UNISON will be hosting a public demonstration outside the Edinburgh City Chambers on Tuesday 28th September from 9.30am as we continue to put pressure on decision makers to #SaveOurCareHomes.
If you can’t make the demo: – Sign and share the petition: https://www.megaphone.org.uk/…/edinburgh-city-save-our…–
Send a pre-drafted letter to your MSP: https://action.unison.org.uk/page/86495/action/1
The history hub have prepared a series of displays that include unique photographs on Granton’s industries, the Madelvic Car Factory, Granton harbour and Granton castle, transport as well as agriculture.
We are also delighted that Edinburgh City Council have their Waterfront Development Information Displays available, outlining the detailed plans for the local area.
This is truly be a unique community event showing how Granton has developed over the years, with visions about its future.
We also have an art sale of work by 13 artists celebrating local scenery and heritage, complementing the heritage displays.
The event is free, no booking required.
Opening times are Saturday 11-4pm and Sunday 11-2pm.
Please note there is a (seated) talk between 2-4pm during which we are unable give access to the general public.
The owners of The Dome in Edinburgh have said they hope the planning committee approve plans for a new roof for their Rose Street Garden this week to ensure income for the famous venue and help them meet rising upkeep and maintenance costs.
Owners of The Dome say having the Rose Street Garden unable to trade due to do unpredictable weather conditions is putting a great strain on the business. A roof would allow the Garden to be used in all weathers, maximising customers space following the Covid-19 pandemic and helping The Dome meet upkeep and maintenance costs that are increasing on an annual basis.
But Council planners have recommended that the Development Management Sub Committee reject the application, despite no objections from community councils or members of the public and 27 submissions supporting the move indicating they believed it would be a positive addition to the building.
The Dome management are puzzled planners that Historic Scotland (HES), have recommended refusal when a similar application was granted in 1999 with no objection from HES.
Commenting on the report from the Planning Officers, The Dome management said: “The Dome is an iconic Edinburgh building and an attraction in its own right.
“Our application for a retractable glass roof to the rear of the property is similar to one approved in 1999. It means we can make better use of the space on Rose Street and adapt to the changing demands of our customers who more and more want safe outdoor space.
“Approving this roof will allow The Dome to continue as one of Edinburgh’s Premiere venues and tourist attractions. We hope the planning committee would give consideration to the points we have made above.”
Underbelly, the producers of Edinburgh’s Christmas on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council, have officially submitted planning applications for the Capital’s 2021 Winter Festival.
The new application includes complimentary additions to the already granted planning application for Edinburgh’s Christmas at East Princes Street Gardens and The Mound. The updated 2021 application also incorporates West Princes Street Gardens and George Street into the festive mix.
This year, 62 trading stalls and four attractions will pop up in East Princes Street Gardens. The Big Wheel, which has become a firm favourite in Edinburgh’s festive skyline, will also make an appearance in the east end of the city.
Additionally, at the west end, revellers can expect to see a further 15 stall concessions and 11 attractions including the Christmas Tree Maze and a Santa’s Grotto.
For the first time since 2018, Underbelly is seeking permission to reinstate a firm favourite to the Christmas programme, an ice rink. The magical ice rink will have a brand-new location at the westerly end of George Street between Charlotte Square and Castle Street.
Underbelly is meticulously planning Edinburgh’s Christmas with Covid-19 in mind and is dedicated to creating a safe and fun environment for the 2021 Christmas celebrations. Working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council and Essential Edinburgh, Underbelly has taken on board feedback from previous years to create an unmissable festive programme.
Boosting domestic tourism and reinvigorating Princes Street and the surrounding areas, Edinburgh’s Christmas is designed to support economic recovery in the city centre, driving footfall to the wider city centre area, and to bring some much needed cheer and happiness to both residents and visitors to Edinburgh.
More information on the programme and what can be expected for this year’s Edinburgh’s Christmas will be announced shortly. Please make sure that you are signed up to the mailing list via the Edinburgh’s Christmas website.
Underbelly Co-Directors, Charlie Wood and Ed Bartlam said: “The Underbelly team has been working tirelessly to create a bespoke Edinburgh’s Christmas programme that not only provides unforgettable memories and experiences, but also makes visitors feel safe and at ease at all times.
