Colony of Artists holds 17th Arts Festival this weekend

ABBEYHILL 17 & 18th SEPTEMBER 11am – 6pm

What are you up to this weekend? Come along to our 17th annual arts and music festival!

Over 75 artists, from a huge variety of disciplines, will throw open doors to their homes & gardens over the weekend – so lots to see and discover … also visit our Campervan Brewery pop up bar, chow down food from @The Safari Lounge & listen to live music at the Hive!

Bellfield to sponsor Edinburgh City women’s football team

Edinburgh City FC Women’s team will be sponsored for the forthcoming season by Bellfield Taproom. Bellfield’s logo will feature on the team strips and the partners will hold a number of joint activities such as charity fundraisers and quiz nights.

Bellfield Taproom – in the city’s Abbeyhill district – is a stone’s throw from the club’s home base: the new Meadowbank Stadium.

The team will return to playing home matches at Meadowbank, from November this year, when the newly rebuilt stadium reopens.

Dave Armstrong, Head of Media & Communications, Edinburgh City FC Women said: “Sponsorship is crucial to our team and Bellfield is very local to our home base. Their reputation for being inclusive and ‘supporting local’ means they are a great partner for the club.

“We are ambitious and aiming to get to the top level, so we hope to make Bellfield proud of their association with the team.”

Women’s football in Scotland is growing at a rapid pace and the opportunities for brand and business awareness and promotion are increasing exponentially.

Edinburgh City FC Women’s team currently play in the SWF Championship which is one tier away from Premiership football. 

The Edinburgh City Women’s squad boasts many Scotland Internationals as well as former Hibs and Celtic players.

The team has a Turkish International in Yasemin Emek and an American No.1, Kelli Hanman.

Bellfield director Marie Brown said: “We’re pleased to be sponsoring such an ambitious and talented squad and look forward to following their progress this season.

“We’re also looking forward to meeting the players and to hosting events and fundraisers at our Taproom to help them on their way.”

Green light for £24 million Student and Homes Quarter in Abbeyhill

Plans for a new mixed-used student and residential quarter in the Abbeyhill area of Edinburgh have been given the go ahead by the City of Edinburgh Council. 

The Abbey Lane development brings together a 298-bed student complex with 66 new homes on the half-acre site, near London Road. Artisan Real Estate will deliver the homes, while Unite Students will develop the student accommodation. 

Artisan bought the former industrial estate site in 2016 and Unite Students acquired the option to purchase the site in July this year. The estimated total cost for the development is in the region of £24 million. 

Artisan will deliver 66 apartments including affordable homes and retail units built around a landscaped courtyard. The design includes a generous amount of green space, including a courtyard area, green roofs and roof gardens.  

Welcoming the planning approval, Clive Wilding, Artisan’s Group Development Director, said: “This is part of a £90 million investment commitment by Artisan to raise the standards of sustainable living at several prime city centre brownfield sites across Edinburgh. 

“Abbey Lane will be a great example of mixed-use living in a superb central location. As well as reducing urban sprawl by optimising the number of people living in well-designed, energy-efficient homes in low car-use locations well-served by public transport, we are also envisaging what people want from their living environment, post-Covid 19. 

“Significant emphasis is placed on the quality of internal space and light to create enjoyable home-working environments, whilst accessible gardens and landscaping promote health and well-being by making nature and well-designed outdoor space integral to the day-to-day living experience.” 

Nick Hayes, Group Property Director, added: “We welcome this decision to grant planning consent. We believe this development will enhance the on-going regeneration of an important part of Edinburgh city centre. 

“Throughout the planning process, we have engaged with the local community and are looking forward to continuing that important work during the development phase of this project. Edinburgh has an undersupply of purpose-built student accommodation and we’re confident that this development will further improve the vibrant Abbeyhill area of the city.” 

Councillors give green light to more student flats

‘A new lease of life’ for Abbeyhill?

