At the end of March the Council installed new numbered signs at Portobello Beach on top of the marker posts at the far end of the existing beach groyne structures.
A jointly produced information video of the signs is now being released as part of the projects continuing efforts.
The signs provide an immediate and visually prominent location reference, not just to members of the public but also to attending emergency services, lifeboats, coastguard rescue teams and search & rescue helicopters.
Numbered 1 to 6, these signs are plotted on all emergency service, call and mapping systems:
Marker 1 – Pipe Lane
Marker 2 – Bath Street
Marker 3 – Bellfield Street
Marker 4 – John Street
Marker 5 – Bedford Terrace
Marker 6 – End of promenade at Joppa Road.
Police will continue working with partners as the year continues at Portobello.
In a beach or coastal emergency, please dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.
7N Architects are delighted that our proposals for Edinburgh City Council’s flagship regeneration project at Fountainbridge have taken another major step forward with Cruden Homes and Buccleuch Property confirmed as preferred developers for the site.
The project will deliver a vibrant, liveable, neighbourhood that will reinvigorate the canalside and will include new affordable and private homes, commercial, social enterprise and community spaces alongside a new 1,000 sq ft office building for early-stage tech companies to ‘scale up’.
It’s been a long road since the community workshops that we facilitated in 2013, but we are excited that the original community vision will now be delivered.
The City of Edinburgh Council’s affordable housebuilding programme continues apace with construction starting this week in Wester Hailes.
A further 49 new affordable and energy efficient homes will be built in phase two of the Dumbryden Gardens development on the former Dumbryden primary school site. This follows completion of the Dumbryden Gardens phase one development in November 2019.
Led by construction partner Robertson Partnership Homes, procured through SCAPE Construction, the site combines 35 homes for social rent and 14 homes for mid-market rent and includes a number of wheelchair accessible homes.
This development, to be completed in Winter 2022, is part of the City of Edinburgh Council’s housing building programme which, along with housing association partners, will contribute to the delivery of 20,000 new homes across the city by 2027.
Councillor Kate Campbell, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, said: “It’s great to see construction starting on another council-led development with more new council houses getting built. Our house building programme has to meet the needs of our communities and so these homes will be accessible, highly energy efficient and some homes will be fully wheelchair adapted.
“There are so many families in need of permanent, affordable housing, so it’s good that next year these homes will be ready for families to move in and be part of this growing community.”
Councillor Mandy Watt, Vice Convener, said: “I’m looking forward to seeing the development start to take shape over the course of next year, and bring a range of benefits for the local community through revitalising a disused site and through additional initiatives delivered by our contractor, Robertson Partnership Homes, as part of the project.
“Edinburgh has one of the most ambitious house-building plans of any local authority in the UK and these are great example of quality Council-led homes that will be affordable to rent and live in long term.”
Matt Collins, managing director, Robertson Partnership Homes, said: “Last year we completed 263 new homes for the City of Edinburgh Council’s Small Sites Programme through Scape’s Major Works Scotland framework and are proud to be the delivery partner for the second phase at Dumbryden Gardens.
“The City of Edinburgh Council is committed to providing high-quality homes and equal housing opportunities for its residents. The inclusion of sustainable features which will further benefit the residents underlines the Council’s commitment to the natural environment and the wellbeing of the communities it is creating.
Mark Robinson, group chief executive at SCAPE, said:“We’re delighted that Robertson Partnership Homes and the City of Edinburgh Council will be delivering energy efficient homes for both social and mid-market rent.
“SCAPE is fully committed to helping clients achieve their net zero carbon target.
“Whilst the need for social and affordable housing is ever pressing, it’s important that new homes are delivered which help address the environmental challenges we face, and it’s encouraging to see the City of Edinburgh Council future proof their housing stock.”
This summer the City Art Centre and Ann Lanntair, Stornoway present, Eileanach: Na dealbhan aig Dòmhnall Mac a’ Ghobhainn / Islander: The Paintings of Donald Smith. Running from 29 May to 26 September
This landmark display, part of the Edinburgh Art Festival 2021, is the first major retrospective of the work of Scottish artist Donald Smith (1926-2014).