“It’s been a very challenging couple of years for everyone but our proposed plans for Christmas are designed not only to support economic recovery in the city centre, driving footfall to both the East and the West end of the City, but to also bring some much needed cheer and happiness to both residents and visitors.”
A vacant industrial unit in Granton Waterfront is to be transformed into a vibrant creative and community hub by arts charity Edinburgh Palette.
This is another addition to the City of Edinburgh Council’s sustainable and dynamic £1.3bn vision for the area.
The Council has approved a lease of the premises on West Shore Road to the charity, which supports the arts by bringing vacant buildings back to life, so they can provide affordable studio space. The Council’s also supporting the project by providing a year’s free rent.
The project will provide affordable shop space for local retail and hospitality businesses, animating the pedestrian promenade. It will also support the creative industries, the third sector, freelancers and micro-businesses, providing sought after high-quality studio space.
When developed the building’s grounds will greatly enhance the public realm and greenspace in the area and will support active travel to and through the site. Other activities planned are play-based recreation and cultural events and the project will also provide improved access to the Waterfront.
The project comes on the back of the recently announced lease to leading arts charity Wasps who are moving into the fully refurbished Granton Station and a project with Edinburgh College to light up the gasholder in the area.
Depute leader, Cammy Day, said: We announced our ambitious £1.3bn plan to sustainably regenerate this area last year and it’s fantastic to see real progress is being made on the ground.
“Our plan is for Granton Waterfront to provide quality new sustainable development and a place where people can work, play, learn, enjoy culture and live in high-quality homes. The site on West Shore Road will become a draw for the local community as well as visitors to the area, providing jobs and a boost to the local economy as well as supporting so many groups like social enterprises, sports clubs, health and wellbeing services and other community organisations.
“We’ve worked with Edinburgh Palette across the city for a number of years and they’ll make a great addition to the area alongside Wasps. I look forward to supporting them in their new enterprise and seeing all their hard work come to life.”
Development Manager at Edinburgh Palette, Andrew Chainey, said: Edinburgh Palette is delighted and extremely grateful for the phenomenal support received from everyone at the City of Edinburgh Council. Our operational team and long-term contractors can’t wait to deliver on our new home at West Granton Shore.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by interest in the project at 20 West Shore Road from all corners of the community including the creative and craftmaking world. The possibilities are as breathtaking as the views of the Forth from West Granton Shore.”
The site located on West Shore Road will form part of a growing creative, cultural and arts cluster in Granton Waterfront.
This includes the National Museums Collection Centre; National Galleries of Scotland’s Granton Art Centre (along with The Art Works, NGS’ planned new facility); Edinburgh College’s Granton campus (including its art and design faculty and the Performing Arts Studio Scotland); as well as the new 600 sqm Granton Station enterprise hub.
We all know that recycling is one small step everyone can take to help the environment and lower our carbon footprint.
As part of this year’s recycling week (September 20-26) we’d like to help you reduce contamination in your bins which can spoil the rest of the contents and stop them from being recycled. We’ll also be promoting top tips for what to put in which bin and more on which plastics you can recycle.
We’ve created an easy-to -use online recycling sorter. You type in an item and it tells you if it can be recycled, which bin to put it in or where to take it – there’s also plenty of tips too.
Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener, said: “It’s really important we all get in the habit of disposing of our waste correctly and reusing and recycling where we can. This will all help towards our target for Edinburgh to become a net zero carbon city by 2030.
“To help you sort out your waste and stop even small bits of food and grease in the green recycling bin contaminating other items, like paper and cardboard spoiling the whole bin we’re providing top tips across various platforms, including our website. Our brand new recycling sorter will also be a really useful guide too.”
Depute Leader, Cammy Day, said: “We’re trying to make recycling as easy as possible for our residents.
“I know it can be confusing, with so many different kinds of plastics being used in packaging so we’re providing guidance on that and how to dispose of electrical items safely as well! Please check this out to help us recycle more.”
Check it
Make sure it’s on the ‘yes please list’.
Empty it
Make sure any bottles or containers are empty. Remember, you can leave plastic drink bottle lids on, but please remove any pump sprays.
Rinse it
Rinse any food and drinks packaging with water before putting it in the bin – you can even use dish water to do this.
