davepickering

Unkindest Cut Of All For Local Butchers

One of North Edinburgh’s longest established businesses will close on Saturday after having served the community for over thirty years. The Pork Butcher on Pennywell Road closes it’s doors for the last time this weekend – and butcher Brian Burke has no doubt about the cause of the closure.

“The decision to knock down all those houses in Muirhouse and Pennywell is what’s really done for us”, said Brian, who has managed the shop for 33 years. “We’ve managed to get through downturns before, times when people have less money to spend – we survived that. But over the last four years or so – when they started by knocking down Muirhouse Crescent – we’ve seen our customer numbers really drop. You can’t knock down around 950 houses – and rebuild none – without trade being affected. Bit by bit trade has dwindled and we can’t carry on – the customers are just not here any more. Every shop will tell you the same – every one is struggling. I can well remember when we would have five or six butchers working on a Saturday and we never stopped – the place was non-stop all day. It’s hard to believe it’s the same shop”.

Nephew Charlie is a relative newcomer – he’s only worked in the Pennywell shop for 27 years!

“I’ll be finished my apprenticeship soon!” he said. “Seriously though, it really is tragic not just for us but for the whole community. We’ve seen this happening for the last few years – since they started emptying the houses. It will be three years until the first of the new homes are built and occupied – that will be too late for most businesses and I think most of the shops will be shut by then. I think everyone wants out but they are tied into contracts and it looks hopeless. I don’t see how any business can survive when there’s no prospect of customers. When the council was planning the regeneration of the area I think they should have done what they did in Niddrie – decanting and demolishing bit by bit and rebuilding and getting people back in.
If they had done that down here businesses would at least have had a fighting chance, but they didn’t”.

While Saturday will be a sad day for the Pennywell butchers, Brian and Charlie will leave with a lot of fond memories.

“We have had an awful lot of laughs over the years, a lot of fun”, said Brian. “We always liked to give the kids a slice of chopped pork when they came in, and now we’re giving a piece of chopped pork to the kids of those kids. You get to meet a lot of good people and I’d like to thank all of our customers who have supported us over the years”.

Charlie added: “Just recently I was having a drink when someone stuck a pint in front of me. ‘That’s for keeping me going on chopped pork when I was wee!’ he said! We have had some really good times and we’re bound to miss it – we’ve been doing it for
such a long time. It will be very sad when we lock these doors for the last time”.

The city council’s ‘21^st Century Homes’ regeneration initiative was welcomed by most people – particularly those languishing
on waiting lists and tenants living in substandard accommodation. Around 470 new homes will be built in Muirhouse and Pennywell as part of the programme, bringing families – and customers – back to the area. Sadly, those 21^st century homes will come too late to save the local butchers who served the community for well over half a century.

Margo opens Elizabeth Maginnis Court

Margo MacDonald MSP performed the official opening of Elizabeth Maginnis Court, Dunedin Canmore’s new housing development in Royston Mains Crescent yesterday. Developed in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government, the superb new facility contains 68 flats and a variety of communal facilities all designed around a central landscaped courtyard.

It’s a building the late Granton councillor would have been very proud of -Elizabeth Maginnis Court provides flexible accomodation for older and vulnerable people; a group long very close to Elizabeth’s heart.

Margo MacDonald was joined by Councillor Paul Edie (Convener of Health, Social Care and Housing), Councillor Eric Milligan and Cardinal Keith O’Brien – long time friends of Elizabeth’s – all of whom paid moving tributes to the late local councillor who died three years ago. The Maginnis family was well represented at the event, hosted by Dunedin Canmore chief executive Ewan Fraser, alongside city politicians, officials, community representatives and of course the new residents themselves.

Sisters Jean and Grace and their pals Betty and Rosemary joined the celebration and they all love their new homes.

“It’s really lovely here – I wouldn’t swop for anything!”, said Rosemary. Betty agreed: “It really is a smashing place – everyone feels very safe here”. And Jean and Grace couldn’t be happier. “We love it here – it’s been worth the wait and we are so happy”.

And doubtless Elizabeth would have been very happy for them too!

FIGHTING BACK!

Local community campaign group North Edinburgh Fights Back is to hold a community conference at Craigroyston High School on Saturday (12 November). The conference – ‘Tackling Poverty and Inequality’ – has been jointly organised with the STUC and Edinburgh Trades Union Congress and aims to create an Anti-Poverty Charter.

The conference programme includes keynote speakers and workshops and over one hundred delegates from across the country are expected to attend the event.

North Edinburgh Fights Back member Willie Black said: “This is an important conference and it has generated a lot of interest, both locally and further afield. We want to see communities, community organisations and Trade Unions join together to resist and fight the scourge of poverty which is decimating our communities – communities that are already struggling to cope with the punishing effects of government cuts”.

