Pilton Community Health Project’s Anita Aggarwal gives an update on a key local initiative:
Since the closure of Community Organisation for Racial Equality (CORE), PCHP, Community Learning and Development (CLD) and Edinburgh Lothian Regional Equalities Council (ELREC) have been working together to try to minimise the impact of the loss of this important organisation.
The City of Edinburgh Council commissioned a report which examined the ongoing needs of BME communities in the area. This highlighted the difficulties people have integrating with the local population, as well as a host of other issues.
At this point it was felt important to involve other agencies and more local people in this process, and so we pulled together an action planning session on 31 May.
Over 30 people attended this event, representing a wide range of local people and organisations. At this event we identified actions to be taken and many committed to take these forward.
If you weren’t able to be at the event and have ideas about how you or your organisations can contribute please add them in to the plan. This document is an aid to action, not a fixed strategy document to sit on a shelf and get dusty!
We agreed to come back to discuss next steps at another meeting, when we will look at what progress is being made and how we resource some of the ideas on the action plan.
The next meeting will take place at the
Spartans Community Football Academy on Friday 19 July from 10 – 12.
This meeting is open to anyone – please contact me on 0131 551 1671 if you need crèche.
Usually, community groups and voluntary organisations are up in arms over council cuts to services in their area. However one Muirhouse man is on the warpath over a lack of cuts!
TRIM (Tenants and Residents in Muirhouse) member Robert Pearson has written to the local council team to demand action over the state of local green spaces – weeds, long grass and the general state of the area.
He said: “Yet again I feel it necessary to email you regarding Muirhouse, I am absolutely fed up with the way Muirhouse is being left to rot by you, Edinburgh City Council. It was you who caused the area to fall apart in the first place and now you are leaving us in a mess.”
He goes on: “Back in March this year local children join the Centipede project and planted over 2000 bulbs which spelt Muirhouse Is Home (pictured below). It looked fantastic, the children loved it and it was never vandalised. Unfortunately we are not able to see it anymore as the grass and weeds have taking over the place. Walking around the estate the green areas are all overgrown and basically in a mess; why is this happening again? Does this happen elsewhere in the city? Or does it just happen in the forgotten estate?”
North Neighbourhood Team Business Manager Mandy Rudden said she has requested information from her Regeneration and Task Force colleagues and will update Robert when this has been received.
Local residents and organisations have given the thumbs-up to council plans to improve Leith Walk. Ambitious plans would see upgrades and improvements along the full 2.2km length of the famous Leith thoroughfare.
Following a comprehensive public consultation earlier this year, the Council announced it would be seeking additional funding from the Scottish Government in order to give Leith Walk the best possible revamp.
At a 6 June meeting in McDonald Road Library, an enhanced design – which would make the thoroughfare more cycle and pedestrian-friendly – was presented by the Leith Programme team to local residents, business leaders and community groups.
Features of the enhanced scheme include:
clear pedestrian priority over 1.8km, including safer crossing points;
significant sections of uninterrupted cycle space (both dedicated on and off road sections);
redesigned, simplified junctions;
largely segregated cycle provision from Pilrig Street uphill for around 1km to Picardy Place;
two-way segregated cycle provision from Annandale Street to the Omni centre;
replacement of London Rd roundabout with a signalled junction to significantly enhance conditions for both pedestrians and cyclists;
1.75m wide cycle lane provision on the road in both directions between Foot of the Walk and Dalmeny Street (into town) Pilrig Street (out of town);
Narrower road environment with frequent zebra crossings, with a design that supports slower vehicle speeds;
a simplified streetscape more conducive to community activity, trading and business; and
better connectivity for sustainable forms of travel between the waterfront and the city centre.
Given the scope of this new design and the need to obtain a Traffic Regulation Order to implement the changes, stakeholders were advised that opting for the enhanced design would affect the timescale.
For anyone wishing to view the designs in detail and speak to the project team about any aspect of the programme, a drop in session will be held at
McDonald Road Library on Tuesday 23 July, from 2 – 8pm.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “It was very useful for us to be able to present this potential enhanced design for Leith Walk to local stakeholders tonight. It prompted a lot of interesting debate and we are pleased that there was such overwhelming support for the plans from those present.”
Sustrans Scotland Director, John Lauder, said: “Sustrans Scotland wants to see Leith Walk reach its full potential as a busy, vibrant shopping and residential street. In order to achieve this aim, the City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with ourselves, has put forward an ambitious proposal to Transport Scotland for the full 2.2km length of the street.
“Sustrans strongly backs the features of this ‘enhanced design’ for Leith Walk, including the addition of new crossing points, wider pavements and better cycle lane provision. We now call on the Scottish Government to carefully consider the Council’s ‘enhanced design’ proposal and fully back its implementation.”
Keith Hales, Vice Chairman of the Leith Business Association, who attended the meeting, said: “This is a massive improvement on what we thought the designs were going to be and we will be commending the designs to the membership.”
