Police have confirmed that the white Transit van recovered from Granton Harbour yesterday afternoon was a stolen vehicle.
The Fire and Rescue Service, Coastguard, police and a lifeboat from RNLI Queensferry attended the scene after the vehicle was spotted by a walker on Sunday morning. The van was found to be unoccupied when it was recovered from the water yesterday afternoon.
If you have any information contact Drylaw Police Station, telephone 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Aged lampposts in Edinburgh will be replaced with more energy-efficient equipment after an additional £1 million was sourced this year, the city council has announced.
The extra funding will be used to replace up to 760 old concrete and steel lampposts which failed an independent risk-based structural test.
The new aluminium columns are the first choice in street lighting designs as they do not need ongoing maintenance and have a design life of more than 50 years – almost double the design life of the old concrete and steel columns. They are also built using recycled material and can be recycled again at the end of their life.
Street lighting electricity costs are predicted to double by 2020 and the new posts will be fitted with energy-efficient white light lanterns, which will support the drive to reduce electricity costs whilst helping the Council to meet environmental targets.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, Environment Convener, said: “Replacing old lampposts with modern aluminium columns makes both environmental and financial sense. They last up to twice as long as the traditional designs, and can even be recycled once finished with.
This would be an ideal opportunity to save energy and our carbon footprint, as well as to reduce the amount paid to light the city. It would also help to improve safety of residents and visitors.”
The new street lights have not met with universal approval, however. Drylaw Telford Community Council raised concerns over the positioning and power of new lights when they were installed late in 2011.
Community council treasurer Jackie Brown said then: “The new lights are lower and less powerful so don’t shed nearly as much light. Older members of the community are feeling vulnerable. Some of them are carrying torches so that they can see where to put the key in the door lock when they get home, while some others are avoiding going out altogether when it gets dark. It’s not only older people who are affected by the new lights, though – lots of people are not happy with the new lights.”
The community council has since been working with council officers to improve lighting in problem areas, and recently conducted a consultation in Wester Drylaw Place.
Community council chairman Alex Dale said: “We publicised the consultation with flyers and leaflets and highlighted the issue on our website, but the volume of response to the survey was slightly disappointing – in all there were 19 postcard responses, and two further replies via Survey Monkey.
Police in Edinburgh have begun issuing body cameras to victims of hate crime in the north of the Capital. The scheme is being rolled out in North Edinburgh with a view to a wider rollout across the city.
The mini ‘body cams’, which are capable of recording incidents at a touch of a button, will be offered to local shop staff who have been experienced a significant or repeat incident.
The initiative has been designed to support staff by supplementing their existing CCTV and security measures.
Inspector Mark Rennie, of Drylaw Police Station said, “We often find that store security guards and shop staff receive racist abuse when they challenge shoplifters or refuse purchases.
“It’s totally unwarranted and unacceptable, and these cameras are intended to provide reassurance to staff who have experienced such an incident, by offering a deterrent and helping to assist police collect evidence to identify offenders.
“This will increase our opportunities to arrest those responsible, take appropriate action to put them before the courts, and prevent them from being able to use the shop in the future.
“Although the devices are discreet, they are small enough to be worn on the body to ensure that vulnerable staff have access to the recording facility at all times and in areas of their premises that previously would not have been covered by their own CCTV.”
Foysol Choudhury, MBE, Chair of Edinburgh and Lothian Regional Equality Council, said: “We welcome the initiative of Police Scotland of making small body cameras available, which will help safeguard and protect persons vulnerable to hate crimes.
“We also believe that it would make local business owners and employees confident to conduct their business as well as report instances of hate crime.
“As a lot of people are not aware of processes about reporting hate crimes, the body cameras will make them confident about garnering evidence of such crimes. We hope that this step will increase rates of reporting of hate crimes.”
DVLA reveals top ten excuses for not buying a tax disc
A motorist who claimed to have taken so much Viagra he could not leave the house was just one of a number of excuses from people who failed to tax their car last year.
According to information released by Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) yesterday (28 July), motorists caught for not having a tax disc last year used a variety of incredible excuses – and the organisation has compiled a Top Ten.
Among the reasons cited for failure to tax a vehicle, how about: ‘My mate said that if the cost of the tax is more than what the car’s worth you haven’t got to pay it!’
One motorist claimed to have fallen out of a tree while fruit picking and broke both arms so they could not fill in the necessary forms, while another motorist even blamed their mobile phone.
Carolyn Williams, DVLA’s Head of Digital Services, said: “The vast majority of people tax their car on time but it amazes me to see the excuses people come up with. It’s easier than ever before for people to tax their car and our digital services are designed to be used any time of day or night to fit in with people’s lifestyles – so there really is no need for silly excuses.”
