Category: West Pilton

Community projects in the running for Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce awards

Community projects and third sector organisations have been short-listed for awards at next month’s Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business awards.

North Edinburgh’s COVID 19 Response and Recovery Group has been nominated for the Inspiring Partnership Award, with Citadel Youth Centre and Leith Rugby Club and Cyrenians and Natwest partnerships also in the running in that category.

The North Edinburgh COVID-19 Response and Recovery Group was formed at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. Local projects and community organisations joined together in an informal coalition and have been working together ever since to ensure that the community’s most vulnerable people are being supported and protected during the pandemic.

Cyrenians is also nominated in the Local Business Hero, Employer of the Year and and Young Leader of the Year categories.

A Chamber spokesperson explained: “Each year, the Edinburgh Chamber looks forward to hosting its much loved Business Awards ceremony to recognise the successes and achievements of our vibrant business community.

“2020 has been a tough year for all. However, despite the ongoing challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we have watched businesses across the city come together to lead, innovate, collaborate and support those in need.

“We feel it is important to recognise the efforts and dedication shown by organisations over the past year, and so we’re delighted to announce the launch of our first ever virtual business awards.

“Our virtual awards will bring the business community together to showcase the resilience, adaptability and outstanding contribution of our local businesses and professionals, in the most challenging of years.”

Award Categories 2021:

  • Responsible Business – sponsored by City of Edinburgh Council
  • Innovation in Business – sponsored by CityFibre
  • Director of the Year – sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland
  • Developing the Young Workforce – sponsored by Developing the Young Workforce
  • Employer of the Year – sponsored by Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP
  • Young Leader of the Year – sponsored by Thorntons Law LLP
  • Inspiring Partnership Award – sponsored by Openreach
  • Excellence in Circular Economy – sponsored by Circular Edinburgh
  • Export Business of the Year – sponsored by Forth Ports
  • Service Excellence – sponsored by Heehaw
  • Local Business Hero – sponsored by TLT LLP
  • Lifetime Achievement – sponsored by Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce 

This event will take place virtually during the week of the Edinburgh’s Business Festival .

The virtual festival, taking place from 1-5th March, offers 18 events over the 5 days, ranging from keynote speakers and panel discussions to networking events and practical workshops. The Chamber will also host its annual Business Awards, to recognise and showcase the resilience, adaptability and outstanding contribution of local businesses and professionals, in the most challenging of years.

The headline sponsor for this year’s Business Festival is St James Quarter.

Martin Perry, Director of Development for St James Quarter, said: “At St James Quarter we’re passionate about doing our part to support the local Edinburgh community – and the businesses within it.

“We’re delighted to partner with the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and look forward to connecting with our peers and neighbours throughout the event.”

 You can download the full programme here 

Edinburgh’s Business Festival is open to all and free to attend. For more information please click here.

If you have not booked a Festival ticket, you may book this event separately via ECC’s event page.

West Pilton taxi theft: can you help trace driver’s attackers?

Police are continuing enquiries into a robbery which happened on Tuesday, 29 December, 2020, where a taxi driver was assaulted and his taxi stolen in West Pilton Grove.

The 39-year-old taxi driver was driving along West Pilton Grove around 2.40pm when he had to stop his car due to a number of youths throwing stones at it. On stopping and getting out of his car he was attacked by around six or seven youths and assaulted.

One of the youths then drove off in his taxi, a grey coloured Mercedes car which has the registration number WP14ZRY. As yet the car has not been recovered.

Two of youths involved are described as being:

(1) male, white, 16/17 years, 5’8” tall, medium build with light brown short hair. He was wearing a brown/yellow jacket and black tracksuit bottoms. He spoke with a local accent.

(2) Male, white, medium build, dark curly hair, wearing a black tracksuit.

The other youths are only described as being male, in the 16 to 17 years age range and were wearing dark coloured clothing.

As a result of the attack the victim received a number of bruises to his face and body.

Detective Constable Zaira Marker of Edinburgh Division’s CID said: “I would ask anyone who may have witnessed this robbery, or who may have any information which might assist us in this investigation to call us on the 101 number, giving the reference number 1841 of 29 December 2020.”

Help is at Hand: Local Pantry opening hours update

Due to the pandemic restrictions the main North Edinburgh Arts venue will remain closed, but the NEA Pantry (in the old Co-op building on Pennywell Road) is open today from 10-2pm for new members, resuming usual hours from next Wednesday 13 January.

FRESH START PANTRY

New opening hours for Fresh Start Pantry on Ferry Road Drive

If you need help or advice, please call our North Edinburgh phoneline on 0131 356 0220 and we will help or signpost to who can!

GRANTON:HUB PANTRY

The first pantry of the New Year took place yesterday (Wednesday 6th January) from 11 – 12pm.

The pantry will continue to run on Wednesday’s on a fortnightly basis – next one will be Wednesday 20 January.

Thank you for the produce supplied by FareShareRoyal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Edinburgh Food for Good/Refugee Community Kitchen.

