SATURDAY 22nd JUNE from 10.30am – 1.30pm
in PORTOBELLO TOWN HALL
Further engagement is taking place on the regeneration of #Seafield in #Edinburgh.
To have your say on the emerging masterplan, take part in the survey at https://tinyurl.com/2tk2rnef, or come to Portobello Town Hall tomorrow.
Glasgow-based, award-winning architecture firm Loader Monteith has been appointed to lead a design team undertaking detailed feasibility work on a community cinema project in Portobello,
The commission, by The Friends of George (FoTG) group, is supported by the award of a grant from The Architectural Heritage Fund.
The design team’s work will dovetail into an in-depth commercial and operational assessment being undertaken by independent cinema consultants, Mustard Studios, whose work is being funded by a grant from the Scottish Land Fund.
Loader Monteith approached Stefanie Fischer, a leading cinema architect within the UK’s independent cinema sector to join their team as a subconsultant. Her expertise as a cinema architect complements the expertise of Loader Monteith Architects as conservation architects.
The appointment of the Loader Monteith led team builds on a long running campaign by FoTG who have been working to save the art deco former cinema from demolition. With strong support from within their community, FoTG hope to acquire and restore the C-listed building, and operate it as a cinema for the community. These latest commissions will develop and refine the group’s ambitious plans and will also include input from educational and film industry partners.
Mike Griffiths, Friends of the George Chair said: “We are delighted to be able to appoint such an expert team of professionals to develop and refine our proposals as we continue to point the way towards a positive future for The George not only in the heart of the community of Portobello, but more broadly, to play a role in the cinema sector in Scotland.
“The consultants we have working on this bring extensive expertise and experience to the project and will be led by a firm of architects with a burgeoning reputation for exciting contemporary architectural design, deployed to breathe new life into historic buildings.
“We’re extremely grateful for the financial support we have received from the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Scottish Land Fund and our benefactor Victoria Schwab.”
Iain King, Specialist Conservation Architect and Director at Loader Monteith, said: “We are pleased to have been selected as the lead architects, alongside our expert team of consultants, to support the Friends of The George in developing the proposal for the George Cinema.
“Despite the building currently being on the Buildings at Risk Register, it benefits from strong community support and the dedication of the Friends of The George, a group committed to preserving this Art Deco gem and restoring it as a sustainable, independent cinema.
“We look forward to collaborating with them on this important project.”
Last year, Friends of The George Limited had the cinema building formally valued by a firm of professional surveyors and made an offer to purchase it as a “restoring purchaser”, based on that valuation. Funds for purchase were very generously offered by benefactor, writer V.E Schwab.
This offer was rejected by the current owners of the building who have tried – and failed – twice in recent years to secure consent to substantially demolish The George and develop the site with luxury flats.
Most recently, last October, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) published their decision notice on the application by the current owner to have The George ‘delisted’. HES confirmed that the building continues to meet the criteria of special architectural and historic interest and so there will be no statutory change to the current ‘C’ listing designation.
Recent silent, community protests, independent of the FoTG group, have called on the current owner of the building to clear up the mess outside of the cinema and to address the continued neglect and dereliction of the building.
POLICE are appealing for help to trace an 88-year-old woman reported missing from Edinburgh.
Joyce Shand was last seen around 7.15am this morning (Wednesday, 12 June) in the Moira Terrace area of the city.
She is described as 5ft 4ins, slim, with short white/grey hair.
She is believed to be wearing dark coloured trousers and a light blue jacket. She uses a walking stick.
Sergeant Leigh Inglis said: “Concerns are growing for Joyce’s welfare and we need to make sure she is safe and well.
“Joyce has a bus pass but we do not know at this stage what direction she may have taken so I am asking the public to keep an eye out for her.
“If you see Joyce or know where she might be then please get in touch with us.”
Scottish Green co-leader and Lothian MSP, Lorna Slater joined Edinburgh East and Musselburgh candidate Amanda Grimm for her election campaign launch at Portobello Promenade today.
The launch took with Lorna Slater, Amanda Grimm and local members at Straiton Place Park on Portobello Promenade.
Amanda lives and works in the constituency as a researcher at the Scottish Parliament. She has also worked in the culture sector and was a professional ballet dancer in Washington DC before moving to Edinburgh in 2007.
Lorna Slater said: “I’m really pleased to be supporting Amanda. She is a really excellent candidate and would be a fantastic voice for people in Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.
