Shelter Scotland has said Councillors must stick to their promises and make social housebuilding the top priority for the next administration in Edinburgh as talks to decide who will head up the council continue.
Ahead of the election the housing charity’s petition demanding action on social homes attracted more than 3,300 signatures in Edinburgh, and in excess of 12,000 nationally.
Before voters went to the polls, councillors from the SNP and Labour, the two largest parties on the City of Edinburgh Council signed the Shelter Scotland social housing pledge to make social housing delivery a top priority for their term in office.
Shelter Scotland’s analysis of the council’s figures shows the city needs at least 7,000 social homes over the next five years.
Director of Shelter Scotland, Alison Watson, said: “Social housing ends homelessness. It protects against worsening child poverty and helps our communities thrive. It is easily one of the best things the new council can do to improve our city. Despite that, none of Edinburgh’s previous administrations have delivered the homes the council’s own figures say the city needs.
“Before this election, the parties now negotiating a new power sharing agreement promised the 3,360 citizens in Edinburgh who signed the social housing petition that they would make building at least 7,000 social homes a top priority. Now they need to deliver.”
Alison added: “Communities across Edinburgh are suffering as a direct result of the housing emergency. They will not easily forgive or forget if councillors do not deliver what they’ve promised.
This is one thing the parties can agree on and something the people of Edinburgh will expect to see on the first pages of their new plan for the city.”
Winner lands eight pairs of gig tickets and his reviews will be published by Forever Edinburgh to encourage more music fans from across the UK to visit the capital
A Learning and Development consultant from Leith with a passion for music and an interest in writing has won a competition to enjoy free gigs and create reviews that encourage more music fans around the UK to visit Edinburgh.
Stuart Niven, 37, won the competition, which was launched by Forever Edinburgh, the city’s official destination marketing guide, to showcase and support Edinburgh’s music scene to new audiences across the UK.
Entrants were asked to submit a 250-word review of a gig they’d attended in the past 12-months, describing the event, artist, venue and capturing a sense of Edinburgh as a music-lovers destination. Niven’s winning entry, a review of the hotly tipped band Wet Leg at The Mash House in Edinburgh, was chosen for being written with flair and giving a well-rounded view of the concert.
Stuart, who was attending around 50 gigs and four festivals a year pre-Covid, wins eight pairs of gig tickets to concerts across Edinburgh venues between May and December 2022.
The gigs will feature local artists and touring acts, with the first event being The Smile, who feature Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood alongside Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, at The Usher Hall on 1st June.
After each gig, Stuart will be invited to write a by-lined review for the Forever Edinburgh website and social media channels, which are read and followed by visitors from across the world, as well as local residents.
As well as the free tickets and the chance to develop and showcase his writing skills, Niven will be paid a nominal fee of £100 for each of his published reviews.
In addition, he will be offered the opportunity to review new music by local acts and interview artists and other figures within the city’s music community to further help shine a spotlight on the city’s music scene.
Stuart, a frequent visitor to the likes of Sneaky Pete’s, The Usher Hall and Leith Theatre, said: “This news put a huge smile on my face, I was grinning from ear to ear when I found out.
“I work in Learning and Development for a living but I enjoy writing and have often thought about doing some sort of blog or review page for the gigs and festivals I attend – mainly just to keep record and have a memory of them all. It was great to have my review received so positively. This competition has definitely given me the encouragement to continue writing.
“I think it is a hugely exciting time for the Edinburgh music scene right now. The Usher Hall over the last few years has attracted some huge names from all genres to the capital. O2’s acquisition of the Corn Exchange and subsequent bookings there is encouraging, and we have some incredible small venues like Sneaky Pete’s, which continues to lead the charge.
“The return of Connect Music Festival and all shows to take place at Ingliston this summer are other hugely exciting events to mark on Edinburgh’s music calendar that show just how important the city can be in staging live music.”
The competition, which was launched in collaboration with local music blog Edinburgh Music Lovers, is part of Forever Edinburgh’s The Story Never Ends campaign and comes at a time when Edinburgh’s live music scene is entering a new chapter having been shut down during the pandemic.
