… advice at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre tomorrow!
Category: North Edinburgh News
Health Secretary opens Royal Victoria
Health Secretary Alex Neil officially opened the new Royal Victoria building within the Western General Hospital this morning. The £43.6 state of the art facility replaces the Royal Victoria Hospital on Craigleith Road which closed last year.
The new building is all single-bed rooms – the government set out an aim in 2008 that single rooms would become the norm for new and refurbished hospitals.
Health Secretary Alex Neil said there are substantial financial and health benefits to single rooms. He said: “You have to look over the life cycle of the hospital, the building, what is going to be the savings made for example by reducing the incidence of hospital acquired infection. It’s not just the financial cost of that, what’s most important is the benefit to the patient. I think most people would want to be in an environment where the risk of hospital acquired infection was kept to the absolute minimum.”
Have your say on Edinburgh’s transport policy
Want to have your say on city transport? A six-week public consultation starts today (Monday 4 February 2013) as part of the development of a new transport strategy for Edinburgh.
For the past five years, the Council’s transport projects, network maintenance and service provision have been guided by the Local Transport Strategy (LTS) 2007-2012, now extended to the end of 2013. Work has already begun to draw up a new five year policy document, an LTS for 2014 – 2019. This document will go through a number of stages before being finalised at the end of 2013.
The public consultation being launched today seeks residents’ views on 10 key transport Issues for Review, including a proposal to introduce parking charges on Sunday and options to reduce speed limits in residential streets to 20mph.
The Issues for Review report is the first stage in the preparation of the LTS. Its purpose is to seek views on the issues where change is needed, or the Council faces a significant choice in future direction.
Many of the policies and objectives in the current LTS are still valid and these will simply be continued or updated for the next LTS. There will be a chance to give feedback on those in a further consultation process later in 2013.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, Transport Convener, urged as many people as possible to take part in the consultation. She said: “Whether you’re a public transport user, a motorist, a cyclist or a pedestrian – or perhaps you might even be all of these things, depending on the journey – we want to hear what residents and businesses in Edinburgh think about the transport issues in this consultation.
“It’s vital for us to gather as many different points of view as we can so that we can be sure that the final Local Transport Strategy 2014-2019 document accurately reflects the City’s priorities for the next five years.”
People can respond to this consultation using the questionnaire available online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BPRZ5QK
Printed questionnaires are also available from libraries, or on request from: localtransportstrategy@edinburgh.gov.uk
Completed printed questionnaires can be returned to our Freepost address:
FREEPOST – RTCH – JJEK – TCCZ
Local Transport Strategy
City of Edinburgh Council
Waverley Court (C.2)
4 East Market Street
Edinburgh
EH8 8BG
A public drop-in session will also be held on Thursday 6 March at Edinburgh Central Library on George IV Bridge from 9am – 8pm.
The consultation closes on Sunday 17 March 2013.
February NEN
The NEN Board of Directors met on Thursday and agreed to publish another printed edition later this month.
To ensure inclusion in the February NEN, copy must be received no later than Friday 8 February so get in touch soon!
PS: This is our 1000th blog post – isn’t technology amazing?
Search is on for Drylaw’s good citizens!
Do you know someone living in Drylaw or Telford who goes that extra mile to help their neighbours, or a local person who carries out outstanding voluntary or charity work? If so, Drylaw Telford Community Council would like to hear from you. The community council is seeking nominations for their annual Thomas Tierney Award for Good Citizenship.
The community council set up the award in 2000 to commemorate the work of local activist Tam Tierney who died in 1999. As well as being a founder of Pilton Sporting Club and an enthusiastic member of Craigroyston Community Centre and Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre’s management committees over many years, Tam was also a great supporter of the local community council.
Drylaw Telford decided that an annual award to encourage community activism and good citizenship would be a preferable legacy than a bench or commemorative plaque. The annual award has become the highlight of the community council’s year – certainly the biggest social event – and the search is now on for a worthy recipient of the 2012 award.
“Ian Moore (pictured) received the award last year and he was a very popular choice” said Alex Dale, chair of Drylaw Telford Community Council. “Ian is a well-known face in the area and, being a keen local historian, a great source of knowledge – he gave a really interesting talk at our annual general meeting last year. We’re now looking for nominations for the 2012 award – nomination forms are going out now and we hope there will be a good response. The Award was set up not only to remember Tam but to encourage active citizenship – we know that local residents are doing good things in our community and we want to recognise their achievements”.
Nomination forms will be available at community venues including Drylaw Parish Church and Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre from tomorrow, and forms will also be available by email at: drylawtelford@gmail.com
The closing date for nominations is Monday 25 February.
