Day: September 6, 2023

City council’s Twenty Minute Neighbourhood Strategy updated

A key strategy has been updated to help people across Edinburgh live well locally in places that are healthier, greener, more vibrant and inclusive.

The Council’s initial 20-Minute Neighbourhood Strategy was approved by the Policy and Sustainability Committee on 10 June 2021, outlining a vision for a city where everyone can meet most of their daily needs within a short walk, wheel or cycle from their home. A further report on 30 November 2021 gave an update on how the Strategy was being delivered.

This strategy has now been refreshed to provide the latest information on key projects that are being progressed, alongside the overall direction and delivery of the concept in Edinburgh. 

Through the 20-minute neighbourhood approach, the Council is working in partnership with local communities across the capital to help to deliver its strategic priorities of creating good places to live and work, while meeting its targets of ending poverty and becoming net zero by 2030.

The 20-minute neighbourhood approach in Edinburgh focusses on making it easier for people to access daily services and facilities in their local area. It is now being implemented through several key ‘building blocks’:

•    Working with local communities
•    Supporting people to access the services they need locally
•    Providing multiple services and facilities from a single location
•    Delivering mixed-use regeneration and development
•    Making our town and local centres greener, more inclusive and more people-focussed
•    Supporting local economies and businesses
•    Improving sustainable and active travel access to services and facilities

Councillor Val Walker, Culture and Communities Convener, said: “We want to support people across the city to live well locally, and this latest update to our 20-Minute Neighbourhood Strategy shows how we are working to deliver this approach in different parts of Edinburgh. 

“The 20-minute neighbourhood concept is one that many communities already enjoy: ensuring services and facilities are close to residents, enabling walking, wheeling and cycling to be the natural choice for shorter journeys. 

“Now, we are starting to see how all residents throughout Edinburgh can fully enjoy this approach and live in a cleaner, greener and more thriving city that supports communities and brings people together. By putting local people at the heart of everything, each person living in the city can choose to participate in all community, cultural and heritage activities.

“The updated strategy outlines how our support for local living can give more people more choice within their neighbourhood, while also making it easier to travel further to access the services and facilities they need on public transport and by active travel. 

“We know people have strong views on this concept, and we believe engaging and collaborating with communities across the city to understand their needs is essential. That’s why we’re involving communities at an early stage of design projects as a key priority. If we work together, everyone can benefit from healthier, well-connected and thriving neighbourhoods right across the city.”

Read the full 20-Minute Neighbourhood Strategy here.  

Current key projects

These updates show different examples how the 20-minute neighbourhood concept is currently being embedded into key projects across the city.

Following initial engagement with communities earlier this year, proposals are currently being developed to make it easier to access Gorgie Dalry, Portobello and Craigmillar town centres by walking, wheeling cycling and public transport while improving the quality of local streets and public spaces.

Further information on these projects is available on the 20-Minute Neighbourhoods section of the Council’s website.

Pennywell & Muirhouse

The regeneration of Pennywell and Muirhouse is a long-standing objective for the Council and its partners.  Work completed to date includes a new School, medical centre, retail centre, improved public realm and new homes. There will be around 1000 new mixed tenure homes of which over 50% will be affordable.  730 new homes have been delivered to date across several sites in the area.

A community hub is also under construction at the local centre. The hub will have an early years centre, library, skills hub, six affordable homes and space for North Edinburgh Arts. 

The hub is being delivered in partnership with North Edinburgh Arts and aims to promote culture, learning, work and wellbeing within the local community. All staff operating from the hub space will follow a ‘No Wrong Door’ approach to make sure citizens can access relevant services in the space or be signposted where necessary.

The NEAT Connections project will deliver improved active travel links to the new local centre, schools and services. 

Granton Waterfront

The Granton Waterfront regeneration will deliver a new coastal town with an ambitious 20-minute neighbourhood vision over the next 10-15 years. The regeneration will deliver around 3,500 new net zero carbon homes (over 35% of them affordable); a primary school, commercial, creative, and community space, and a new coastal park. 

The project will create new employment opportunities, meaning residents of this fast-growing area will be able to access work locally. Partner organisations will deliver substantial new cultural and educational assets over the regeneration timeframe.

