Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership is to write to council leaders expressing disappointment at decisions taken on Fairer Scotland Funding at last month’s council budget meeting. The local neighbourhood partnership will also write to Board of North Edinburgh News to express its ‘strong support’ for the continuation of the community newspaper following a meeting of Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership on Tuesday (8 March).
Councillor Lesley Hinds’ motion reads:
Notes with disappointment that the recommendation of Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership Funding Panel were not recorded in the papers considered by councillors at the budget setting meeting of the council on 10 February
Notes that the Inverleith Neighbourhood Funding Panel’s recommendations that all projects be cut by 8% was overturned by the Council, which cut all funding to the North Edinburgh News
Notes that the North Edinburgh News is strongly supported by the community of Inverleith.
It continues:
Therefore Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership agrees to:
1. Write to the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive:
– expressing disappointment at the decisions taken by the council on former Fairer Scotland Funding allocation and the undermining of local decision-making at a neighbourhood level
– calling for a report from the Chief Executive to be submitted to Neighbourhood Partnerships, giving a clear strategic direction for the three strands of the former Fairer Scotland Fund and a commissioning strategy for this continuing work.
2. Write to the Board of North Edinburgh News expressing it’s strong support for the continuation of the NEN.
The management team of the North Area Team to submit a report on the effect of service provision and the protection of the most vulnerable following the cuts to the Fairer Scotland Fund. This report should examine all ways Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership and North Area Team can support NEN and it’s future.
This motion to be submitted to the Council for their information.
The motion was supported by the three community council representatives – from Craigeith/Blackhall, Stockbridge/Inverleith and Drylaw/Telford – present at the meeting, and their combined vote defeated a counter proposal by Councillor Iain Whyte – supported by convener Cllr Tim McKay and Cllr McIvor – to go with the recommendation contained within the original officer’s report.
Division over budget cuts aside, the neighbourhood partnership meeting – the first to be held in Blackhall Mosque on House O’ Hill Road – dealt with more non-contentious issues. Alastair Macintyre, Census Regional Mananger, gave a presentation on the forthcoming census – census papers are now being distributed – and Tony Lear (Roads Business Performance Manager) and Neil McFarlane (North Roads Manager) outlined the city’s plans to deal with future severe weather problems. The ‘Winter Weather – Working Together’ project hopes to learn from the experiences of the last two severe winters to better prepare for future weather events. The project group will consult widely before preparing a report and recommendations for the council’s July Policy and Strategy Committee.
Four environmental projects – a new path to and from Warriston cycle path, a new access pathway from the Telford shop into Easter Drylaw, the upgrade of two pedestrian crossings in Haugh Street in Stockbridge and drainage improvements to the path between Dean Bridge and St George’s Well – were all agreed by the Neighbourhood Partnership from it’s Neighbourhood Environmental Programme (NEP) fund.
Inverleith’s Community Grant Fund allocation for 2010-11 of over £28,500 was also exhausted with final grants to two organisations. Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living received £740 towards staging two local information sessions for disabled people, while Edinburgh Leisure was granted £1127 to support the development of a jogging programme.
Irresponsible parking on House O’ Hill Road affecting adjacent streets was the topic of the only public question posed at the end of the meeting, and it was agreed that officials will pursue a Traffic Regulation Order for double yellow lines following further local consultation. TROs do take time to introduce, however, and the neighbourhood partnership will continue to monitor the situation and seek rigorous action by police and parking attendants meantime.
Dave Pickering
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