The conference, which starts at 10am, is a free event but participatants are advised to book their place as demand is likely to be high. For further information on the ‘Tackling Poverty and Inequality’ community conference contact Willie Black on 0751 568 6421 or email w.black@blueyonder.co.uk

Councillor's words show ignorance of community

We are incensed at the comments by Councillor Elaine Morris, “Councillor brands anticuts protesters ‘rabid'” (News, September 1).

Greater Pilton is a fantastic place to work and live, and in fact top council workers, councillors, MPs and MSPs all came through and gained a wealth of knowledge from the so called “rabid anti-establishment” folk of Greater Pilton.

Over 65 years ago, brave men and women fought for independence, democracy and free speech, but apparently this does not count if you are living in Councillor Morris’s ward.

The people of Greater Pilton have been in the forefront of any campaign that fights for the rights of the common man/woman. In fact Greater Pilton is proud to have, within their boundaries, an organisation which has been running for over 50 years. From this organisation many other community organisations have emerged and been encouraged to “cut the apron strings” and go it alone. When the people of Greater Pilton make up their minds to do something, they do it, and don’t change their minds halfway through because they think the grass is greener on the other side – can you say the same, Councillor Morris?

One of the definitions of “rabid” is extremely enthusiastic and zealous, well in that case, thank you Councillor Morris, at least we have the community at heart, unlike you, we fight for the whole of Greater Pilton and not just for our own little corner.

For you to threaten (in your political speak) an arts centre with withdrawing their funding if they allow this meeting to go ahead is disgusting.

The Greater Pilton area was built on the blood, sweat and tears of local activists and it will continue to go from strength to strength. Councillor Morris should also remember it was local people who voted her in. They can also vote her out.

This letter appeared in the Edinburgh Evening News from West Pilton West Granton Community Council.

Local Counillor Elaine Morris's comments have upset many local people.

Embarrassed patients 'putting lives at risk'

MEN and women in the Lothians are putting their lives at risk because of embarrassment, a bowel cancer charity has warned.

Research by Bowel Cancer UK found that 40 per cent of residents would rather not talk to their GP about a concern, despite the risks of staying quiet. It is an issue that is proving a huge obstacle to health chiefs, who say the cancer is highly treatable if caught early.

Chief executive of the organisation, Deborah Alsina, said: “I can’t stress enough how important early diagnosis is. It saves lives.” Last week the Evening News reported how a project to send self-testing kits to everyone in the Lothians aged between 50 and 74 has potentially saved more than 150 lives – the number of people who began treatment having not known they had the disease.

Kids aged ten set fire to flats in city's 'Wild West'

CHILDREN as young as ten are said to have set fire to a derelict building in Muirhouse – as besieged locals tell how the area is fast becoming the “Wild West” of the Capital.A gang of 15 youths was seen scaling the disused building in Muirhouse Avenue on Friday afternoon before breaking through metal security shutters on the first floor and running amok inside.

Residents reported hearing the yobs ransacking empty homes on their way to the top floor, where it is thought they started a fire. Fire crews said it was the second suspected fire-raising incident in the building in as many days, while locals told how the external wall of a neighbouring building, which is also abandoned, had been torn down by vandals.

In May, yobs set fire to a block of flats in nearby Muirhouse Parkway while continuing to search for scrap metal as the building burned.
One Muirhouse resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said the area was blighted with relentless antisocial behaviour and called for the two derelict buildings to be demolished.”This kind of this has been going on for months,” he said. “And it seems there’s nothing to stop them, they aren’t afraid of anything. “When these yobs managed to get access to the building, they did so in full view of everyone but they just didn’t care.

“They took the side of a house down the other week and the hole was so big you could have driven a van through it. It’s like something from the Wild West or maybe even Monty Python, because it’s so crazy.”

The unnamed resident, who has lived in Muirhouse for 40 years, said he watched youths climbing to the first floor balcony at around 4pm before breaking in and sparking a blaze. “There were about 15 of them aged between ten and 16 breaking in,” he said. “The next thing a neighbour came up and asked me to call 999 because they had set fire to it.

“There had been a lot of smashing and banging coming from the rear of the building but then there was thick black smoke pouring out from the top floor. My house is only about 30 metres from the flats and I could smell the smoke inside my own house. “As soon as they heard the fire brigade sirens they scarpered.”

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Border Fire and Rescue Service said: “We had already attended a small fire at the property on Muirhouse Avenue the previous evening.

“We are yet to establish whether it was started deliberately but derelict properties often attract a rogue element.”

Ward councillor Steve Cardownie called on residents to help police identify the culprits but said the vast majority of the community were “law-abiding and hard-working” people.

