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It’s stall kicking off in Stockbridge.

A NEW twice-weekly open-air food market could soon be established in Stockbridge, despite fears raised by residents over rodent infestations, noise and the impact on local businesses.
The Stockbridge Market will feature a range of food products, with confirmed producers including Ridley’s Fish and Game, Cheesee Peasee and Au Gourmand Artisanal Bread.

It is also set to sell non-food items, including crafts, vintage clothes, jewellery and CDs.

Proposals for the market, to be held in Jubilee Gardens, have been recommended for approval by city planners, but still have to be approved by councillors next week.

• Do you support the plans for a twice-weekly food market in Stockbridge? Vote here

If granted permission, it will be held every Thursday from 2pm to 8pm, and on Sundays from 10am to 6pm, and will feature a total of 26 stalls.

However, the plans – submitted by the French Food Company – have been met with resistance from some local residents who believe the Jubilee Gardens site, which is bordered by Saunders Street and Kerr Street, is unsuitable for such a market.

Anne Harrison, a resident of Saunders Street, wrote in a letter to the council: “Last year there was a major infestation (of rodents] resulting in the seated area at Jubilee Park being stripped out to eradicate rodents.

“The proximity of the park to the Water of Leith also contributes to this problem.

“I fear that a food market will only exacerbate the rodent problem.

“There are serious health and safety implications here.”

She added: “Stockbridge already has many local businesses providing the types of food the market will offer.

“In the current climate their business might suffer drastically from a regular market event.”

Concerns have also been raised about the loss of the gardens as a public space during the market’s operating hours.

Saunders Street resident Helen Walker added in an objection to the proposal: “The site of the proposed market is one of only a few open landscaped gardens available to the public in this area and the accessibility of this area would be greatly reduced by the operation of the market.

“Jubilee Gardens is closely overlooked by the bedrooms of the first block of residential dwellings in Saunders Street.

“The market is to be opened on a Thursday evening and Sunday morning and will increase the local noise levels and disturb the sleep patterns of local residents, especially those of young children and shift workers.”

A statement on the website for the Stockbridge Market says it plans to start operating “really soon”.

Heritage group The Cockburn Association backed the plans.

Director Marion Williams said: “We support the proposal of an open-air food market in this location and believe it could contribute to the vitality of the Stockbridge neighbourhood shopping streets.”

Source: Edinburgh Evening News

Man United Come To North Edinburgh

Local football side Spartans will face one of their toughest challenges of the clubs history when they face a Man United team tomorrow afternoon at Ainslie Park. The game is being played to mark the clubs 60th Anniversary.

Looking ahead to tomorrows game Spartans co-manager Mike Lawson said

“We had a short session this morning, gave Chris Flockhart a feel of the ball after his holiday, worked out who was available for tomorrow and generally gave me a chance to say hello after three weeks in the Spanish sun. From our first team pool of 23 players only 4 are unavailable for tomorrow so Chris Smith, David Etale, Jonathan Seeley and Keith “The Hoff” McLeod are the only players to miss out for various reasons.  That leaves 19 players who will strip although there are doubts about Ali MacKinnon who has a slight strain and we’ll leave it up to him whether he wants to take to the park or not.

How do Sam and I approach the game? Do we set up our stall with our fittest 11 players and battle out as respectable a score as we can or do we have a go? Let’s face it tomorrow is more than likely the only time any Spartans player is ever going to get the chance to play Manchester United so we have to let the 19 available players time on the park. Do we start strong then bring the younger boys on? do we mix it up?  do we accept that this is not your normal pre-season friendly and just go out and enjoy it?

Actually as I write this I’m wearing a top which says Spartans v Manchester United XI on our 60th Anniversary in the “Ronnie Swan Challenge”. I think we should let them win and go down to Old Trafford and let them defend their trophy next summer.

Seriously tomorrow is a great day for our club. Tomorrow is a great game for our players. Tomorrow could also be an uncomfortable afternoon for Sam and myself. We will shape the team to go out and compete and we’ll change things around to accommodate all our players. We have to enjoy the occasion, enjoy the atmosphere but if we don’t compete to the best of our ability I won’t be a happy co-manager.

Let’s hope Sam and I have a smile on our faces after 90 minutes.”