Remove it
Peel film lids and coverings off plastic bottles, tubs, pots and trays. Plastic film, wrapping and cellophane can’t be recycled. You don’t need to remove labels though.
Separate it
Don’t store containers and packaging inside each other – it’s difficult to separate them at the recycling plant.
How to recycle your plastics
What to recycle
Whether you use a wheelie bin or a communal bin you can easily recycle plastics in your green lidded bin. Just pop in your empty plastic:
We don’t collect any other type of plastic, so don’t put bags, wrappers, cellophane, toys or any other type of plastic in your green lidded bin.
Before you pop them in the bin remember to rinse the bottles and wash any food off pots, tubs and trays – you don’t need to remove labels, but some bottles come wrapped in a sleeve made from a different plastic. Tear these off and put them in your non-recyclable waste bin.
We accept bottles with or without the tops, but remove pump sprays before putting them in the bin as we can’t recycle them.
What happens to plastic recycling?
Our contractor recycles these in their own recycling plants in England. Anything they can’t recycle is turned into fuel.
Avoiding plastics means less waste
Everything you buy or use has an impact on the environment. Recycling helps to reduce this by reducing how many raw products we use but avoiding producing waste in the first place means even less impact.
Edinburgh has some great refill shops where you can bring your own tubs and bottles and refill them with dried foods, household cleaners and toiletries. Some supermarkets are also starting to develop refill stations in-store.
Plastic bags and wrappers
You can recycle plastic bags at larger supermarkets. They’re starting to collect a wider range of plastic wrappers.
Find out about recycling plastic bags and wrappers.
Large plastic items
We can’t collect and recycle large plastic items at our recycling centres at the moment. This includes items like garden furniture and toys. We’re looking for a reliable recycling company who will take items and we’ll start to collect them again as soon as we can.
You can still take them to one of our recycling centres to dispose of them, but we won’t be able to recycle them.
Other household plastics
Some types of plastics are much harder to collect, either due to their size or because they are made of a mix of materials and need specialist treatment.
Some shops have now started to provide collection points for things like lipstick packaging, pumps sprays and cosmetic packaging in store.
These include
Not all stores will offer the service, so check their websites to find out what they take and which stores provide this.
How to recycle electrical items:
You can also search the city council’s new online recycling sorter to find out what to do with your unwanted electricals.
City of Edinburgh Council finance leaders have welcomed yesterday’s Scottish Government announcement that around 8,000 Edinburgh children from low-income families will benefit from a £320 uplift before Christmas.
As part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling child poverty, children that are entitled to free school meals will receive payments of £160 per child in October and December.
This follows three payments that were made late in 2020 and early this year to eligible families by the Council, taking the total to £620 received by each child.
In Edinburgh, these were:
a Winter Support Fund payment of £100 per child in December 2020;
a Spring Hardship Payment of £100 per child in March 2021; and
a Summer Family Pandemic Payment of £100 per child in June 2021. This was issued along with the Summer holiday Free School Meals Payment of £92.50 per child.
This will take the total money distributed to children in low-income families by the end of 2021, over these five payments, to around £4.8 million.
In 2022, the Council also will deliver £520 payments per child in 4 instalments on behalf of the Scottish Government.
As detailed by the Scottish Government, this cash is equivalent to the Scottish Child Payment (SCP), a £10-a-week benefit which provides regular, additional financial support for families in receipt of qualifying benefits to assist with the costs of caring for a child aged under six years old.
Finance Convener Councillor Rob Munn said: “Many families are still feeling the effects of the pandemic and it’s more important than ever that we continue to support those most in need, particularly at a time of year when household bills are increasing. So we welcome this additional money from the Scottish Government, that will be administered through the Council, to give some added relief.
“As a Council we are committed to ending poverty and supporting the wellbeing of our residents and through building a better foundation for our young people we hope that we can create a better future for all.”
Finance Vice Convener Councillor Joan Griffiths said: “Direct support must go hand in hand with the ongoing financial support to ensure that no child is left behind as a result of these unprecedented times.
“Our teams from across Children’s Services have worked tirelessly to put in place a series of measures across the city to continue to support and monitor the effects the pandemic is having on our children. Thanks must go to all our hard-working staff and third sector partners who are providing these vital services.”
