The Granton Community Gardeners now have a Tuesday morning gardening club. We meet at 10.30 at the Salvation Army building on Wardieburn Drive for a cup of tea and to pick up tools. Then (weather permitting) we go to work on the community gardens at either end of Wardieburn Road. All very welcome! You don’t need to know anything about gardening to join in. For more information and updates you can now follow us on Facebook at: http://tinyurl.com/grantoncommunitygardeners
PYCP’s Christmas party was a spectacular end to a busy year!
Over 80 children attended our Christmas party and were entertained by Alexander the great with his magic tricks and balloon skills. The children enjoyed a fabulous buffet and participated in party games enjoying all the old favourites such as musical statues, bumps and pass the parcel. We had some amazing disco dancers who boogied the day away and were awarded a fantastic prize for their hard work and energy levels!
To end the party all of the children who attended met Santa and received a wonderful gift! The project applied to Radio Forth’s cash for kids who provided us with toys and a grant to buy all the children a gift for Christmas!
We would like to thank all the children who attended, our volunteers who helped out and radio forth. The day would not have been as successful without the support of all of these agencies and people.
ATTACKS on firefighters attending blazes in the Lothians are on the rise with crews reporting everything from assaults with beer cans to thugs trying to steal appliances.
David Lockhart, says attacks on crews are sensless. (Picture: Lothian and Borders Fire Service)
At least 46 violent attacks were launched against firefighters tackling blazes in the last year, a rise of more than 25 per cent since 2010 and the first increase in four years.
Crews have been attacked with bricks, eggs and even berries as they responded to emergency incidents. They have also been threatened with pool cues and have experienced youths stubbing out cigarettes on their uniforms, spitting at them and trying to cut up hoses.
Today fire bosses blasted the “senseless” attacks.
David Lockhart, community safety manager at Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, said chiefs would not hesitate to prosecute anyone who carried out such anti-social behaviour. He said: “Any attack on operational firefighters is totally senseless. They play a vital role in the community, protecting the public from fire and other emergencies.
“We now have added legislation in the form of the Emergency Workers Act, which has been used to successfully prosecute people who have impeded firefighters and other emergency service personnel from carrying out their duties.
“Although we have seen an increase in figures this year, over the longer term attacks are down and in part this is due to our continued efforts to educate the public about the need to respect firefighters and the risks of prosecution should they choose not to.”
He added: “We’re always alert to the possibility of these kind of incidents, and as alcohol can often play a part, this is something we are very aware of over the festive period. We get a lot of support from the police if we attend an incident.”
Throughout the course of 2011 firefighters endured dozens of call-outs where they were showered with rocks and bricks and abused in the street. During one incident, on Niddrie Mains Road, small children ambushed a fire crew.
It followed a previous incident when a large gang of children aged between six and 16 attacked firefighters, leaving one injured. They targeted six firefighters from Bathgate, pelting them with stones while their backs were turned, resulting in a leg injury.
Earlier this year, a 15-year-old schoolboy was charged with trying to steal a fire engine while up to 30 children pelted firefighters with eggs at West Pilton Children’s Centre.
In 2010 one home owner tried to attack crews with a pool cue. Children later attacked them with full beer cans, eggs and berries.
The number of attacks was at its highest in 2006, when nearly 80 incidents were recorded by the service. Firefighters were punched, kicked, spat on and dog excrement was thrown at them. There were around 50 attacks in 2007, 45 in 2008 and 45 in 2009.
The Royal Yacht Britannia is tilting towards its starboard side
Emergency services are trying to pump water out of the Royal Yacht Britannia after it started listing while it was being moved to have its hull repainted.
The iconic yacht is tilting on its starboard side after developing a leak in a door seal.
The leak was discovered when officials noticed the boat was tilting and went to alter ballast levels.
The boat was due to be moved at 09:30 to a dry dock a few hundred metres across the harbour in Leith.
At least four fire engines are at the scene.
It is the first time it has been moved from its berth in Edinburgh in almost 14 years.
It is due to reopen to the public on 1 February.
Work began on the ship at John Brown’s shipyard in Clydebank in June 1952 and it was launched in April 1953.
Last year was one of the attraction’s busiest years with more than 275,000 visitors, a 12% increase on the previous year.
THE Royal Botanic Garden is today counting the cost of this week’s storm after the gales toppled more than 40 trees and smashed hundreds of windows.
The Botanic gardens on a nicer day.
The visitor attraction has been left reeling after hurricane-force winds lashed the Inverleith site, with a number of the trees blown down dating back 125 years.
Among the most valuable is the ailanthus altissima – also known as the Tree of Heaven – which was torn from its roots by 100mph winds.
Curators at the Botanics hope they can propagate the rare Chinese tree – brought to Scotland in 1925 by the collector Joseph Rock – along with other rare varieties struck down by the winds.
Many were uprooted or snapped off at ground level, damaging smaller trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants around and beneath them as they fell.
The public glasshouses and research houses also suffered severe damage, leaving plants exposed to the elements, with 400 panes of glass in all smashed.
David Knott, curator of the living collections said “I have never experienced storm damage at RBGE like this before. We will attempt to propagate the wild origin trees that have come down.”
It comes as property experts at the city council continue to survey the damage caused by the high winds at 110 city sites.
Insurance industry sources said many individual claims for damage to roofing or building fabric could total tens of thousands of pounds.
At Edinburgh Airport, a Jet2 cargo plane is being repaired after being struck by a flying bus shelter.
Scottish Power said around 600-700 homes across Edinburgh and the Lothians were still without power, with extra engineers drafted in from down south to help fix the faults.
A spokeswoman said they had received the same number of faults in a single day as they would normally in three months.