Man Untied havehe squad which is coming north to face the Seniors this coming Sunday. The squad includes a couple of first team players in Republic of Ireland International Darron Gibson as well as Polish International keeper Tomasz Kuszczak. The squad also includes Oliver Norwood, who has been capped by Northern Ireland as well as a number of exciting young players including 18 year olds Paul Pogba from France and Rafael Leao from Brazil.

Tickets are available for the game and can be bought from the Academy up until 12pm on Sunday.

All the action kicks off at 3pm at the Academy

Talented Telford student has designs to expose Granton’s secret garden

Edinburgh’s Telford College student Michael Kerr submitted the winning design in a challenge set by National Grid to create signage that will help more people discover its new public park at The Forthquarter. Despite playing host to the Granton Community Gala for two (soon to be three) years running and more recently an Active Schools Outdoor Adventure event, there are a great many people unaware of this urban oasis.

So when National Grid decided they wanted to erect signs to help residents and visitors to discover and enjoy the open space nestled behind Telford College and Morrisons supermarket they didn’t have far to look for fresh ideas.

Four first year HND Visual Communication students responded to the brief but is was 24 year old Michael Kerr from Galashiels, who wowed project manager Jim Moore.

“I was enormously impressed with all of the ideas put forward, but Michael’s designs really stood out. Not only had he understood what we were looking for on this occasion, he has created a new set of innovative and useable ideas to market wider aspects of the park” said Jim.Michael receives £500 in prize money and will see his ideas become reality when information points are installed at the three main gates to The Forthquarter Park: West Granton Road, Waterfront Broadway and West Shore Road.

 

“I am really thrilled to have my designs chosen. it was great to have an opportunity to work on a live project and I can’t wait to see how the information points turn out. As a student I will obviously find a good use for the prize money!” said Michael. National Grid also contributed £1000 to the college in recognition of costs and  resources required to ensure the students were fully supported and encouraged to participate in the initiative. The 20 acre Park officially opened to the public in April 2010 and is a firm favourite with the locals that know about it.

“National Grid wanted input from people who use the park and have come to know the area, Telford college students were an obvious choice” added Jim

Michael completed his National Certificate in 2010 and this year completed his first year of a two-year HND Visual Communication (Graphic Design) with his design for National Grid helping him achieve an A+. David Hiddleston, Curriculum Manager at the college said: “We are delighted with Michael’s success. Challenges like this are fantastic for developing learners’ skills and provide valuable experience of working to a creative brief with a real client.

National Grid will now request quotes from local sign makers to produce Michael’s designs and the information points should be installed at each of the three park gates later this year. With The Forthquarter Park featuring in Robin Howie’s new book 100 Scotsman Walks and National Grid sponsoring further signage to be installed along Granton Promenade as part of Scottish National Heritage’s bio-diversity trail, Granton’s secret garden’ won’t be a secret for very much longer.

Talented Telford student has designs to expose Granton's secret garden

Edinburgh’s Telford College student Michael Kerr submitted the winning design in a challenge set by National Grid to create signage that will help more people discover its new public park at The Forthquarter. Despite playing host to the Granton Community Gala for two (soon to be three) years running and more recently an Active Schools Outdoor Adventure event, there are a great many people unaware of this urban oasis.

So when National Grid decided they wanted to erect signs to help residents and visitors to discover and enjoy the open space nestled behind Telford College and Morrisons supermarket they didn’t have far to look for fresh ideas.

Four first year HND Visual Communication students responded to the brief but is was 24 year old Michael Kerr from Galashiels, who wowed project manager Jim Moore.

“I was enormously impressed with all of the ideas put forward, but Michael’s designs really stood out. Not only had he understood what we were looking for on this occasion, he has created a new set of innovative and useable ideas to market wider aspects of the park” said Jim.Michael receives £500 in prize money and will see his ideas become reality when information points are installed at the three main gates to The Forthquarter Park: West Granton Road, Waterfront Broadway and West Shore Road.

 

“I am really thrilled to have my designs chosen. it was great to have an opportunity to work on a live project and I can’t wait to see how the information points turn out. As a student I will obviously find a good use for the prize money!” said Michael. National Grid also contributed £1000 to the college in recognition of costs and  resources required to ensure the students were fully supported and encouraged to participate in the initiative. The 20 acre Park officially opened to the public in April 2010 and is a firm favourite with the locals that know about it.