Stuart Niven’s reviews will also be published on Edinburgh Music Lovers to help further showcase his reviews and music in Edinburgh.
Karl Chapman, Head of Heritage, Cultural Venues, Museums & Galleries at City of Edinburgh Council, said: “My congratulations go to the well-deserved winner of the Forever Edinburgh music competition, Stuart Niven.
“He is clearly a passionate music fan who enjoys creative writing. I’ll be looking forward to reading his reviews of diverse Edinburgh gigs over the next few months.
“The city’s music scene has been badly hit by the global pandemic, but we’re happy to see it coming back to life with an eclectic array of concerts lined up in venues of all sizes across Edinburgh.”
Forever Edinburgh is the City of Edinburgh Council’s destination brand which promotes Edinburgh to the world, highlighting details of places to visit, accommodation, days out itineraries, festivals and attractions.
One Day outdoor courses in May – some places still remaining:
Friday 20th – Geocaching Introduction.
Using navigational techniques to find, hide and seek containers at specific locations marked by global coordinates. Once you learn the skills you can keep going worldwide and keep having fun. An experienced and friendly tutor can reveal tips and techniques in this course from 10am-3pm.
Saturday 21st – Archaeology of the Cammo Estate.
Learn about the old and more modern archaeology and the digs taking place in this lovely environment. The tutor can answer any queries for a fun day out. Runs from 10am – 3pm.
Sunday 22nd – Photography Workshop at the High Street.
Find little nooks, statues and crannies and discover how to make best use of your camera. The session is from 10am – 3pm.
Very reasonable charges from £16.50-£20.63 for a day of enjoyment, exercise and extraordinary well-being to celebrate mental Health Awareness
For more information and to enrol follow link below:
The Local Government Election results for Edinburgh’s 17 wards have been announced at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) following the vote on Thursday 5 May.
In total, 63 councillors have been elected to become the City of Edinburgh Council, with a 47.2% overall turnout for the city. A full list of councillors elected is available on the Council website.
The breakdown of elected members by party is:
Scottish National Party: 19 (No change on 2017 result) Scottish Labour Party: 13 (+1) Scottish Liberal Democrats: 12 (+6) Scottish Green Party: 10 (+2) Scottish Conservative and Unionist: 9 (-9)
Returning Officer Andrew Kerr announced the results over the course of the day. He said: “I’m pleased that so many people have turned out to have their say in Edinburgh. Thanks to voters for taking the time to participate, demonstrating the importance of local services to the public.
“I want to congratulate the successful candidates, and welcome new councillors to their role at the Council. I look forward to working with them all over the next five years.
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our Election team, whose hard work and dedication has enabled the smooth running of this election. It’s no mean feat, particularly here in the Capital, with 300 polling stations to set up and hundreds of staff to recruit and train.
“The team worked particularly hard to replace polling places, ending our use of schools, while ensuring each venue was as accessible and welcoming as possible for all voters.”
It’s likely that the SNP will be seeking to form new alliances this weekend as they seek to form a new administration. While the SNP are the biggest party, with 19 of Edinburgh’s 63 councillors, they do not have a majority and they will have to work with others to get their programme through.
Scottish Labout leader has all but ruled out any deal with the SNP, so there will be no ‘Capital Coalition III’ with Labour in Edinburgh.
Mr Sarwar told journalists at the launch of the Labour Party’s manifesto last month: “We’ve had difficult situations in the past where decisions have been made by a Scottish Executive Committee that individual councils haven’t liked. But the reality is, it’s always been the case that the Scottish Executive Committee would sign off on any agreements.
“And I think it’s right for us to say we shouldn’t be picking and choosing which is the good versus the bad. Both are bad for our country. Both are decimating local communities. And therefore I think it’s right that we see no formal coalition with the SNP or the Tories.”
Scottish Labour won’t renege on this commitment, will they?
For further details of the results and the Local Government Election, please see the Elections section of the Council website.
A major milestone has been reached in the build of the new Meadowbank Sports Centre with the completion certificate being issued to the main contractors Graham Construction.