Born in rural Lewis in 1926, Donald John Smith was, as Gray’s School of Art Principal Ian Fleming wrote in 1958 – ‘the outstanding student of his year … unquestionably a man of great ability as an artist’.
His painting acknowledged movements in Europe and America but remained resolutely local in its subject matter. From his studio on the west side of Lewis where he worked from 1974 to his death in 2014, his intense, lyrical images of island fishermen and women celebrate their indomitable human spirit.
In 2011, five of Donald Smith’s ambitious paintings of Stornoway harbour were exhibited at the City Art Centre in ‘Window to the West’, an examination of the relationship between the visual arts and Gaelic language and culture.
In the accompanying catalogue, Professor Murdo Macdonald suggested that a full evaluation of Donald Smith’s prolific and focused work was overdue.
Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Convener of Culture and Communities said: I’m delighted that the City Art Centre is able to showcase this fantastic exhibition of the rarely seen works of Donald Smith.
“Islander” will allow visitors to discover the man behind the works celebrating the power of the human spirit.”
Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, Edinburgh’s Vice Convener of Culture and Communities said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to showcase a Scottish artist whose work will be new to many people. It’s been fantastic to welcome our visitors back to the centre and this is another great exhibition for them to explore.
Curator David Patterson said: “The City Art Centre has made a deliberate attempt in recent years to showcase Scottish artists who have largely been overlooked in the story of Scottish art.
“We are therefore delighted to be partnering with An Lanntair in Stornoway to shine the spotlight on another unheralded painter. Donald Smith may not be well known by many, but hopefully this exhibition will go some way to rectify this and draw attention to a unique talent.”
Donald Smith was uniquely placed to connect the Gaelic world of the West with the English-speaking mainstream. He left the island to study at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, continuing to live and work in Aberdeenshire until his return to the island in 1974.
While working as a portrait painter and teacher, Smith developed a structured, contemporary approach to painting. Being one of a number of post-war Scottish artists responding to swift social and cultural change, he saw himself as an outward looking Gael, with one foot in the culture of mainland Scotland, and one in the Hebrides. As a teacher he was dedicated and inspiring.
“…it was Donald Smith who guided our first steps and when, decades later I saw his paintings, I was delighted that they more than measured up to the man and the impression he had made on my younger self.” Arthur Watson PPRSA
Based in a crofting community on the West Side of Lewis from 1974 to his death in 2014, alongside extensive local commitments including teaching, crofting, grazings committee and community council, a steady flow of portraits, large oil panels and works on paper emerged from his studio. Island fishermen and women were transformed into iconic images of working people. Working from many hundreds of drawings and photographs, balancing the competing demands of three-dimensional space and painted surface, these are intensely lyrical paintings, celebrating the indomitability of the human spirit.
The writer and educationalist R F Mackenzie, visiting Bragar in the late 1980s found “….an artist struggling to present how he sees the earthly sojourn of fishermen, big hands deftly mending nets, a grey hard life, and the primary colours of their boats and the magnificent variety of their tackle and trim, the expression on their faces like those of the Rodel tombs and the ancient Chessmen.”
The work of Donald Smith has been exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Society of Scottish Artists, Aberdeen Artists, and many other locations. In 2019 An Lanntair staged a major display of his work to great local acclaim, although sadly a wider tour had to be curtailed due to the pandemic.
He is represented in public collections including the Nuffield Foundation, the BBC, and Art for Hospitals, with many works held in private collections. This exhibition celebrates the work of Donald Smith and attempts to address the evaluation that Professor Macdonald sought.
The exhibition is accompanied by a varied programme of public events and activities, including tours, lectures and creative workshops. All events must be booked in advance. To book please visit www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
In keeping with Government advice in order to protect and maintain the safety of our visitors and staff, the City Art Centre has introduced a range of new safety measures and procedures throughout the venue, including a one way system, installation of screens at reception, hand sanitiser stations, extra barriers and signage and staff will of course be wearing coverings while offering visitors a very warm, socially distanced welcome.