“National Grid wanted input from people who use the park and have come to know the area, Telford college students were an obvious choice” added Jim

Michael completed his National Certificate in 2010 and this year completed his first year of a two-year HND Visual Communication (Graphic Design) with his design for National Grid helping him achieve an A+. David Hiddleston, Curriculum Manager at the college said: “We are delighted with Michael’s success. Challenges like this are fantastic for developing learners’ skills and provide valuable experience of working to a creative brief with a real client.

National Grid will now request quotes from local sign makers to produce Michael’s designs and the information points should be installed at each of the three park gates later this year. With The Forthquarter Park featuring in Robin Howie’s new book 100 Scotsman Walks and National Grid sponsoring further signage to be installed along Granton Promenade as part of Scottish National Heritage’s bio-diversity trail, Granton’s secret garden’ won’t be a secret for very much longer.

Community Conference at Telford College – 14 June 2011

There was a healthy turnout from local people and other stakeholders to discuss the direction NEN should take. These are brief notes taken at the meeting. We also carried out a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, which has been published separately. The meeeting was ably facilitated by Maggie Mellon, for which we aere very grateful. The Board got lots of ideas for the way forward, and we will be working on them. We will keep you informed.

There was general agreement that the NEN represents:

• An information hub for the community
• A voice for local people
• It helps build community well-being

The meeting went on to discuss four key areas: content, funding, marketing and communication.

CONTENT
There should be:
• Local stories from local people
• Pictures
• A place for comments
• Local information
• Advertising
• A place for young people
• A topic of the month
• Campaigns
• Community contact list

FUNDING
We felt that the Board needs to develop a business plan, with short, medium and long-term objectives. Suggestions were:
• Identify big advertisers in the area
• Work closely with Scottish Business in the Community
• Board to build relationships
• Clarify community council grants
• Develop tactic for funding applications, support and expertise
• Identify key local partnership meeting dates for funding applications
• Aim for a “Funday” re-launch
• Consider location options for NEN
• Monthly sponsorship possibilities?
• Web-site development and investment to attract funding and readership
• Consider skills required to implement funding

MARKETING
• Identify who we are, where we are going, etc.
• Keep people informed
• Raise awareness – give people a voice

COMMUNICATION
• Positive identity – NEN should promote positive identity and values
• Local communications hub – It should provide information/communication for the community
• Community development – it should involve the community and help development

The Board will reflect on these views and implement a plan to see the paper published once again.

Forth Neighbourhood Partnership attracts surprising turnout

A surprisingly good turn out at the Forth Neighbourhood Partnership
Public Meeting at Telford College last night.

Local groups and organisations including Community Renewal, Libraries,
Granton Churches and North Edinburgh Arts took advantage of the Market
area to set out information stalls and showcase the range of services
available in the ward.

The aim of the meeting was to update on the regeneration projects in
the Forth Ward and the FNP team had pulled all the stops out to ensure
that a good selection of representatives from City Development, Land
owners and Housing Associations were in attendance to do just that.
Cllr Allan Jackson opened the meeting and Peter Strong introduced the
speakers.

Sally Nelson the Area Manager for City Development set a positive tone
for the presentations outlining her role as both co-ordinator and
facilitator to review progress to date and look for areas to improve,
Sally will look at short term options to put dormant land to good use
as well as working with other land owners to stimulate and support
longer term development around the waterfront regeneration zone and
the adjacent community.

Ann Confrey gave an informative review of National Grid’s The
Forthquarter taking the audience through the progress made .over the
last decade, a well received presentation that reminded the audience
just how much the former gasworks has changed. Some of the most useful
information Ann imparted was the number of sustainable jobs retained
and created in Granton. The Scottish Gas HQ employs over 1500
people, Morrison’s store employs at least 30 and further questions
after the meeting revealed that there are a host of other roles
including 6 security and 4 landscape personnel and around 16 senior
consultants on National Grid’s project team who live and work in
Edinburgh.

Simon Lievesley of Services for Communities confirmed that 21st
Century Homes were on track to commission architects to produce a
masterplan for the new homes at Pennywell and would commence a series
of stakeholder consultation activities once these were available for
review.

Dave White updated on plans for the Muirhouse proposed community
health centre – while he acknowledged the article in the Edinburgh
Evening News- he did not confirm or deny the content, instead he spoke
about reviewing options on how and where services would be provided
with the focus being on the provision of health services required in
the community along with supporting welfare services aimed at enabling
people to live healthier lives rather than on providing a lovely new
building. Read into that what you will.