This enables the project to progress to the next stage – Edinburgh Leisure can now begin preparing the building for opening. Although an official opening date to the public has yet to be announced, it is expected that Meadowbank will be open around the start of the summer holidays.
The original Meadowbank was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games and was used by various clubs and sporting celebrities. The closure of the flagship venue on 3 December 2017 marked the end of an era and the start of a new one as the building was decommissioned to make way for a new state-of-the-art sports centre for people in Edinburgh and beyond to enjoy for decades to come.
The new Meadowbank was originally scheduled to reopen in 2020, but the two-year pandemic, various lockdowns and issues with building supplies and contractor resourcing, which affected the building industry, meant that delays were inevitable.
June Peebles, CEO of Edinburgh Leisure said: “We’re delighted that the finishing line is now in sight for the opening of this new flagship venue. The opportunity to be involved in such a major build project is special and I’m very grateful to the City of Edinburgh Council for involving Edinburgh Leisure in all aspects of this exciting investment into the City’s wellbeing.
“It’s been great to be involved in the project from day one however the level of excitement has certainly increased as we begin preparations for opening”.
“The new Meadowbank will undoubtedly pick up where the old Meadowbank left off; providing countless opportunities for generations to come to participate in physical activity and sport. New sporting memories will be created, and we can’t wait to welcome the people of Edinburgh and beyond, into the new venue.”
June Peebles added: “Now that the completion certificate has been issued, we will be spending the following weeks with final snagging, fit out items, finalising operating arrangements and a comprehensive staff training programme before we finally open the building.
“So, keep your eyes on social media and Edinburgh Leisure’s website for more announcements about the official opening date. We can’t wait to welcome you into the impressive new Meadowbank!”
Council Leader Adam McVey said: “It’s great news that this latest milestone has been reached today, which means the new Meadowbank Sports Centre is one step closer to throwing its doors open to the public.
“This glimpse behind-the-scenes shows what we’ve got to look forward to – one of the country’s top community sports centres with some of the most state-of-the-art fitness facilities in the UK.
“We’ve been working closely with Edinburgh Leisure throughout the development of this flagship project to make sure that the centre provides the very best in sport and physical activity, while prioritising participation and accessibility.
“Now, as June and her team put the finishing touches to the building and finalise arrangements for opening, we’re counting down the weeks before everyone can enjoy this fantastic facility”.
Trinity Academy pupils who will be voting for the first time have been to visit their nearest polling place Summerside Bowling Club as the countdown continues to the local elections this Thursday (5 May).
Trinity Academy S5 pupil Luke Norman is looking forward to casting his first ever vote on Thursday 5 May 2022. He said: “I’m excited to be voting for the first time. I think it’s really important for young people to take part in elections and use their voice.
“It’s our future. The councillors that we help elect next week will make important decisions on education and many other issues that are important to us.”
Andrew Kerr, Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council and Returning Officer for Edinburgh, said: “The local elections are under a week away now. We have been working to reduce our use of schools on election day and I’m delighted that this year there will be no interruption to the school day for Edinburgh’s pupils.
“Due to this, you might have a different polling place this time. Check your polling card carefully or use the online tool to find out where to vote on 5 May.
“Our elections pages also contain useful information on how the single transferable vote system works, ie that you need to use numbers to rank as many or as few candidates as you choose in order of preference.
“And if you’ve applied for and received a postal ballot pack, remember to return it as soon as possible to make sure your vote counts.”
A total of 399,239 people are registered to vote in Edinburgh, of whom 96,671 have applied to vote by post.
FORTH Neighbourhood Network will meet online tomorrow evening at 6pm.
AGENDA
Welcome & Apologies
Notes of Meeting of 19th January 2022 and matters arising (circulated)
Forth NN Neighbourhood Environmental Programme (NEP) HRA update – George Norval / David Delargy
Forth NN current Priority: Poverty, including food poverty update – Biddy Kelly, Response and Recovery Group
Community Grants Fund – review of the past year plus funding panel decisions
Any other Business
Dates of Next Meetings: 22nd June 2022, 14th Sept 2022, 14th Dec 2022.
For further information please contact Elaine Lennon, North West Lifelong Learning Development Officer, telephone 529 5270, email Elaine.Lennon@edinburgh.gov.uk
Costs for using electric vehicle chargers owned and provided by the City of Edinburgh Council will be introduced on Sunday, 1 May.
Charges, which will be displayed at existing charging points, were agreed as part of the budget-setting process earlier this year.
Any revenue generated will be used to fund the ongoing costs associated with our electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In March we began work to introduce 81 chargers (141 bays) in residential streets and park and ride sites around the city, which will be available for use by summer.
Charges and maximum stay periods depend on the type of charger (standard, fast or rapid) with full details available on the Council website.
Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “We’re in the process of introducing even more electric vehicle charging points across the city, which will provide additional fast, convenient charging for people living in and travelling to and from the city.
“Increasing this kind of infrastructure is essential for supporting people to make the shift to more sustainable forms of transport, like electric cars, which is vital if we are to become net zero by 2030. Any income generated from charges introduced next month will help us to maintain and continue developing our charging network.”
Councillor Karen Doran, Transport and Environment Vice Convener, said: “It’s really encouraging that so many people are choosing to switch to electric vehicles, and we want to help even more people to make this choice.
“We set costs for using our chargers as part of the budget this year, and tariffs will be clearly displayed on charging points and on our website.”
Calling All Musicians * Calling All Musicians * Calling All Musicians
Tuesday the 21st of June will be Make Music Day and Edinburgh City Libraries are calling out to all musicians, groups, ensembles, choirs, orchestras to join us. The service will be putting together a varied program to fill midsummers day with music:
‘In 2019 we ran successful programs of events in Central, Morningside, Craigmillar and Stockbridge Libraries (see poster below).
With a range if groups performing Opera to Klezmer, recorder solo’s to the Rolling Hills Chorus. In 2020 and 2021 we were forced online with a curtailed but no less interesting program of events with choirs, instrumentalists and the Libraries staff singing the Make Music Day anthems Bring Me Sunshine and Stand By Me.
Make Music Day started life 40 years ago in 1982. In France under President Mitterrand’s Socialist Party Maurice Fleuret , was appointed as Director of Music and Dance at the French Ministry of Culture with a responsibility for festivals and events.
He immediately saw that there was a discrepancy in the number of children and adults able to play musical instruments and the numbers who actually participated in any form of music making.
Fete da la Musique was born. His, Fleuret’s, statement rang loud “Music is everywhere and the concert is nowhere” and mission statement for day became, amateur and professional musician should give of their time freely and that all performances should to be free to attend, forty years on those statements are pretty much the same.
Year on year the festival grew and not just in France, by the early 90s the festival had become an event in approximately 80 countries and this year that number stands at 126 countries around the world. The 21st of June was chosen as it is normally the longest day of the year or the summer solstice.
If you wished, and some people do, you could have musical events from the early hours when the sun rises to when it sets late in the evening, and those performances could be anywhere street corners, driveways, concert halls, Libraries, Bandstands, telephone boxes. Anywhere and everywhere, performed and watched by anyone and everyone.
In that spirit, this year we are back and able to welcome musicians into the building to perform and we will welcome audiences to the Library to watch live music.
Please get in touch with us and give us a description of what you do or what you would like to do on the 21st of June, if you are able to link us to any online examples of your previous work, would be useful, but certainly not essential.
* Calling All Musicians * Calling All Musicians * Calling All Musicians!
There are just two weeks left to have your say on the governance, scope and operation of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board.
The Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) for Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership is made up of representatives from City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian, Third Sector representatives, service users and carers.
The Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, through its Chief Officer has responsibility for the planning, resourcing and the operational oversight of a wide range of health and social care services.
The City of Edinburgh Council and NHS Lothian are consulting on a general update to the Scheme of Integration – the document which outlines the governance, scope and operation of the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board.
The consultation is being conducted to help further inform and finalise this revision of the scheme.
You are invited to participate in the consultation, by providing your views on the revised Scheme of Integration:
