New multi-million pound hotel and ‘urban resort’ for Crewe Toll

THE owners of the Cameron House resort on the banks of Loch Lomond have unveiled plans for a multi-million pound new development in North Edinburgh.

About 120 jobs will be created when the De Vere Group opens its first venture in the capital on the site of an empty office  block at Crewe Toll.

de vere edinburgh — An Artists impression of how the new site will look.

It will be a major boost for the city’s tourism industry, which has seen a number of major hotel schemes either delayed or put on hold in recent years.

The £20 million De Vere  development will feature a 120-room hotel, a health and leisure complex and a conference centre. Facilities will include a  20-metre swimming pool, a restaurant, bar and Starbucks cafe.

The company is asking Edinburgh City Council for permission to build 270 parking spaces at the site due to its expected popularity.

It will be one of 15 new “village urban resorts” the company is planning to add to its  63 existing sites across Britain.

The site at Crewe Toll, will replace Helix House, an office complex that dates back to 1987 but has been lying empty for several years.

Robert Cook, chief executive of De Vere Village Urban Resorts, said: “Edinburgh is a high- priority location for us and we are very excited to be bringing this concept to the city.

Crewe Toll Building — The building is currently empty and has been for some time. (Picture: Thomas Brown)

“The selected site is prominently located in North Edinburgh. The redundant office building on site, Helix House, has been vacant for many years and is becoming something of an eyesore.

“Our new Edinburgh village urban resort will be a positive landmark building in this prominent location.”

De Vere has already begun talks with the city council about the development, set to be next to the Edinburgh headquarters of finance firm State Street.

Local Councillor Iain Whyte said “”The De Vere Group proposal for a hotel at Crewe Toll is a welcome investment in the area that should bring local jobs and will reuse a site that is currently empty. It could make a major impact and revitalise a rather sterile corner of the ward adjacent to the roundabout.

I am conscious that there is the possibility of concerns for nearby residents as a hotel is likely to require a liquor license. I very much hope that De Vere will consult local people properly to ensure that anypotential concerns are addresed in advance.”

Ian Kettlewell, associate director of planning consultants Nathaniel Lichfield, said: “This exciting new development will regenerate an important and prominent site, removing a building that has been vacant for a number of years.

“The new village urban resort will create 120 new jobs, offering significant training opportunities and boost to the local economy, as well as further jobs during the construction phase,”

Ward Councillor Gavin Barrie said “This appears at first sight to be a welcome proposal to develop a sites here currently a vacant and decaying building stands but proper cognisance of the wishes and thoughts of the local community must besought before any decisions are made.”

Major hotel projects delayed in Edinburgh in recent years  include Caltongate, near Waverley Station, one earmarked for a site next to Haymarket Station, the former Royal High School and the site of the St James  Centre.

CORE no more

core6 — CASTING VOTES: members vote to close CORE

CORE (Community Organisation for Racial Equality) has closed. Members voted last night to dissolve the organisation, but there’s hope that something can be salvaged from ashes of the old BCDP …

It started raining at lunchtime and it simply didn’t stop. It rained and it rained and it was still raining when around sixty CORE members, supporters and service users trooped in to Royston Wardieburn to deliver the coup de grace to an organisation that has been an important feature of North Edinburgh community life for 17 years. The mood matched the miserable weather as CORE – like North Edinburgh Trust (NET, formerly Pilton Partnership) and North Edinburgh News (NEN) before it – became the latest casualty of funding cuts.

Facing funding shortfalls, dramatically decreasing reserves and a serious pension deficit (for which individual committee members could be held liable), four office bearers – all volunteers – have battled to save the organisation since May, but they were finally forced to bow to the inevitable and admit defeat.

Chairman Fernando Almeida Diniz said: “It is not just one thing, but a combination of events, decisions and circumstances that have brought about this unhappy day. There is no one reason, and no individual, to blame, but there is one key message – the sole factor that triggered CORE’s closure is financial. We have looked at all options, and sadly there is no alternative.”

Development worker Adil Ibrahim stayed on to support CORE as a volunteer when trouble hit the organisation, and Adil and former chairperson Mariam Gallander made a brief presentation on CORE’s activities over both the last twelve months and some other recent successful initiatives; a final opportunity to reflect on an illustrious past.

It was left to Honorary Chairman Daniel Onifade to go through the formality of the vote to dissolve the organisation. With no other viable options available, members voted 20 – 3 with one abstention to close CORE, and at 7.20pm the organisation was formally dissolved. Mr Onifade said: “I have known, and been involved with, the organisation since before the Black Community Development Project was born, so this is an extremely sad day for us all.”

