WPWGCC AGM!
Councillor Maureen Child, Convener of the Communities and Neighbourhoods Committee, is guest speaker at West Pilton West Granton Community Council’s annual general meeting next month.
Her theme, appropriately enough, is ‘The Changing Role of Community Councils’.
The meeting will take place in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on Tuesday 2 June at 7pm. All welcome.
For further information contact W Black (Secretary) on 07515686421, email w.black@blueyonder.co.uk
A move toward providing certainty, a missed opportunity to develop a sustainable city region – or a kick in the teeth?
The City of Edinburgh Council today agreed that its Local Development Plan should be moved on to be examined by the Reporter appointed by the Scottish Government, before the final plan is agreed.
To help the Reporter to understand where there are opportunities to change to plan, the Planning Committee also agreed a motion which details where it sees merit in the representations made.
Cllr Ian Perry, Convener of the Planning Committee, said: The Council needs to allocate land to allow much-needed housing to be delivered for the city. While we are keen to ensure that brownfield land is developed first, it is necessary to identify some new greenfield sites in a growing city.
“It is therefore very important that the Local Development Plan is now moved to the next stage to allow the Council to guide developers on future land use. This has been a difficult decision but it is important that we move towards providing certainty for local communities and developers. ”
However Lothians Green MSP Alison Johnstone slammed the decision and said the council is obsessed with suburban sprawl rather than building affordable homes.
The long-awaited plan allocates land around the city for the next 10 years, and has been driven by controversial Scottish Government projections that more than 100,000 new homes are needed across South-east Scotland. Controversially, it earmarks areas including Cammo, Brunstane and Newmills for potential development.
Alison Johnstone MSP said: “It’s frustrating to see this plan being passed without addressing the real concerns of communities around Edinburgh where unnecessary developments are earmarked. Our city has thousands of empty homes, plenty of brownfield sites and land that has been banked by developers. That is where the focus should be.
“The city urgently needs more affordable homes – homes which are built in compact communities with easy access to services and transport. Much of the LDP debate has sadly been about swapping suburban sprawl in one location for sprawl in another, without fundamentally addressing the need for a spreading the city at all. It is a missed opportunity to develop a sustainable city region.”
SNP MSP Colin Keir, who’s Edinburgh Western constituency includes green belt likely to prove attractive to developers, is also angry. He said: “I am bitterly disappointed by the decision of Planning Committee today. The Planning Committee has delivered a kick in the teeth to those opposing the 2nd Proposed Local Development Plan.
“This decision is in fact a shirking of responsibility. The Committee could have made a decision that reflected the representations from communities across the City and in particular in my constituency at Cammo, Maybury and South Queensferry where clear and substantial objections were raised based on the inability of the local infrastructure to support development on the scale proposed.
“The Committee has in effect agreed the LDP unamended while attaching a wish list of housing site adjustments which the reporter may or may not pay any attention to.”
NEN hits vast majority of targets set by city council
North Edinburgh News (NEN) exceeded eleven and partially met six of 18 targets set as part of the Contact in the Capital communications project, councillors heard last week.
North Edinburgh’s long-established newspaper and media resource managed to hit targets set for 12 months, despite only embarking on the project in August – fully FOUR MONTHS LATE – and through no fault of our own, I should add!
The NEN failed to meet just one of 18 targets: it failed to hold two ‘open door’ type events during the duration of the project.
In mitigation, it should be said that the NEN’s Board was busy dealing with other things: in particular, persistent attempts to undermine and ultimately derail the project almost from the day it started.
Malicious insinuations and allegations made by local individuals were subsequently fully investigated by the city council and found to be totally without foundation. However the allegations did damage to the project in terms of time – many hours were spent gathering evidence and information to rebut spiteful allegations; time that could have been spent working on positive aspects of the project – things like ‘open door’ days!
However, that’s behind us now and there is a lot to be satisfied with in the report (see below). Yes, it’s a pity we couldn’t have got started sooner, and it’s also a real shame that so much time was wasted on negative things, but we got there – despite the detractors. And imagine what we could have achieved in a full twelve months!