“I’ve known Amanda for years. She is grounded in her community, and would bring so much to Westminster. I have seen first hand how committed she is to her work and her values. She has a real interest in expertise in what is happening locally and around the world.
“I wish Amanda every success and will be working hard to get the highest vote possible for her campaign.”
Speaking ahead of her campaign launch, Amanda said: “I’m delighted to launch my campaign today as the Scottish Greens candidate for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.
“We need real change at Westminster. 14 years of Tory austerity has worsened inequality and brought our public sector to its knees. Labour promises little change, even refusing to cap bankers’ bonuses.
“Different choices are possible. While the Scottish Greens were in government we doubled the child payment to support thousands of families, made bus travel free for everyone under 22 and secured record investment in nature and green jobs.
“We are the only party that is serious about tackling the climate emergency. Voting Green will send a strong message to Westminster: voters want real action on climate, not empty promises and U-turns.”
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are encouraging visitors to “check the weather, check the water” via SEPA’s bathing waters website before heading to one of the country’s designated bathing waters this season.
Scotland has 89 designated bathing waters around the country, from Dunnet in Caithness to Brighouse Bay in Kirkcudbright, and 98% will meet or exceed the Sufficient classification for 2024, with 84% achieving the higher standards of Excellent or Good.
Last year Scotland started the season with the highest number of bathing waters ever, after the designation of Wardie Bay in Edinburgh and the re-designation of Fisherrow Sands in East Lothian. In 2024 the country starts with the best water quality on record as both begin the season rated as ‘Good’.
The full list of bathing water classifications is available on SEPA’s website.
Check the water
The season begins on the 1st of June and runs until the 15th of September. During this time, SEPA’s specialist teams will be checking the water by collecting and analysing around 1,500 water samples from all designated bathing waters. These provide regular water quality information which is published on online.
The results also form part of the four-year rolling data set that determines the classification for each bathing water every season.
SEPA’s website and electronic messaging signs, which operate at 30 bathing waters, are updated at 10am every day with real-time water quality predictions. Although generally of a high quality, the bathing waters can be affected by heavy rain and results can be accessed at sepa.org.uk/checkthewater so people can check before they travel.
SEPA can also make people aware of any abnormal pollution events that may impact water quality via this page, as well as using the network of electronic signs and physical signs posted by local authorities and other partners at all other beaches.
Check the weather
While sunny weather always draws more people to bathing waters, it’s important to not just check the weather on the day you go. It is recommended that users do not bathe for one to two days after heavy rain – and beaches with SEPA electronic signs will warn against bathing when poor water is predicted.
Our climate impacts on water quality, and heavy rain can wash contaminants off both rural and urban land and can cause overflows from sewage systems. These overflows prevent systems being overwhelmed with rainwater and backing up into homes and businesses.
Altogether the combination of water quality predictions and information about abnormal pollution events shared by SEPA, plus awareness of recent rainfall events and the potential impact allows people to check the water at any bathing water they plan to visit to make an informed decision whether to bathe or enjoy on-land activities.
Ruth Stidson, SEPA’s Principal Scientist for bathing waters, said: “Scotland has the highest ever number of designated bathing waters, with the best water quality since 2015, when tighter standards first came into force.
“We know there’s many physical and mental health benefits of being outdoors and beaches can offer great spaces for that. They are regularly used by coastal communities, as well as by groups for water-based activities. Scotland has a mixture of urban and rural bathing waters, and many are accessible by walking or public transport, often making them a budget-friendly option. Visitors often plan a whole day around being at the water, which can also benefit local economies.
“We encourage everyone planning to visit our beautiful bathing waters this summer to check the weather, check the water before they leave for their day out and ensure they have the best information possible to enjoy their time in our stunning Scottish environment.”
Mairi McAllan, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy said: “We now have the highest number of designated Bathing Water sites ever, with 98% of Scotland’s bathing waters currently achieving the bathing water quality standards and 84% being rated “good” or “excellent”.
“However, we are not complacent and we continue to work closely with SEPA and Scottish Water to monitor and improve water quality on our designated beaches and in our designated lochs.
“We want to ensure that as many people as possible are able to continue to safely enjoy them throughout this summer and beyond and I would encourage everyone to make use of SEPA’s resources and information to help make an informed decision about where and when to bathe.”