“There is obviously a distinct lack of parental control if parents are letting ten-year-olds get up to such wilful acts of fireraising and vandalism,” he said.

“It beggars belief that kids as young as ten are putting themselves and others in great danger by getting involved in this kind of activity and we need to nip this in the bud before something tragic happens.”

Source: Edinburgh Evening news

It's stall kicking off in Stockbridge.

A NEW twice-weekly open-air food market could soon be established in Stockbridge, despite fears raised by residents over rodent infestations, noise and the impact on local businesses.
The Stockbridge Market will feature a range of food products, with confirmed producers including Ridley’s Fish and Game, Cheesee Peasee and Au Gourmand Artisanal Bread.

It is also set to sell non-food items, including crafts, vintage clothes, jewellery and CDs.

Proposals for the market, to be held in Jubilee Gardens, have been recommended for approval by city planners, but still have to be approved by councillors next week.

• Do you support the plans for a twice-weekly food market in Stockbridge? Vote here

If granted permission, it will be held every Thursday from 2pm to 8pm, and on Sundays from 10am to 6pm, and will feature a total of 26 stalls.

However, the plans – submitted by the French Food Company – have been met with resistance from some local residents who believe the Jubilee Gardens site, which is bordered by Saunders Street and Kerr Street, is unsuitable for such a market.

Anne Harrison, a resident of Saunders Street, wrote in a letter to the council: “Last year there was a major infestation (of rodents] resulting in the seated area at Jubilee Park being stripped out to eradicate rodents.

“The proximity of the park to the Water of Leith also contributes to this problem.

“I fear that a food market will only exacerbate the rodent problem.

“There are serious health and safety implications here.”

She added: “Stockbridge already has many local businesses providing the types of food the market will offer.

“In the current climate their business might suffer drastically from a regular market event.”

Concerns have also been raised about the loss of the gardens as a public space during the market’s operating hours.

Saunders Street resident Helen Walker added in an objection to the proposal: “The site of the proposed market is one of only a few open landscaped gardens available to the public in this area and the accessibility of this area would be greatly reduced by the operation of the market.

“Jubilee Gardens is closely overlooked by the bedrooms of the first block of residential dwellings in Saunders Street.

“The market is to be opened on a Thursday evening and Sunday morning and will increase the local noise levels and disturb the sleep patterns of local residents, especially those of young children and shift workers.”

A statement on the website for the Stockbridge Market says it plans to start operating “really soon”.

Heritage group The Cockburn Association backed the plans.

Director Marion Williams said: “We support the proposal of an open-air food market in this location and believe it could contribute to the vitality of the Stockbridge neighbourhood shopping streets.”

Source: Edinburgh Evening News

Talented Telford student has designs to expose Granton's secret garden

Edinburgh’s Telford College student Michael Kerr submitted the winning design in a challenge set by National Grid to create signage that will help more people discover its new public park at The Forthquarter. Despite playing host to the Granton Community Gala for two (soon to be three) years running and more recently an Active Schools Outdoor Adventure event, there are a great many people unaware of this urban oasis.

So when National Grid decided they wanted to erect signs to help residents and visitors to discover and enjoy the open space nestled behind Telford College and Morrisons supermarket they didn’t have far to look for fresh ideas.

Four first year HND Visual Communication students responded to the brief but is was 24 year old Michael Kerr from Galashiels, who wowed project manager Jim Moore.

“I was enormously impressed with all of the ideas put forward, but Michael’s designs really stood out. Not only had he understood what we were looking for on this occasion, he has created a new set of innovative and useable ideas to market wider aspects of the park” said Jim.Michael receives £500 in prize money and will see his ideas become reality when information points are installed at the three main gates to The Forthquarter Park: West Granton Road, Waterfront Broadway and West Shore Road.

“I am really thrilled to have my designs chosen. it was great to have an opportunity to work on a live project and I can’t wait to see how the information points turn out. As a student I will obviously find a good use for the prize money!” said Michael. National Grid also contributed £1000 to the college in recognition of costs and resources required to ensure the students were fully supported and encouraged to participate in the initiative. The 20 acre Park officially opened to the public in April 2010 and is a firm favourite with the locals that know about it.

“National Grid wanted input from people who use the park and have come to know the area, Telford college students were an obvious choice” added Jim

Michael completed his National Certificate in 2010 and this year completed his first year of a two-year HND Visual Communication (Graphic Design) with his design for National Grid helping him achieve an A+. David Hiddleston, Curriculum Manager at the college said: “We are delighted with Michael’s success. Challenges like this are fantastic for developing learners’ skills and provide valuable experience of working to a creative brief with a real client.