Early Action housing projects are well underway at Western Villages, Silverlea and the Demonstrator site at Waterfront Avenue. In March 2023, the Granton Station Square building opened and provides affordable workspace for artists and creative industries. 

New active travel and public transport infrastructure will be created throughout the regeneration area, including new cycle paths and a mobility hub.

Liberton

Planning permission for a new Liberton High School has been granted, with a GP practice and community facilities a key part of the design. 

The creation of a community campus will deliver a range of services and activities and aims to create a place where multiple services and partners can be accessed that contribute to health, wellbeing and learning of young people and the wider community. 

20_Minute_Neighbourhood_Strategy___August_2023Download

Programme for Government launched

2023-24 Programme for Government published  

Reducing poverty, delivering growth, tackling climate change and providing high-quality public services will be the Scottish Government’s top priorities for the year ahead, First Minister Humza Yousaf has pledged. 

Outlining his first Programme for Government, the First Minister described it as “unashamedly anti-poverty and pro-growth”. The package of measures aims to help build a more equal society through concerted efforts to eradicate poverty, tackle the cost of living crisis, and create opportunities for businesses and individuals.

The Programme supports the Scottish Government’s wider work in building a fair, green and growing economy, and strengthening public services.

Key commitments include: 

  • expanding access to funded childcare
  • paying social care workers in a direct care role and frontline staff providing funded early learning and childcare in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector, at least £12 an hour from April 
  • speeding up renewable energy projects with a new deal for the onshore wind industry
  • delivering a new £15 million support package to unleash entrepreneurial talent 
  • expanding free school meals in primary schools

The First Minister said: ““The Scottish Government will always be on the side of the people we serve. Scotland is – certainly should be – a land of opportunity, but I know it doesn’t always feel like that to people bearing the brunt of the UK Government cost-of-living crisis, to families living in the poverty, to struggling businesses, to those who still face consequences of discrimination and inequality. I get that.

“This Programme is an opportunity to be explicit about the driving mission of this government. So let me make it abundantly clear, we are a government who will maximise every lever at our disposal to tackle the scourge of poverty in our country.

“But let me be equally clear, we also need to support economic growth. Not for its own sake but so we can tackle poverty and improve our public services. And we will be unapologetic in taking the action necessary to ensure a sustainable future for our children and planet.

“The unfortunate reality is that the Scottish Government is currently operating with one hand tied behind our back. In the last five years we have spent more than £700 million in countering the impact of UK Government welfare cuts alone.

“That’s why this government will never stop believing that decisions about Scotland should not be made by a government based in Westminster, but by the people of Scotland. In proposing the case for independence we will set out a positive vision for Scotland’s future.

“Scotland’s economy already performs better than most parts of the UK, we have world-class universities and colleges, and significant strengths and potential in many of the key economic sectors of the future. Today’s Programme for Government sets out how we will build on these strengths, to make people’s lives better.

“In the year ahead, we will support more than 300,000 children with more than £1,000 a year through the Scottish Child payment.

We will expand the availability of high quality childcare – providing funding in six early adopter local authority areas to offer increased access to childcare from nine months through to the end of primary school. And we will invest in raising the pay of childcare and social care staff.

“We will also safeguard the rights of tenants, promote payment of the living wage, and provide help for disabled people with complex needs, so that they can live independent lives.

“We will do all of this – first and foremost because it is the right thing to do. And also, as I know well from my own family history, because providing people with support and security helps them to contribute to society and to create opportunities for others. This Programme for Government shows how we will make progress towards a fairer, wealthier and greener Scotland.”

Programme for Government

SCVO: PFG IS TOO TIMID

Responding to Tuesday’s Programme for Government, Anna Fowlie, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ (SCVO) Chief Executive, said:  ““The First Minister has today set out a Programme for Government (PfG) which outlines priorities for Scotland which voluntary organisations working in and for communities have welcomed.

“While the PfG recognises the contribution voluntary organisations make across different portfolios, it doesn’t move far or fast enough to address fundamental changes to the operating environment that would recognise the vital role of Scotland’s voluntary sector in delivering on government priorities. 

“Today’s PfG restates the Scottish Government’s commitment to Fairer Funding for the voluntary sector, which we welcome. The Scottish Government’s current poor grant-making practice makes the focus on improving the clarity and consistency of existing approaches very important, but we must continue to work together to support the sector to be financially sustainable. 