Visitors are asked to wear face coverings and to pre-book free tickets for allocated time slots in advance via edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Islander: the Paintings of Donald Smith opens on Saturday 29th May 2020, and runs until Sunday 26th September. Admission is free, pre-booking essential.
Visitors to the gallery can also enjoy the free mini display Joan Eardley (1921-1963). The works included are: Girl in a Striped Cardigan, Tenement, Old Woman Sewing and July Fields. It is part of the nationwide programme of events marking the centenary of the birth of Joan Eardley.
Following confirmation by the Scottish Government of additional funding for local authorities and, after making provision for the anticipated on-going financial impacts of the pandemic over the next two years, Council officers identified up to £21m which could be made available to address budget pressures, anticipated shortfalls in savings delivery and other member priorities in 2021/22 and 2022/23.
At yesterday’s meeting of the Full Council, political groups on the Council put forward and debated motions outlining their proposals for directing these monies. The motion by the SNP-Labour ‘Capital Coalition’ was carried, meaning the £21m will be invested as below.
Councillor Rob Munn, Finance and Resources Convener, said: “When our Council budget was agreed in February, the final local government settlement was not known in full. At the time we set a prudent Budget in the knowledge that we would have other decisions to make following clarification of the final settlement.
“That final settlement was more than we had anticipated and I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to agree these investments in Council today, helping us to meet our commitments and to ensure that we address poverty, well-being and the climate challenge.”
Councillor Joan Griffiths, Finance and Resources Vice Convener, said: “The Covid19 pandemic has had a very significant impact on local government budgets so it’s very welcome to be able to invest more money now towards our core priorities for Edinburgh.
“The proposals now approved will give a real boost to our work to achieve our core ambitions for the Capital – tackling poverty and inequality, boosting sustainability and enhancing wellbeing for everyone who calls the city home.
“I particularly welcome our decision to invest £250,000 in a fund to support carers after the extremely challenging time they’ve faced during the pandemic, as well as our £600,000 investment in prevention services and community engagement to support residents at risk of poverty.”
AGREED INVESTMENT OPTIONS:
Roads and Pavements Infrastructure – recognising the impact of prolonged winter weather the Council will invest an additional £2m extra in repairs to the roads and pavements network including local residential areas and an extra £4m to improve surface condition for all users – those walking, wheeling, cycling, using public transport and motorists.
Street Cleaning and gritting – we will invest £300k to improve both street cleansing operations and winter gritting making our streets cleaner and safer.
Communal Bins – £1.1 million in this programme to improve organisation and capacity in communal bins across the city, bringing forward investment to improve the service and address the funding shortfall in delivering the programme in full.
Public Conveniences – the £450,000 Council has already approved to invest will ensure a temporary network of public conveniences at key locations, meeting accessibility needs in premier parks and other locations where people need facilities.
Estate Energy Reduction – a further £500,000 to improve Council estate carbon performance to meet the climate challenge by identifying shovel-ready projects.
Carbon net zero engagement – £700,000 to take forward citizen communication and engagement to bring about behaviour change assisting the city in reaching carbon net zero target.
EV Infrastructure – £250,000 to expand EV charging infrastructure for the Council’s own fleet, ensuring that the Council leads by example by making our vehicle fleet carbon zero.
Up Recycling – £200,000 to improve the Council’s recycling performance.
20-minute neighbourhoods – £500,000 to drive forward the delivery of 20-minute neighbourhoods, making it easier for people to get to and access the services they need in their community.
Food Growing – £130,000 to be invested, recognising the increase in demand for local food growing opportunities. This is investment to expand provision.
Looked after Children – recognising the pressures of out of authority placement, the Council will invest £1.5m to improve the service and help ensure vulnerable children are accommodated in authority wherever possible.
Children & Families Development officers – £124,000 to provide service for disabled children in terms of holiday provision and positive destinations.
Carers’ Recovery Fund – recognising the extra challenge for carers during the pandemic, the Council will invest £250k in a fund providing additional support to carers
Edinburgh Summer Festivals – £300,000 to support resumption of festivals this summer including support for local community festivals
Books for libraries – £50,000 increase in this year’s allocation for new books in our libraries, improving choice and service to Edinburgh residents
Embedding Prevention and Community Engagement – £600,000 investment to improve delivery of prevention services through empowering frontline staff to co-produce service redesign across departments, reform current practice, and create a preventative service and community engagement model and develop a plan for wider roll out.