However there are hopes that all that was good about CORE can be retained; through existing organisations and agencies or perhaps even through a new group. During a discussion session chaired by Forth councillor Vicki Redpath, city council equalities chief Nick Croft said: “We could spend time talking about what went wrong – quite bluntly, Edinburgh lost out to the West of Scotland when it came to employability funding, and CORE’s application was not the best – but I think it’s more important that we build on the positive energy that has been generated this evening to ensure that we build services to meet the local community’s needs.”

That ‘positive energy’ produced a ‘transition group’ of six volunteers which will work with council officers and other agencies to ensure gaps in provision for the black and minority ethnic community are addressed short-term and that any new services are designed to meet both their needs and those of the wider community too. Royston Wardieburn will initially become a ‘hub’ for these activities while evaluation work is ongoing, and voluntary organisations – both local and city-wide – have also offered their support. An initial meeting of interested parties will take place within two weeks.

So yes, a sad evening – but an evening with some positives too. And leaving the meeting, the rain had stopped.

Local schoolkids – get writing!

The annual Green Pencil Award, a creative writing competition for Edinburgh children, was launched yesterday. The theme of this year’s Award, which is run by The City of Edinburgh Council for children in the P4 – P7 age range, is ‘Birds & Beasties’, encouraging entrants to write about wildlife they encounter in their garden, local park etc.

Over 1,100 entries were received in 2011 with last year’s overall winner, James Macnab from Cargilfield School, winning the prestigious Green Pencil Award Trophy for his entry ‘The Last Christmas Tree’.

In addition to the trophy there are various activity prizes for the winner and their class mates donated by the Scottish Seabird Centre, RSPB, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Forestry Commission Scotland, Forest Rangers, Scottish Natural Heritage and The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

The awards will be presented on Friday 23 November at the Central Reference Library on George IV Bridge.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Leisure Convener for The City of Edinburgh Council said: ‘The competition presents a wonderful opportunity for our young people to demonstrate their creative writing skills and to show how much they know and care about protecting their environment. I look forward to seeing another excellent range of entries from children throughout the city.’

Helping launch the 2012 competition, Ron Butlin, Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate) said: ‘The Green Pencil Award is surely one of the most important children’s writing competions there is. Year after year it fires up children’s imaginations about topics that really affect us all. I’m very much looking forward to hear what the boys and girls will say about ‘Birds & Beasties’. I know it will be imaginative, thought-provoking – and, most of all, exciting!’

The creative writing can be either poetry or prose but must only take up one side of A4.

The competition, run by Edinburgh City Libraries and Eco-Schools in Edinburgh seeks to: promote literacy and creative writing; demonstrate care and understanding of environmental issues; encourage learning; link to Curriculum for Excellence aspirations and strengthen partnership working between libraries, schools and other partners.

Participation is invited through local libraries, schools and the Council website with a closing date of Friday 12 October.

Further support for schools and teachers is on offer this year through three Live Literature creative workshop sessions with local schools, part funded by the Scottish Booktrust and being led by acclaimed local authors Vivian French, Anita Govan and Lari Don. The support to participating schools is also being extended with a further two creative writing sessions run by the council’s own Reader in Residence Ryan van Winkle to local schools in Muirhouse and Portobello.

Two creative writing training sessions for participating teachers are also being run to help inspire teachers to encourage their classes to enter.

The main supporters for Green Pencil Award 2012 are: The Scottish Book Trust, The Scottish Poetry Library, UNESCO City of Literature, The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Seabird Centre, RSPB and the Forest Education Initiative.

Locals not converted by Accies plans

Stockbridge traders and residents have vowed to fight Edinburgh Academicals’ latest plans to upgrade their Raeburn Place home. The rugby club wants to build a new 5000 spectator venue – but it’s their plans to add up to nine retail units as part of the redevelopment that’s causing consternation in Stockbridge.

The club has been tried unsuccessfully to upgrade it’s situation for ten years now. Edinburgh Accies and Festival Inns finally got planning permission in 2005 following a three year planning impasse but that development fell through. Then in 2010 new plans were tabled for a clubhouse and 52 bed hotel but these also came to nothing.

The latest plans for a ‘sensitive redevelopment’ would see a modern sports centre with boutique-style outlets fronting on to Comely Bank Road, with a series of clubhouse suites and function rooms as well as tiers of seats constructed above the units to face on to the pitches. A new rugby museum would also be created in adjacent Portgower Place.

At a packed public meeting organised by Stockbridge Inverleith Community Council to discuss the plans on 18 July, Edinburgh Accies insisted their latest proposals are necessary to secure the club’s future, but assurances that the club will work with the local community were dismissed by some participants as ‘pure spin’ The packed meeting in LifeCare House was clearly divided on the club’s plans – many are in favour but just as many seem implacably opposed.