Lend a hand at MS Therapy Centre makeover
The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Therapy Centre in Leith is undergoing a makeover on 8,9 and 10 February and is looking for around 20 volunteers who can spare a few hours to help with decorating.
The refurbishment is the first in more than a decade and has been made possible thanks to the generosity of local tradesmen. Johnstone’s Paints, Edinburgh and Ideal Carpets, Musselburgh are among the local businesses that have donated materials and given their time free of charge.
Nancy Campbell, Operations Manager, MS Therapy Centre said: “The place needs brightened up. We haven’t been able to afford to for the past ten years, as the centre costs so much to run, but thanks to the support of local tradesmen, we are about to see a transformation.
“We are, however, looking for people who are handy with a paintbrush and don’t mind helping out for a few hours. There is a lot of painting to be done, but I am sure it will be worth the effort and that our clients are going to love the new look. We are trying to create a more welcoming and therapeutic environment. “
One of the services offered at the MS Therapy Centre is hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This takes place in a large decompression chamber, similar to the ones divers use. This is also part of the make-over plans, as Nancy explained: “We’ve commissioned a local artist to paint the outside of the chamber and create a ‘bubbles’ effect. Our clients talk about ‘going for a dive’ when they head into the chamber, so we have used this idea and I think it will make everybody smile when they see it.”
Once the internal makeover is complete, the centre is hoping to start on the outside of the building and is looking for a local artist to help in creating a graffiti-style mural for the steel shutters.
Volunteers who can help with the repainting are asked to contact the MS Therapy Centre on 0131 554 5384.
Times of the makeover:
Friday 8 February 2-6pm
Saturday 9 February 12-6pm
Sunday 10 February 12-6pm
There’s more to Edinburgh … outdoors
A new website and free app for iPhone and Android that will encourage people to get out and about in Edinburgh’s parks and outdoor spaces is being launched by the City of Edinburgh Council today.
Edinburgh Outdoors is a new online resource where people can find out information about the city’s 141 parks and discover new green areas in the city. How old is that tree? Where is the nearest play area? When was this monument built and why? The app is an easy way to explore Edinburgh’s parks on the move.
People are also encouraged to take their own photos of the city’s parks and upload them via the app or on the Edinburgh Outdoors website to share their experiences with other people.
Starting today (Friday 1 February), staff from across the Council will be tweeting and uploading photos to the website with comments about what they are doing while they go about their normal work in the city’s parks and greenspaces. Follow @EdinOutdoors for the latest.
Using the hashtag #edinparks, people can join the conversation on Twitter and get out and about in parks to add what they are doing both on Friday and over the weekend.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, the city’s Environment Convener, said: “Edinburgh is widely recognised as having some of the most fantastic parks and green spaces. This innovative project will make use of the Council’s vast wealth of data and give park users access to it – allowing them to find out more about what Edinburgh’s outdoors has to offer.
“We’re hoping people will not only share their pictures of the city’s parks but also share their enjoyment of being out and about in Edinburgh.”
The project has been created by the City of Edinburgh Council with funding from Nesta’s ‘Make it Local Scotland’ competitive programme.
Jackie McKenzie, Head of Nesta’s Innovation Programmes in Scotland, said: “The fantastic work being done by the City of Edinburgh Council shows how open data can be used to develop new services for citizens and, by encouraging them to add their own content, to make that service even better. Local authorities have shown the amazing results that can be achieved through the excellent partnership they have developed with digital companies. Edinburgh Outdoors is a great opportunity for residents and visitors to explore the beautiful parks and green spaces in the city and to share their own knowledge of these places.
“Nesta hopes that other councils across Scotland and beyond will take advantage of the fact that all of the information and code for these initiatives is open source helping others to develop DIGITAL services for future years.”
Man in court following Ferryfield drug find
A man has been charged after a quantity of herbal cannabis and plants with a combined street value of more than £28,000 were discovered at a property off Ferry Road yesterday (January 31). More than £2000 in cash was also seized during a search of the flat in West Ferryfield.
The 37-year-old is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today (February 1).
Eleven month lifeline for Leith Waterworld
Councillors today voted to further explore the feasibility of reopening Leith Waterworld. Campaign group Splashback will now have council support during an 11-month development phase to establish whether the facility can be operated within the parameters of a finalised business plan.
The continuation of the bid beyond this phase is dependent on the community group securing the necessary capital funding to invest in the facility and, further, on their business plan meeting with the approval of an independent third party.
The council will release a maximum of £100,000 to help fund the feasibility study and a dedicated Councillor/ Officer Working-Group will be set up to support Splashback in developing their bid. A report on the results of the study will be considered by councillors once the development phase ends, following which a decision on the facility’s future will be taken.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Leisure Convener, said: “I want to acknowledge the considerable time and effort that Splashback have committed to their bid thus far. While there remains a tremendous amount of work to be done in the months ahead, we want to give the community the best possible chance of success by providing the necessary funding and support toward taking their proposals to the next phase. We owe it to the people of Edinburgh to do everything we can to preserve this valuable community asset.”
