Day: July 11, 2022

Inspiring plastic waste artwork planned for North Berwick

Work to begin on eight-meter installation with vital environmental message

A MURAL made up of 27,000 pieces of plastic collected from East Lothian beaches to illustrate the concerning levels of marine waste along Scotland’s coastline is going through the planning process.

In partnership with North Berwick Harbour Trust, local businesses Jerba Campervans and Caledonia Horticulture have enrolled Julie Barnes – an award-winning local artist from Aberlady – to create the educational mural.

The intricate artwork – which will depict a beach scene and image of Bass Rock – will span eight-metres along North Berwick’s harbour wall and will be accompanied by an interpretation board explaining the meaning behind the artwork and urging people to act now.

Both the family-run campervan convertor and the horticultural products producer are the main financial contributors towards the project, inspiring other local business to also make donations.

Simon Poole, co-founder of Jerba Campervans said: “The planned mural will not only be visually breath taking, but will also send a clear message about the real harm that waste plastic is causing to our seas and beaches.

“We’re delighted to have Julia on board with this project as it is an important message that hopefully will chime with a range of audiences, locally and also out with the area.

“As a company that is enthusiastic about all things outdoors, these initiatives are so important to us as we strive to preserve the beautiful coastlines and natural land. A plastic-free beach shouldn’t be a novelty, but should be something that is standard.

“East Lothian is becoming increasingly popular with tourists, with so many visiting North Berwick’s Harbour, so the visual representation will be seen by hundreds. We expect it to very quickly become a local talking point and quite possibly a tourist attraction in its own right.”

In addition to being one of the primary sponsors, Jerba has also helped Julia prepare eight individual panels required for the base of the artwork which have been treated and cut to size before being delivered to the artist.

The 27,000 fragments of plastic were collected by one dedicated local who spent 100 days gathering the pieces along Longniddry Bents and the intricate artwork is expected to take Julia over two months to produce.

Kate Miller, Marketing, Communications and Environmental Manager at Caledonian Horticulture said: “We are committed to being a business with a positive environmental and social impact, as we’ve seen first-hand the damage marine waste is causing to our wildlife.

“Simon from Jerba got in touch after being inspired by another educational marine plastic mural and reading about our beach cleans. It was suggested we create something similar in East Lothian – it was an opportunity we couldn’t turn down!

“An East Lothian local, Lil Vischer, who was just about to complete a challenge she had set herself over lockdown to achieve 100 beach cleans on a 200m stretch of beach at Longniddry Bents removed around 27,000 pieces of plastic over her challenge. Her collection of marine plastic is being used to create the mural, raising awareness of the issue that is so close to our hearts.”

The planned artwork will last for many years in the sea spray environment and its impact is hoped to be maximised as tourists flock to the hotspot.

Julie Barnes, whose most recent project comprised a life-sized seal structure made from waste plastic for an environmental competition, said: “Art can speak a thousand words and I hope that this important mural will make a connection with the viewer.

“Alongside my regular work as a painter, I use the power of art to provoke emotional and practical responses to environmental issues facing us all.

“It’s an honour to do the installation and the visual power of art is an incredible way to inspire, educate and bring vital behaviour change across society as a whole.”

The North Berwick Harbour Trust, a small local charity that aims to maintain, conserve and improve North Berwick Harbour commissioned the co-operative project across the supporting companies, Jerba Campervans and Caledonia Horticulture and the artist, Julie Barnes.

The charity believes that all participants in the project are enhancing the Harbour and enlightening the massive numbers of visitors and locals at the community asset.

Current additional sponsors who have each pledged a donation towards the artwork include Peppermint Beach, Turnbulls Home Hardware, North Berwick Trust, Steampunk, Meg Maitland, Fidra Charity and The Lobster Shack & Rocketeer.

To find out more about Jerba Campervans, visit www.jerbacampervans.co.uk

To find out more about the organised beach cleans, visit: 

www.caledonianhorticulture.co.uk/the-scottish-coastal-clean-up

How SEPA innovators are helping Scotland adapt with climate change

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is demonstrating its commitment to tackling climate change by shifting focus from ambition and targets to action and innovation.

