpose of extending the Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, Edinburgh. Upon the coming into force of this Act–– the relevant land ceases to form part of Princes Street Gardens; and accordingly the restrictions on constructing buildings contained in section 22 (restrictions on buildings in certain parks) of the Schedule to the City of Edinburgh District Council Order Confirmation Act 1991 cease to apply to the relevant land. In this Act— “the Council” means The City of Edinburgh Council; and “the relevant land” means the piece of land which, prior to the coming into force of this Act–– formed part of that part of Princes Street Gardens in the City of Edinburgh which lies east of, and adjacent to, the Mound; and comprises an area of approximately 737 square metres bounded by the line of the existing eastern border of the Gallery commencing at grid reference NT254522737900 then proceeding southerly for a distance of approximately 90 metres to grid reference NT254778737041 then proceeding westerly for a distance of approximately 4.5 metres across the bottom of the Playfair Steps to grid reference NT254733737027 then proceeding southerly for a distance of approximately 10 metres along the western boundary of the Playfair Steps to grid reference NT254761736934 then proceeding easterly for a distance of approximately 20 metres across the Playfair Steps and beyond to grid reference NT254957736993 then proceeding northerly along an imaginary line for a distance of approximately 7.5 metres to grid reference NT254935737064 then proceeding north westerly along an imaginary line for a distance of approximately 20 metres to grid reference NT254787737196 then proceeding northerly for a distance of approximately 75 metres to grid reference NT254574737915 in line with the most easterly part of the existing eastward Gallery extension into Princes Street Gardens and then returning westerly for a distance of approximately 5.5 metres to the point of commencement. In this section, “grid reference” means Ordnance Survey National Grid reference. This Act comes into force on the day after Royal Assent. The short title of this Act is the National Galleries of Scotland Act 2016.