On 20 September, councillors had granted Splashback additional time, plus dedicated support from council officers, to present a more robust business case, and today’s decision has given the campaign group renewed hope that the facility can now be saved.
However Johnny Gailey, a founder member of the campaign, says the council decision is only a reprieve and there’s a lot of hard work to be done. “What’s been voted on today is a reprieve if you like – the council could be much more pro-active about exploring all the options, so we do feel this is an achievement but it’s not a result”, he said. “This is not our preferred option – our first choice was always that the pool should remain in public ownership. That’s been denied, and so we’ve been forced to think about second choices. We now have to put a call out to people in the wider community, and also to other third sector partners to help us with a bid. That call out will also be to Edinburgh Leisure and to the city council – they are part of the community too, and they need to be part of this process.”
Green Councillor for Leith Chas Booth supported the Splashback campaign and he is delighted with the council decision. He said: “I am delighted that the Council has seen the wisdom of backing community ownership of this much-loved asset and has seen the social, health and economic benefits of re-opening the pool. We now have a period of almost a year to finalise the business case and get children and other pool users back in the water.”
Edinburgh College to create specialist centres
EDINBURGH College is creating two new specialist centres to offer students real opportunities to find real jobs in 2013 and beyond. The decision to create the curriculum centres in engineering and construction trades for the academic year 2013-14 follows a pledge by the college to ensure that it offers courses directly relevant to the needs of the employment market.
Students in the specialist centres will benefit from access to a wider group of skilled, expert staff and a greater concentration of investment in one location.
One of the specialist centres, which will open in academic year 2013-14, is The Institute of Building and Crafts, which will be based at the college’s Forthside campus in Granton.
The second new specialist centres is called Engineering+ and will be based at the college’s Midlothian campus in Dalkeith. The campus has already made a name for itself with successful training programmes for the oil and gas industry, as well as a pioneering project to monitor the performance of electric vehicles – the largest of its kind in Scotland. The new centre will build on an already strong focus on clean and green technology.
Mandy Exley, Principal of Edinburgh College, said: “The document setting out the vision for the new college promised to create national curriculum hubs to provide opportunities for students to enhance their creativity, employability and entrepreneurial skills. This announcement is the start of us delivering on that promise.
“We want to bring together a range of expert staff to deliver the very best training for our young people – and our focus is very strongly on those areas where there are employment opportunities, now and in the future. Edinburgh College students doing courses at these specialist centres will be very well-placed to get good jobs in the immediate region and beyond – because the centres will be among the best in the UK.”
Ms Exley is the first Principal of Edinburgh College, created in October 2012 from a merger of three partners – Edinburgh’s Telford College, Jewel & Esk College and Stevenson College Edinburgh.
She added: “Our first responsibility is always to our students. A large part of that responsibility is offering them the right kind of education and training – to equip them with the skills that employers want in 2013 and beyond. In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever for colleges to provide a modern and innovative curriculum which matches the current and future needs of the regional economy as closely as possible.”
Steve Tinsley, Vice-Principal, Corporate Development at Edinburgh College, said: “The Midlothian campus has already developed a fantastic reputation for high-quality and innovative training in a broad range of engineering disciplines – and this move will build on that. The electric vehicle project and the solar meadow taking shape next to the campus are right at the cutting-edge of anything that is happening in Scotland and in some cases, the UK. Edinburgh College is carving out a fantastic reputation for its work in this area and the concentration of expertise allows us to build on that, delivering more opportunities for careers in renewables and the low carbon economy.”
Mandy Exley added: “The construction trades are still hugely important with a number of large projects coming on-stream. There will be a strong focus on the heritage trades, which are significant in Edinburgh.”
Engineering or construction trades courses currently provided at other locations will move to Midlothian or Granton from the start of the new academic year in September – with the exception of highly-regarded automotive and motor vehicle engineering courses at Sighthill campus.
For example, both Fabrication & Welding and Micro-Renewables will move from Granton to the new engineering hub at Midlothian, while all carpentry, joinery and construction trades currently offered in Midlothian moves to Granton. The college has stressed that there will be no impact on courses this academic year and says the changes will be implemented with the minimum of disruption.
The lease on the college’s small South Gyle campus will expire this summer and provision offered there would have had to be relocated across other campuses. It was decided that it made sense to invest in the specialist centres instead of spreading provision across all the college campuses.
All staff in the departments covered by the changes and Edinburgh College Students’ Association have been informed.