Climate change won’t wait, and it is widely accepted that it now affects every country on the planet. Extreme weather events and rising sea levels are having a detrimental impact on communities, and Scotland is no exception. Flooding in particular remains a growing threat in cities, towns and villages here. The risk to homes and businesses can be severe and the damage devastating.

In announcing her Resource Spending Review last month, Scottish Government Finance Secretary Kate Forbes revealed tackling climate change as a top priority, as well as the need for digital reform – both of which SEPA is focused firmly on.

SEPA is Scotland’s national flood forecasting, warning and strategic flood risk management authority. In 2011, the organisation began operating the Floodline direct warning service to warn the public when flooding is likely to occur.

Those signed up can receive regional flood alerts and local flood warnings 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, as the frequency of flooding increases with climate change, so too does the demand for more information sooner.

Project Manager at SEPA, Laura Paterson, was part of the team faced with addressing this around three years ago. She said: “I began speaking to people across the country who were victims of flooding and heard from them why it was important to receive earlier notice where possible.

“One woman told me about the fear and panic she felt when she could see the water rising outside her home. A man described a time where he was frantically knocking on neighbours’ doors to help them escape during flooding, and another revealed how he would stay awake all night just in case water came into his house. It was clear to me from the start that flood forecasting was not just about convenience, it was about people’s lives.”

More user research was carried out, which revealed a need for clearer geographical information and reassurance when flooding is not expected. Workshops were hosted with the general public and community groups to involve them in the design of a new forecasting product in partnership with the Met Office, which would be available alongside the current Floodline service.

After developing customer journeys and prototypes, a test version of the new Scottish Flood Forecast was launched on SEPA’s website in May this year to give communities warning of flooding three days in advance.

The colour coded map is reviewed and published every morning and describes what the impacts of any flooding are expected to be. Information and advice is also offered on what steps people can take to protect their homes and their businesses.

Laura added, “This project has been the biggest change of SEPA’s flood warning service since we started issuing direct messaging in 2011, giving people the earliest indication possible of when flooding is likely and a better chance to take action.

“I am delighted it has reached this milestone, especially as the pandemic and cyber-attack on SEPA slowed a lot of work down. Despite these challenges, the people this service is designed to help remained at the forefront of all our minds and kept momentum up within the project team.

“This is the first step on a journey to helping communities become more resilient to flooding and climate change. The Scottish Flood Forecast is currently being tested at a national level, but the aim is for the final version to display more localised information, which we know will make the biggest difference to people’s lives.”

While the new Scottish Flood Forecast is piloted this year, work continues on other innovative projects within SEPA’s flooding team including a new Future Flood and Incident Messaging Service (FFIMS). This extension of the current Floodline system will incorporate other hazard notifications for communities and businesses across Scotland and make use of more digital technology to issue alerts such as social media and Google.

New pluvial flood maps, which show surface water flooding, are also in development for 2023-24. They have been publicly available on the SEPA website since 2013, however a 2018 National Flood Risk Assessment identified surface water as the biggest flood risk affecting Scotland. The new maps will provide a complete refresh using the most up-to-date data on current and future rainfall projections, ensuring maximum confidence of where surface water flooding is likely.

Laura concluded: “All of these changes are driven by the need to respond to climate change and support Scottish communities to do the same. I joined SEPA more than ten years ago to work on projects just like this, which are meaningful, worthwhile and provide a valuable service to people.

“Our climate is changing for the worst. I have a ten-year-old daughter, and I know that our children are worried about the way it is going. I’m thinking of her and the future.

“If Scotland is to be a successful country where our communities and businesses flourish, it is vital that we continue to understand the potential implications of climate change for flood risk and create tools which will ensure the resilience and wellbeing of everyone affected.”

Collective announces Satellites Programme 2022 participants

We are delighted to announce the participants of Satellites Programme 2022 following our open call and selection process earlier this spring.

Satellites is Collective’s development programme for emergent creative practitioners based in Scotland and lies at the core of our mission and creative vision. We aim to support participants to better understand and navigate the sector; equipping them to sustain a creative practice and foster criticality through peer development and reflection. 