Diversity and inclusion – £100,000 to accelerate and embed the Council’s diversity and inclusion strategy, including training and development training
Taxi and Licence enforcement – £160,000 to meet demand and ensure robust enforcement.
Edinburgh Integration Joint Board – £2.5m funding to EIJB to address base budget pressures for social care.
Independent inquiries – £400,000 funding for these inquiries to bring them to their conclusion.
Place fees and charges reduced income – £559,000 to address issues with reduced income due to the Covid-19 pandemic changing behaviours and the impact on fees and charges.
Home to School Travel Demand – £600,000 to meet demand in this service while working to reshape and achieve savings.
Development and Business Services Loss of Income – invest £187,000 to cover loss of Planning, Building Services and Regulatory Services income.
Early Years Deferral – The Council will allocate up to £270,000 over the full academic year (two financial years) to offer the 40 nursery children who applied for deferral and were not among the 66 approved through application of appeal a funded place for another year due to lost time through COVID-related nursery closures.
All Ability Bike – Work is ongoing to find a solution to ensure the service is still available and the Council is investing £71,000 to help facilitate this and ensure transport is inclusive.
In addition to these investments, further funding has been set aside to address the following:
Edinburgh Bike Hire Scheme – the approved Coalition motion states: “We recognise the popularity of the current scheme and seek to continue with a cost-effective and robust scheme fit for the future.”
Trams Concessionary travel – the approved Coalition motion states: “Trams contribute to Edinburgh’s clean air and net zero strategy and will continue to press the Scottish Government to recognise this in its concessionary travel funding. We will continue dialogue with the Scottish Government on delivering free tram journeys for young people on the same terms as bus travel as we feel an integrated public transport system is key to Edinburgh’s future. If this is unfunded at a national level, we will look into the possibility of expanding free provision to young people in Edinburgh subject to affordability.”
Homelessness – the approved Coalition motion states: “We recognise the pressure on the service in the past year due to Covid and that pressures are expected to exceed the additional £10m allocated in February’s budget. We also recognise that should legislative protections change as restrictions ease, there may be a requirement for even further resources to improve outcomes for temporary homeless accommodation. We will continue to make the case for additional resources equivalent to those allocated to other local authorities for homelessness support from IBJ budgets. Following that process and depending on in-year position due to service demand, we will agree that left over monies can be used to meet the required supply to get the outcomes right for people finding themselves at risk of homelessness.”
Employability for disabled people – the approved Coalition motion states: “to plug the gap left by the loss of the European Social Fund due to Brexit and the lack of a direct replacement fund from the UK government”
Hospitality sector granted extended opening hours during summer festivals
Pubs and restaurants in the Capital will once again be able to take advantage of extended opening hours during the festival season this summer.
Edinburgh’s Licensing Board has agreed to allow each on-sale licensed establishment with a seasonal variation in their licence to extend their normal opening times for an additional two hours, if public health guidance allows.
The dates for this year are 6 – 30 August to tie in with the Festival Fringe and the Edinburgh International Festival (7 – 29 August).
Convener of the Licensing Board, Councillor Norman Work, said: “It’s been a tough year for the hospitality sector and as a Board we recognise the need to do everything we can to support licensed premises to help them operate as normally as they can within any COVID-19 restrictions in force at the time.
“The majority of pubs and restaurants have seasonal variations in their licence covering the summer festivals. That means that as long as public health guidance allows, many businesses will be able to take advantage of increased trade with extended opening hours during August, which is great news for the city.”
Davidsons Mains Primary School has been closed due to increasing numbers of Covid cases.
In a statement on the school’s website yesterday, Head Teacher Astrid Gracie told parents and carers:
Dear Families,
Thank you for your support over the past 8 days. Unfortunately, we continue to be notified of new positive cases, affecting more classes in the school. I will be in touch with the families of close contacts in the latest classes affected very soon and provide guidance around isolation dates and PCR testing.