The city council is to continue it’s support for the hospitality sector to help businesses make the most of outdoor space safely as Covid 19 cases remain high in Edinburgh.
A number of measures agreed in March to help economic recovery are being extended, including allowing temporary structures created to increase outdoor seating capacity to stay in place until 31 October. After this time permissions such as planning may be required.
Charges for outdoor area occupation permits (for tables and chairs) are also being waived until 31 December.
This provision will continue to apply across the city meaning all Edinburgh hospitality businesses are eligible, provided they apply for and obtain the relevant road occupation permit.
Council leader Adam McVey said: “Unfortunately, we’re all still very much living through the effects of this pandemic. Our local pubs, cafes and restaurants have had an extremely tough 18 months and so and it’s really important we continue to do everything we can to support our local businesses as they begin to recover with many restrictions now no longer in place.
“This needs to be balanced with local needs and so that’s why if you created an additional structure for extra outdoor capacity during the pandemic, you need to apply for the appropriate permission after 31 October.
“This will also provide a welcome boost to surrounding retail businesses as more people are attracted to safely enjoy the outdoor spaces throughout Edinburgh.”
Depute Leader Cammy Day added: “Last year we streamlined the application process for using outdoor spaces for tables and chairs as part of our drive to support the city’s economic recovery.
“Our aim is to help businesses safely make use of outside space at no cost to them. We’re continuing to implement the permit system to allow us to monitor where businesses are providing outdoor space to make sure they are doing so appropriately and safely, while also taking into account the needs of local people.”
Supporting business and retaining jobs is a ‘key priority’ for the city council as the pandemic continues. So far, the Council has administered over 19000 payments totalling over £250m to businesses.
Edinburgh has committed to putting food at the centre of its response to the climate emergency, after becoming a signatory to the International Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration.
Launched by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems and Nourish Scotland, the Declaration highlights the vital role food plays in meeting cities’ net zero targets, as well as helping to reduce poverty, inequality and poor health.
And by becoming a signatory to the Declaration, the City of Edinburgh Council renews its commitment to sustainable food policies and joined up action, raising awareness of how people’s livelihoods, health and local biodiversity are all interconnected with production, manufacture, supply, consumption and disposal of food.
The Declaration aligns with Edinburgh’s existing net zero commitments, which include:
The move follows on from the Council committing £130,000 to invest in expanding the provision of local food growing opportunities in the city earlier this year, along with a further £0.500 million to enhance Edinburgh’s parks, playparks, food growing and urban forests, with £4m of related capital investment.
Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, Councillor Adam McVey said: Food systems currently account for a third of total global greenhouse gas emissions and, with COP26 being hosted in Scotland later this year, we have a unique opportunity as Scotland’s capital city to bring food systems reform to the forefront of the climate debate.
“Edinburgh’s pioneering local integrated food policies and strategies are helping to reduce the city’s impact on the environment and encouraging biodiversity.
“Through Growing Locally, our first ever food growing strategy, and our partnership with Edible Edinburgh, we’re already taking strides in increasing local food production and public awareness of the importance of sustainable food to our environment.
“This reflects our wider commitment to securing a more sustainable future for our citizens through tackling the climate emergency and working with partners towards ensuring the city of Edinburgh becomes net zero by 2030.
“We hope that signing the Declaration will help to highlight the importance of sustainable food to our environment, economy and communities across the city.”
Deputy leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, Councillor Cammy Day added: “The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the importance of community growing initiatives in reducing social isolation, and creating stronger, more connected communities as well as providing people with access to fresh, locally produced, low carbon food.
“Growing and eating local food helps to reduce emissions from food miles, helps to encourage plants and wildlife to flourish, and can support a thriving local circular economy as part of the city’s efforts to tackle poverty.
“Becoming a signatory to the Declaration on Food and Climate recognises that food systems have an important role to play in regenerating local ecosystems and ensuring everyone has access to healthy and sustainable food.”
Chair of Edible Edinburgh, Councillor George Gordon said: “Edinburgh is home to a large and vibrant food economy which employs more than 32,000 people across almost 200 city businesses.
“Our thriving local food growing projects bring people and communities together, improve biodiversity and mitigate against the effects of climate change.