Protecting and improving water quality
SEPA’s monitoring data provides crucial evidence to drive investment and improvement in both rural and urban areas. We regulate and work with businesses, farmers and land managers across the country protect and improve water quality. This approach will continue to deliver real progress in the coming years for the future of our water environment.
Communities and visitors can help to protect our water environment, including beaches and bathing waters.
Visitors are encouraged to bag and bin dog poo, bin litter or take it away, and avoid feeding gulls as that can attract them to areas in higher numbers.
Every year Scottish Water teams deal with around 36,000 blockages, costing customers about £7 million annually, and around 80% of those are caused by people flushing the wrong items down the toilet – particularly wet wipes – or pouring fats, oil and grease down the sink. These meld to cause blockages in the sewer system and can contribute to spills of pollution into the environment.
Professor Simon Parsons, Director of Environment, Planning and Assurance at Scottish Water said: “We would echo SEPA’s call for people to check the weather and the water before swimming at a designated bathing water.
“Scottish Water is committed to continuing to support the protection and improvement of Scotland’s rivers and coastal waters and we are very pleased that almost all bathing waters meet or exceed the “sufficient” classification and that 84% are “excellent” or “good”.
“We check almost 500 of our assets before and during the bathing season to ensure they are delivering the level of service we expect.
“We look forward to playing our part in ensuring bathing waters become destinations for people to enjoy Scotland’s fantastic coastal waters.
“Scottish Water has invested £2.7 billion in improving and maintaining the country’s public drainage system and infrastructure over more than the past decade to help improve our waters.
“Our Improving Urban Waters Routemap, which supports the national River Basin Management Plan objectives (92% good water quality by 2027), commits us to additional investment of up to £500m to further improve water quality.”
Full list of 2023/24 classifications
Thousands of protesters will take to coasts and rivers across the UK today to protest against the state of the nation’s waterways. The protests have been coordinated by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), who are calling for an end to the sewage discharges plaguing the UK’s rivers and seas, as sewage overflows continue to have a devastating impact on ecological and human health.
Over 30 protests are set to take place at local beaches and rivers, spanning locations from Edinburgh to Cornwall. Flagship protests are taking place at West Pier in Brighton and at Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth, with Olympian and keen paddle-boarder Dame Kelly Holmes set to join protesters on the south coast.
Edinburgh protestors will gather on Portobello beach at 10.30am.
Charlie Allanson-Oddy, founding member of the Porty Water Collective and SAS regional representative, who is helping to organise the Portobello protest, said: “Walking the beaches in Portobello, the reality of sewage scandal is clear with thousands of baby wipes washed up weekly.
Testing has repeatedly found dangerous levels of E.coli and chloroforms in the Figgate Burn, a freshwater source that runs through Scotland’s capital. Unlike England and Wales, Scottish Water is publicly owned: however they continue to ignore us.
“We are united in protest in Edinburgh to raise awareness of the shocking pollution of our waterways and demand change. Sewage dumping in our waters must stop.”
Giles Bristow, CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Once again, the public face a grim choice this summer – risk swallowing shit or forgo a dip in the water.
“This year offers an opportunity to turn our collective anger into action and end the sewage scandal, with panicked politicians in listening mode, desperate to ride the waves of popular sentiment.
“A general election is imminent, and the public are out on the beachfronts and riverbanks making it clear that the issue of sewage pollution is at the top of the agenda. Ahead of the election, all parties need to show people genuine and quantifiable commitments to eliminate sewage pollution, or suffer the consequences.”
This year is a huge opportunity for action on sewage pollution. Water quality is predicted to be a core issue influencing voters in the next general election, which must happen before January 2025.
Meanwhile, in June, regulator Ofwat – whose role is to challenge and scrutinise water companies to ensure they deliver safe and reliable water to people and protect the environment – will deliver recommendations on water companies’ investment plans for the next five years (2025 – 2030).
Water companies have proposed plans for £11 billion in investment for reducing sewage discharges for this period, with customer bills increasing in tandem – a move that has sparked outrage among the public, particularly in the context of the profits paid out to water company bosses and shareholders year on year.
According to analysis by the Financial Times, water companies in England and Wales paid out £2.5bn in dividends in the two financial years since 2021 and a total of more than £78bn in dividends in the 33 years since privatisation.
Giles Bristow added: “Thousands are protesting on the water this weekend to let politicians, regulators and water companies know that the public aren’t going to let them wriggle out of demands for clean seas and rivers.