A planning application for the development of student accommodation by property developer Glencairn Properties has been approved, subject to conditional cycle parking provision, by Edinburgh City Council’s Development Management Sub-Committee on Tuesday.

The site is located at the corner of Montrose Terrace and West Norton Place next to the General Store and across from the Abbeymount studios. The proposals will introduce a characterful building which has been designed to ‘complete’ the original plans for the street set out in the 1800’s.

Developers say the plans will ‘deliver a high quality, sustainable building that will contribute to the regeneration of the former petrol station at the site’.

The site is the gap site left by the former Shell petrol station which was built in 1970 and was closed in 2011 following a fuel leak. Works to remediate the site and clean the ground started in 2012 but significant contamination remains.

The proposed purpose built student accommodation will provide living space for students and activation of this corner site. It comprises a building of circa 141 student units in a mix of clusters and studios, together with space for use by the students, common areas, a laundry, gym, cycle parking and underground bin stores.

The Montrose Terrace proposals will support the growth ambitions of the universities and colleges in Edinburgh which are major drivers of the local economy, providing accommodation for new researchers and students, as well as supporting business and tourism activity indirectly.

The development will not only deliver jobs during construction, but on completion will deliver further employment opportunities in terms of maintenance and support staff.

An increased student population will also deliver additional expenditure on items such as food, clothing and eating out.

 Economic impact studies for the University of Edinburgh, Heriot Watt University and Edinburgh Napier University estimate that on average each student spends around £12,000 per annum, injecting more than £275m in the city economy annually.

They also indicate that one job in the city is supported by the spending of every 11 students.

Daryl Teague, Managing Director at Glencairn Properties, said: “We’re thrilled our application has been approved and the strong community support we received for it.

“These proposals will redevelop a vital location in the heart of the capital and help to tackle Edinburgh’s growing student accommodation without removing available properties from housing stock.

“We believe that these proposals are in line with City of Edinburgh Council’s stated aim to deliver purpose-built student accommodation throughout the city, reducing pressure on mainstream housing stock.

“Montrose Terrace not only makes use of a derelict site but offers a realistic use for the location without placing additional parking or access issues on the immediate community.

“The plans represent the conclusion of a collaborative discussion about how best to make this site work. Glencairn consulted widely with stakeholders and the community to ensure this site represented the kind of forwarded momentum the city-centre needs.

“We welcome today’s vote, and Glencairn is thrilled to offer a new lease of life to Montrose Terrace.”

Sun shines down on Autumn Games

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More than four hundred and fifty P7s from eleven local schools took part in the Active Schools Autumn Games at Broughton High School today. The children took the opportunity to try out six different sports and there were prizes at the end for top school teams too.

Active Schools coordinator Robert Ure, who organised the event, explained: “The eleven primary schools who took part were Pirniehall and St Davids from the Craigroyston Cluster; Granton, Ferryhill, Flora Stevenson and Stockbridge from the Broughton Cluster; Trinity, Wardie and Victoria from the Trinity Cluster and Abbeyhill and Broughton from the Drummond Cluster.

“They are all P7 classes and I’d estimate we had between 450 – 500 pupils in attendance. The pupils competed in six different competitions – girl’s rugby, boy’s rugby, lacrosse (new this year), football, Tae Kwon Do and fencing – and the winners were presented with a shield to keep for a year.”

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Robert thanked the coaches and volunteers for their essential support in making the event such a success – and there was also a huge thank-you to the school children who took part: while the competition was spirited and enthusiastic, the young athletes were impeccably behaved and a credit to their schools throughout.

And the winners on the day?

Tae Kwon Do – Trinity

Boys Rugby – Wardie

Girls Rugby – Flora Stevenson

Fencing – St David’s

Football – Granton 

Lacrosse – Victoria

Congratulations to all the winners, but as we all know it’s not just about winning, it’s the taking part – so well done to all 450 young sports stars who helped to make the Autumn Games so special!

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