“Through our partnership with Edible Edinburgh, Edinburgh has already achieved the Bronze award for being a sustainable food city and is now working towards its Silver accreditation. As part of this we’re increasing local food growing activity and the supply of locally produced food and raising public awareness of the importance of sustainable food to our environment, economy and communities.”
Edinburgh is also a Fairtrade City and, as a lead member of the Edible Edinburgh partnership, the City of Edinburgh Council is working towards developing Edinburgh as a sustainable food city.
Growing Locally, the city’s first food growing strategy, is encouraging organisations, communities and citizens to work together to increase opportunities for growing, support local food suppliers and ensure the health, wellbeing and biodiversity benefits of local food systems are shared across the city.
In the lead up to COP26, IPES-Food and Nourish Scotland along with Declaration partners will provide a platform for signatories to share best practice and insights on developing and monitoring sustainable integrated food policies.
This will be followed by a series events during COP26 on the role of local and regional governments in building sustainable food systems.
A band of 18 enthusiastic dancing volunteers joined environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful at Portobello Beach on Sunday (12 September) to rid the beach of litter and kick off the charity’s ‘Source to Sea’ week. The litter-picking crew donned their headphones, tuned-in and removed rubbish from the seaside.
They removed lots of small plastics, including cigarette butts, as well as broken glass and bits of clothing left in the sand – a common issue on popular beaches. As well as removing litter from the beach, the purpose of the litter picking party was to raise awareness of how litter left on land can make its way into the sea to pollute our oceans.
The event was organised as part of the charity’s My Beach Your Beach and Treasure your River campaigns, in partnership with Keep Porty Tidy, who go out daily to blitz litter from the beach and prom.
Treasure Your River, created by environmental charity HUBBUB and delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful, has been targeting litter from source to sea along the River Forth this summer.
The event was also supported by Oscar’s Gelato on the Porty prom, with complimentary gelato and other refreshments offered to volunteers.
Now in its fourth year, the My Beach Your Beach campaign aims to support bathing water quality at a selection of beaches, including Portobello, Fisherrow Sands and Kinghorn Harbour beach on the east coast.
The campaign does this by promoting beach stewardship among locals and visitors and encouraging good habits that can affect bathing water quality, both at the beach and indoors.
This summer’s pre-season litter survey, carried out by Keep Porty Tidy for the My Beach Your Beach campaign, found over 110 items of litter along a sample 100m stretch of beach and prom.
The majority of this litter was drinks and food related rubbish, highlighting the need for people to bin their ‘on the go’ food packaging or take it home.
Greta Elliott, from Keep Porty Tidy, said: “The silent disco litter pick was a lot of fun and a great way to get people involved in keeping our beautiful beach clean and litter free.
“Hopefully it will help encourage others to do the right thing and make sure their rubbish ends up in the bin rather than polluting the beach.”
Georgina Massouraki, Campaigns Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Beach litter is a huge environmental issue, not only blighting our communities but also washing out to sea, where it breaks down into microplastics, harming wildlife and marine ecosystems. This silent disco litter pick was a fun way to draw attention to this issue and hopefully reach a wider range of people.
“Our My Beach Your Beach campaign is designed to help improve the quality of bathing waters by asking people to bin their litter, bag and bin their dog poo and not to feed the gulls.
“We have been delighted to work with Keep Porty Tidy on the campaign in Portobello and hope that beach users will take notice and be more thoughtful about the impact they can have on the sand and sea.”
Cllr Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener at The City of Edinburgh Council, said: “We’re proud of Edinburgh’s beautiful beaches and so we’re very grateful to the litter pickers who worked so hard at the weekend to help us to keep Porty beach clean. I love that they had fun in the process of keeping fit and entertaining visitors as they danced along the beach.
“Our cleansing teams provided them with the equipment they needed to safely remove discarded litter and we’ve made sure the waste collected has been taken away. Our teams have been extremely busy throughout the pandemic working to keep Porty and the rest of Edinburgh clean and tidy and it’s great to see the Porty community taking pride in their area and helping them out.
“I’d ask everyone visiting any of our beaches to respect our local communities and environment by using the bins provided or by taking your litter home with you.”
Read more about My Beach Your Beach:
https://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/community-and-place/my-beach-your-beach/
Read more about Treasure Your River:
