Author: northedinburghnews

New exhibitions at North Edinburgh Arts

Please join us to celebrate the opening of two very creative and imaginative exhibitions here at North Edinburgh Arts.

unnamed1

Imagination Mill
Opens Tuesday 11 November, 5.30-7.30pm

Imagination Mill is a collection of work by a group of creatives who met serendipitously through attending Edinburgh College of Art. All are recent graduates or current postgraduates. Here, in the gallery of North Edinburgh Arts, you are invited to explore these works of fictional vision and be inspired to use your own, individual imagination mill.

 

unnamed2

Everybody kens Everybody
Opens Wednesday 12 November, 4.30pm

A showcase of documentary style photographs taken of local people from Muirhouse over a period of 3-4 years. Borja Prada’s discerning portrayal is a celebration of the diverse community that live in the area.

 

Keir welcomes trams announcement

Colin Keir MSP for Edinburgh Western has welcomed the news that the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry has been converted from a non-statutory to a statutory Inquiry.

trams messThe Scottish Government has placed the enquiry on a statutory footing which will compel those involved in the Trams project to give evidence following a request from the inquiry chair Lord Hardie.

Mr Keir said: “This is great news that the Scottish Government has acted on the advice of Lord Hardie to convert the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry from a non-statutory to statutory status.

It is shocking that there has been a lack of co-operation by some of those who were involved in the project, this is clearly unacceptable. As the cost has risen to frightening levels over the years, surely the residents of Edinburgh – as well as taxpayers beyond the city boundaries – are entitled to know why this project became a financial liability and embarrassment to the city.”

The Edinburgh Tram Inquiry will convert from a non-statutory to a statutory inquiry following advice from the Chair Lord Hardie. On Friday, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon instructed the conversion under the Inquiries Act 2005 after Lord Hardie advised that the Inquiry is not receiving the participation it requires.

Making the Inquiry statutory will allow Lord Hardie to compel the production of evidence, the participation of witnesses and enable a robust final report to be prepared. It is not anticipated that the change in status will affect the cost or timescale of the Inquiry.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It was the view of the Scottish Government that a non-statutory inquiry with the co-operation of those with knowledge of the project was the simplest way to ensure the swift answers that people want.

“Lord Hardie has however now reported a lack of co-operation by some, which is clearly unjustifiable. I have therefore given the Inquiry the statutory powers he has requested to ensure that the necessary evidence is secured and a robust final report produced.

“Lord Hardie has assured me that converting the Inquiry to a statutory basis will not increase the costs and time required as he had intended to apply similar procedures. I continue to attach great importance to an inquiry that is quick, efficient and cost effective.”

tram-001

The Inquiry’s terms of reference are threefold:

  • To inquire into the delivery of the Edinburgh Trams project (‘the project’), from proposals for the project emerging to its completion, including the procurement and contract preparation, its governance, project management and delivery structures, and oversight of the relevant contracts, in order to establish why the project incurred delays, cost considerably more than originally budgeted for and delivered significantly less than was projected through reductions in scope.
  • To examine the consequences of the failure to deliver the project in the time, within the budget and to the extent projected.
  • To otherwise review the circumstances surrounding the project as necessary, in order to report to the Scottish Ministers making recommendations as to how major tram and light rail infrastructure projects of a similar nature might avoid such failures in future.

A bit of oomph

“You can go a long way on a bit of oomph”. This was the advice given to the graduating students of Edinburgh’s Telford College by guest speaker Jenny Eclair. Jenny had been invited to the College’s 2011 Graduation Celebration to honour the many students who had graduated after years of hard work.

Friends and family came together last night (Monday 12 september) to see hundreds of students receive their degrees, diplomas and certificates and we were treated to a flavour of the kinds of ability the College nurtures from dancers, actors and musicians. Principal Miles Dibsdall, in his usual enthusiastic and voluble way, paid tribute to the hard work of all the students there.

Jenny Eclair, who admitted to being a bit of an “illiterate goth” at school, told us that she finally achieved her success through writing. The underlying message was that, whatever your ability, you can achieve your goals through identifying what you are good at and going for it.

