IT’S OFFICAL: We now own our Community Garden at 10 Wardieburn Road!
Our Community Asset Transfer is now complete, and we received money from the Scottish Land Fund (Scottish Government) to help enable us to purchase the land from the Council. The process has taken a wee while, but now it’s done. Thanks to everyone who’s helped along the way!
As a local community charity, we’re aiming to benefit our community as much as we can, and you’re all invited to get involved – and anyone living within our defined local area who supports our aims can become a voting member!
Today (and every Wednesday) there’s a free community lunch open to all at 2pm.
Wednesday Gardening club is an open drop-in session every week 1-3pm (winter hours).
In 2024 98% of Scotland’s bathing waters will again meet or exceed the Sufficient classification – with 84% achieving the higher standards of Excellent or Good, says the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
This long-term positive trend for Scottish bathing water quality has been demonstrated in sampling and analysis carried out by Scotland’s environment regulator over the summer.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) work with regulated operators and stakeholders across the country and have driven millions of pounds of investment to bring about changes needed to make our bathing waters a success story.
In 2024 98% of Scotland’s bathing waters will again meet or exceed the Sufficient classification. ✅84% Good or Excellent ✅Wardie Bay and Fisherrow Sands, both added this season, will achieve Good. ➡️Read more in our media release at https://t.co/pLdeSfjIoP ➡️Check the… pic.twitter.com/KFMeDbD3PG
— Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) (@ScottishEPA) November 21, 2023
For the 2024 bathing season Scotland’s bathing water classifications will be:
38 (43%) Excellent
37 (42%) Good
12 (13%) Sufficient
2 (2%) Poor
Ruth Stidson, SEPA’s Principal Scientist for bathing waters, said: “Scotland started this bathing water season with more bathing waters than ever and a record-breaking number rated excellent. I’m delighted to say we’ll start next year just as strongly.
“Our bathing waters have the best water quality since 2015, when tighter standards first came into force. We now have an additional five designated bathing waters where we monitor water quality to protect human health. Over this time those with the highest excellent classification has increased from 17 to 38, and the number with a poor classification has fallen from 17 to two.
“Being outdoors can provide many physical and mental health benefits. Our beaches offer opportunities for physical activities and social interaction and earlier this year I saw personally how much having a designated bathing water meant to the local community at Wardie Bay.
“SEPA’s monitoring data has provided crucial evidence to drive millions in investment and we’ve worked with businesses, farmers and land managers across the country to help them understand how they can make changes to protect water quality.
“All these successes show that, while it can take time to see big improvements, they are possible – and SEPA will keep monitoring, reporting, enforcing, encouraging and challenging for the future of our water environment.”
Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan said: “Scotland now has the highest number of designated Bathing Water sites ever, with the vast majority classified as good or excellent.
“This demonstrates the benefits of our continued investment in protecting and improving bathing waters across the country. However we are not complacent and will continue to work closely with SEPA and Scottish Water to monitor and improve water quality, to make sure that as many people as possible are able to enjoy them.”
Success stories for 2024
Scotland’s newest bathing water, Wardie Bay in Edinburgh, will be rated as Good for its first classification in 2024. The location was designated by Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition, Màiri McAllan, following an application from Wardie Bay Beachwatch and The Wild Ones
Just along the coast in East Lothian, the first bathing water in Scotland to be re-designated will also be classified as Good. Fisherrow Sands was de-designated in 2020 following five years of Poor classifications.
It was re-designated following work between SEPA, the Scottish Government, Scottish Water, East Lothian Council and wider stakeholders to drive improvements. Over £3 million has been spent on works to upgrade wastewater pumping stations, resolve multiple misconnections and make improvements to the sewer network to reduce spills.
Future challenges
Pressures on bathing waters can include overflows from the drainage network and misconnections from homes and businesses.
Agricultural run-off and bacteria from dog fouling and gulls can also be factors. Some sites have a legacy of complex inter-linked issues that need individual assessments and unique solutions.
The two bathing waters with a Poor classification, Kinghorn (Harbour Beach) and Lower Largo, both have ongoing improvement plans in place.
Kinghorn (Harbour Beach) had been achieving Sufficient after previous work was carried out by Scottish Water. Following a Poor classification last year, an enhanced monitoring program has been carried out to identify potential sources of pollution, SEPA will continue to work with regulated operators and stakeholders to explore solutions to improve water quality at this location.
At Lower Largo, SEPA has required Scottish Water to conduct comprehensive studies into the sewerage infrastructure to identify any necessary upgrade requirements.
Surveillance and monitoring has included CCTV and flow surveys of the sewer network; intensive water quality sampling of the sea and watercourses; a survey (via boats) to map the seabed; tidal current profile and dispersion testing to understand how discharges disperse to the sea and nearby rivers.
This work also identified some misconnected properties, which have now been connected to the public sewerage system correctly.
Significant further work and investment are ongoing towards achieving the infrastructure improvements in the Lower Largo area necessary to bring about improved bathing water quality.