This year’s practitioners were selected by artist Rabiya Choudhry, curator Sara Greavu, and writer and artist Jeda Pearl:

Thomas Abercromby

Thomas is a Glasgow-based artist and curator. His work often focuses on complex questions concerning gender, race, sexuality and class, and centres around the challenging of societal power structures. Recent projects include The School of Abolition; You’re Never Done, and the Glasgow Seed Library.

Kaya Fraser

Kaya is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Perth. Kaya works with analogue photography, film, writing and sound to explore the rose-tinted memories of working-class upbringings – her own included. Kaya has worked with Creative Dundee on the Full Picture commissions and held the position of Socially Engaged Artist in Residence 2021 at Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute.

Matthew Rimmer

Matthew is a Glasgow-based artist who creates succulent and vibrantly coloured sculptures, drawings and paintings concerned with the ideologies of nature. He also explores the relationship between plastic and queerness. Recent exhibitions and events include Shocked Quartz, Ugly Duck, London (2022); First Outing, Abingdon Studios, Blackpool (2021), and Air Diving, 16 Nicholson Street, Glasgow (2021).

Rabindranath X Bhose

Rabindranath X Bhose is an artist and writer based in Glasgow. He graduated from the School of the Damned D.I.Y. MFA in 2019. His work centres around sacred transness, spiritual transformation, and (healing from) trauma. Recent projects include In Touch, Embassy Gallery (2021) and group show Platform: 2020, Edinburgh Art Festival (2020).

We are excited to support these practitioners over the coming months. Some of the new works produced will be presented as public events, exhibitions, publications and workshops: watch this space!

Leith Connections: Duncan Place drop-in event this Thursday

Leith Connections ‘will create safer, more comfortable streets’. The latest phase proposes improvements along the Lindsay Rd – Salamander St corridor.

Want to find out more?

Come to our drop-in @ Duncan Place Community Hub, Thursday 14 July 2pm – 6pm

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/leithconnectionsphase3/

Glenigan forecasts Construction Sector return to growth by 2023

Glenigan, one of the construction industry’s leading insight and intelligence experts, has released its UK Construction Industry Forecast 2022-2024.

The key takeaway from this Forecast, which focuses on the next three years (2022-2024) indicates the construction industry will face challenging economic conditions.

However, whilst growth will be stifled in 2022 (-2%), 2023 is predicted to see a modest 8% increase and a smaller 2% lift in 2024, representing an average rise of 2.6% over the Forecast period.

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This report is predominantly focused on underlying starts (< £100m in value), unless otherwise stated, and contains a comprehensive overview of the current state of the construction industry. Crucially, it provides overall sector and vertical-specific insight into performance over the next few years.

Significant disruption stifles short-term growth

The next few years will be challenging for the construction industry as a whole. The war in the Ukraine is creating considerable economic uncertainty which is having a direct, current effect on output, derailing post-COVID recovery. As a result, overall project starts are forecast to slip back 2%.

Aside from this ongoing conflict, current inflation spikes, higher taxes and rising mortgage costs are expected to constrain activity in consumer-related areas, such as private housing, retail and hotel & leisure.

In contrast, a firm development pipeline is predicted to lift industrial and office starts in 2022, as well as Government-funded areas such as education, health and community & amenity.

More positively, the value of project starts is expected to rise in 2023, as the UK economy stabilises and short-term supply chain pressure ease. However the lingering impact of higher construction, material and energy costs means this growth will be significantly lower than predicted in previous forecasts.

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Housing Starts Depressed

Although a buoyant housing marked helped to lift new housebuilding activity in 2021, with starts rising 26%, this recent surge is fading.

Predicted to drop 5% in 2022, following the removal of temporary Stamp Duty relief and dwindling homebuyer confidence, higher taxes and mortgage costs, housebuilders are expected to moderate project starts and focus on building out developments already on-site.

However, this slowdown appears temporary, with a renewed build-for-sale starts recovery anticipated in the second half of the Forecast period, rising 14% in 2023 and 1% in 2024, as household financial positions and UK economic prospects improve. Furthermore, a strong development pipeline has also be registered for Build-to-Rent starts, following a productive 12 months in 2021.