For more information contact community@grantonhub.org

There’s also daily food support from Leith-based Empty Kitchens Full Hearts:

Advice and support still available at Granton Information Centre despite latest lockdown

Following the latest coronavirus guidelines announced on Monday, Granton Information Centre staff are working from home and our office on West Granton Road will remain closed for the foreseeable future – BUT PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT WE ARE STILL OPERATING!

You can contact us by email at info@gic.org.uk or by calling 0131 551 2459 or 0131 552 0458.

Any messages left on our answering machine will be dealt with as soon as possible – please ensure you clearly leave your full name and telephone number when leaving a message.

Let’s all play our part in keeping each other safe, stopping this terrible virus and getting life back to normal!

Have you seen Lukasz?

RE-APPEAL FOR MISSING MAN LUKASZ MACHALSKI

Police are appealing for information to help trace a man one week since he was reported missing from his home in Craigentinny.

Lukasz Machalski (26) was last seen in the West Pilton Drive area around 9pm on Sunday, 13 December. There was a possible sighting of him about 12pm on Monday, 14 December, in the Restalrig area. Lukasz has not been seen or heard of since. There is growing concern for his welfare.

He is described as being 5th 10ins tall, with fair blonde hair which is often shaved. At the time he went missing Lukasz was wearing a grey jacket, grey tracksuit bottoms and Nike trainers that are black and gold.

Lukasz is known to have links with Glasgow and may have travelled to the city. He is also familiar with the West Pilton and Restalrig areas of Edinburgh.

Inspector Gordon Duff of Craigmillar Police Station said: “It has now been a week since Lukasz was reported missing and along with his family, we are becoming increasingly concerned for his welfare and are keen to locate him as soon as possible.

“I would urge anyone who may have seen him to contact us immediately. Similarly, if Lukasz is reading this, let us know you are safe and well.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting incident number 2653 of 13, December

Have your say on North Edinburgh’s active travel connections

Residents in north Edinburgh are being invited to help shape a key project to improve connections and public spaces in their local community.

The city council is asking people from across Muirhouse, Pilton, Granton and Drylaw to contribute to the future of Pennywell Road and its links to existing paths at Crewe Toll, Gypsy Brae, Silverknowes and West Granton Access Road.

Through the North Edinburgh Active Travel (NEAT) Connections scheme we’re proposing changes to Pennywell Road and the surrounding area. These include increasing space available for walking, cycling and wheeling, making it easier to access local shops and community spaces without the use of a car and working with members of the community to improve public areas and green spaces.

We’re seeking feedback from residents via a dedicated Commonplace map, a tool recently used as part of Spaces for People engagement, which attracted more than 4000 comments.

This will help to identify existing problem areas and opportunities for new crossings, green spaces or where other improvements could be made.

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: This project will create a much more welcoming, relaxed environment for those travelling on foot, bike or wheelchair.

“We’ve already seen how temporary Spaces for People initiatives across the city have encouraged people to walk, wheel or cycle and we want to see this happen long-term, with the associated benefits to health and the environment.

“Of course, we want any changes to work for all the people who live and spend time in this area, which is why we want to hear what they think and where improvements can be made. By sharing their thoughts and ideas they can help shape the final design, which will make travel to nearby schools, shops and local areas much easier and safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Interim Head of Infrastructure Delivery for Sustrans Scotland, Chiquita Elvin, said: “Despite being close to existing walking, cycling and wheeling routes, such as the North Edinburgh Path Network, it can be challenging to access them for Muirhouse and Pilton due to the volume of traffic and the focus on roads in the original design of the area.

“We want the local community to tell us how we can make walking, cycling and wheeling easier for them, be that with new path connections, wider pavements, dedicated space for cycling or new crossings. These changes have the potential to transform how people get around North Edinburgh and every opinion matters.”

As well as benefiting local residents, changes could make it easier for travel to Craigroyston Community High School, Craigroyston Primary, Oaklands Primary, Forthview Primary and the new civic centre being developed at the former Muirhouse Shopping Centre.

In addition to the Commonplace website locals can leave their feedback on maps displayed in the North Edinburgh Arts centre café. 

NEAT Connections has been funded through Sustrans’ Scotland’s Places for Everyone programme, with support from Transport Scotland.

Separate temporary measures to make cycling safer and easier on Pennywell Road, Muirhouse Parkway and Ferry Road are currently in place and have been implemented through the Spaces for People programme.

Fresh Start online AGM set for Tuesday 8th December

Fresh Start Annual General Meeting 8th December 2.15pm, via Zoom

We will be hosting the Annual General Meeting of Fresh Start (Scotland) Ltd this year via Zoom web link on Tuesday, 8th December at 2.15pm.   Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and current restrictions in place, we are unable to hold the meeting face to face and instead, ask that you join us virtually.

The formal business of the AGM consists of a presentation from the Convenor, Lindsay Wallace, on the activities of Fresh Start over the past year, together with a presentation of the Report and Accounts for 2019/20. 

This will be followed by a short presentation from Biddy Kelly, Managing Director, and video showing what has taken place over the past year.  The event will be finished by 3pm.

We would kindly ask that any questions are submitted prior to the event if possible but may be asked on the day either via the chat function on Zoom or afterwards via email.