Bring your beautiful plants, cuttings, or gardening tools, and let’s exchange them with fellow plant enthusiasts. If you don’t have anything to bring – just come and join us anyway! There’s always something for everyone to bring back home.
This event is completely FREE, and everyone is welcome! No bookings needed.
Comfort Zone by Cerys Scorey features a series of new paintings inspired by, and displayed alongside the sketchbooks that Cerys carries with her in day to day life.
Opening night is on the 24th of Nov and the 25th and 26th is from 10-4.
Our Granton-based Baby Bank needs your help to sort donations and create vital newborn packs for vulnerable families across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
We currently have very few regular volunteers, and we really, really need to have more help. Demand for our Baby Packs is increasing and we can only increase the number we send out if we have more hands on deck.
We’re a friendly bunch, so if you have a few hours to spare regularly on a Monday to Wednesday – would love to hear from you!
Help us make a huge difference today and sign up here >>
Dispersal Zones for #OpCrackle have been set up across Edinburgh and will be enforceable between 3rd November and 5th November 2023.
These zones are set up to help prevent anti-social behaviour and to keep the community safe.
Additional officers will be deployed over the weekend across the city and they have the grounds to take action should people be involved in such conduct, as detailed in the below poster.
Keep yourself and others safe by attending organised events only, which can be found here:
The City of Edinburgh Council has granted planning permission for the National Galleries of Scotland’s exciting new community space, conservation, research and art storage facility in the heart of Granton.
The Art Works will form part of the wider regeneration of the Granton area, and will be located on a brown field site west of Madelvic House on Granton Park Avenue, within one of Scotland’s most diverse yet socioeconomically deprived areas.
The state of the art facility is designed with an innovative dual purpose, that goes beyond traditional art storage. While it will hold Scotland’s renowned art collection, it aims to make it more accessible than ever before to explore the nations art.
The Art Works will also contribute to the wellbeing and investment in the local area, offering community spaces for use by local residents, community groups and the wider public, all under one roof.
Offering an additional 11,000m² of quality space – the equivalent of two playing fields – the facility aims to make a major contribution to enhancing the local community for the long term.
The Art Works will be a world-class home for more than 120,000 works of art to be stored, cared for, conserved, and researched, while not on display in a gallery.
Storing Scotland’s extraordinary national collection in a completely new way, the public will be able to explore, discover, and engage with the art like never before. The building will also be a key focal point for community investment, pride and growth.
Inside there will be spaces for public use, including social areas and amenities for visitors’ comfort and enjoyment, such as a community studio, community support space, further education rooms and a Changing Places toilet.
This will be the only Changing Places facility available in the Granton area, and opens up the spaces for even more people to visit. These specially designed toilets enable those who need extra equipment and space to use the toilets safely and comfortably.
Sustainability is central to the National Gallery of Scotland’s vision for The Art Works. The plans include sustainable building practices which minimise energy impact and provide quality of life opportunities for the local community.
As the country’s largest cultural building designed to the Passivhaus standard, it will go beyond what is required by the Scottish Building Standards. It will be climate resilient and decarbonise the care of the nations collection.
Alongside enabling the National Galleries of Scotland to develop a vastly improved digital offering, the purpose-built facility will deliver a modern environment in which members of the public, colleagues, students and researchers can engage with the art stored there.
The historic collection of the Royal Scottish Academy will also be housed in the new building and it will also be home to the Demarco Archive. Outside, there will be activity areas that bring the natural environment to life, including new green routes through to Granton Waterfront.
Accessible to all, The Art Works will attract and inspire local visitors and communities right through to specialist researchers in Scotland and from across the world.
Several projects with local partners are underway, with completed projects including a collaboration with local charities and social enterprises to make 1000 art-themed face coverings for local people and visits for nursery groups to enjoy the community orchard which is currently on part of the site.
Previously known as the National Collection Facility, proposals for a building of this kind have been in the early stages of concept development since 2015. Now known as The Art Works, the project aims to bring Scotland’s vast and extraordinary national art collection into a single, future-proofed location.
The national collection is currently stored across several sites where access and space are extremely limited, logistics are difficult, and conditions are suboptimal for enabling the full potential for public access, conservation and research to be realised. It also means it can be challenging for works to be made available for display and loan.
The Art Works will be instrumental in addressing these issues, enabling much greater access to and engagement with Scotland’s incredible collection of art treasures. The facility safeguards the future of this publicly owned, renowned national collection.
Sir John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: ‘We are delighted to have received planning permission for The Art Works. We are committed to continuing work with the Council and other strategic partners to play our part in shaping and informing the development of north Edinburgh.
“Our project has the potential to be a huge catalyst for change in the local community and at national levels. The Art Works will allow National Galleries of Scotland to share its collection much more effectively across the nation and to bring the benefits of art and culture to the widest possible audience.’
Join our Plant Swap in collaboration with 
Bring your beautiful plants, cuttings, or gardening tools, and let’s 
This event is completely FREE, and everyone is welcome! No bookings needed. 
BONFIRE WEEKEND 
