Tag: city council

Help the council to develop your future community

Convener of the city council’s Planning Committee Cllr Joan Griffiths encourages residents get involved in plans to improve local communities

Are you passionate about your local community and interested in helping us shape how it looks in the future? Local Place Plans have been introduced so you can tell us what you care about, like and don’t like about where you live as well as your community’s aspirations.

Every area is different and so your plan can address your community’s needs and concerns. The Council is required to recognise Local Place Plans when preparing the next local development Plan – City Plan 2040.

So how does this work? There is no right or wrong way to develop each plan. It will depend on the resources you have available. But it must include a map of the relevant land, and a proposal of how the land will be used. You can make it very simple, and it doesn’t need to be professionally designed. A word document and a map can be enough.

You can help shape future housing, business, or community spaces by bringing forward proposals to improve quality of life, health and well-being, and help to protect buildings and green space in line with your community values.

If you have an idea, I’d suggest you team up with your local community council or relevant trusts or charities. Children and youth groups, local schools and organisations big and small may also like to get involved with your plan.

A Local Place Plan needs to relate to a specific area, but it can be any size. It can cover a whole district, a neighbourhood, or a single plot of land. It is up to you what you cover.

It doesn’t need to be clearly defined in the beginning. It can evolve during the process.

A good Local Place Plan has information on what life is like in your area and who lives there. It could have ideas for new buildings and homes, improving how you get around, additional spaces for playing, sports or growing food, or proposals to reuse important buildings.

To prepare one you’ll also need to reach out to your community to find out what is most important to them. You should ask about the changes you’d like to make, what you’d like to protect, what they think is missing in the community and you can point out planning policies you think can be influenced in your plan.

You could do this through surveys and questionnaires, drop in events, exhibitions and by attending planned local events. Schools and youth organisations will be able to help you talk to young people too.

Our aim with City Plan 2040 and local place plans is to strengthen communities and make sure that they look after the wellbeing of their residents.

We want to build attractive places where people can afford to buy or rent their homes, walk to educational and healthcare facilities, enjoy cultural and sporting activities and easily access sustainable transport to visit other parts of Edinburgh.

You will find further information on local place plans on our website.

Trams consultation: Local drop-in session added in Drylaw

The city council has added a further Drop-in Session on the North-South Tramline  Consultation Proposals following a request by Drylaw Telford Community Council.

More than 40 people attended last week’s community council meeting to discuss tram line options for the area, but planned guest speaker Cllr Stephen Jenkinson, the city council’s Transport and Environment convener, was unable to attend and submitted his apologies on the afternoon of the meeting.

The council is proposing a north – south tram route which would run from Granton, through the city centre, out to the Edinburgh BioQuarter and Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh via Cameron Toll, and potentially beyond into the city region.

The meeting – the best-attended community council event for some years – went ahead and called for a local drop-in event for Drylaw Telford residents in line with those staged at Blackhall Primary School, Granton Station and North Edinburgh Arts.

The community council has also submitted a list of questions raised by residents at the meeting for a council response.

As a result, another local Drop-in will take place on: 

Tuesday 28th October

from 4 – 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre

There will also be another opportunity see what is being proposed and to make comments at Bristo Baptist Church on Wednesday 29 October from 4 – 7pm.

 

Edinburgh’s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener reflects on World Homeless Day

Councillor Lezley Marion Cameron writes about the challenges facing Edinburgh, and the work being done to tackle them:

In Edinburgh, our population continues to grow at speed and for some years now, housing demand has been significantly outstripping supply.  

Since declaring a Housing Emergency nearly two years ago, this Council, together with housing providers and partners across the sector, has continued to grapple with this crisis within statutory and policy frameworks, including the new Housing Bill, and resources available.

World Homeless Day 2025 coincides with Challenge Poverty Week, with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reporting earlier this week that almost 250,000 children in Scotland are experiencing poverty.