Following further consultation with the Health Protection Team, NHS Lothian & City of Edinburgh Education and Environmental Services we have had to make the difficult decision to return to remote learning for all pupils until the end of this week and close the School and Nursery to all children.
This is because cases are continuing to spread and further steps, including self-isolation of close contacts and closing the school are considered necessary by the Health Protection Team, to reduce the risks of transmission of the virus.
We recognise that this will be very challenging for many families and I can assure you that it is not a decision that has been taken lightly.
Remote Learning Provision
Learning tasks and live classes will take place on TEAMS, as happened during the recent lockdown. Class teachers will post further information on TEAMS. Nursery staff will provide learning at home tasks via Learning Journals for our Nursery children. Should you need to borrow a digital device to access the online content please email or call the school and we will make arrangements for you to collect this tomorrow.
Free School Meal Provision
Pupils in P1-7 (who meet free school meals entitlements) will be able to collect their meal from the main gym hall/dining room door (currently P4/5 entrance). If your child is entitled to free school meals and their class have been asked to isolate, we will contact you to arrange delivery.
Please only attend at the times noted below to allow us to distribute meals safely. You will receive a refund should your child be in P4-7 and you have paid for their meal:
Primary 1 – 3: 11.45-12.00
Primary 4 -7: 12.15-12.30
Hub provision for Key Workers
The return to remote learning is a response to the number of cases in the community and the number of classes and staff self-isolating. We are therefore unable to offer key worker provision.
After School Provision
As a result of the return to remote learning breakfast club and after school provision will not be available this week.
Review of School Closure
We continue to work closely with the Health Protection Team, NHS Lothian, Senior Education Leaders and Environmental Health Services to closely monitor the spread of the virus. Our next review meeting is on Friday 28TH May.
We are committed to re-opening the school as soon as it is considered safe to do so. I will send updated information after the meeting.
PCR testing
We continue to ask that all close contacts and those displaying COVID symptoms take a PCR test. Walk-in test centres are open at Drumbrae and Ainslie Park. A drive-through centre is at the airport. Test results are received fairly quickly, so if you do not hear back within 36 hours please call the NHS to check if the test has been misplaced.
I would like to thank you for your ongoing support throughout this turbulent year. Throughout, we have continued to work in partnership and to look out for all in our community.
I know that if we continue to pull together, to follow FACTS and each play our part in sticking to the guidance, it won’t be long before we can welcome our children back in to the school building.
Shop Here This Year campaign encourages shoppers to support local Edinburgh businesses by shining a spotlight on 11 neighbourhoods and town centres across the city
The campaign continues with a new series of free workshops hosted by Edinburgh-based influencers to help businesses maximise their digital marketing offering and encourage residents to shop local
The Shop Here This Year campaign continues to spread support to local businesses in Edinburgh with a new series of free digital marketing workshops, hosted by Edinburgh based influencers.
Delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council under Forever Edinburgh, Shop Here This Year has adapted the campaign in the wake of the global pandemic to ensure continued support for businesses across the city who have been impacted by the pandemic.
The campaign continues to shine citizens a spotlight on 11 neighbourhoods and town centres across the Capital and the businesses that bring them to life, showcasing the independent retailers, eateries, and personal shopping experiences that make them great places to visit.
Oddly enough, Drylaw, Pilton, Muirhouse and Granton are not among those ‘local’ neigbourhoods and town centres … Ed.
The next phase of the campaign sees three virtual workshops hosted by local influencers. The new series has been created to support businesses in making the most of their digital marketing platforms in continuing to promote their businesses to existing and new customers.
Taking place on Zoom throughout the coming months, these workshops will each target a different sector of Edinburgh’s diverse and vibrant retail scene: Lifestyle, Fashion & Interiors, Food & Drink and Attractions, Heritage & Tours.
The workshops will focus on developing key skills that will empower business to grow and maximise their digital presence, following, and engagement.
Each workshop will be tailored to specific sectors and will cover essential digital marketing skills; how to increase brand awareness, take impactful imagery, build a following and share engaging copy.