‘To secure the future of the invaluable work our sector delivers, we must not only address disappointing practice, but also implement the longer-term improvements that are so desperately needed. 

“We can’t forget that an on-paper commitment to Fairer Funding was made by ministers earlier this year. It is disappointing that progress on this commitment has been so slow. Today’s announcement commits to developing a plan, when urgent action is needed. Our long-term work on Fair Funding provides clear recommendations, based on the sector’s experiences, and a clear blueprint for next steps. 

“The PfG’s firm commitment to taking forward a wider review of charity law is also welcome, particularly the commitment to work alongside the sector. It is important that the review is comprehensive and independent and doesn’t shy away from fundamental issues. We need a holistic approach to regulating the voluntary sector that supports the role of modern charities. 

“With charities experiencing growing frustration at the funding relationship with Scottish Government and the impact this is having on organisations, staff, volunteers, and the services and support they offer, we had hoped for more action and urgency.

The steps outlined will move us in the right direction, albeit slowly, and we will of course work with the Scottish Government to ensure that they do so in the ways that make the biggest difference to voluntary organisations across Scotland, supporting the invaluable contribution they make to Scotland’s economy and society.” 

‘Warm words won’t stop a warming planet’

Climate campaigners have reacted to the latest Scottish Programme for Government saying that “warm words won’t stop a warming planet.”

Friends of the Earth Scotland climate and energy campaigner Caroline Rance commented, “This is an underwhelming programme for more of the same when what is needed a radical change that can speed Scotland away from the damage being wrought by fossil fuel companies.

“The First Minister talked a good game about the importance of climate action and a just transition to net zero, but warm words won’t stop a warming planet.

“The climate emergency demands scaled up action that rapidly shifts us away from fossil fuels, prioritises public transport and puts in a credible plan in place to support workers in the transition from the oil industry to good, green jobs.”

+++ SPEEDING UP OF RENEWABLES PLANNING

Rance commented: “It’s a positive step that the process for onshore renewables will be quickened up but sites must still be environmentally appropriate, and far more work is needed to ensure that local communities can benefit from developments in their area.

+++ SINGLE USE VAPES

Friends of the Earth Scotland circular economy campaigner Kim Pratt: “The evidence that single use vapes are harmful to young people and polluting our environment is overwhelming.

“Businesses have been allowed to put profit before their obligations to provide safe disposal service for these products. The quickest and surest way to end the harm caused by single use vapes is to ban them.

“While consultation on a ban is welcome, we don’t have time to change our economy one product at a time. From wasteful plastic packaging to phones that can’t be fixed, and harmful products like single use vapes, everything we own needs to become more sustainable.

“That’s why the Circular Economy Bill is so important because it must transform our economic systems so that all materials are used sustainably.”

+++  CIRCULAR ECONOMY BILL

Friends of the Earth Scotland circular economy campaigner Kim Pratt commented: “Scotland’s material use is more than twice sustainable levels. The Circular Economy Bill is an important opportunity for Scotland to change the way it uses materials by making businesses design products with less materials, encourage repair and reuse and limit harmful single use products.

“The Circular Economy Bill must be as strong as possible to create the system change that we need, including strong targets for reducing our consumption and consideration of the social impacts of material use.”

Independent Age: ‘A Missed Opportunity’

Following the First Minister’s Programme for Government, Debbie Horne, Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Independent Age said: “Today is a missed opportunity to help the 150,000 older people living in poverty across Scotland.

“Alarmingly, this figure has risen by 25% in the last decade alone, with the ongoing costs crisis squeezing the budgets of those in later life to breaking point. The First Minister should have used today’s Programme for Government to announce a strategy to tackle pensioner poverty and reverse this frightening trend.

“None of us dream of a later life where, because of the cost, we risk falls by not turning on the lights or are forced to skip meals, yet this is now a reality for 1 in 7 older people.

“With over 3 in 5 over 65s on a low income currently cutting their food spending, and almost 3 in 4 reducing their heating, they’re terrified for the winter to come.

“The Scottish Government should reconsider this glaring omission from today’s announcement and urgently announce a plan to reduce financial hardship in later life. They’ve said that tackling poverty is a key priority – older people must not be forgotten in this.”