Last week we basked in record March temperatures, this week – we’re back to winter! BBC Weather is forecasting a cloudy morning across the area with snow heaviest over Lothian, Borders and the M74. Blizzard conditions are possible as the snow will be accompanied by strong northeasterly winds. It’s expected to become drier and brighter this afternoon, but snow showers are expected again overnight.
There you have it – put away the flip-flops and dig out those winter woolies!
Two Inverleith Ward community councils have organised hustings for the forthcoming council elections, giving you an opportunity to meet and hear the candidates and get your questions answered.
Craigleith Blackhall CC will hold their hustings on Thursday 19 April at 7.30pm in St. Columba’s Church on Queensferry Road, while Drylaw Telford CC’s election event takes place on Tuesday 24 April at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre (off Groathill Road North).
All welcome.
Get in touch if you know of any more hustings events in Forth or Inverleith.
A rare ‘micropig’ has been discovered in a Drylaw garden. The tiny beast is barely two inches long, and it’s thought that ‘Babe’ may have journeyed for days to reach his destination.
A Drylaw man, who asked not to be named, said: “I was out early to start work in the garden this morning when I came upon what I thought at first was a snail. On closer inspection it turned out to be a tiny pig – I was astonished!”
Micropigs have become very popular as unusual family pets and it’s thought that this is one who got away.
“I understand there’s a bloke over in Ravelston who breeds micropigs and it could just be that this wee chap escaped from there”, said the pig’s finder. “If I can’t track down the owner, I’ll keep the pig and I’m calling him – or her, it’s too wee to tell – Babe. I’m hoping to teach the pig how to do wee tricks. I don’t think they grow very big so for the moment I’ll make up a wee bed in a matchbox and take it from there”.
A local vet said: “This is quite fascinating. If the animal did indeed travel from Ravelston all the way to Drylaw, that’s a huge trek for such a wee beast – it could have taken weeks and would have been fraught with danger. The Drylaw micropig certainly has a fascinating ‘tail’ to tell!”.
If you’ve lost a micropig please let us know.
CORE (Community Organisation for Race Equality) is inviting you to a music group event this afternoon in North Edinburgh Arts Centre from 3.30pm.
CORE Youth and Children’s Development Worker Hazel Lyons explains: “CORE started a music-making group last December at North Edinburgh Arts Centre and children from the Greater Pilton area have been focusing on music making and discovering different types of music. Throughout the sessions youth workers have been working with the children to explore new forms of music and improve their music skills, with the help of different guest musicians coming along each week.”.
She adds: “The children have been working towards putting on a performance and would love to show you everything that they have learned. CORE would therefore like to invite you to this event on Saturday 31 March at North Edinburgh Arts Centre. The performance will last from 3.30-4.30pm and there will also be refreshments. The children have worked so well together, learned new skills and had lots of fun – we are all really looking forward to the performance”.
CORE (Community Organisation for Race Equality) is inviting you to a music group event this afternoon in North Edinburgh Arts Centre from 3.30pm.
CORE Youth and Children’s Development Worker Hazel Lyons explains: “CORE started a music-making group last December at North Edinburgh Arts Centre and children from the Greater Pilton area have been focusing on music making and discovering different types of music. Throughout the sessions youth workers have been working with the children to explore new forms of music and improve their music skills, with the help of different guest musicians coming along each week.”.
She adds: “The children have been working towards putting on a performance and would love to show you everything that they have learned. CORE would therefore like to invite you to this event on Saturday 31 March at North Edinburgh Arts Centre. The performance will last from 3.30-4.30pm and there will also be refreshments. The children have worked so well together, learned new skills and had lots of fun – we are all really looking forward to the performance”.
The following candidates will be seeking your support in the Local Government elections on 3 May. Four councillors will be elected in both the Forth and Inverleith wards from the following lists:
4. Forth Ward
Steve Cardownie – Scottish National Party (SNP)
Cammy Day – Scottish Labour Party
George Gordon – Scottish National Party (SNP)
Ruth Ann Henderson – Scottish Anti-Cuts Coalition
Allan George Jackson – Scottish Conservative and Unionist
Kate Joester – Scottish Green Party
Seumas Stiubhard Macmhicean – Liberal Party in Scotland
Vicki Redpath – Scottish Labour Party
Tim Wight – Scottish Liberal Democrats
5. Inverleith Ward
Nigel Bagshaw – Scottish Green Party
Gavin Barrie – Scottish National Party (SNP)
Scott Douglas – Scottish Conservative and Unionist
Lesley Hinds – Scottish Labour Party
Tim McKay – Scottish Liberal Democrats
Iain Whyte – Scottish Conservative and Unionist
John Young – Scottish National Party (SNP).
This election uses the STV (Single Transferable Vote) system, which involves putting numbers against preferred candidates.
You must be on the register of electors to be able to vote. You can register to vote for this year’s council elections:
A registration form is sent to homes every autumn but you can check if you are registered to vote at the Local Government Elections on 3 May 2012 by calling the Electoral Registration Office on 0131 344 2500. But remember – you only have until Wednesday 18 April to register to vote, so check now!