Forecaster for the Met Office Dave Clark said gusts reaching around 50mph would return to the Lothians on Sunday.
Kirkliston Leisure Centre will be closed for the foreseeable future until a new roof can be installed and the climbing centre at Ratho was closed after its roof was damaged, and later partly reopened. Leith Waterworld, which was closed due to storm damage, will reopen for its final weekend.
Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service received 250 999 calls yesterday as the area was battered by extreme weather conditions. John Dickie, Head of Operations for the Service said: “This figure shows our control room staff were exceptionally busy, with around 50 to 60 calls expected during this time on an average Tuesday.”
John Dickie, Head of Operations at Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue.
“Our crews worked closely with other emergency workers at many of the incidents, with public safety always at the forefront of their minds. Many incidents involved reports of unsafe structures, trees and debris blocking roads and road traffic collisions.
“Many of the calls to the Control Room were with concerns about unsafe structures including fallen chimneys and guttering. We responded to these incidents to assess the risks, provide specialist advice to other emergency services and local authority personnel and make areas safe or ensure cordons are in place as necessary.
“As well as dealing with weather related calls we also responded as normal to automatic fire alarm calls, reports of fires and other emergencies.”
Shortly after 9.30am firefighters were called to a report of an articulated lorry which had overturned on the A1 south of Dunbar, near to Lafarge cement works. A 32-year-old man was cut free from the wreckage and taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in an hour- long rescue operation. We dealt with a further three overturned LGV’s in our area yesterday.
John Continued: “Whilst we were exceptionally busy we had the appropriate resources in place to respond to problems caused by today’s high winds, and our firefighters carried out a commendable job in what were very difficult conditions.”
TELFORD College is being sued by the construction firm which built its new student accommodation over an £8 million pledge to make up any shortfall in rents.
Telford college's board are nervous about the agreement.
College bosses signed an agreement promising Alumno Miller Telford Ltd an annual income of around £500,000 a year as part of the deal to fund the accommodation block on West Granton Road.
But the builders took court action after new members of the college board sought to have the agreement annulled.
Board members were left feeling “extremely nervous” that the clause would leave the college exposed to a massive yearly pay-out if not enough rent was collected from students living at the site.
The agreement pledged that the college would fill 99 of the 125 rooms at the facility, opened last September, or hand over any shortfall to the builders behind the project.
Although the deal could leave the college facing a maximum pay-out of £500,000 annually over 15 years, it is understood that any actual exposure would be far lower.
At the Court of Session, Lord Glennie ruled in favour of Alumno Miller Telford Ltd following a recent hearing, throwing out arguments from college lawyers that the agreement was “not binding and enforceable”.
Lord Glennie rejected claims that the agreement did not properly specify the rooms which had to be rented out, and that rules prevented the college from being exposed to liabilities greater than four per cent of its annual income.
But Jim Donaldson, the chairman of the college board, said that a further legal challenge over the deal by Telford College remained a possibility.
He said: “This agreement between Alumno Miller Telford Ltd and the college was made in 2009 when many of the current board were not in place. It concerns an occupancy agreement which began in September 2010, when the accommodation was opened, where the college agreed to fill 99 of the 125 rooms or make up the shortfall.
“This agreement left the new board feeling extremely nervous as the college could be left to pay up the difference so we decided to contest it for a number of reasons.
“There was no indication in the agreement as to which rooms the guarantees referred to. We also argued that it would break rules on the college being left to pay in excess of four per cent of its annual income.
“Lord Glennie has made his ruling and we’ve lost this particular part. As a board, we now have to have another look at it and take advice from counsel before deciding on our next step. It remains ongoing.”
The student accommodation was built on a vacant site near Telford College and was primarily designed to offer rooms to international students.
It was intended to cater for a growing student population at Telford, which is the city’s largest further education college.
Alumno Miller Telford Ltd took out a £4.5m loan to pay for the facilities, and let the rooms directly to students at the college. A spokesman for McGrigors, the solicitors acting for Alumno Miller Telford Ltd, said he could not comment on an ongoing court case.
Most of the Country has been battered overnight and all day with high winds and this has lead to various bridges and roads being closed causing traffic chaos across the Country.
Winds were recorded at over 90mph by the Forth Road Bridge Authority and the Bridge is expected to be closed for most of today, trains were cancelled today from Edinburgh and many road have been blocked by falling trees.
Here are some images that we have taken from today.
Readings of 90MPH plus winds by the Forth Road bridge (Source: L&B police)
Boots at Craigleith didn't open today. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
Currys at Craigleith lost a door following the storm. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
A fence was blown away in Crewe. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
The garden centre at Homebase had windows blown in. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
A trampoline appeared at the Drylaw shopping centre. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
A tree blocks a road in Pilton. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
A trolley park at Sainsburys was blown down in the wind. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
Various trolley parks were damaged at Craigleith Retail Park. (Picture: Thomas Brown)
Have you got any photos you would like to share with us? If so email them to northedinnews@gmail.com.
A patient has died following a Fire in the Western General Hospital. North Edinburgh News understands that the male patient had gone to the toilet on his ward to have a cigarette when the fire started.
The Fire Brigade were called to extinguish the fire.
A spokesperson for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said “We attended a call at the Western General Hospital on Wednesday to deal with a Fire. We understand the male had been taken for treatment prior to our arrival, this is now one the Police will deal with following the subsequent death”
Despite this NHS Lothian remain tight-lipped and are keen to separate the Fire at the Hospital from the patients death, Chief Operating officer, Jackie Sansbury said “A small fire broke out in a ward at the Western General Hospital. Thanks to the quick response from staff, all patients were evacuated and returned to the ward”
Sansbury added, “Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service were called to put out the fire and are investigating the cause”