There was some grumbling from those present about the format of the
event. All questions were deferred until after the meeting and this
did not go down well with some who had hoped to address the speakers
publicly,. However everyone stayed to mingle so there was ample time
to ask questions and speak to officials and representatives while
perusing the stalls and catching up with friends and colleagues.

Councillors Elaine Morris and Cammy Day took time to speak to most of
the people there and thanked Peter Strong’s team for all their efforts
making the event such a success.

Ann Confrey

North Edinburgh Postcode Challenge

Leave your car at home and come join in the FREE fun at the Bike Station’s Postcode Challenge this Sunday!

How to take part:

1. Get onto the North Edinburgh cycle network wherever you like and is most convenient – look at the Innertube map to find your nearest entrance.

2. Track down one of the ten stands. They are spaced out around the network and you won’t have to go far to find the first one. The stands are being run by variousEdinburgh organisations, including Edinburgh and Lothian Greenspace Trust, Sustrans, Changeworks, and the People’s Postcode Lottery.

3. They will give you a participant’s card with space for ten postcodes and stamp it with your first postcode to prove you have visited them (they may also give you a little prize of their own). There’s no need to register – just turn up and ask for a card. There’s one card per team, but don’t worry, there are plenty of prizes.

4. Go on to the next stand and have your card stamped again. Each stand will be able to give you a clue where to go next, but all the locations will be on the network shown on the Innertube map, and you’ll never need to go on a road whilst taking part. And you can’t get lost.

5. When you have been to all ten locations, and collected your ten postcodes, take your completed card to the main desk at Fiveways Junction by4pm to see what you have won. You won’t know what prize, or how many, until you hand your card in. As well as prizes to win on the day, everyone gets to enter a free draw to win bigger prizes.

So basically, spend the afternoon on the North Edinburgh Cycle Path and win prizes!

Questions?

a. how do I find the stands? They are spaced out around the network, and you can either work out where they might be from their postcodes (EH6 4JT, EH6 6HJ, EH6 4RQ, EH7 4HJ, EH7 4EW, EH6 4RH, EH5 2XS, EH4 2SA, EH12 5JE and EH6 4RT), or hunt them down on the day by bike. Each stand will be able to give you an idea where the next one will be. But you will have to explore most of the routes to find the stands – a great way of exploring the network.

b. how long will it take? That depends on how fast you cycle, but it is not a race, and a leisurely couple of hours should do it.

c. I haven’t been on a bike in ages, is this event for me? Absolutely! There is absolutely no traffic, and the whole network is very flat. You won’t need to cycle miles.

d. Can I do it on foot? Yes, but it will take longer!

If you have any questions please contact the Bike Station on 0131 668 1996 or e-mailing info@thebikestation.org.uk

Urban Adventure In Granton This Friday

Urban Adventure is a FREE event for nursery and primary school children, together with their families. It takes place tomorrow, Friday 10 June at Forthquarter Park in Granton (behind Morrisons and Telford College) between 1pm and 4pm. It’s being organised by Active Schools and Pilton Community Health Project.

There will be lots of games, sports and fun activities, including: a visit from the Fire Brigade, a bouncy castle, bugs and beastie hunts, face painting, cycling, orienteering, a tug of war, food stalls, football, rugby, African drumming and music.

A great afternoon out for all the family!

source: http://innertubemap.com/blog/post/152

author: Sue McKichan

 

 

 

Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership Funds Summer Programme

The Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership agreed a grant of £3,274.00 to support the Inverleith wide Summer Programme for Children, Young People and Families. The decision was made at the Partnership meeting that took place on Tuesday night in Stockbridge Library.

The grant will be used to pay for staffing, tutors, entry fees, refreshments, publicity and fuel. The Inverleith Summer Programme is available to local people living in the Inverleith Ward and includes various opportunities for local people that include outdoor education, family trips, art sessions and much more.

The remainder of the estimated £11,000 programme will come from Community Learning & Development who are contributing £3,000 and other local projects who are making in-kind contributions.

The programme will be advertised through local schools, community centres and various websites. A registration night will take place on Wednesday 22nd June 2011 in Broughton High School starting at 6.00pm.