National Grid will now request quotes from local sign makers to produce Michael’s designs and the information points should be installed at each of the three park gates later this year. With The Forthquarter Park featuring in Robin Howie’s new book 100 Scotsman Walks and National Grid sponsoring further signage to be installed along Granton Promenade as part of Scottish National Heritage’s bio-diversity trail, Granton’s secret garden’ won’t be a secret for very much longer.

NEN: 'back to the future'

North Edinburgh News’ voluntary management board remains committed to keeping the community newspaper alive. Speaking in NEN’s annual report, chairperson Martin Hinds said that the organisation is now looking for a new home and will try to harness community support to ensure the continuation of the NEN.

He said: “To say the least, this has been a very difficult year! At its Budget meeting on Thursday 10 February this year, the Council took a final decision to “disinvest” in a number of community organisations, one of which was The NEN. This decision had been anticipated for some time, but was hard to bear all the same. It means that we shall get no further funding from that quarter and effectively has forced the closure of the paper in its current form.

The Board has been very diligent over the past year in trying to persuade the Council to continue investing in the NEN. Delegations of Board members have met with local Councillors to press our case. We have also been trying to find alternative ways of funding the project and have had some success with advertising and sponsorship. For the past year we have been able to continue with support from the Fairer Scotland Fund and through the good will of the staff, who agreed a cut in hours and pay. The community reps on the two local Neighbourhood Partnerships have also been very supportive, recommending continued funding for the paper. Unfortunately, elected members, apart from two, have shown either no, or very little, support.

However, all this effort has been in vain, as you know, and we were forced to issue staff with redundancy notices and, finally, to sell off the office in order to provide the redundancy money. This is now in-hand. The result is that after over 30 years your community newspaper, the voice of your community, will no longer be dropping through your letterbox each month for the foreseeable future.

During the past year we have also been looking at possible partnerships with other organisations, such as Telford College, in order to keep the NEN going. This looked at one time like a good fit, as we already work with the journalism students to give them work experience. The College would have provided us with valuable support in terms of work space, IT and administrative support, access to design etc. However, these discussions are at a very early stage and may come to nothing. So, we are now looking at alternative homes, and to see if we can start up again in the future on a different, perhaps more modest, basis.

We have applied to the two Neighbourhood Partnerships for community grants, one for assistance with fundraising and the other for capacity building within the local community. The aim will be to harness the immense amount of support within the community and to develop the capacity of anyone interested in becoming “stringers” – people who can provide their own reports and articles. If we are successful, the grants, together with the surplus from the sale of the office, should go a long way to help us become sustainable in time. In a sense this is a return to the NEN’s beginnings, by becoming once again a community project, run by volunteers.

To end on a more positive note – the Board are committed to ensuring that this isn’t the end of the NEN. We will work with the community to try to identify practical ways of raising income to put the paper on a sustainable footing. We will have some money from the sale of the office and we will be looking to find a new ‘home’ and will be exploring ways of reducing costs even more, while trying to maintain a quality product. This will take some time, but we are hopeful of getting there.

We are extremely grateful for the invaluable support we have received from the local community and we will continue to follow up opportunities to re-launch your newspaper.

We have developed an online presence for The NEN with a new blog, Facebook and twitter profiles, so we can at least keep the name of NEN going. The success of any new venture, however, will depend on the willingness of local people to get involved, so keep in touch.

Finally, I would like to thank all my fellow Board members, both those who have resigned during the year, and those who are willing to continue, for all their support. I would also like to thank the three members of staff, without whose hard work we would not have been able to produce a newspaper at all and I am sure we all wish them well in whatever they do from now on.”

NEN’s annual report will be presented at the project’s EGM/AGM this Wednesday (30 March) and board member Ann Confrey has appealed for public support. She said: “NEN needs Board members. Show your support at our AGM/EGM at 2.30pm on Wednesday 30th March at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre”.

Dave Pickering

Credit where it's due

North Edinburgh Credit Union (NECU) has been providing financial services like affordable loans and savings opportunities to local residents for many years, and the community-run organisation is appealing to members old and new to show their support at their forthcoming annual general meeting. NECU’s AGM will be held in their Wardieburn Drive office on Thursday 24 March at 6.30pm.

A NECU spokesperson said: “The meeting requires a quorum of at leat 15 people before it can proceed to business so please attend to give your support to your Credit Union. We are also always looking for volunteers so if you think you could spare a couple of hours per week please come to the AGM and put your name forward. Training can be given, and lots of people who have previously volunteered have gone on to get paid work with the experience they gained from the Credit Union”.

For further information on how the Credit Union can help you – and how you can support your local Credit Union – telephone 0131 466 5006 or email committee@necu.co.uk

Dave Pickering