“We’re calling for plans that are ambitious enough to end sewage pollution in high-priority nature sites and the waters we surf, swim and paddle in by 2030, putting people and nature before profit. We won’t tolerate this broken system any longer.”
Double Gold medal-winning Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, who will be paddling out with protesters in Brighton, said:“I love nothing more than getting out into the open water on my paddle-board – it does wonders for my mental health, and there’s such a sense of community amongst those who use our wild waterways for sport and recreation.
“But this incredibly special pastime has been tainted for all of us by the persistent risk of getting sick from pollution. The poor state of our rivers and seas is shocking and infuriating.
“Whole generations are being deprived of the right to safely enjoy the benefits that blue spaces offer. Our waterways are for us and should be here to enjoy as they are so important for our collective health and wellbeing. Events costing thousands are getting cancelled. To see our rivers and seas being treated so appallingly by those responsible for looking after them is nothing short of a national scandal.
“I’m paddling out with Surfers Against Sewage and thousands of water-lovers across the country because I’m passionate about our waterways, I’m angry about what’s being done to them, and I want the polluters and those in power to hear our demands to end sewage pollution now.”
In 2023, there were 584,001 recorded discharges across England, Scotland and Wales – a 51% increase on the previous year – with sewage released into waterways for a total of 12,966,322 hours.
Of the 11 water companies with monitoring in place, United Utilities was the worst offender, reporting 97,537 discharges in 2023. Yorkshire Water and Severn Trent Water were hot on its heels, reporting 77,761 and 60,253 discharges respectively. SAS analysis has found that Welsh Water had a total of 108,860 discharges, although this is not directly comparable to England due to differing methods of reporting.
Paddle-outs will be taking place in the majority of water company catchments this weekend – including Scottish Water, where there were 15,289 spills last year, and Northern Ireland Water, where discharge figures are unavailable due to a lack of monitoring.
The Environment Agency boasts that 100% of storm overflows in England are now fitted with monitoring devices. However, analysis of this year’s Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) data by SAS has revealed that EDM monitors at 1,930 storm overflows, 13.3% of the total monitored overflows, are operating at less than 90% capacity – which means the discharge figures for England in 2023 are an underestimate.
Sally McGee, Tynemouth protest organiser and SAS supporter, said: “Every surfer across the UK knows that they run the risk of getting sick if they surf. Many beaches on the beautiful coast around Tynemouth are subject to the discharge of raw sewage immediately after or during storms.
“You can smell and taste the difference in the water. It’s really upsetting and feels like we are going backwards in time.
“As a surfer, I believe we have a beautiful relationship with the ocean – we see it in all its glory, and we see it suffer. Up here, we share the ocean with bottlenose dolphins and common seals, whilst fulmar birds fly above us.
“When I surf and the water is brown from pollution as untreated sewage leaves the Tyne, I can only imagine how marine life endures it. We can choose if we surf, but it’s their everyday habitat.
“We are protesting in Tynemouth because we are outraged that water companies and our politicians have allowed this to happen. They have a vital role in society and are abusing their position. They must stop the greed, invest and do better. We demand an end to sewage discharges in our bathing waters by 2030.”
SAS is calling for an end to sewage discharges into all bathing waters and high-priority nature sites by 2030.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Williamson Trust have given their support to three community research projects in Edinburgh, aimed at promoting healthy living.
The RSE and Williamson Trust have given their support to 12 new community-led research projects, which will promote the health of individuals by fostering healthy communities, healthy environments, and healthy food.
This is the first year that the Healthy Planet, Healthy People awards have been given out. Originally only ten awards were planned, however the strength of the applications was such that a further two projects will now be supported.
The Community Renewal Trust in North Edinburgh has received £4,600 of funding. The Trust is part of the R2 network of organisations that collaborate to achieve better outcomes in local communities.
Through the project, the group will explore the feasibility of establishing a food buying group for local organisations that would achieve economies of scale, improve the quality and quantity of food available in the area, reduce food waste and reduce the time, energy and food miles that local organisations are spending in procuring food in north Edinburgh.
R2 co-ordinator Anita Aggarwal said: “Local people and organisations have been at the forefront of finding dignified solutions to food insecurity in the area.
“This award will help us work towards our vision of sustainably produced food being affordable and available in the area. As a network of organisations, we know we can achieve more if we work together, but finding time to collaborate can be hard, so this helping hand will go a long way and have a wide impact in the long term.”