Although aimed at certain types of business, be they food, lifestyle or attraction focused, businesses from across Edinburgh’s varied retail sectors are encouraged to sign up to one, or all three workshops, in accordance with relevance and their own availability.
To kick things off Gemma Armit of Everything Edinburgh and Two Scots Abroad will host the first influencer workshop aimed at businesses with links to Attractions, Heritage & Tours, on Tuesday 15 June from 5.30pm.
Then on Tuesday 29 June, again from 5.30pm, Emma Bathgate of Vegan Edinburgh will host her own workshop focused on Food & Drink retailers.
Finally, at 5.30pm on Tuesday 6 July, Lauren Dall of The Luxe List will host the third and final workshop focused Lifestyle, Fashion & Interiors.
Workshops are FREE to attend and open to all Edinburgh businesses. To sign up businesses should register via Eventbrite, links below:
A new local business champion network, created by the Councils Business Growth and Inclusion Team, has been instrumental in shaping the campaign.
The network includes a range of businesses from all 11 neighbourhoods and include: Cove, Action Porty, Fabhatrix, Reddoor Gallery, Walker Slater, Leith Police Box, Cranachan and Crowdie, Scottish Textiles, Ragamuffin, 181 Deli, Bakery Andante, Specsavers, Herbie of Edinburgh, Seakist and Leith, Stockbridge and Grassmarket Outdoor Markets.
The Business Champion Network, said:“We are delighted to be involved in the Shop Here This Year campaign, which allows local businesses like ours to engage with Edinburgh’s citizens in a way that has never been more important.
“The past 12 months have been hard on everyone and while we are excited at the prospect of things slowly opening up, we need to explore avenues that are open to us in the meantime.”
“Not only will these workshops give Edinburgh businesses an opportunity to develop vital skills needed to help promote our businesses via social media and connect to shoppers, they will also enable us to engage with other businesses in our area, building a the sense of community and hopefully providing us with a network of support that will continue long into the future.”
Councillor Kate Campbell, Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener at City of Edinburgh Council, said:“Edinburgh’s local business community is incredibly important to everyone living in and around the city. Our town centres are diverse and vibrant, all offering something different from the very best in local food and drink, delicious coffees to elegant cocktails.
“We have so many shops offering locally made products, crafts, art, fashion, books and pretty much anything else you can imagine.
“By bringing these businesses together with digital marketing professionals who have had a front row seat to the struggles that retail and hospitality businesses are going through, we can create a community of support on the road to recovery.
“This campaign is run by Forever Edinburgh, the city’s visitor marketing brand, and works alongside its newest promotional activity of the Capital – The Story Never Ends.
“We hope these new skills will also help businesses build and tell their audiences more about their stories – be it their origins, about their products and suppliers or their customers experiences – and get involved by using the hashtag #ForeverEdinburgh.
“It’s another great opportunity to help both residents and visitors rediscover all the amazing unique experiences our Capital has to offer.”
The campaign continues s to engage with the local communities across the city and encourages people to share their Edinburgh shopping moments using #ShopHereThisYear and #ForeverEdinburgh on social media. Of course, while restrictions remain in place, those taking part are encouraged to do so in a Covid compliant way.
In addition to regular meetings with neighbourhood champions, the team have also prepared a digital toolkit for businesses looking to get involved.
• #neighbourhood (for spotlight weeks) #Grassmarket #Stockbridge etc.
Shop Here This YearCampaign Summary
Supported by funding from Scotland’s Towns Partnership, “Shop Here This Year” is a digital campaign led by the City of Edinburgh Council which aims to inspire people to shop local. It will promote local businesses across 11 ‘town centres’ in Edinburgh: Stockbridge, Gorgie & Dalry, Portobello, Southside, Leith, Morningside & Bruntsfield, Tollcross, Corstorphine, Queensferry, Royal Mile, and Grassmarket
Recognising the vital role of independent, local businesses for the city economy, the campaign seeks to showcase your business among EH postcode consumers, raising awareness and encouraging them to spend their money in the local community where it can have a huge impact on business resilience and local employment.
Shopping locally is a good thing, not just as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in general. It has strong environmental credentials; it supports the places where we live in our city and it maintains the diverse and exciting mix of independent businesses which give each town centre its unique character.