Frank Spratt, executive chairman of Accies, said the development should be seen as an opportunity for the local area and will bring benefits to both the club and the wider community. He said: “Edinburgh Accies is as proud of being part of Stockbridge as we are of our role in the history of Scottish rugby. Our proposals are one are be one of the most ambitious proposals made by any community enterprise in Edinburgh. They will secure the future for EAFC in Stockbridge; creating jobs as well as enhancing Stockbridge as a tourist destination with a new museum of rugby. We are delighted to work with the local community to deliver the highest quality proposals possible for enhancing the area.”

However Ann McLeod, a founding member of Save our Stockbridge, a group created to fight the proposals, said: ’Our group is for everyone who is against a 5000 seater stadium being built in Stockbridge in the centre of Edinburgh. The stadium is to be built over the historic rugby grounds at Raeburn Place. These are the oldest rugby grounds in Scotland and the site of the first ever international rugby match. The area is surrounded by beautiful Victorian and Georgian buildings. It has a unique skyline across to Inverleith Park and beyond to Botanic gardens. I fear that a monstrosity of glass and steel would destroy this skyline and blight this historic area.”

She continued: ‘The current pitches are well used and well-loved by the community. The proposed stadium will require thousands of parking spaces and room for the structure itself, so one of the two historic rugby pitches would almost certainly be lost. Retail outlets are planned as part of the stadium. The Stockbridge area already has empty shops. I believe this massive development would destroy the character of the area. I believe this would adversely affect local businesses and reduce property prices. The chaos generated on the main road by the thousands of cars coming out of the stadium does not appear to have been considered. The drunken hospitality nights would also be unpleasant; there is already a problem with this. There is also concern about the historic walls and protected trees around this ground. This development is madness and totally out of proportion – Edinburgh Accies need to think again.’

Following public consultation, a planning application will be submitted. If this is approved by the city council’s planning committee, Edinburgh Accies hopes to complete the project by summer 2014.

The controversial proposals were on the agenda at Stockbridge Inverleith Community Council meeting on 15 August, but no decision could be made. Community Council chairman Steven Brennan explained: “Frank (Spratt) stated that the Accies application will be another three weeks, so we need to see the final proposal before we take a view on it. We will let you know when the application is submitted so people can form their own opinions.”

Edinburgh Accies is Scotland’s oldest rugby club and their Raeburn Place home was the venue for the first ever Scotland v England rugby international in 1871. It seems that hard-fought battles will continue for some time to come – and perhaps in committee rooms as well as on the pitch.

Inverleith loses out as rain forces fireworks rethink

Bad weather has forced the organisers of the Edinburgh’s end of festival fireworks concert to move its family viewing area from Inverleith Park into the city centre.

Big screens and loudspeakers are usually set up in Inverleith Park to allow more people to enjoy the annual finale, but the park is waterlogged in places after persistent heavy rain and cannot be used for Sunday night’s event.

Viewing areas will now be set up on Waverley Bridge and to the north of Princes Street instead.

Waverley Bridge will close to traffic for the first time this year to provide more space for people to gather and becomes an official viewing area for the first time, and speakers will also be installed to relay the music played by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as the fireworks are set off over Edinburgh Castle.

There will also be another viewing area on the north of Princes Street, between Castle Street and Frederick Street, for families and people with disabilities.

The Edinburgh International Festival said it would put a proportion of its allocation of Princes Street Gardens tickets on sale tomorrow (Thursday) at 10am rather than the day before the display, as is usually the case, to help those who had planned on going to Inverleith Park to make alternative arrangements.

Meeting reminders

Reminders of some local meetings taking place this week:

Tonight (Wednesday 29 August):

CORE

Extraordinary general meeting to wind up the organisation takes place at 6pm in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, Pilton Drive North. All welcome.

DRYLAW TELFORD COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Regular monthly business meeting at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre off Groathill Road North. All welcome.

Tomorrow (Thursday 30 August):

TENANTS and RESIDENTS IN MUIRHOUSE

Monthly meeting at North Edinburgh Arts Centre 6pm. All welcome.

PILTON CENTRAL ASSOCIATION

Annual general meeting in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre at 6.30pm. All welcome.

Keep us posted about any meetings you think our readers should know about!

LEAP on the hunt for new home

Lothian and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme (LEAP) is on the lookout for a new home following a Church of Scotland decision to terminate the lease of Malta House, LEAP’s base since it was set up five years ago.

Dr David McCartney, Clinical Lead of LEAP, said: “We can confirm that our landlord, The Church of Scotland, has informed us it is ending the lease of Malta House and that we require to move out by the end of January 2013.

We would like to reassure patients, their families, staff and partners that LEAP will continue to provide treatment to patients with substance dependence problems.

We are sad at the prospect of leaving Malta House as many people have started their recovery from addiction here and it has met our needs very well. We are now exploring with our partners all of our possible options.”