Despite the well-deserved celebration of achievement, this year’s graduation followed controversial and unpopular cuts in the College’s budget, which resulted in courses being axed and staff made redundant, after the Scottish Government imposed a 10% cut in funding. Shortly we will, coincidentally, also see the publication of the Scottish Government’s pre-legislative paper on the future of further education, which may well result in the merger of colleges throughout Scotland. Telford College attracts 40% at least of its students from the north Edinburgh area. If it is forced to merge with another college, what will be the impact on courses offered and therefore on the number of local students. How local will local colleges be then?

Community Cook Book Launched

Ladies Who Launch! - 'It's Yummy Mummy' launch at North Edinburgh Arts Centre

Can you feed a family of five a healthy nutritious meal on a budget of just a fiver?  Sounds impossible, but mums from Muirhouse and West Pilton rose to challenge and have produced ‘It’s Yummy Mummy’, a cook book packed with recipes that not only won’t break the bank but taste great too!

The community cooks from Muirhouse Womens Group and West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre’s Buggy Brigade launched their recipe book at North Edinburgh Arts Centre yesterday (Wednesday 30 March).

The ‘It’s Yummy Mummy’ initiative is part of the Community Healthy Lifestyles Project launched last year.  Project coordinator Lisa Arnott explained:  “The project was launched last year, and the mothers organised a cooking competition with the winning recipes selected to go into a cookbook.  We received a wealth of great recipes from all across North Edinburgh, and entrants were then invited to cook their recipes for a panel of judges.  The cook book contains a wide range of the very best recipes – and every meal in the book can be created to feed a family of five for £5.” Continue reading Community Cook Book Launched

Holyrood Candidates Confirmed

The Scottish Parliamentary Elections will be held on 5 May and the following candidates have been confirmed:

Edinburgh Eastern

Ewan Aitken, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Cameron Buchanan, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Kenny MacAskill, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Martin Veart, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Edinburgh Central

Marco Biagi, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Sarah Boyack, Scottish Labour Party
Alex Cole-Hamilton, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Iain McGill, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Edinburgh Northern and Leith

Malcolm Chisholm, Scottish Labour Party
Dan Farthing, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Sheila Catriona Dorothy Low, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Shirley-Anne Somerville, Scottish National Party (SNP)

Edinburgh Pentlands

Simon James Clark, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Ricky Henderson, Scottish Labour Party
Gordon MacDonald, Scottish National Party (SNP)
David William McLetchie, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Edinburgh Southern

Gavin Brown, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Jim Eadie, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Paul Godzik, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Mike Pringle, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Edinburgh Western

Lesley Hinds, Scottish Labour Party and The Co-operative Party
Colin Keir, Scottish National Party (SNP)
Gordon John Lindhurst, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Margaret Joy Smith, Scottish Liberal Democrats

Lothian

ALL SCOTLAND PENSIONERS PARTY – Scottish Senior Citizens Party
Alex Lawson; David Lawson; Morag Thompson; Anna Kerr; Tommi Kerr

BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY
David Orr; Leanne Tracy Marshall; Kevin William Doyle; James Alexander Main

SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN PARTY “PROCLAIMING CHRIST’S LORDSHIP” – Christians Together
Abimbola Olusola Kadara; Mbuli Malanga Aime Lombaya; Bridget Johnson Mosanya; David Peter Rodney Hews

SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE
Michael Thomas McGlynn

SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE AND UNIONIST PARTY
David McLetchie; Gavin Brown; Cameron Buchanan; Gordon Lindhurst; Iain Mcgill; Scott Douglas; Christopher Donnelly; Andrew Hardie; Sheila Low

SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY – Alison Johnstone for MSP
Alison Johnston; Steve Burgess; Maggie Chapman; Peter Andrew McColl; Shonagh McEwan; Adam Ramsay; Kate Joester

SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY
Sarah Boyack; Kezia Dugdale; Neil Findlay; Ann Henderson; Jalal Chaudry; Simon MacFadyen; James Ashe

SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Margaret Joy Smith; Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton; Gordon Ferguson Mackenzie; John Loughton; Jacqueline Dianne Bell; Daniel Marisco Farthing; Ian James Younger

SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (SNP) – Alex Salmond for First Minister
Kenny MacAskill; Fiona Hyslop; Shirley-Anne Somerville; Angela Constance; George Kerevan; Colin Beattie; Alex Orr; Bill Wilson; Gordon MacDonald; Calum Cashley; Jim Eadie; Alasdair Rankin

SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY – Independent Socialist Scotland
Colin Fox; Catriona Grant; Laura Bennison; Andrew McPake; Alistair Hendry; Barbara Scott

SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY
David Don Jacobsen; Michael Lynch; Linda Sheridan; Barbara Ann Bryan

SOLIDARITY – SCOTLAND’S SOCIALIST MOVEMENT – SOLIDARITY
Patricia Joan Smith; Ian Drummond; Vanesa Fuertes; Willie Black; Jack Fraser; Shirley Margaret Gibb; Anne Edmonds; Adrian Stuart Cannon

THE LIBERAL PARTY – Liberal Party – Against Coalition Cut Backs
John Hein

UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY (UKIP)
Otto Inglis; Gordon Norrie; Alistair Forrest; Gavin Clark; Alastair MacIntyre

INDEPENDENTS
Mev Brown
David John Hogg
Margo MacDonald
Ken O’Neill

Polls open from 7am – 10pm.

Dave Pickering

 

Shore social housing snapped up

Port of Leith HA's Shore development

An affordable housing development which overlooks the Shore in Leith has ‘sold-out’ within a month of being released by Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA).

Sixteen properties in the 60-apartment are designated for ‘shared ownership’, where people buy and own a percentage of the property and rent the remainder from the Association, and each of these have now been reserved.  PoLHA received around 60 applications for the properties, which were priced from £127,500 to £170,000 with most purchasing a 25% share. The remainder of the flats will be allocated for social rent.

Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of Port of Leith Housing Association, said: “We have had a phenomenal response to the shared ownership offering at Coburg Street.  These are set to be great flats in a great location so that undoubtedly added to their appeal.  However, it also highlights the desperate need there is for affordable homes and how difficult it is for people, particularly young people on starter salaries and others working in key roles such as nursing, to get on the housing ladder. The need for affordable housing has never been greater.”

The flats have open-plan living spaces with modern fitted bathrooms and kitchens including all integrated appliances. Most of the two bedroom properties feature en-suite shower rooms. There are balconies and terraces in 10 of the properties, with a communal landscaped courtyard, as well as a secure underground car park.

Building is due to be completed in the autumn.

Dave Pickering

Flood warning service available

Storm damage on Silverknowes Promenade

ALMOST 6,000 Edinburgh and Lothians residents can now receive advance flood warnings straight to their phone.  Launched last week, the free service will benefit 100,000 at-risk properties across Scotland. 

The new service will provide the earliest possible warning for residents living in communities threatened by river or coastal flooding in Edinburgh and the Lothians.   The new Scotland-wide Floodline direct warning service aims to give the 5,959 at-risk residents living in Edinburgh, and the Lothians valuable time to take action and protect their families, homes and businesses.

 Speaking at the launch event, Environment and Climate Change Minister Roseanna Cunningham MSP described it as an “essential tool” and urged people to sign up for the free warnings, which will be sent to registered mobile phones and landlines.

Funding from the Scottish Government has enabled SEPA to develop and run the new direct warning service, which is a significant improvement to the existing Floodline recorded telephone and website facility.

Previously the Scottish public relied on hearing about flooding through the media, by word of mouth, through local services or by contacting SEPA’s 24-hour recorded telephone service.  Now anyone living in Edinburgh and the Lothians – including those who live in, work or travel through areas at risk of flooding – can sign up to the new service and receive details on the likelihood and timing of any potential flooding threat. This ensures everyone can get the benefit of SEPA’s extensive flood forecasting expertise and monitoring networks.

Service improvements include:

  • New easy-to-understand flood warning symbols which make it clear what action people should take, and when.
  • The creation of more than 200 smaller, local flood warning areas to provide more meaningful and targeted information.
  • New Floodline quick dial codes allow users to quickly access the information relevant to them.

Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, said: “The Floodline direct warning service is a quick and up to date way of making sure that communities know about the risk of flooding in their area as soon as possible, giving them more time to prepare and protect themselves.  I want as many people as possible to sign up to this free service and improve their resilience to flooding. This is not just about homes as the benefits apply equally to businesses and we have recently seen that they can be disrupted by flooding too.  Coupled with the new Scottish Flood Forecasting Service, which gives emergency responders better and earlier information, Floodline means that the people of Scotland will benefit directly from the £9 million we’ve invested in these innovative approaches.”

Professor James Curran, SEPA’s Director of Science and Strategy, said: “The improvements we have made to Floodline are a huge step forward in terms of flood warning for Scotland. Making it easier for people to help themselves is a key part to this, and signing-up to Floodline’s direct warning service can be done online, by phone or by filling-in a registration form. In fact we’re sending thousands of these directly to properties in flood warning areas, so look out for these valuable envelopes, use their contents and if you receive a flood warning message – take action!”

A highly visible radio, newspaper and roadshow campaign has also been launched, based on the theme ‘Life doesn’t always give you advance warnings, but Floodline can’, to encourage Scots to sign up to receive free advance warnings from Floodline.

The table below contains a breakdown of the number of properties in Edinburgh and the Lothians that are in Flood Warning Areas – people in these properties should definitely sign up for the alerts!  Some local areas have a particularly high number of properties affected:

Bonnington 219 Total: 5,959
Cameron Toll 53
Colinton Mains 570
Cramond 27
Dean Village 143
Haddington (Green) 212
Haddington (Orange) 180
Haddington (Red) 544
Longstone/Stenhouse 392
Mid Liberton 49
Musselburgh 331
Portobello 249
Roseburn 1046
Stockbridge 629
The Inch Park 218
The Inch Park (Island) 46
Warriston 1051

People can sign up now by visiting www.floodlinescotland.org.uk/signup  

Dave Pickering 

Police seek witnesses to Muirhouse assault

Lothian and Borders Police are appealing for witnesses after a young boy was assaulted in the Muirhouse area of Edinburgh on Monday afternoon (21 March).

The 11-year-old and his sister were playing in the grounds of St Paul’s Church on Muirhouse Avenue, near Pennywell Road, about 4.15pm when a man approached them. He grabbed the boy by the neck, pinned him against the fence, then threw him to the ground before running off and getting on a bus (possibly a 37) on Pennywell Road.

The suspect is described as being white, in his early 20s, 5ft 8ins tall, of slim build with a full moustache. He was wearing black tracksuit bottoms, a red hooded Nike jumper, with the hood pulled up over a Nike baseball cap.

A police spokesperson said: “Although he wasn’t injured, this has been a terrifying experience for the young boy.  We are appealing for anyone who may have been in the area at the time, and who may have seen what happened, to get in touch.”

Anyone with information should contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 311 3131, or the charity Crimestoppers in confidence and complete anonymity on 0800 555 111.

Dave Pickering

Scottish Gas answers Comic Relief call

Scottish Gas volunteer Ross Chmiel mans the phone for Comic Relief

Scottish Gas employees supported Comic Relief by volunteering to take pledge calls last Friday evening (18th March).  No less than 155 willing volunteers answered phones from  7pm to midnight to raise as much money as possible for the charity, and the Granton team’s efforts were richly rewarded – staff took 2545 pledge calls, raising £10,000!

To boost morale throughout the evening entertainment was provided by Edinburgh based choir Sing in the City and children’s entertainer Gladys Chucklebutty.

The Waterfront site also raised laughs and funds throughout the week by sponging and waxing colleagues; learning and performing dance routines; bake sales; pyjama parties; and climbing the equivalent to Mount Everest on the office stairs – all with a Red Nose theme!

Speaking before the Friday evening marathon Kevin Roxburgh, Managing Director of Scottish Gas, said:  “We support Comic Relief every year and always do our best to raise even more money than the year before. I’ve been really impressed with all the fundraising efforts so far and its great to see our people getting so involved. I look forward to the buzz continuing into this evening to help us do our bit for such a great charity.”

The Scottish Gas team’s efforts helped to build the total raised so far for Comic Relief 2011 to over £75.5 million – and they’re still counting!

Dave Pickering