Art Walk Projects based in Portobello is set receive £5,000 to develop a series of public conversations with artists, scientists, farmers, landscape architects and climate scientists to establish a strategy for coastal communities to achieve net zero.
Founder and artistic director Rosy Naylor said: “We are so very delighted to receive the support from RSE and Williamson Trust enabling us to develop our new project ‘Thrift: Climate Conversations’ involving local coastal communities in conversations around issues of food production, farming and coastal ecologies of northeast Edinburgh.
“It will provide for a rich multi-disciplinary approach engaging local publics around possible future food environments.”
Nourish Scotland’s “Our Right to Food” project is the third in Edinburgh to benefit from funding, receiving £5,000. The project aims to develop ways to measure the progress towards the right to good quality affordable food in Scotland.
Senior project officer Irina Martin said: “We are delighted to have been successful to get the ‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’: Community-led Award. The Our Right to Food project aims to learn what people in Scotland would choose as a healthy and enjoyable way to eat so that rights holders and decision makers can better identify how to make this accessible for all.
“It does this by working with people from the community to create and then price “shopping baskets” for typical households across Scotland – the idea being that these baskets can be used to measure whether a “good enough” diet is affordable.
“This funding will support the next phase of the project which will focus on a typical Pakistani household in Scotland. This is to explore whether a “good enough” diet is more or less affordable for different groups within Scotland, and in doing so, show the functional value it could have when it comes to measuring progress toward achieving the right to food in Scotland.”
Aside from the three food security projects in Edinburgh, funding has also been awarded to a number of other projects in the west of Scotland, the Highlands and Islands, Fife and Perth.
Professor David E Salt FRSE, chair of the Williamson Trust said: “I speak for all the trustees when I say we were incredibly excited to see the very strong response we got from communities across Scotland.
“From food waste, the right to food and cooperative local growing, to rebuilding biodiversity and land rights, community street play, urban forests, and climate conversations as street theatre.
“The Trust hopes this seed funding will deliver real change and lead to larger impacts going into the future. We are very excited to be working with these communities across Scotland to help them make a new and better future.”
RSE Vice President, Research, Professor Anne Anderson OBE FRSE said: “This is the first time that the RSE has supported this type of research, as the Society broadens its range of research awards, and I feel that it is vital that we do so.
“The health of the individual and the health of the environment are inextricably linked, and it is my hope that these awards will now provide a boost to these exciting research groups which will lead to improvements in both.
“I very much look forward to following their progress and achievements over the next 12 months.”
CONSULTATION PLANS TO BE ANNOUNCED
Police Scotland today (Thursday, 14 December, 2023) announced plans to consult and engage the public on proposals to close a number of properties across the country.
The Service has published details of 29 police stations and other buildings which it says are now surplus to requirements, with officers and staff being moved to other locations. Of these buildings three are already vacant and 14 others have no public access.
The Edinburgh stations listed as ‘surplus to requirements’ are Balerno, Fettes, Leith, Portobello and West End.
In addition, Police Scotland will carry out consultation and engagement on a further 16 properties, which are all already vacant or are plots of land with no buildings. As such there is no public access to these properties.
Plans to close a further 14 properties will be brought forward at a later date.
Properties have been selected for potential disposal under the Service’s estate strategy, which seeks to move toward co-location with partners where possible to ensure services are delivered in the most efficient and effective way.
As part of the review, local Divisional Commanders have been asked to identify where they would want to locate their resources to better meet the demands of 21st century policing and to highlight any buildings in their areas that are underused, surplus to requirements or where there could be opportunities to rationalise buildings or co-locate with partners.
Deputy Chief Constable, Malcolm Graham said: “Our estate needs to be fit for 21st century policing, putting service enhancement, visibility, and engagement at the heart of the communities we serve.
“These are core components of the legitimacy and consent on which policing in Scotland relies.
“Our presence in communities is not defined by buildings but by the officers and staff who work there, and we have already introduced technology that enables our officers to remain in local areas, reducing the need for them to return to police stations to deal with paperwork.
“We are determined to continue to improve our visibility and accessibility, as well as to bring partners together to deliver services in the most efficient and effective way.
“The buildings in which our officers and staff work need to be safe, functional spaces, and they need to be sustainable and adaptable enough to meet changing public expectations and the changing nature of policing.”