The campaign will be featured across the City of Edinburgh Council’s various digital channels including:
Councillors have given the green light to the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust (SHBT) to take forward the restoration of the much-loved Tron Kirk on the Royal Mile.
Thursday’s decision by the Finance and Resources Committee has secured the long-term future management and maintenance of this historic building and gives it a new and meaningful lease of life for residents and visitors to enjoy for generations to come.
Working in partnership with the Council, SHBT will develop a feasibility study to set out a future vision for the Tron Kirk and, when fully funded, the charity will sign a 125-year lease for the building. In the short term the charity will fulfil a management role for the Tron Kirk liaising with all existing and new tenants to make sure that the building is open for business as soon as possible.
Councillor Rob Munn, Finance and Resources Convener, said: “It’s great news that Committee was unanimous today in agreeing such a positive future for this historic landmark building in the heart of our Old Town.
“We’re very much looking forward to taking this project forward now with SHBT, which has an impressive track record as a Building Preservation Trust and Charity.
Councillor Joan Griffiths, Finance and Resources Vice Convener, said: “The SHBT have proven to be extremely effective in recent years working in partnership with the Council to provide a secure, viable and sustainable future for other historic buildings at risk, such as Riddle’s Court and Custom House.
“The Tron Kirk’s future is in good hands.”
Chair of Scottish Historic Building Trust Maggie Wright said:“We welcome the committee’s decision to partner with Scottish Historic Buildings Trust to secure the future of Tron Kirk which has had a significant role for the people of Edinburgh since the mid-17th Century.
“It is a huge vote of trust in the expertise of our director and staff. We share the City of Edinburgh Council’s vision to breathe new life into this very special building and use our experience to create a legacy for generations to come.”
Public toilets at six popular hotspots in and around Edinburgh are set to reopen from Monday for the first time since the pandemic began.
Final operational and safety checks are being carried out to bring the toilets at the following locations back into use in the week beginning Monday 31 May subject to approval from group leaders on the Council:
Bath Street, Portobello
Hamilton Place, Stockbridge
Lauriston Castle
Harlaw Visitor Centre
West Princes Street Gardens
Winter Gardens, Saughton Park
At the same time as finalising plans to reopen the above existing toilets, Council officers are hard at work making final arrangements to safely install new temporary toilets in three locations as early as possible next month.
The new facilities will be in place until the end of September and are likely to be sited in premier parks with especially high footfall. Each location will include male and female toilets as well as an accessible toilet. Though temporary in nature, the toilets need to be connected to key services (sewer, water and electricity), so they need to be installed close to existing facilities.
Separately, Pentland Hills Regional Park has applied for external funding via NatureScot’s Better Places Green Recovery Fund to install temporary toilets at Threipmuir, Bonaly and Harlaw.
And it is hoped the Council’s remaining permanent public toilets (namely Colinton, Castle Terrace, Castle Hill, Taylor Gardens, High Street South Queensferry and Nicolson Square) will be reopened in late June or early July, in line with public health guidance.
Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “Taken all together there will soon be 12 more places to safely spend a penny when you’re spending time enjoying our beautiful parks, beaches and green spaces across Edinburgh. It’s fantastic that we’ll shortly be able to reopen several permanent public toilets again, as well as bring new temporary facilities to key hotspots.
“We want everyone to be able to relax and make the most of our wonderful outdoor spaces so having these toilets open will be extremely welcome I’m sure. And work’s continuing so that we can get all our permanent toilet facilities operational again as soon as possible over the summer, in line with public health guidance.
Environment Vice Convener Councillor Karen Doran said:“It’s great to know you don’t need to worry about being caught short when visiting our most popular outdoor destinations thanks to the new temporary toilets and our reopening of six key permanent facilities.
“With summer around the corner, we want to make sure our beautiful ‘great outdoors’ stays as beautiful and accessible as possible, so everyone can benefit.”
On the basis that funding can be identified, the plan is to build new permanent public toilets in popular parks such as Inverleith and to upgrade existing facilities in premier parks to meet modern hygiene standards.
