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Work underway for new Controlled Parking Zones in Leith and Pilrig
Signs and road markings are set to be installed in some streets in Leith ahead of the introduction of parking controls to help alleviate parking pressures.
From tomorrow (Monday 6 March), work will begin on a street by street basis to implement the changes around Leith Walk, Pilrig and Leith/North Leith, where the first phase of new Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) is being established.
The city council has written to residents to let them know about the planned work and how it will affect them, and to advise that parking permits are not yet required. They will provide another update once installation is complete, expected in two-three months, about applying for a permit and when it will be needed.
Later this year, signs and road markings will be introduced in Abbeyhill, Shandon and Gorgie, which are also part of the first phase of new CPZs, and we’ll be writing to update residents in these areas nearer the time.
This is the first of up to four phases of implementation of parking controls around the city, developed as part of the Strategic Parking Review. This responded to concerns from communities across Edinburgh, who asked us to tackle parking problems. The review led to the identification of areas where parking controls may be required to resolve challenges facing residents, in particular from non-residential parking.
Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “These new parking controls are designed to help residents park more easily near their homes, and aim to address issues like commuter parking, which people across the city have told us is a problem in their neighbourhoods.
“In developing these plans officers have spent a great deal of time speaking to residents and gathering information on each area. Once in place, they’ll also be monitoring the impact of the changes to make sure they work for everyone.
“Of course, the restrictions haven’t come into force yet and we’ll be keeping communities up to date with progress and advice on applying for permits.”
The council began the Strategic Parking Review in 2018 in response to comments from residents, community councils and ward councillors. The in-depth review identified parking pressures by street and helped inform a series of new parking controls approved in 2019, to be implemented in four phases.
The process to introduce parking controls for phase three (including Fettes and Prestonfield) and phase four (including Newhaven, Trinity and Portobello) is expected to begin soon, while phase two (including Easter Road, West Leith, Bonnington, Willowbrae and the A8 Corridor) remains on hold pending further monitoring and engagement.
Progress information is available on the Council website.
Monitoring is being carried out before, during and after the implementation of parking controls to help us to understand the impact on surrounding areas.
Find out more about the Strategic Parking Review on the Council website.
EVOC to lead project to save Gorgie City Farm
One of Edinburgh’s leading third and voluntary sector organisations is set to take forward plans to find a sustainable community-led future for the Gorgie City Farm site.
Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council (EVOC) has agreed to manage a community-led project to find a possible solution, following discussions with the City of Edinburgh Council after the closure of the site last month.
EVOC is one of three partners that make up Edinburgh’s TSI (Third Sector Interface), helping to support and develop the city’s community and voluntary sector, with a role to develop robust solutions and approaches that underpin strong organisations.
Their role will not be to run the farm, but to work with local community, and all stakeholders. This will result in a stronger plan for Gorgie City Farm to re-open, with a strong sustainable plan for the future.
The first step will be for EVOC to bring together a Steering Group – expected to include representatives from the local voluntary sector, campaign groups, the local community and the Council – to work on identifying proposals that could secure its future.
The partnership Steering Group will start from the principle that it will bring together city experts in key respective fields, to support local volunteering through to organisations who have social enterprise aspirations, and connect these together.
Bridie Ashrowan, Chief Executive of EVOC, said: “We understand that Gorgie City Farm is very important to the Gorgie and the wider Edinburgh community, the many people who have visited, volunteered or worked there, and the City of Edinburgh Council.
EVOC has a long history of supporting community and voluntary organisations, helping them to get established, to grow and assess how to develop, and being the honest broker, to focus minds on the task ahead.
“We are committed to taking a community led approach to this project, learning from other successful collaborations in the City.
!We have no vested interest in the future of the Gorgie Farm site and will step back if and when a community-led partnership has been established, through the work of the steering group. This will lay the ground work for Gorgie Farm site having a fighting chance of long term viability.”
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “I’m delighted we’ve got EVOC on board for the Gorgie City Farm site as they have a proven track record in supporting local organisations that need expert advice. At the heart of the work they will be taking forward are options for a community-led, collaborative and financially sustainable future for the site.
“I want to thank everyone who has been working so hard both publicly and behind the scenes to find a solution. The work by the campaign groups, volunteers and other partners has been really impressive and shows the strength of feeling towards this valuable community asset which benefits all communities across the city.