He added: “Police Scotland inherited a very large and ageing estate, much of which was not fit for purpose, with high maintenance costs and environmental inefficiencies.
“The locations of many inherited buildings no longer meet the requirements of local communities and in some cases the organisation is currently maintaining multiple buildings in the same geographic area, less than five miles apart.
“Some of the buildings are just a few miles apart, others are used by only a handful of police officers or staff and have no public access, while many are rarely visited by a member of the public.
“For the majority of properties, the proposed moves will be an average of four miles from their current location.
“Local communities will therefore continue to receive the same high level of service from officers, and still from within their local area.
“We now have more than 60 co-locations with partners, providing more sustainable, more modern, and safer workspaces for our people.
“We have great examples of successful partnerships in the North East, Perthshire, Forth Valley, and Ayrshire among others and this will continue to be an important part of ensuring policing in Scotland is prepared for the future.
“We understand and are sensitive to community concerns around changes involving police buildings and as we bring forward proposals we wish to communicate our proposals to the public and our staff and seek their feedback. Please do view our plans and let us know your thoughts.”
The financial savings of these property disposals would be re-invested into providing policing services.
As part of our ongoing transformation work Police Scotland is in the early stages of progressing plans for other sites across the country. As plans are developed and submitted for approval to the Scottish Police Authority they will undertake consultation with local communities, key stakeholders and trade unions, statutory staff associations, and impacted staff.
Police Scotland added: ‘We they continuously review our estate as part of our normal business and this will continue. As part of this work, we may identify other properties that are considered surplus and appropriate engagement and consultation will be undertaken.’
To review the proposals and have your say visit our engagement hub:
The 29 buildings proposed for closure/disposal are:
| Station | Local Policing Division | Current Front Counter / Opening hours | Front counter usage | Local Policing Base (Yes or No) | Proposed destination |
| Castlemilk | Greater Glasgow | Yes – 9am – 5pm Monday -Friday (not Wednesday) | Low | No. Community police drop-in facility only. | Cathcart |
| Saracen | Greater Glasgow | Yes – 9am – 5pm – Monday to Friday | Low | No | Baird St or Maryhill |
| Bishopbriggs | Greater Glasgow | Yes – Monday – Sunday 8am – 4pm | Low | Yes. Community policing, community campus, licensing | Kirkintilloch |
| Milngavie | Greater Glasgow | Yes – Monday – Sunday 8am – 4pm | Low | Yes. Community policing. | Kirkintilloch |
| Stewart Street | Greater Glasgow | Yes – 24/7 front counter service | High | Yes. Response, community policing, divisional management team and CID | Baird St |
| Gorbals | Greater Glasgow | Yes – 7am-12am all week | Medium / low | Yes. Response, community policing | Cathcart |
| Baillieston | Greater Glasgow | Temporarily closed. | N/A | Yes. Response, Community policing | Shettleston |
| Pacific Quay | Greater Glasgow | No | N/A | No. Base for corporate staff. | Dalmarnock |
| Paisley | Renfrewshire & Inverclyde | Yes – 24 hours | Medium | Yes. Response, community policing, divisional management team and CID | TBC |
| Ferguslie Park | Renfrewshire & Inverclyde | No | N/A | Community Policing / Alcohol and Violence Reduction Unit | TBC |
| Greenock | Renfrewshire & Inverclyde | Yes – 24 hours. | Medium | Yes. Response, community policing, divisional management team and CID | TBC |
| Dumbarton | Argyll & West Dunbartonshire | Yes – 8am-6pm (12.30pm-1.30pm – lunchtime closing) | Low | Yes. Response, community policing, divisional management team and CID | TBC |
| Alexandria | Argyll & West Dunbartonshire | No front counter or public access. | N/A | Yes, Response, Community policing | TBC |
| Ayr | Ayrshire | No | No | No. Already closed and new facility in Ayr has opened. Old site proposed for demolition. | N/A |
| Balerno | Edinburgh City | No | N/A | No. Building was used as a base for 10 officers for social distancing purposes during the pandemic but was previously vacant. Officers will be relocated nearby. | TBC |
| Fettes | Edinburgh City | Yes | Medium – High Most public footfall relates to Lost property /Productions / Firearms licensing enquiries. | Yes | TBC |
| Leith | Edinburgh City | Yes – 7am hours to midnight – however nine days per month only open 7am – 4pm | High – Public enquiries relate to lost/found property / reporting crime, neighbour disputes, MIT enquiries etc. Station also located on tram line and near to Edinburgh’s most densely populated community. | Yes | TBC |
| West End | Edinburgh City | Yes – Open Monday -Friday 9am-5pm | Medium –Public enquiries relate to lost/found property / reporting crime etc. | Yes | TBC |