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service understand the difficulties a strike causing disruption to petrol/diesel supplies may cause individuals, however we would advise people do not store large amounts of fuel in garages, sheds or any part of their house due to the increased risks to occupiers and firefighters.
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said:
“Public safety is our overriding concern. We would like to remind people to focus on their own fire safety at all times. We would like to ensure that members of the public who are considering storing petrol on their properties follow these guidelines:”
* Do not fill a container more than the capacity printed on the label
* Do not store petrol inside a domestic premises
* Store petrol in a place that is not part of or attached to a building used as a dwelling
* Petrol must be stored in approved plastic or metal containers of the sort that can typically be purchased from filling stations
* You should only store petrol in two appropriate 10 litre metal containers or two appropriate 5 litre plastic containers.
Petrol is a dangerous substance which, when present can dramatically increase the risk of fire. The Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) recommends members of the public keep any storage of petrol to a minimum.
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service
Council official John McFarlane has responsibility for street lighting, and last month he attended a Drylaw Telford Community Council meeting to hear concerns over inadequate street lighting in the area. As well as just listening, however, Mr McFarlane decided to see the problems for himself and left the meeting with a small group of local residents to visit some of the problem areas. Last night’s community council meeting heard that Mr McFarlane has been in touch and is now relooking at lighting in Drylaw.
In an email to community council Chairman Mike Clark, Mr McFarlane said: ‘I can confirm that the residents’ concerns were noted at the walkabout and my design team are currently working on a few change scenarios which will hopefully address these concerns. It is our intention to install alternative solutions in separate areas in Drylaw after which we will liaise with adjacent residents to determine the effectiveness of these solutions. Once a preferred solution is agreed through consultation with the residents we will implement these changes”.
Mr McFarlane added that he would be delighted to attend a future community council meeting and will contact the community council again ‘once we have progressed things at our end’.
Speaking after the meeting at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Mike Clark said: “This is a positive development. Our February meeting was one of the best attended for some time as local residents wanted to make their concerns known. With the new lighting, some people feel that parts of the neighbourhood are just far too dark. It’s encouraging that the council is listening to those concerns and, more importantly, appears willing to act to address them”.
Street lighting has dominated Drylaw Telford agendas for some months now, but among other issues also discussed at last night’s meeting were the proposed skate park for Easter Drylaw Park, the cost of upgrading and maintaining Drylaw Field in Wester Drylaw and two forthcoming special meetings – the annual Thomas Tierney Award presentation and, with the council elections coming up, a hustings event.
The community council also discussed the curious case of the missing goal-posts – this long-running mystery may yet be solved at a future meeting. Watch this space, all may be revealed!
Drylaw Telford Community Council meets on the last Wednesday of the month at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre. All welcome.
North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum (NEYPF) is holding an event to celebrate the success of their ‘Barrie, Radge and Mingin’’ project next week. The event will also provide an opportunity for young people to decide their next project.
‘Barrie, Radge and Mingin’’ was a collaborative project centred around young people’s views on their local environment – the ‘clean, green and safe’ agenda. Among the highlights of the project was a drama produced with young people from Liverpool’s Collective Encounters theatre group, staged at North Edinburgh Arts Centre in September 2009 (pictured). Next week’s event gives the young people involved the opportunity to share their findings, talk about the highs and the lows and participants will also put forward ideas for what NEYPF should do next.
Danielle Ward, NEYPF’s treasurer and support worker, said: ‘Barrie, Radge ‘n’ Mingin’ in the council means clean, green and safe. Basically what we’ve done is gone around the area taking photos and talking to people, working in groups to develop a general generative themes strategy within these three areas. What people find good about the area, what needs changed and what could do with just a wee re-paint or that. Next week’s event will highlight how we have achieved this. For our future project, each individual young person will have a stall with what they think our next project should be and everyone that attends shall get two votes to choose the project we should do next”.
The NEYPF event takes place at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on Tuesday 3 April from 4.30 – 7pm. And you don’t have to be a young person to attend!
North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum (NEYPF) is holding an event to celebrate the success of their ‘Barrie, Radge and Mingin’’ project next week. The event will also provide an opportunity for young people to decide their next project.
‘Barrie, Radge and Mingin’’ was a collaborative project centred around young people’s views on their local environment – the ‘clean, green and safe’ agenda. Among the highlights of the project was a drama produced with young people from Liverpool’s Collective Encounters theatre group, staged at North Edinburgh Arts Centre in September 2009 (pictured). Next week’s event gives the young people involved the opportunity to share their findings, talk about the highs and the lows and participants will also put forward ideas for what NEYPF should do next.
Danielle Ward, NEYPF’s treasurer and support worker, said: ‘Barrie, Radge ‘n’ Mingin’ in the council means clean, green and safe. Basically what we’ve done is gone around the area taking photos and talking to people, working in groups to develop a general generative themes strategy within these three areas. What people find good about the area, what needs changed and what could do with just a wee re-paint or that. Next week’s event will highlight how we have achieved this. For our future project, each individual young person will have a stall with what they think our next project should be and everyone that attends shall get two votes to choose the project we should do next”.
The NEYPF event takes place at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on Tuesday 3 April from 4.30 – 7pm. And you don’t have to be a young person to attend!