What’s next? We’re looking to recruit new Board members. Our present board has shown admirable commitment to the community newspaper but there’s a need for new blood to help share the load and take the organisation forward.
Would you be interested in joining the NEN Board? Do you have skills and experience that would strengthen our team? If you’d like to be involved, please send us an email telling us what you could bring to the NEN and why you’d like to be part of the NEN team. Keep it short and simple – say a maximum of ten bullet points, around 200 words – and send it to northedinnews@gmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you!
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Outdoor Games Day: Monday 18 May, 1 -3pm
Launching a new outdoor play space for everyone
Following a series of community consultations, which generated a great deal of positive support, we are creating a natural play area and community garden for local residents to use over the next two years.
The work is being carried out this week (you may have spotted us out digging!) and will be finished on Friday, ready for the opening on Monday 18th May.
Please join us between 1-3pm for a fun afternoon of games, planting and some FREE lunch. We will have Margaret, of Margaret and Margaret from Licketyspit there, NEA’s growing expert to offer advice and show you some planting tips, as well as lots of sports day activities!
If you are unsure of the location, there will be signs from North Edinburgh Arts to the site which is only a 2 minute walk away!
Contact Joanne at North Edinburgh Arts if you would like to be involved or share your ideas: 0131 315 2151 / centipedeproject@outlook.com
Royston Wardieburn fundraiser to support earthquake victims
The Nepal Scotland Association has organised an evening of Nepalese food, music and dancing at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre from 5pm on Saturday 23 May.
Tickets are available from RWCC reception, or from community members (contact the numbers on the poster).
Show your support for our friends in Nepal!
Thirty firefighters battle Crewe Terrace flat inferno
Firefighters battled for over three hours to bring a fierce blaze in an upper villa flat in Crewe Terrace under control today. Five appliances and more than thirty firefighters attended the fire which broke out around 11:30 this morning (writes Dave Pickering).
At one point it was feared that the fire would spread to neighbouring properties. One Crewe resident said: “The fire was in the attic conversion and you could see the flames quite clearly. The fire had got quite a hold, the house was well alight but the firemen did a great job – it couldn’t have been easy to deal with that.”
It’s understood no-one was injured in the fire but the house has suffered extensive damage. Investigations are now under way to ascertain the cause of the fire.
PIC: Gillian McGuinness McFarlane
Edinburgh College acting students are stars in Romania
Edinburgh College acting students brought a sprinkling of stardust to Romania as they performed to a sell-out crowd at one of the country’s prestigious national theatres.
Twenty-one students from the HND Acting and Performance course travelled to Romania to perform a show and take part in workshops and theatre tours, and watch performances by their Romanian contemporaries.
The students were visiting the country to present their show We are Made of Stardust at the National Theatre in Târgu Mureș, where they played to a full house and received a five-minute standing ovation. The students previously performed this show at the college’s Performing Arts Studio Scotland in Granton.
We are Made of Stardust was originally developed in Romania by college lecturer Scott Johnston, who has been travelling to the country for 22 years. Scott worked with the first youth theatre based at the National Theatre Târgu Mureș to develop the show, before developing a new version with his Edinburgh College students.
He said: “This was a hugely exciting opportunity for our students to perform on a prestigious stage and share their experience with Romanian actors. The students organised a Scottish theme night, attended Romanian and Hungarian nights and saw five productions at the national theatre and other venues.”
To help his students put their own stamp on the production, Scott used a technique he developed called bookends devising. He said: “Simply put, this means that I have written and designed the beginning and end 10 minutes of the production. The cast along with me devise and write the piece in between. The show I will take to Romania has exactly the same beginning and ending as the one I made here at college.”
In 2010 the University of the Arts in Târgu Mureș awarded Scott the university medal for developing artistic and academic work at the university – the first Briton to be awarded this honour. Last year, supported by the college, he completed a Masters in Stage Directing at the University. He has worked throughout Romania and done workshops and directed plays in many of the major theatres. He has also directed international professional co-productions for Romanian and Scottish companies including Stellar Quines and Cumbernauld theatre.