“I’m sure the coming months will be exciting times as EVOC brings people, groups and organisations together to look at options for a sustainable future for the Gorgie City Farm site. I look forward to them presenting a sustainable vision for the future of Gorgie City Farm to the local community soon so everyone in the city can enjoy all it has to offer for years to come.”
Granton Primary Early Learning and Childcare Building opens
Cllr Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, officially opened the new Granton Early Learning and Childcare building with Head Teacher Lorraine Cusack and Senior Early Years Officer Lesley Watt yesterday.
Five new settings based on primary school sites – Craigentinny, Granton, Nether Currie, St John Vianney and St Mark’s – have opened up in the Capital in the past few months providing places for an additional 500 children.
Cllr Griffiths said: “This is an exciting time for early learning and childcare in Edinburgh with five new settings opening recently providing places for over 500 children.
“As a Council we will do everything we can to ensure our children get the best possible start in life on their journey to becoming successful learners and confident individuals.”
PICTURES: Greg Macvean
“Wee Forest” heading to Granton Crescent
Call for volunteers to join tree planting
LOCAL residents are being encouraged to sign up for a community tree-planting session next week to help create a new woodland in Granton.
Granton Crescent is to be home to Edinburgh’s latest Wee (or Tiny) Forest as part of the Council’s work to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030. The creation of the new Wee Forest has been made possible by funding from Banister Charitable Trust.
The City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with Earthwatch Europe and Edinburgh Lothian Greenspace Trust, is hosting a special planting day on Thursday 2 March from 1pm – and all are welcome.
A Wee Forest is a dense, fast-growing, native woodland about the size of a tennis court and is capable of attracting over 500 animal and plant species within the first three years. It also provides rich opportunities for engaging young and old alike with the environment and sustainability.
Earthwatch is pioneering the initiative in the UK, using a forestry management technique developed in Japan by Dr Miyawaki in the 1970s. By encouraging the trees to grow in tightly packed formation, fighting each other for sunlight and nutrients, they will grow ten times faster than a traditional forest.
The new Wee Forest – which will be planted at Granton Crescent by local residents and local primary school pupils – will not only be attractive locations for wildlife, but for people too, and will provide a range of benefits in the fight against climate change.
Volunteers can book a place on any of these dates via Eventbrite.
Culture and Communities Convener, Cllr Val Walker, said: “Our newest “Wee Forest” allows residents to be directly involved in tackling the nature and climate crises by being involved in the planting, maintaining and development of the forests in their own community. The Wee Forests will also help us work towards our goal of being a Million Tree City by 2030 and to be net zero.
“A Wee Forest brings the benefits of a forest – connecting people with nature, raising awareness of the environment, helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change, and supporting urban wildlife – right in the heart of our community within urban spaces in the city.
“For each Wee Forest, we look to engage a core group of volunteers called Tree Keepers to act as ambassadors for their local forest. Volunteering as a Tree Keeper is a great chance to get more involved in your Wee Forest’s development and track the amazing environmental impact of the site and I would encourage everyone to find out more by contacting Earthwatch.
“I hope residents will join the planting on 2 March. The planting is free to attend and open to all ages. Equipment is provided on the day but feel free to bring along your own gloves and spade.”
Louise Hartley, Tiny Forest Programme Manager at Earthwatch Europe, said: “Tiny Forest provides rich opportunities for connecting young and old alike with the environment and sustainability.
“It’s vital that we give people the knowledge and skills to protect our natural world and inspire them to take positive action. We are delighted to be working with City of Edinburgh Council to bring these inspiring spaces to the Capital.”
Tree Time! Free trees at Inverleith Park this weekend
Pick up your free garden tree this week at Inverleith Park!
We will be there from 12pm-3pm on Friday and 10am-2pm on Saturday giving away free trees for Edinburgh residents.
Just drop-in and get your free tree while stocks last!
Help available to boost family incomes
Edinburgh parents urged to seek help with employment
A new campaign will encourage families living on a low income to access local support with finances and work.
It encourages people to take the first step towards relieving these pressures with help from the Parent Club website. This can guide them towards tailored support to help them improve their situation by starting work after unemployment, returning to work or improving earnings.
The campaign which includes TV, radio and online advertising, highlights the pressures of everyday life and shows parents feeling the ‘walls closing in’ on them as they juggle family life with bills and other costs.
Cllr Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “We know that many families in Edinburgh are finding it hard to make ends meet at the moment and are looking for advice on things like finding work and applying for benefits.
“Taking the first step at ParentClub.scot can help find services that offer free, confidential and tailored advice that can really make a difference for families across Scotland.