Funded by NHS Lothian and three local Alcohol Drug Partnerships, LEAP has been a real success story since it was launched in September 2007. Operated in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, Access to Industry (Transition) and the Serenity Café, LEAP has helped people with alcohol and drug dependencies to transform their lives through a three-month treatment and rehabilitation residential programme. In March this year, Community Safety Minister Roseanna Cunningham (below) visited the Stockbridge-based project to join in celebrations to mark the programme’s 250^th ‘graduation’.

In a statement, a Church of Scotland spokesperson explained that the decision not to renew LEAP’s Malta House lease had been ‘difficult’ and was due to financial pressures on the church’s own social care budget.

“We originally leased Malta House to Scottish Ministers, acting on behalf of the NHS Lothian LEAP project, in 2007 for a 2 year period. This was subsequently extended to 2010, when it was renewed. At that point Scottish Ministers accepted the renewed lease of Malta House on the full understanding that the building would be sold when it was deemed that the market conditions were right, and to that end there were break points included in the lease. In June this year, in terms of that lease, we gave six months’ notice of our intention to terminate the lease from January 2013.

“We are pleased that we have been able to support LEAP for many years through the lease of premises at Malta House. However, we simply cannot afford to continue that support, given the financial pressures which we face in relation to our own vital services to people in need throughout Scotland. We recognise the good work that LEAP has been doing and we have a great deal of sympathy for the situation they now find themselves in. We have been trying to find them alternative accommodation in another Church building but have been unable to identify one that meets their needs. CrossReach (the Church of Scotland’s Social Care Council) would dearly love to continue supporting LEAP but find ourselves simply unable to do so. We will continue to be as helpful and flexible as possible in managing this unhappy situation.”

The spokesperson added that no final decision about the sale of Malta House has been made, but that the option to sell is ‘actively being pursued.’

A group of concerned neighbours and supporters are mustering support to keep Malta House available to LEAP – visit http://www.facebook.com/SaveMaltaHouseForLeap for more information.

There is an on-line petition to sign and add comments at:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-malta-house-for-leap/

Council seeks more BME foster carers

The city council has launched the second wave of a campaign to increase the number of carers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds in Edinburgh.

The launch follows a very succesful campaign that saw a doubling in the number of people enquiring about fostering last year, and the city council now hopes to further increase awareness during this recruitment drive.

Carers from all backgrounds are needed but there are very few black and ethnic minority carers in Edinburgh, and the aim is to try and increase numbers so that children from different cultural, religious and ethnic groups can live with foster carers who share similar backgrounds. Matching children with carers from the same background isn’t always essential but, in some cases, it can help a child to cope with their situation.

Children & Families Convener Cllr Paul Godzik said: “We are always looking for new carers to come and work with us to help give our children a safe environment to learn and grow in. We hope to build on the success of last year’s campaign and encourage even more people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds to consider becoming a foster carer. We can help provide the support and advice needed to make this decision, so please, if you are thinking of fostering get in touch or come along to one of the drop-in sessions to learn more about it.”

The drop-in sessions start this week at McDonald Road Library on Thursday (30 August) with another one next Thursday (6 September) – both sessions run from 10am to 1pm. Foster care recruitment staff and carers will also be on hand at the Edinburgh MELA this weekend (Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 September) at Leith Links.

The BME recruitment campaign is part of a wider ongoing campaign to promote foster care in Edinburgh called ‘Foster Me Foster Us’. Edinburgh has a shortage of foster carers and more are needed to provide children with safe and caring homes while they are unable to live with their own families.

Treatment times down – and NHS Lothian ‘improving’

More than 90 per cent of patients in Scotland are now being treated in 18 weeks or less. New figures published today by ISD show that over 92 per cent of patients whose entire journey could be measured were seen and treated within 18 weeks from initial GP referral to start of treatment.

NHS Lothian is the only Board not to have met the 90 per cent target for the three months measured, with NHS Forth Valley also missing the target for one month.

The figures also show that over 283,000 patients were treated within 18 weeks during the quarter ending 30 June.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am pleased to say that NHS Scotland is delivering on the target to ensure that patients are treated in 18 weeks or less. Quick access to treatment, delivered as locally as possible is what patients want. NHS Lothian have been working hard to reduce the numbers of patients breaching the waiting times targets following changes to their recording practices last December. We are already starting to see improvements in their numbers and we expect this to continue.”

She went on: “It is important to remember just how much progress has been made. In 2007 over 29,000 people were stuck on ‘hidden waiting lists’ not getting the treatment they needed. Our 18 weeks referral to treatment target demonstrates what the NHS can achieve by protecting the founding principles of the National Health Service. Scottish patients really are reaping the benefits.”

Treatment times down – and NHS Lothian 'improving'

NHS Lothian is the only Board not to have met the 90 per cent target for the three months measured, with NHS Forth Valley also missing the target for one month.

The figures also show that over 283,000 patients were treated within 18 weeks during the quarter ending 30 June.