Eighty thousand Edinburgh residents live in relative poverty, comprising one in five children, and 5,500 of our households are without settled housing, living in temporary accommodation.

To tackle this, the Council’s approach focuses on prevention, early intervention and mitigation.

Central to preventing homelessness is making sure everyone has access to a safe, warm place to stay; and investing in help and support for those at risk of losing their homes.

In 2024, we helped prevent homelessness for 2,622 households. This work ranges from our Early Intervention team, who reach out to all households who contact homelessness services, to specialist advice and support provided by our Private Rented Sector team.

Where we have been unable to prevent individuals and families from losing their homes, we are working hard to provide suitable alternative accommodation through our Housing Emergency Action Plan (HEAP).

Our long-term plans to reduce the need for temporary accommodation and improve the quality and quantity of our housing stock include our ambitious housebuilding programme, efforts to acquire new homes directly from providers, bringing empty homes back into use, and investing in the retrofitting of existing housing stock.

This World Homeless Day, as Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, I am acutely aware of the power of work we all still need to do and the resources we need from Government to deliver meaningful increases in our housing supply so that every person and family in Edinburgh can be living in a warm, safe, energy efficient home.

End Poverty Edinburgh Conference

EDINBURGH UNITES TO TACKLE POVERTY

The Council Leader and campaigners have come together to call for action to challenge the injustice of poverty in Scotland’s capital.

Staging an anti-poverty event this week (Wednesday 8 October), the End Poverty Edinburgh citizen group highlighted how around 80,000 people are living in relative poverty in Edinburgh.

The conference, held at the Grassmarket Community Project with people with lived experience of poverty, is part of Challenge Poverty Week 2025. Highlighting the need for poverty prevention and the injustice of poverty on marginalised communities, the event followed previous conferences held in 2023 and 2024.

In Edinburgh, a citywide commitment has been made to tackle poverty, which affects one in five children in the city. This includes accelerating the work of the End Poverty Edinburgh Action Plan – also tackling the city’s Housing Emergency and reviewing the way the council supports the third sector in Edinburgh.

A new preventative approach has been adopted with the aim of making it easier for people at risk of poverty to access support, while funding has been provided to Edinburgh’s new Regenerative Futures Fund, which will help local communities to lead poverty prevention and deliver change.

Caroline Cawley, a member of End Poverty Edinburgh, said: “This is our third annual conference, and we wanted to use this day as an opportunity to highlight the injustices facing marginalised groups, who are more likely to experience poverty in Scotland.

“Poverty and uncertainty for these groups is not getting better and many people are starting to lose hope. This is the worst thing to lose as hope is the last thing to go. As a group of Edinburgh residents with lived experience of poverty, we’ll continue to use Challenge Poverty Week to call for change and solutions, including greater poverty prevention in the city.”

Speaking at the event, Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “In Edinburgh around 80,000 residents are struggling to make ends meet, with one in five children living in relative poverty. We must continue to do everything in our power to end poverty in Edinburgh.

“I’m proud of the positive work which is already being done to combat the causes of inequality in the city, and this annual conference highlights the incredible efforts of our third sector, council officers, and city partners to make life better for thousands of people across the city. Without this progress, these statistics would be even more stark.

“We can’t address poverty alone and this Challenge Poverty Week, we’re uniting for change, highlighting the injustice of poverty in our communities.”

Peter Kelly of The Poverty Alliance said: “We’re very pleased that Edinburgh is marking this year’s Challenge Poverty Week. In a rich country like ours, poverty is an injustice that weakens us all as a society.

“But we can solve it. We can redesign our economy to make sure people have incomes that are adequate enough to live a life with freedom and dignity.”

The End Poverty Edinburgh Conference is the first of three major poverty events happening in Edinburgh this month. On 25 October, the Scotland Demands Better rally led by the Scottish Poverty Alliance will take place in Edinburgh.

Then, on 31 October, the Edinburgh Poverty Commission will host a public event to launch the publication of their most recent findings on the actions needed to end poverty in Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, during Challenge Poverty week, poverty stigma training is being rolled out to Council employees to increase awareness of poverty and to help people access the support they need.

A Council pop-up in Gilmerton Library is also offering information on benefits, building skills, money advice and links to the community food pantry in Gilmerton community centre.

Information for residents experiencing or at risk of poverty can also be found on the Council’s cost of living webpages

Education Wellbeing Service: Parent Drop-in at Drumbrae Library Hub

Do you have a child experiencing challenges in accessing education?

The Education Wellbeing Service have a new Parent Drop-In meeting at Drumbrae Library Hub on the last Tuesday of the month starting from 28th October from 1:30pm-3pm.

Come along for advice and support

£3.5m development of Queensferry High Street begins

The city council is investing millions to improve Queensferry High Street and the town centre for residents, businesses and visitors.

The first phase of work began yesterday (October 7) from Seals Craig to Hawes Car Park and will run for 8-10 weeks. This will focus on re-surfacing and pavement widening, with minimal traffic management and no reduction in parking throughout this period.

Following a pause during the festive period, the second phase is scheduled to begin in January 2026 and will last for around one year.

This phase will create a new road layout, widen pavements, introduce new disabled, electric vehicle and car club parking, resurface the High Street, narrow Newhalls Road and improve public spaces throughout the area.

There will also be a new westbound segregated cycleway from the Hawes Car Park into the High Street along with a contraflow cycle lane on Edinburgh Road.

More information on the project and wider investment in Queensferry is available on the city council’s website.

Transport and Enviornment Convener, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson said: “I’m delighted that we’ve reached this important stage in the transformation of Queensferry High Street, the town centre, and the wider community.

“This ambitious public realm regeneration will create a safer, more accessible, and vibrant environment for residents, visitors, and businesses alike.

“Our plans bring high level improvements to the area all whilst preserving and refurbishing elements of Queensferry’s unique historical character. Throughout the planning and development process, we’ve engaged extensively with local residents, businesses and the broader community to ensure their views and needs have been considered.

“This project will secure and revitalise Queensferry High Street’s prosperity for generations to come and I’m very excited to see how works develop over the coming months.”

Putting Safety First: Success at Young Driver Event

🚦 Young Driver Safety Event at The Corn Exchange 🎓

Over 3,000 pupils from 30 schools across the Capital are attended Young Driver 2025 this week.

The annual event is aimed at senior year secondary school pupils and explores the risks and responsibilities of becoming a new driver, through presentations and workshops delivered by the Council, Police and partner organisations.

The issues discussed include vehicle, pedestrian and passenger safety, laws on the road, travelling by and interacting with public transport, first aid and much more.

Young drivers are much more likely to be involved in collisions than older drivers. 17 to 25 year-olds make up 10% of licence holders, but over 20% of collisions.

Young Driver 2025 ran from September 29 = 2nd October.

Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson said: “Young Driver 2025 is an incredibly important event to make sure the next generation of Edinburgh’s drivers have all the resources they need to form good habits as they get on the road.

I was delighted to attend, meeting with colleagues from the Council and partner organisations along with our young people. I was also struck by the strong breadth of useful and practical material being delivered across the four-day event.

“We remain committed to enhancing road safety across the Capital for all road users, with over £6m being invested in our Road Safety Delivery Plan this year alone.

“I’d like to thank everyone who has supported the event this year and made it such a great success.”

Inspector Kosmas Papakyriakou, Road Policing said: “Edinburgh Division is fully supportive of Young Driver 2025. It is excellent educational tool to assist young people to become careful, considerate, and safe drivers and road users.

“Keeping people safe on and around our roads is a priority for Police Scotland, our communities and our partners. By working together to make young people aware of the risks and impacts of dangerous road user behaviour, we can help reduce casualties in the future.”