“For anyone that’s feeling worried, stressed and overwhelmed, but aren’t sure where to start, please know you’re not alone and that help is available.”
Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: “We understand the anxiety and stress, that low-income families could be living with and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis is likely to be making even worse.
“Parent Club can guide people to free and confidential tailored advice from local authority employment services, where they can access support relevant to their own work and family situation.
“It also offers information on how to get help from the Money Talk Team who can advise on areas such as maximising income and dealing with debt. Parent Club also provides sources of support with mental health and stress.
“Tackling child poverty is our national mission. We want to make sure parents know what help is out there and claim any support they should be getting.”
Citizens Advice Scotland CEO Derek Mitchell said: “When times are difficult it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by bills mounting up – but our advice is free, confidential, and impartial.
“The Citizens Advice network is working with the Scottish Government to deliver the Money Talk Team service. We can check to see what payments you might be missing out on or any cheaper deals are available to you. If you are struggling with debt we can help with that too.
“Don’t delay, you could be missing out on money that could make a huge difference to you and your family’s finances.”
Edinburgh approves Lib Dem budget
EDINBURGH councillors have passed a budget focused on ‘getting the basics right’ and making Edinburgh a ‘cleaner and greener city’. However that budget was not the one put forward by by the ruling Labour administration – council rejected that, and instead eventually backed a Liberal Democrat budget.
This means a Labour-led council will now be promoting and implementing a budget put forward by the Liberal Democrats, the council’s third biggest party.
Trade unions are concerned about elements within the budget passed by the council – particularly over compulsory redundancies and outsourcing- and some senior Labour figures believe Council Leader Cammy Day’s position is now untenable.
There are calls for him to resign: both from the SNP – the biggest group on the council – and, perhaps of more concern, from within the city’s own Labour group.
The humiliating budget defeat shows the fragility of Labour’s leadership position within the council.
With thirteen councillors Labour needs the support of other parties to run the city.
Labour chose to break their ‘Capital Coalition’ agreement with the SNP and instead joined forces with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats following last May’s local government elections, despite assurances from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar that there would be ‘no deals’.
With 18 councilllors the SNP is the biggest group on the city council by some way. Labour (13) is second followed by the Lib Dems (12), Greens (10) and Tories (9).
Lib Dems, doubtless boosted by their Budget coup, are bullish about their chances of increasing their representation in the City Chambers following a by-election in Corstorphine/Murrayfield on 9 March.
SNP Group leader (and leader of the former ruling ‘Capital Coalition’) said: “What Labour actually voted for: -£600k saving by ending no compulsory redundancy policy NOW. -£500k saving THIS YEAR by privatising waste & cleansing services.
“You can’t trust a word from Labour on this.”
He also tweeted: “Labour “administration” budget defeated – Labour instead backed the LibDem budget in full. If my budget had been voted down as Council Leader I’d have had the integrity to resign.”
Following a series of votes on Thursday (23 February), the Liberal Democrats’ spending proposals for 2023/24 were agreed, as was the Administration’s Housing Budget Strategy.
While rejecting a series of savings proposals in education and speech and language therapy, councillors agreed to allocate substantial additional money to improve roads, paths and pavements and carry out additional resurfacing works for the long term.
Additional funding will also be made available for the city’s parks and greenspaces, tackling fly tipping, graffiti removal and street sweeping, and additional resource for flood defences and gully cleaning in light of the increasing impacts of climate change.
The Climate and Sustainability Team will also be bolstered, enabling a greater focus on the city’s ambition of becoming net zero by 2030 and the King’s Theatre will also benefit from funding to secure its future, with £3m set aside – a move supported across the council.
Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Kevin Lang said: “I’m delighted that our budget got support from councillors – and that, in the midst of the cost of living crisis, we’ve been able to limit the rise in council tax to 5% for Edinburgh’s residents.
“This is a Council budget that delivers. A budget that stops £5 million of education cuts, injects £11 million extra to tackle our broken roads and pavements, more investment for parks and new money for climate change action.
“Despite continued funding cuts from the Scottish Government, residents still rightly expect high quality local services in return for the increasing amounts of council tax they pay each year, which requires a budget which focuses on essential core services, delivered well.”
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “Despite the unique demands of a Capital city, Edinburgh continues to receive the worst grant funding of any local authority in Scotland. Years of local government cuts have now come to a head, forcing us to find close to £80m of savings this year – on top of the hundreds of millions we’ve made already.