| Portobello | Edinburgh City | TBC | |||
| Oakley | Fife | No | N/A | No. Used by Operational Support Division officers. | TBC |
| Muir of Ord | Highlands and Islands | No | N/A | No. Used by officer/staff member but not local policing. | Dingwall or Inverness |
| Mastrick | North East | No | N/A | Yes | TBC |
| Rosemount | North East | No | N/A | Not presently – no officers currently stationed nor deployed from there but used periodically as stop point. | NA |
| Seaton | North East | No | N/A | Yes | TBC |
| Whinhill | North East | No | N/A | Yes | TBC |
| Torry | North East | No | N/A | Yes | Nigg |
| Dundee Annexe | Tayside | Yes – no counter staff. Responded to by dept staff /officers. | Low | No | West Bell Street |
| Ryehill | Tayside | No | N/A | No – limited use of building. | West Bell Street |
| Hilltown | Tayside | Yes – public counter not staffed. Officers answer the door to members of the public. | Medium | No. Functions as a space for comfort breaks for operational officers. | West Bell Street |
The 16 properties which are already vacant or are plots of land with no buildings are:
| Station | Local Policing Division | Current Front Counter / Opening hours | Front counter usage | Local Policing Base (Yes or No) | Proposed destination |
| Anderston | Greater Glasgow | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building has been vacant for more than two years. Officers/staff who worked there now deploy from various police stations around Glasgow. Building is under offer, sale to complete this FY pending planning approval. | N/A |
| Partick (land) | Greater Glasgow | No – land has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. We are disposing of a pocket of land next to police station only as it is not required. Police station is being retained. | N/A |
| Maybole | Ayrshire | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building vacant since 2022 when Officers/staff moved to new co-location with South Ayrshire Council in 2022. | N/A |
| Kilwinning | Ayrshire | No – Building vacant and will be declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building vacant since 2023, officers and staff now deploy from Irvine | N/A |
| Kirkcudbright | Dumfries and Galloway | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building vacant for more three years, we are now co-located with SFRS in Kirkcudbright. | N/A |
| Tarbert Office | Argyll & West Dunbartonshire | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building vacant for more 5 years, officers deploy from Lochgilphead. | N/A |
| Dalmally | Argyll & West Dunbartonshire | No – Building vacant and will be declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building vacant, and local consultation is ongoing. Building is a small police house/station (1 police officer), the previous officer has moved out and this area will be resourced from Oban Police Station. | N/A |
| Port Glasgow | Renfrewshire & Inverclyde | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building vacant for more than five years, officers/staff now deploy from Greenock. | N/A |
| Burntisland | Fife | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building has been vacant for more than three years, officers who worked there now deploy from Kirkcaldy.Building under offer to complete this year. | N/A |
| Alloa | Forth Valley | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. This building is still in partial use by specialist officers although we expect to be vacated this month. Local officers vacated in 2021 to move into a co-location with Clackmannanshire Council. | N/A |
| Linlithgow | Lothians and Scottish Borders | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building has been vacant for more 6 years. Officer/staff deploy from other nearby police stations.Remarketing of the building is under way. | N/A |
| Coldstream | Lothians and Scottish Borders | No – Building vacant and will be declared Surplus | N/A | No. Building has been vacant for more than 4 years. Officer/staff deploy from other nearby police stations. | |
| Whalsay | Highlands and Islands | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | Building is a small property on an island off Shetland that has been vacant for more than a year. Officer/staff located on mainland Shetland.Sale negotiations are ongoing. | N/A | |
| Lairg | Highlands and Islands | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | No. Building has been vacant for more than three years. Officer/staff now deploy from other stations within the division. Re-marketing or auction to be progressed. | N/A | |
| Peterhead | North East | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | No. Building has been vacant for more than 18 months, officers/staff deploying out of Buchan House where we co-locate with Aberdeenshire Council. Re-marketing or auction of building to be progressed. | N/A | |
| Portlethen | North East | No – Building vacant and has been declared Surplus | No. Building has been vacant since this year, officers/staff now deploying from Stonehaven. Marketing under way. | N/A |
WARDIE BAY RANKS ‘GOOD’ FOR WILD SWIMMERS
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.
For the 2024 bathing season Scotland’s bathing water classifications will be:
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.”
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.
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.
The latest water quality report from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) highlights a severe lack of accountability from Scottish Water.
A new report released today by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) emphasises Scotland’s sewage blind spot due to a lack of reporting by Scottish Water.
Analysis of EDM data by SAS found that untreated sewage has been released into Scottish rivers and seas at least 58,304 times over the last 5 years. However, just 161 out of the 3,641 sewage overflows in Scotland were reported on during this time period meaning this figure is a gross underestimation of reality, with the true number of discharges likely to be in the 100,000s.
Under 4% of sewage overflows in Scotland are required to be reported on, a stark contrast to England and Wales where nearly 100% are monitored. This leaves the Scottish public in the dark about the performance of the other 96% of overflows and the impact these are having on Scottish rivers and coastline.
The little data that is reported by Scottish Water is patchy, according to SAS. Three sewage overflows that previously were reported on annually are now only required to report during the bathing season due to the license agreement approved by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Additionally, some overflows that were previously monitored now go entirely unreported and are labelled as having ‘no license requirement for reporting’.
Giles Bristow, CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Yet again, our annual water quality report reveals the complacency and disregard of governments, water companies and regulators towards the health of rivers and coastlines in Scotland and across the UK – and by extension people’s health.
“How much do our blue spaces need to suffocate in sewage before those we elect to keep us safe and protect our environment wake up and smell the shit?
“We are seeing failure at every level – from governments and regulators failing to enforce the law, to water companies refusing to clean up their act – with the general public ending up the biggest loser every time.
“How many times can we say ‘enough is enough’? Our leaders need to prioritise transparency, ensure laws and regulations are properly enforced, and prevent water companies from continuing to pollute our blue spaces.”
Sicknesses due to sewage pollution reported to SAS reached 1,924 UK cases in the last year – nearly triple the number of cases reported a year prior. These cases resulted in 1,987 days taken off sick, which translates to 5 years of work lost to ill health caused by polluted waters.
Many of these sicknesses have led to hospitalisation, events cancelled, earnings lost, and businesses closed. As this data only covers cases reported to SAS, these numbers are likely to be the tip of the iceberg.
The Porty Water Collective was set up in response to the ongoing poor state of water quality in Portobello, which is impacted by several sewage overflows bringing sewage downstream into the sea via the Figgate Burn (known locally as the ‘Figgy Burn’).
Portobello is a popular beach with thousands of visitors, but notably has no reporting whatsoever. Users of the beach rarely have any idea if the area is safe to enjoy, or if they will unknowingly be swimming in sewage.
The Collective is conducting regular testing in the area with support from SAS to monitor water quality and raise awareness in the absence of any reporting from Scottish Water.
Charlie Allanson-Oddy, founding member of the Porty Water Collective and an SAS regional representative, said: “It’s obvious from walking the beaches, from the number of baby wipes, that there is a massive sewage-related problem – something that is ignored by SEPA and Scottish Water.
“What we know – from testing conducted in 2021, and now from the Collective’s current water quality testing backed by SAS – is that there are dangerously high levels of E. coli and chloroforms in the Figgy Burn from CSOs further upstream. Not all the locals know this.”
Scottish Water has made a promise to install monitoring equipment on 1,000 of the highest priority sewage overflows by 2024 with the remaining 2,600 to be considered in terms of cost and benefit.
SAS are calling on the Scottish Government to direct Scottish Water to install event duration monitoring on all overflows and for that data to be freely and easily accessible to the public in real-time so the Scottish public can make informed decisions when entering the water.
Additionally, SAS want the Scottish Government to set progressive sewage reduction targets to end untreated discharges into bathing waters, popular water usage areas, and high priority nature sites by 2030.
This year SAS developed the End Sewage Pollution Manifesto, which sets out the policies needed to clean up our rivers and seas.
Created in collaboration with environmental charities, sports governing bodies and community groups around the UK, the manifesto suggests a five-point plan to make the UK’s waters healthy and safe to enjoy again:
• Enforce the law and regulations
• Stop pollution for profit
• Prioritise high-risk pollution events
• Empower a nature-led approach to tackling sewage pollution
• Reveal the truth by ensuring UK-wide transparency on sewage pollution.