To join us via Zoom, please click on the link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86225701177?pwd=SmxveGVteDRWaTRhZ2ZFMlU2K0twZz09

Or alternatively, visit https://zoom.us/

Select ‘Join a Meeting’ and enter this code: 862 2570 1177

When prompted, enter this password: 594344

It is a great opportunity to catch up on all the latest from Fresh Start and see some friendly faces and would love to you join in.

If you would like to view the Company’s accounts prior to the meeting, please click here or email us to be sent a copy.

If you can attend, please let us know, by telephoning admin on 0131 476 7741 or by replying to this email  by Friday 4th December.  If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you cannot attend. 

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you.

Kind regards,

Carrie-Ann

Carrie-Ann Scougall

Business Manager, Fresh Start

22-24 Ferry Road Drive

Edinburgh  EH4 4BR

Direct Line: 0131 370 9000

Head Office: 0131 476 7741

www.freshstartweb.org.uk

WALL OF SHAME

Muirhouse residents highlight council’s repairs failures

  • This afternoon Muirhouse Living Rent members will be highlighting Edinburgh council’s home repairs failures in chalk outside Pennywell Road shops before hand delivering their demands regarding the repairs process within Edinburgh Council properties to council buildings on West Pilton Gardens
  • This action comes after repeated instances of residents’ repairs’ needs being ignored, delayed or delivered to a poor standard and seeks to call Edinburgh council’s attention to the wider repairs system
  • Tenants demand that Edinburgh city council introduce measure to improve delays, satisfaction and communication regarding repairs

Today, from 1pm – 3.30pm, Living Rent members from Muirhouse will gather to protest the failure of Edinburgh City Council to provide an adequate standard of repairs to council properties in the area.

Members’ will write a wall of complaints in chalk complying with social distancing measures to bring the council’s attention to the significant delays, lack of communication, and poor quality repairs across these properties which have left many residents living with long-term mould, damp, drafts, and leaks.

Information received from a Freedom of Information request shows that despite there being less than 5,000 council properties in the North West locality of the city, to date there are 1,390 uncompleted repairs jobs.

Residents also learned that in the last year alone, the council received over 2,815 repairs complaints relating to heating systems and 1,472 relating to plumbing works with the average time taken for a repair to be completed being 35 days – this is despite a 2019 Edinburgh council report revealing that 90% of homes in Muirhouse required repairs [1].

Ongoing issues with severe damp, mould, and leaks in Muirhouse residents’ homes is contributing to respiratory health problems with one resident being told by her doctor that her mould-ridden property was no longer safe for her and her child to live in.

Edinburgh council advice to residents suffering with extreme mould and damp is to ventilate and heat the property, but owing to the structural insulation problems across many of the blocks, heating the properties sufficiently is a costly process.

Some families across the blocks estimate their winter heating costs to be as high as £50/week – adding to problems of fuel poverty in an area where one in three children live in poverty [2].

Amidst a global pandemic, accessing secure, safe and quality housing is more important than ever, and residents fear that the upcoming winter will exacerbate the consequences of unaddressed repairs issues.

Following the chalk wall of shame on Pennywell Road, tenants will proceed to march down to the West Pilton Gardens Council offices where they plan to deliver their letter of demands by hand.

These demands include:

– A new system by which tenants must sign-off on all repairs jobs prior to the council closing the case
– Tenants to be given ‘repairs process’ satisfaction forms after the completion of each repair
– Having a named council employee who works in the repairs department who is designated to be responsible for all repairs cases across Muirhouse
– Tenants to be given a deadline for any second repairs visits within 24 hours of the first visit by a tradesperson or council worker
– Tenants request Edinburgh council provide a reasonable timescale within which all repairs should be resolved

Muirhouse tenant and Living Rent member, Shafiq, said: “I have been waiting for over nine months for a leak repair. My home is permanently damp and causing respiratory problems during a pandemic – and I’m not even living in the worst flat in my building!”

Another Muirhouse-based Living Rent member highlighted that “this type of behaviour by Edinburgh council shows the need for an in depth review of their system which is clearly failing tenants in the middle of a pandemic, when access to warm, secure and quality housing is crucial to health”.

Notes

[1]https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/edinburgh-council-finds-90-cent-muirhouse-flats-need-repair-141071

[2]https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/shameful-figures-show-extent-child-18153034

[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-45508172

[4] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/authority-acting-like-a-slum-landlord-wbncv9nr8

[5] https://nen.press/2018/09/13/slum-landlord-muirhouse-high-rise-conditions-insufferable/

www.livingrent.org

MUIRHOUSE DESERVES BETTER: Day Of Action


📍Thurs 26th 13:00 at Pennywell Road shops: https://fb.me/e/LVcOQRcz

Living Rent Muirhouse members are inviting local residents and union members to draw in chalk their housing problems which are not being dealt with by their landlord – Edinburgh City Council.

Members and residents will then hand in a list of their demands about repairs to the Edinburgh City Council offices. This has gone on for long enough: Muirhouse Deserves Better!

SOCIALLY DISTANCED/ COVID MEASURES

– online tweets and fb posts for those shielding
– masks and hand sanitiser provided
– physically distancing measures enacted