“It’s a position none of us wanted to be in and our residents deserve better. Despite this, we presented a positive, fair and responsible set of proposals, aimed at protecting vital frontline services on which our communities and residents rightly depend.
“So, I was deeply disappointed we didn’t secure the backing from other groups, particularly in the manner in which it came about. But, for all that, I remain absolutely committed to leading this council and to working with all other groups to deliver the best for the people of Edinburgh.”
Council Tax Bands
A £965.13
B £1,125.98
C £1,286.84
D £1,447.69
E £1,902.10
F £2,352.50
G £2,835.06
H £3,546.84
Edinburgh specialist housing development shortlisted for 2023 Scottish Empty Homes Awards
LAR Housing Trust’s impressive redevelopment of a formerly empty building in Niddrie, Edinburgh, into six two-bedroom flats for people with specialist housing needs has been shortlisted in this year’s Finders International 12th Scottish Empty Homes Awards.
The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership announced that the project, which was by LAR in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council and Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, is a finalist for the ‘best retrofit of an empty home’ award.
In its submission, LAR said its development of the building which had been empty for seven years “will make a significant and life-changing impact for its tenants, some of whom have been hospitalised for two decades.”
The awards celebrate the impactful and transformative empty homes work undertaken across Scotland, recent statistics revealed almost 43,000 homes are lying empty and bringing even some of these back into use, can be a cost-effective way to help ease pressure on supply challenges.
Award winners will be announced on Wednesday 1st March 2023 at the 12th Scottish Empty Homes Conference, which will be held at the Engine Shed in Stirling, as well as being streamed online for digital participants.
Shaheena Din, National Project Manager, Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, said: “It has been incredibly difficult for the Advisory Group to choose finalists for this year’s awards as the quality of entries is very high, and we thank all those who took the time to submit nominations.
“The nominations demonstrate how empty homes work often involves creative problem solving and has a real impact on issues related to housing and the strengthening of communities.
“We look forward to showcasing the work of outstanding projects and individuals across the Scottish housing sector at the awards next month. Well done to our finalists and we look forward to announcing the winners in March.”
Public Sector Development Manager for Empty Homes, Muhammad Uddin from Finders International, who are the awards sponsor for the conference, said: “We are really impressed by the calibre of entries and shortlisting the nominations was not an easy task.
“It just demonstrates the level of innovation and initiative in the Scottish empty homes sector and we are proud to be involved in the awards.”
Finalists and winners will be presented with wooden plaques handmade by social enterprise Clydesdale Community Initiatives (CCI) at the conference.
Tickets for the 12th Scottish Empty Homes Conference are available via Eventbrite:
Finders International are the gold sponsor of the conference, with Auction House Scotland, Fraser & Fraser and Brodies LLP as silver sponsors, and Online Property Auctions as bronze sponsor.
Auld Reekie Retold
New stories of an old city retold in poetry competition
A three year collections project, Auld Reekie Retold, comes to a close tomorrow (Sunday 19 February) at the City Art Centre.
To mark the event, staff at Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have announced the results of a poetry competition hosted with the Scottish Poetry Library and Hannah Lavery, the Edinburgh Makar.
Poems had to be inspired in some way by objects in the current exhibition at the City Art Centre. Entries covered the full range of objects exhibited, from small pottery items made at the Buchans factory in Portobello to a blue dress sold by Jenners in the 1980s.
The judging panel was made up of representatives from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh and Scottish Poetry Library, with the final selection made by Hannah Lavery.
Nico Tyack, Auld Reekie Retold project manager said: “The poems were of a really high standard, and had us laughing, smiling and even crying but they all moved us and showed us the amazing power of objects.
“We all see the same objects in an exhibition, but what they mean to us varies in so many ways. It was humbling to see the collections interpreted in such creative ways.”
Culture and Communities Convener, Cllr Val Walker, said: “The poems are a moving and beautiful closure to the Auld Reekie Retold exhibition and project.
“Auld Reekie Retold was all about celebrating the shared public ownership of the collections, so what better way to tell new stories about the city than letting the people of Edinburgh do the talking?”
The winning entries were:
Under-18
Jiffy Washing Machine by Archer Thomson Adams
Over-18
First place, It is your turn, by Lynda McDonald
Second place, Mind?, by Alison Findlay
Highly commended
The Impermanent Collection by Iain Macfarlane and The Ballant o’ Hugh McKail’s Guid Beuk by Sam Phipps.
This short film shows the poets reading their winning entries, with images of the objects that inspired them.