Tag: Craigleith Blackhall Community Council

Inverleith hustings at Blackhall St Columba’s

THURSDAY 20 APRIL, 7pm

BLACKHALL St COLUMBA’s PARISH CHURCH

Craigleith and Blachkhall Community Council are hosting a local council election hustings on Thursday 20 April at 7pm in St Columba’s Parsih Church. All welcome. Continue reading Inverleith hustings at Blackhall St Columba’s

Craigleith Blackhall to hold Holyrood Hustings

CRAIGLEITH BLACKHALL COMMUNITY COUNCIL

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT HUSTINGS

Holyrood Parliament

Thursday 28th April, 7.30 – 9.00pm

Blackhall St Columba’s Parish Church, Columba Road 

Representatives are confirmed from:

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Scottish Labour Party
Liberal Democratic Party
Scottish National Party
Scottish Green Party
RISE Alliance
UK Independence Party
Women’s Equality Party

An opportunity to meet your local candidates
All welcome, bring your tricky questions!

Campaigners cross over road traffic issues

Groups unite to demand improved cycling and pedestrian crossings over Queensferry and Hillhouse Roads
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Community Councils and Parent Council reps have joined forces to campaign for local road safety improvements.  Craigleith Blackhall and Drumbrae Community Councils, Blackhall Primary and Royal High School Parent Councils are calling for action to make routes to schools safer and improved crossings on Queensferry and Hillhouse Roads.
 
Residents have reported particular problems when trying to cross those two busy roads: from having to walk too far to find a crossing, to avoiding dangerous speeding traffic or finding somewhere suitable for a bike to cross.
 
These and other related traffic issues are frequently raised at both Community Council and Parent Council meetings, so the community representatives have united to address residents’ concerns – they’re currently working together to look at specific problem areas and identify what practical improvements can be made.
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Mary Duff is one resident who has expressed concerns over traffic and would like to see improvements to road safety. “”As a parent of a new S1 student who would like to cycle to the Royal High School, can I ask that a new, safe cycle crossing is created in Blackhall to link the residential area to the cycle paths?” she said.
 
“My son currently has to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the cycle path. Hence he doesn’t take his bike as I feel it is unsafe. The only other option he has is to cycle down the pavement along Hillhouse Road, cross at a busy junction with lots of parked cars (at the Blackhall dip) and cross at the pedestrian crossing … avoiding  pedestrians some of the time!”
 
Craigleith and Blackhall community councillor Neil Watt has also had a nasty incident on busy local roads. He said: “I had a really scary experience crossing the road to Davidson’s Mains Park with my son Owen on the back of the bike – we nearly got hit by a transit turning right jumping the lights.
 
“I just can’t believe how dangerous and unpleasant it is to cross Hillhouse/Queensferry Road whether you’re on a bike or on foot, and the traffic’s only getting worse. I have a new job in the city centre and want to commute on the bike more, but it’s really tricky hooking up with the cycle network when you live in Blackhall or Clermiston.”

DSCF0331The campaigners aim to ensure their communities benefit from the safest routes to school, that it’s easy and pleasant to walk and cycle to get around, public amenities and businesses are well connected and that residents are helped to do what we they can to reduce pollution.

A spokesperson for the group said: “At the moment, we’re focussing on finding a suitable spot for a new cycle-friendly pedestrian crossing between the Blackhall dip and St Columba’s Church, and seeing what improvements we can make to the existing crossings at Blackhall Library, Craigcrook Road/Quality Street and Clermiston Road North/Queensferry Road.  Beyond that, who knows!

“The next step is to ask the City of Edinburgh Council to look into the issues and work with us to improve these sub-standard cycling and walking links.  If you want to help please come to one of our meetings or drop us an email via our websites to let us know what you think.”

You can let the group know your views by attending your local community council meeting (Craigleith Blackhall meets on Monday 15 September at 7.30 pm in Stewart’s Melville College on Queensferry Road, while Drumbrae also meets next on Monday 15 September at 7.30pm – in the Rannoch Centre.

 If you can’t make a 15  September meeting, email your views to Craigleith Blackhall Community Councillor Neil Watt at  wattmail@hotmail.co.uk  

 

Community celebrates rapid rise of Blackhall Athletic

Broughton High School was the venue for a reception to mark the formation of a new local football club last night. It’s been a meteoric rise – six months ago Blackhall Athletic didn’t exist, but now has teams playing in three football leagues!  

Club chairman John Adams explained: “Blackhall Athletic really came about through conversations in the pub! A number of parents were talking in the Blackhall Lounge – their kids were members of a team but the boys were not always getting a game. Everyone agreed that it was important that the kids get a chance to enjoy taking part in sport, no matter their abilities. It was from those conversations that the idea for the club was born”.

John (pictured above) is retired, but remains very active within the community and he was ‘coerced’ into helping parents set up a new football team for boys from Blackhall and the surrounding neighbourhoods. In August, just months later, Blackhall Athletic had three teams playing league football.

That’s a cause for celebration and last night parents, coaches and players got together at Blackhall Athletic’s Broughton High School home to say thanks to the people who made it all possible – Carey, Peri, Blackhall Sports Committee, Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership and Craigleith Blackhall Community Council have all showed their support for the new club through sponsorship.

John added: “We’ve received tremendous support from a number of sources. To make a success of something like this you really need two things – money and dedicated people to volunteer their support. It’s been quite  lot of hard work but we have both in place and we’re now able to offer young people the opportunity to come along and get involved, enjoy a game of organised football whatever your skill level. We will never be results driven – Blackhall Athletic is very much a community football club, all about sporting endeavour and playing the game in the right spirit. Everything is set up for the boys now – we have good coaches and the facilities here at Broughton are first class.”

Robert Ure (pictured below) is the Active Schools coordinator based at Broughton High School’s Sports hub. He told guests: “Blackhall Athletic is the first club to be launched from the hub here so this is a very exciting time. We are delighted to host Blackhall Athletic, and I’m delighted they have made their home here at Broughton. Our aim is to offer sporting activities for everyone – we provide a wide range of sporting opportunities with lots of different options, from dance to rugby and everything in between, so come along and give it a try!”

Blackhall Athletics has two Under Tens teams and an Under Thirteen squad side too. Given their meteoric rise, don’t rule out more teams and age groups being added to that list some time soon!

 

Inverleith Hustings

Two Inverleith Ward community councils have organised hustings for the forthcoming council elections, giving you an opportunity to meet and hear the candidates and get your questions answered.

Craigleith Blackhall CC will hold their hustings on Thursday 19 April at 7.30pm in St. Columba’s Church on Queensferry Road, while Drylaw Telford CC’s election event takes place on Tuesday 24 April at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre (off Groathill Road North).

All welcome.

Get in touch if you know of any more hustings events in Forth or Inverleith.