The 10 silliest excuses:
The quickest and easiest way to tax a vehicle is to go online or ‘phone 0300 123 4321. It’s a fully automated system and should take no more than 4 minutes. Vehicles must either be taxed or declared off-road – this is done by making a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).
Edinburgh’s Playday takes place on Wednesday (31 July) from 12.30 – 4pm in the City Chambers Quadrangle. What’s Playday?
Edinburgh’s Playday is a festival of play for parents and children. It gives adults ideas on a big scale of things they can do with their children at home on a smaller scale.
This year, Edinburgh’s Playday takes place right in the heart of the city in the City Chambers Quadrangle and High Street on the Royal Mile. The street will be transformed with a festival of play on offer for children and their families. Come along and try out some old and new ways to play together!
Come along and try:
See the flyer (top) for more details
Access is free but children should be accompanied by an adult.
For more information contact cf.play@edinburgh.gov.uk.
![Playday12_hp_338x220[1]](https://i0.wp.com/nen.press/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/playday12_hp_338x2201.jpg?ssl=1)
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued an updated FLOOD ALERT for Edinburgh and Lothians:
There is a continuing risk of surface water flooding due to the band of intense rainfall currently over the area. This could cause flooding from local surface water run off, particularly in urban areas and on roads. It may also cause some flooding from smaller watercourses in the region, particularly to low lying land and in flood prone areas. The risk from flooding will lessen during Sunday afternoon as the rain starts to ease.
Remain vigilant and remember, it is your responsibility to take actions which help protect yourself and your property. Advice and information is available through Floodline on 0845 9881188. This FLOOD ALERT UPDATE is now in force until further notice.
If you haven’t already signed up to receive free flood messages, please call Floodline or register online at sepa.org.uk/floodingsignup.
This afternoon’s BIG Search has been postponed – can’t think why?
It will now take place next Thurdsay – again, weather permitting!
Betty McVay’s belated eightieth birthday celebration finally took place at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre last Friday, and the party proved to be well worth the wait.
Most readers will know that Betty has not been well, and she was forced to put her original party plans on hold when she was taken into hospital last month. However regular readers will also know that Betty is a wee battler and there was no way that the milestone party was not going to happen as soon as she was well enough again!
it was almost a ‘This Is Your Life’ event as friends and colleagues from across the years joined Betty and her family at West Pilton – as someone remarked, there were hundreds of years of community activism together in the Neighbourhood Centre that night and it was a great opportunity to share stories and memories.
In a year that’s seen old Greater Pilton lose activists and community characters like Billy Anderson, Brian Robertson, Stevey Hay and Gwen Chrystal, Betty’s party gave the community something to smile about – even if the raffle prizes were among the worst in history!
Belated happy birthday then, Betty – and keep battling!
Port of Leith Housing Association’s St Nicholas Court residents are hosting their annual Summer Fayre this Saturday (27 July) from 12pm and 2pm at their sheltered housing complex on Ferry Road.
The fayre is an integral part of the social calendar, which has been celebrated for over 15 years, and the money raised goes towards day trips and activities for the elderly residents toenjoy.
Some of the attractions include face painting for children, live music, barbeque, refreshments, book stall, tombola stall and raffle prizes – entry is just 50p.
Maureen TaitSenior Sheltered Housing Co-ordinator with PoLHA, said: “Our Summer Fayre is one of the main highlights in our social calendar for our residents as it’s such a wonderful, fun-filled day. Lots of planning goes into the event and the residents really get on board. It is a very important event to us as it helps to raise vital money for our social fund. It means that we can organise day trips, keep-fit classes and other treats for our residents.”
Wanted to remind you about the free, fun event taking place this afternoon in Inverleith. ‘The BIG Search’ is a treasure hunt / quest type event that involves reading clues and finding the answers across the area from Blackhall to Warriston!
Open to teams of children, young people, adults and families of up to 6 people (at least one must be aged 16+), every participant will get a teeshirt and goody bag and the winning team will get exciting prizes!
Pick up your packs from 1pm at either Stockbridge or Blackhall Libraries and bring your sheets back at 4pm to Inverleith Park where there will be fun activities and BBQ (weather permitting).
Please come along and take part and please tell your friends, families and neighbours about this first in Inverleith! The event is organised by the Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership’s Children and Families Action Group.
Thanks to Ocean Terminal and Scottish Gas for their support in this event.
Elaine Lennon, Partnership Development Officer
Tel: 0131 529 5270