Students from the college’s performing arts courses will be taking part in performances as part of the college’s Let’s Glow festival throughout May and June. Let’s Glow is a celebration of the college’s creative students, featuring performance and exhibitions covering everything from music, theatre and dance to photography, film, art animation, textiles and design. The full programme of events can be found at www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/letsglow
To find out more about performing arts courses at Edinburgh College, which include dance, musical theatre, acting, technical theatre, textiles and make-up courses visitwww.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/courses
‘It’s a great, mutually-beneficial partnership’ – Rob Hoon (Manager, Out of the Blue Arts & Education Trust)
The doors of Custom House are one step closer to being opened to the public thanks to a lease arrangement between the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT).
An in-principle deal with SHBT to lease the listed Leith building was confirmed last month, but received the official green light to proceed yesterday at a meeting of the Council’s Finance and Resources Committee.
The decision will allow SHBT to sublet the building on month by month basis, with cultural social enterprise group Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust the preferred tenant. The Council will remain landlord for the building, and will work with SHBT to develop a feasibility study into long-term plans for the building.
It is hoped local residents and businesses will be given a glimpse inside the building during an Open Day celebration later this year.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Sport Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “The missives have been signed and the lease agreed, and the keys to Custom House will now be passed to SHBT. It is the oldest structure of its kind in Scotland having been built in 1812 and the Council will work with the Trust to carry out initial works to the interior and exterior of the building.
“Under the Trust’s watch and with the Council as landlord, the doors of this historic building will finally swing open to the public and the Custom House building will once again become a hub in the heart of the Leith community.”
Chair of the SHBT Board of Trustees John Campbell, said: “Although we are a small charity, we have a strong track record in saving important buildings at risk for communities across Scotland and we are delighted now to be involved in securing a future for the Customs House.
“Our first priority will be to make some repairs to the building and spruce it up so that pretty soon members of the public will be able access it. Its various rooms will be available for use whilst we develop the capital project from feasibility study through to completion.
“This is a very exciting project that will deliver a vibrant mixed use hub for the benefit of the people of Leith and beyond. A key element will be the presentation of selected artefacts and interpretation displays to highlight the historic importance of Leith as the gateway to Edinburgh and Scotland. Other uses may include offices, workshops and public rooms for meetings and events.”
Rob Hoon, Manager of Out of the Blue Arts and Education Trust, said: “Out of the Blue will work with the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust to take a short-term lease to look after the Custom House building, use it for artist studios, and liaise with the community regarding a future museum/heritage centre for a few years before refurbishment. It’s a great mutually beneficial partnership.”
Attending todays’ Jobs & Employment Fair are:
Airport Recruitment Centre
Army recruitment
Bluebird Care
Blueprint training
Care Uk
Freespace
NHS recruitment
Urban Union
Scottish Gas
Home Instead
Support/providers
Cre8te/Digital Skills Academy
Forth Sector
Freshstart
Income maximisation/Welfare reform
Making it Work
North Edinburgh Childcare
Smartworks
Volunteer Centre
Intowork
Barnardo’s Works East
CITB
Community Jobs Scotland
Cyrenians
Edin College
Edinburgh Guarantee/IYP
SDS
Tomorrow’s People – Working it Out (North Edinburgh)
RUTS
Now all we need are the punters … !
‘This morning is another chance for the City of Edinburgh to show they value the environment and the wishes of the people of North Edinburgh’ – GIS secretary Barbara Robertson
North Edinburgh will be well represented at today’s Planning Committee meeting. As well as the aforementioned Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden delegation there will be a deputation from Granon Improvement Society too!
GIS secretary Barbara Robertson said: “Granton Improvement Society have a deputation to the Planning committee this morning to get them to agree to the designation of the Walled Garden area as Green Space being adopted as part of the Local Development Plan going forward.
“The project for a Garden Festival on that site, originally designated in the Llewllyn Davis Master plan as green space in 2002/3, has been developed by GIS over many years (see https://grantonimprovementsociety.wordpress.org for more information).
“We have been doing all we can to prevent the building of houses on this historic site and allow the GIS to make our visionary project come alive. This morning is another chance for the City of Edinburgh to show they value the environment and the wishes of the people of North Edinburgh.”