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Bright spots for non-residential work

Industrial starts, particularly warehouse and logistics, are set to remain a growth area, building on the ever-increasing appetite for online retail, which accelerated during the pandemic. With e-commerce expected to be a significant growth market in the coming years, 2022 will see start value increase by 11%.

However, the online shopping boost has hit physical retail hard, with high street and outlet footfall remaining far lower than pre-pandemic levels. Unsurprisingly, lower consumer spending power, an overhang of empty retail premises and a greater share of the market moving online, means growth will be tempered over the Forecast period. Here, increased investment by the deep discount supermarkets, Aldi and Lidl, will be the primary drivers of the predicted 6% average uplift between 2022 and 2024.

The leisure and hospitality sector, hit hard by the pandemic, is also only set to expect modest recovery over the Forecast period due to reduced consumer discretionary spending during a tighter economic climate.

Moving from play to work, office starts bounced back sharply last year (+27%) and are predicted to benefit over the forecast period (av. +11%). This potential growth can be attributed to a rise in refurbishment projects as tenants and landlords adapt premises to accommodate changing working practices. However, new build office projects will likely be slower to recover as tenants and developers assess the effects of the shift towards remote and hybrid working on the long-term demand for office accommodation.

Public Sector Pick-Up

Public sector investment is set to be an important driver for construction activity over the Forecast period. However, the latest Spending Review revealed only modest growth in capital funding for a handful of central Government departments over the next three years.

Whilst the value of social housing starts is set to dip almost 10% this year, following a 15% surge in 2021, the vertical is predicted to rally for the remainder of the Forecast period, helped by a strong pipeline of already approved projects commencing on site.

Education construction is a vertical predicted to grow significantly over the next few years (av. +8%), partly driven by the Government’s commitment to building 500 new schools over the next decade. This is supported by a modest rise in universities capital spending during the second half of the Forecast period

The outlook for the health sector is also brightening. Starts remained high in 2021 post-Pandemic and the increase in capital funding and a growing development pipeline means the value of starts are expected to remain steady over the Forecast period, will slight declines this year (-5%) and next (-6%) .

Focusing on civils and infrastructure, a significant funding increase in areas such as roads, especially to address the maintenance backlog on the nation’s local roads, is helping to lift the value of project starts.

Investment in rail projects and utilities development, as well as ongoing work on major infrastructural projects such as Thames Tideway, HS2 and Hinkley Point are also set to support vertical activity over the Forecast period.

Commenting on the Forecast, Glenigan’s economic director Allan Wilen says, “Circumstances have changed significantly since the November 2021 Forecast and, whilst the short-term picture appears challenging, we should adopt a sanguine approach for the next few years.

“Markets sent into turmoil by the Russia-Ukraine War are starting to stabilise as new supply chain solutions are developed and established.

“Of course, in the near future construction and building product costs will remain high. However this situation will no doubt encourage a burst of imagination and innovation which will see the sector weather the current storm and progress to, if not sunny uplands, then at least towards a trajectory of upward growth.”

To download Glenigan’s UK Construction Industry Forecast 2022-2024 click here.

To find out more about Glenigan, its expert insight and leading market analysis, click here.

New plan calls for urban wetlands to help ‘level up’ wellbeing inequalities

Creating wildlife-rich wetlands like ponds, streams, wetland parks and rain gardens in deprived urban communities could help level up inequalities in wellbeing across the UK, according to a new report.

Currently, people in the poorest urban and ethnic communities are twice as likely as those in more affluent groups to live in neighbourhoods without good quality blue or green spaces. Some research suggests this differing access to nature-rich areas could be associated with health inequalities.

The Wildfowl & Wetland Trust’s (WWT) Creating Urban Wetlands for Wellbeing. A Route Map’ outlines how high-quality wetlands could help tackle these inequalities, often more effectively than other forms of nature.

The report highlights how wetlands can help low-income urban communities, which are frequently most at risk from the harmful impacts of poor mental health and the climate crisis, through relieving stress, cooling cities, reducing air and water pollution, alleviating flooding and boosting biodiversity.

In addition, the report outlines how blue spaces (environments that feature open water, such as wetlands) directly reduce stress more than green spaces alone. This could be due to the particularly wide range of stimuli .wetland nature provides which engage all the senses The light, soundscapes, changing patterns on water, and meaningful personal associations associated with aquatic settings may all reduce stress.