Mairi Day, Partner at Digby Brown said: “In the last month in Scotland we have seen three teenagers die in a car crash, and in a separate incident a young man had been jailed for more than two years for driving while under the influence of alcohol.

“His actions resulted in one of his friends losing both his legs and two others being left with serious spinal injuries

“Every day at Digby Brown we see similar road traffic accidents but also how devastating they are.

“We help the people who are left with life changing injuries and supporting the families trying to come to terms with a sudden loss.

“But what makes these incidents more painful is many are avoidable.

“Driving is a life skill, and we need to talk to our young people about how to stay safe and give them the confidence to make good decisions while out on the road.

“This is why events like Edinburgh Young Drivers are so important.”

Since 2010 Digby Brown has been a main supporter of the Edinburgh Young Driver event bringing their expertise in personal injury law and supporting people affected by serious road traffic accidents.

This year sees the return of the mock court featuring a real case from the firm’s archives aiming to show young people the consequences of taking risks on the road.

Yousef (S6) from Currie Community High School said: “It was a fantastic experience with lots of fun activities and provided a valuable insight into the consequences of negligence on the road.

“With stations such as VR, simulators and mock court sessions, there was never a dull moment!”

Sam (S6) from Currie Community High School said: “The Young Driver’s event was a successful learning experience which I found incredibly insightful.

“We listened to a variety of useful talks and had the opportunity to visit stands from numerous professionals which helped me understand how to stay safe on the road.”

Organised by the Council, Young Driver 2025 was attended and supported by Edinburgh Corn Exchange, Brainkind, British Transport Police, Digby Brown, IAM, Lothian Buses, Police Scotland (Roads Policing, School Link Officers and Safety Camera Partnership), Scottish Ambulance Service, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and Spinal Injuries Scotland.

Edinburgh Road Policing in partnership with The City of Edinburgh Council, SFRS City of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian, Lothian Buses, and many more partners delivered crucial safety lessons for future drivers.

Chief Inspector Kieran Dougal from the Preventions, Interventions and Partnership department said: “Police Scotland are pleased to be supporting the Young Driver Event again this year and to be working closely with our partners in a multi-agency approach to promote safe driving.

“This a great event aimed at providing road safety education.

“Road safety is a priority for Edinburgh Division and Police Scotland. This event helps young people with the awareness and skills needed to drive safely. Remember to drive safely and to the conditions – collisions have a wide impact.

As a priority, “Keeping people safe on and around our roads … we can help reduce casualties in the future.”

#YoungDrivers

#RoadSafety

#PoliceScotland

#Edinburgh

#SafeDriving

Tour de France ‘to deliver lasting legacy for Edinburgh’

Following a decision by the Culture and Communities Committee this week (Thursday 2 October), Councillors have approved a programme to deliver the benefits of hosting the prestigious event.

Earlier this year, the Committee formally agreed to the signing of the Local Authority Host Agreement, confirming Edinburgh as the official host city for the 2027 Grand Départ.

Past UK events have demonstrated substantial economic impact, such as the 2014 Grand Départ in Yorkshire, which generated an estimated £131 million in economic benefits. With even greater returns expected in 2027, Edinburgh stands to benefit from increased tourism, hospitality revenues, and new commercial partnerships.

By providing bike parking facilities and increased promotion of cycling routes across the city, the event also promises to encourage greater participation in cycling, particularly among women, and wider use of the city’s active travel infrastructure.

The Council will now work with partners in active travel and local community organisations to deliver a range of programmes, initiatives, and events to take advantage of the opportunities available.

A key part of this includes the recruitment of a dedicated Community Engagement Officer, who will lead on partnerships and coordination with local organisations, schools, and community groups.

Open ‘town hall’ meetings will also be held in the coming months, bringing together active travel, education, and community stakeholders to explore more collaborative ideas and initiatives to take forward.

Culture and Communities Convener Margaret Graham said: “Broadcast live in over 150 countries and attracting millions of roadside spectators, the Tour de France Grand Départ presents a unique opportunity to showcase Edinburgh on a global stage.

“As the world’s largest annual sporting event, it’s also a chance to boost our economy, improve our health and wellbeing, and accelerate progress towards our active travel goals.

“The programme agreed at Committee will make sure we’re able to reap the rewards and ensure that the legacy of the Tour de France is one of lasting positive change for our residents and visitors.”

Plans approved for Cables Wynd House and Linksview House upgrades

A planning application for the £69m retrofit of the two buildings, submitted by Collective Architecture, was approved by Development Management Sub-Committee on Wednesday (1 October).

Work will include substantial upgrades to ensure the two Category A listed buildings meet the Scottish Government’s Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing – EESSH2. This is alongside wider improvements to bring the buildings in line with modern new-build standards.

The City of Edinburgh Council, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team, is leading the transformative retrofit programme, aiming to dramatically improve energy performance, reduce carbon emissions and enhance living standards for residents. This team brings together expertise in architecture, engineering, energy strategy, carbon analysis and landscape design.

Cables Wynd House and Linksview House were both built in Leith in the 1960s and together provide 310 homes, the majority of which are owned by the Council for social rent.

Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener Lezley Marion Cameron said: “I am delighted that the necessary planning consent for our plans to upgrade Cables Wynd House and Linksview House to provide safe, energy efficient and high-quality homes for residents there has been granted, enabling these long-awaited works to get underway, hopefully at pace.

“I am also grateful to residents for their proactive and positive engagement with us to shape the Council’s £69 million commitment to improving Cables Wynd and Linksview House – from campaigning for investment in their homes to participating in the consultation process and providing invaluable insight and input into our design proposals.”

Carl Baker, Architect, Passivhaus Certified Designer, Collective Architecture, said: “We’re thrilled that our retrofit proposals for Cables Wynd House and Linksview House have been granted planning permission and listed building consent.

“These approvals represent a major milestone in the life of two of Edinburgh’s most iconic post-war housing developments, both Category A listed and celebrated for their bold architectural character and social significance.

“Our proposals reflect Collective Architecture’s distinctive approach to retrofit, which carefully balances ambitious improvements to energy performance with the sensitive conservation and celebration of these landmark buildings, situated at the heart of a conservation area.

“This success is the result of a truly collaborative effort across the project team, including the expertise of our in-house specialists at Collective Energy and Collective Conservation.

“We’re excited to move into the next phase of the project and look forward to transforming these historic flats into warm, safe, and resilient places to live, fit for today’s residents and generations to come.”

Amongst the improvements that will be made are:

  • Energy Efficiency Upgrades: Improved insulation, window replacements, and energy-efficient heating systems to meet EESSH2 standards.
  • Fire Safety Enhancements: Installation of sprinkler systems, smoke ventilation, a new fire-fighting lift, and improved fire compartmentalisation in communal areas. The removal of legacy bin chutes and inclusion of internal waste management facilities will also contribute to enhanced fire safety.
  • Resident Safety and Security: Upgraded internal and external lighting, a comprehensive review of CCTV systems, and improved access control throughout the buildings.
  • Landscape and Placemaking Improvements: The refurbishment project presents a unique opportunity to reimagine the outdoor environment surrounding both towers. Proposals include new play areas, external seating, wildflower meadows, sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), and a full review of parking and waste facilities.

The project exemplifies how collaboration across disciplines can accelerate the decarbonisation of the built environment while delivering meaningful social impact.

Alongside the Council and Collective Architecture, the project team includes a wide range of expert organisations, with AtkinsRéalis as lead consultant and Collective Energy providing energy and sustainability consultation. Expertise in mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering is being provided by Blackwood Partnership, in structural engineering by Narro Associates and in landscaping by Urban Pioneers Landscape Architects.

The Council will continue to engage closely with residents throughout the design and construction process to make sure their needs are met.

View the planning application for Cables Wynd House and Linksview House online.