The powerful calming effect of blue space is further demonstrated by a study of 16,000 people across 18 countries, which found that frequently visiting ‘watery’ nature decreased mental distress. Just 10 minutes spent in urban wetlands can be enough to improve a person’s mood.  

People also socialise more in blue spaces, helping to build community cohesion and reduce social isolation. And restored linear wetlands, such as rivers, provide opportunities for physically active travel and leisure in space-limited towns and cities.

WWT is working with the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) and the NHS, prescribing wetlands in London for people experiencing poor mental health with limited resources.

Dr Ben Plimpton, Project Manager from the Foundation, commented: “Initiatives such as WWT and MHF’s Blue Prescribing at London Wetland Centre can be particularly effective at improving people’s mental health – and may sometimes prevent the need for crisis support.

“Initial assessment of social prescribing has shown that the average wellbeing value of wetland social prescribing was £4,848 per person, compared to £1,084 and £1,127 per person for arts engagement and sports participation respectively.

“Increasing structured access to city wetlands for those with limited resources, as our scheme does, could be one of the simplest ways to lift people’s wellbeing in urban areas.”

The route map details how nature-rich wetlands can be created in a range of urban settings at a variety of scales, allowing them to fit in any urban space, including:

  • installing simple drainpipe wetlands in backyards and gardens
  • building new rain gardens during street repair work and neighbourhood improvements
  • restoring streams and rivers flowing through neighbourhoods
  • creating parks centred on wetlands that provide a wellbeing resource for whole communities

It recommends creating and restoring wetlands where they can best reduce health inequalities, such as in areas without access to nature, where deprived communities and neighbourhoods are at risk of flooding and overheating as the climate crisis escalates.

The report urges governments, businesses and civil society to play their part in creating and restoring urban wetlands that can help to level up wellbeing.

In particular, restoring wetland nature to urban areas should be a major part of the Government’s plans to level up opportunity across the country, with a new legal duty on councils and developers to provide access to nature.

Rain garden at London Wetland Centre

Dr James Robinson, Director of Conservation at WWT, said: “Most human settlements grew around a water source and wetlands long used to be an integral part of our great towns and cities.

“However, increasingly new developments have swallowed many of them up. Worryingly, there are no UK-wide plans to increase the amount of blue or green nature in urban areas, despite the huge value they provide. London’s natural spaces alone save the NHS £950M annually.

“WWT are experts at protecting, restoring and building new wetlands but to do this at scale, including in urban areas, more support and funding from the public and private sectors is needed.

“The opportunities that wetlands offer to enhance and extend our lives are established – but they are not being grasped. WWT’s route map released today provides a clear plan of how this can be achieved.”

David Lindo, ‘the Urban Birder’, who supports WWT’s call for more urban wetlands, said: “I grew up in London and the River Brent was a lifeline for me as a child. I became absorbed in its wildlife and it sparked my lifelong love of birds and boosted my mental wellbeing.

“Everyone should have access to that and it’s imperative that decision-makers consider how to incorporate wetlands into our urban spaces – sooner rather than later. Wetlands could offer national and local government a win-win situation helping them reach their levelling up, climate change, nature and health targets all at the same time. It’s time to start thinking smart.”

WWT’s call for more urban wetlands is part of their wider Wetlands Can! Campaign, which is urging the public to pledge their support for a “blue recovery” by creating and restoring 100,000 hectares of wetlands throughout the UK to help combat the climate, nature and wellbeing crises.

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Ukraine: Three month pause for Scotland’s Super Sponsor scheme

Closing from Wednesday ‘ensuring support can continue after large increase of new applications’

A three-month pause on new visa applications for displaced Ukrainians to come to Scotland will be in place from 9:00 am on Wednesday 13 July.

The pause on new applications will not affect anyone who has already made an application or had their visa granted.

With visa applications listing the Scottish Government as sponsor up 21% on the previous week as of 5 July, visas issued up 27%, and arrivals under the super sponsor scheme up 20%, a temporary suspension is needed to ensure safe accommodation can continue to be provided to those who have already applied and may now travel to Scotland.

A total of 21,256 visas have been issued naming a Scottish sponsor – more than 20% of the UK total, and the highest number per head of population in the UK. Scotland is currently providing sanctuary for over 7,000 people, two-thirds of whom applied under the Scottish super sponsor scheme.

This exceeds the 3,000 the Scottish Government committed to welcome when the scheme launched in March, to provide a rapid route to safety for those fleeing the crisis caused by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to the pause, the following actions are being taken:                                   

  • the chartering of a passenger vessel the M/S Victoria, which will be docked in Leith in Edinburgh to provide an additional 739 rooms where people can be temporarily accommodated
  • the refurbishment of 200 unused council properties in North Lanarkshire to provide more longer-term accommodation, supported by £5 million of Scottish Government funding
  • additional staff will be deployed in ‘surge teams’ to assist local authorities matching those in temporary premises to suitable longer-term accommodation
  • the Wheatley Housing Group, Scotland’s largest social landlord, has pledged to make 300 homes available to local authorities across Scotland to house displaced people from Ukraine
  • Minister with Special Responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine, Neil Gray will also meet today with Lord Harrington, UK Minister for Refugees, to seek clarity on existing funding arrangements for the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and, given the very high demand experienced by the Welsh and Scottish Government schemes, ask whether the UK Government will consider introducing its own super sponsor arrangements

Mr Gray said: “As a nation Scotland has risen in solidarity with Ukrainians in their hour of need. I am proud that thanks in large part to our super sponsor scheme, we are now providing safe accommodation to the most Ukrainians per head of population in the UK.

“We have been able to ensure thousands of people displaced by Russia’s horrific and illegal war were able to travel immediately and receive support and a place to stay without the need to be matched with a private host first.

“Our absolute priority has been to respond quickly to support those forced to flee their homeland and I thank all local authorities, third sector organisations, the private sector and the public, who have all mobilised in a major effort to help – together we have coordinated accommodation and delivered essential services at a large scale and in a very short space of time. 

“With a recent decrease in people applying for private sponsorship in England, and Wales having paused their own scheme, the number of applications naming the Scottish Government as sponsor has increased considerably in recent weeks. For this reason we have taken the incredibly difficult decision to follow Wales in pausing our scheme so we can continue to provide a high level of support and care to everyone who has already been granted a visa.

“We will review our position in three months, but of course if circumstances change during that time we will bring that date forward. In the meantime we are taking significant action to increase the capacity of our temporary accommodation and are also boosting our matching system to maximise the number of displaced people placed with volunteer hosts who have completed the necessary safeguarding checks.”

Responding to the news, Labour MSP Foysul Choudhury said: “I have been warning the Scottish Government for months that while they congratulated themselves for welcoming thousands of new refugees, hundreds of Afghan and Syrian refugees had been stuck in hotels and other temporary accommodation for years on end with seemingly no plan to tackle this accommodation shortage.

“Now we finally have the admission that the Scottish Government cannot house many of the refugees who have arrived, to the point where they are suspending the Super Sponsor Scheme and chartering a ship to hold refugees instead.

“I cannot overemphasise the disruption that this will cause to the lives of refugees who have arrived in Scotland seeking sanctuary. Being stuck in temporary accommodation means that people are unable to put down roots and begin to rebuild their lives, because they never know when they might be moved on and forced to start again. It is safety without security.

“I have spoken to many refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who have now been stuck in hotels for several years, often accommodation that is unfit for the family they have with them. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, I have urged the Scottish Government to learn the lessons from the experiences of these previous waves of refugees. That they have failed to do at best demonstrates their unrealistic expectations and at worst represents negligence.

“The Scottish Government must ensure that its plans to charter a ship to hold refugees are truly only temporary, and that conditions aboard are sanitary and fit for purpose in the meantime. We cannot afford to end up in a situation where people are still stuck on the ship as many years later as the previous waves of refugees have now been stuck in hotels.”

Franco Manca slices 50% off all pizza and salad dishes to celebrate opening of Stockbridge site today

Sourdough pizza pioneers, Franco Manca, announce the arrival of their  new Edinburgh pizzeria in Stockbridge  

·         To celebrate the opening, diners can enjoy 50% off all pizzas and salads at launch 

·         The new restaurant arrives in the Scottish capital today

Due to phenomenal demand, sourdough pizza pioneers, Franco Manca, have announced the opening of its second Edinburgh pizzeria on 1 Deanhaugh Street, Stockbridge, Edinburgh, EH4 1LU. 

Opening to the public on Monday 11th June, Franco Manca is celebrating the launch by offering 50% off all pizzas and salads from the menu, available on Monday 11th – Tuesday 12th July. 

The beautiful new restaurant follows the success of Franco Manca’s sister site on south St Andrew Street, which regularly welcomes up to 2,000 customers a week – the city’s top sellers include the classic margherita (No.2) and lightly smoked beechwood salami (No.7).  

As well as offering its authentic Neapolitan cuisine, the new restaurant will serve up stunning views over the Water of Leith in the heart of Edinburgh’s Stockbridge community.  

Simone Annette, Area Manager at Franco Manca, said: “Following the success of our Edinburgh debut on south St Andrew Street, we wanted to offer pizza lovers even more choice with the launch of an incredible new location.

“Our iconic sourdough, unique to Franca Manca, is sure to go down a hit with Deanhaugh Street diners looking to get a slice of authentic Italian pizza. So, if you live in the city, or are just passing through, feel free to drop in and enjoy 50% off our entire menu.” 

Franco Manca pizzas are made with slow-rising sourdough, with a mother dough which dates back to the late 18th century, topped with fresh, properly sourced, seasonal ingredients. The dough is made fresh on site, with daily specials on offer, and menu prices starting at just £5.95. 

First procured by the pizzeria’s founder, Giuseppe Mascoli, near the city of Naples, the recipe still honours the ingredients and methods that make the age-old style of Neapolitan pizza unique, delicious and world-renowned.  

For more information on Franco Manca and other locations, please visit: www.francomanca.co.uk. 

‘Pandemic-level response’ is needed to address the energy bills crisis, says Holyrood’s Net Zero Committee

A targeted emergency response, on a par with action taken during the pandemic, is needed to address the energy bills crisis, says Holyrood’s Net Zero, Energy & Transport Committee in a report published today.  

The report, which lays out the Committee’s findings following an inquiry into rising energy prices, says the Scottish and UK Governments must provide more immediate, carefully targeted support to those struggling with increasing fuel bills.

The report highlights three areas where the Committee believe immediate action and targeted support for the most vulnerable could be improved. These include additional financial help for households, better energy education and advice services and acceleration of programmes to retrofit and insulate homes.

It also says that medium and long-term plans and strategies must accelerate to reduce future exposure to volatile energy prices and help meet net zero targets.

Dean Lockhart MSP, Convener of the Committee, said: “This is a crisis unfolding in real time and one which we are told threatens ‘a catastrophic loss of life’ if swift action is not taken.

“We recognise some of the actions taken by the UK and Scottish Governments even over the short period of our inquiry, but more can and must be done now and in a more targeted way to get help to those most in need.

“Over the medium to longer term, it is also clear that we need to escape dependence on volatile international energy markets and accelerate all our efforts to enable this.

“For now, our message is clear: the Scottish Government must demonstrate a targeted emergency response to this crisis, on a par with action taken during the pandemic, to ensure the least well off are not vulnerable to death or serious ill-health due to rising energy costs and associated cost of living expenses.”

In the report, the Committee agrees with the Scottish Government on the need to take action through available welfare provisions but asks them to set out how social security and other assistance will be targeted specifically at lower-paid families with young children, those with disabilities and health conditions, older people, and those identified as experiencing or at risk of experiencing fuel poverty.

The report says that a national publicity campaign – akin to those used during the pandemic – and increased support and funding for those providing advice and advocacy at a local level is needed, so that everyone in Scotland looking for help can find it. 

The Committee also recommends that plans for a programme of home heating and insulation, towards which the Scottish Government has committed an investment of £1.8bn, be accelerated and targeted at those most in need.

The Committee is writing separately to the Minister of State for the UK Government, Greg Hands MP, calling for similar urgent action in relation to matters for which he is responsible. 

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