Charlotte Encombe, Chair of Greener Leith, said: “Greener Leith welcomes the improvements shown in these exciting new draft designs for Leith Walk, which will give pedestrians and cyclists a vastly improved public realm and help to revitalise the economy of the area. We are also delighted that officers and councillors have included local people’s priorities for the street and have made real changes to the design. We look forward to collaborating on the detail of the designs as the project moves forward.”
More than 1,000 primary school pupils will compete in one of the biggest ever school sports events in Edinburgh next week. The P6 pupils are taking part in the Games @ THE HUB event at Forrester High School Community Sports Hub next Wednesday (12 June).
Clyde, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games mascot, will also be making an appearance at the start of the event to welcome all the pupils.
This is the first event of its kind delivered by Active Schools and its purpose is to promote participation in sport in the build-up to Glasgow 2014. Pupils will compete in ten different sports: hockey, football, rugby, basketball, netball, gymnastics, cricket, volleyball, boccia and tennis.
As well as the pupils taking part over fifty volunteers from the Young Ambassador programme – which is delivered by sportscotland in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust – and school sports leaders from across the city will be lending a hand to ensure everything runs smoothly on the day.
Jodi McGinty, a platinum Young Ambassador and torch bearer at the Olympics, will be presenting the shields to the winning teams. Jodi is also on the Young People’s Sport Panel, which is led by sportscotland in partnership with Young Scot.
One of the events is the Paralympic Sport Boccia which 10 of the teams will be trying out. Boccia is related to bowls and was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other disabilities.
Primary schools will send teams of 10 P6 pupils, both boys and girls, to take part in a competitive session in the morning and then a participative event in the afternoon. These sessions will be run by Children & Families’ Sports Development Officers, National Governing Bodies and local community clubs.
Active Schools hope this will be the start of an annual event. Each year, primary schools across the city will be able to take part in the competitive session of each sport where the winner will be presented with a shield.
Councillor Cathy Fullerton, Vice Convener for Education (pictured above), said: “Glasgow 2014 presents us with a fantastic opportunity to promote a variety of sports across the Capital and this event is a great way of promoting this. I’m going along on the day to see everyone taking part and am delighted that so many primary school pupils are getting the opportunity to experience Games @ THE HUB.
“The facilities at Forrester/St Augustine’s are second to none and I know everyone will have a great time. Hopefully many of the children will be inspired to take up some of the sports outside of school and I want to thank everyone involved especially all the volunteers.”
Jacqueline Lynn, sportscotland’s Head of School and Community Sport, said: “The Games @ THE HUB event is sure to be an action-packed day of sport and physical activity and it will by wonderful to see so many pupils taking part.
“We are committed at sportscotland to increasing the opportunities for children and young people to participate in school sport, and significant progress is being made through our Active Schools Network and Community Sport Hub initiative. The Active Schools team in Edinburgh has done an excellent job in organising this event and we commend them for their efforts.”
This Saturday I will be participating in the MoonWalk. There is a cross party group of women Councillors walking as a team and we have created an online Fundraising Page for The MoonWalk Edinburgh Scotland 2013.
To show your support for this effort and raise funding for breast cancer in Scotland, please donate at
A community campaign to reopen Leith Waterworld has voiced concerns over a late £1 million bid to buy the building and reopen it as a soft play centre. Splashback are urging councillors to show conviction and to stick with commitments made in January.
Councillors voted to give further support the community initiative in January, and since then Splashback have been working with the city council to progress the feasibility of reopening Waterworld as a social enterprise – so news of a fresh bid for Waterworld has not been welcomed.
In a statement, the group said: “We were delighted when, on 31 January this year, the city’s Councillors overwhelmingly voted to work with Splashback and to establish a working group to develop the business plan for a community-run Leith Waterworld. This reflected the administration’s desire to work cooperatively with the citizens of Edinburgh, as set out in the Capital Coalition agreement. Over the last three and a half months, we have worked with Councillors and officials in good faith, and while there remains much still to do, we have made significant progress, including developing a fundraising plan and applying for charitable status.”
The statement continues: “The development of Leith Waterworld as a community-led social enterprise would support the first two partnership commitments of the coalition, namely ‘ensuring every child in Edinburgh has the best start in life’ and ‘reducing poverty, inequality and deprivation’. The coalition agreement acknowledged the breakdown in trust between the residents of Edinburgh and their elected representatives, and that the city will be able to judge the Council against the promises it makes in the agreement.
“Splashback understands that this new bid leaves Councillors with a decision to make at next week’s Full Council meeting – whether to continue working with us to achieve a revitalised Leith Waterworld, or to pursue the new bid at this stage. However, we have faith in the letter and the spirit of the amendment carried on 31 January, and believe that the conviction displayed by Councillors on that day will guide their decision. We look forward to continuing to work with the Council to deliver on the commitments they made in January.”
Senior councillors have stressed that no decisions have been taken ahead of next week’s meeting.
Councillor Richard Lewis, the city’s Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Over the last few months officials and elected members have been working closely with Splashback to progress the feasibility phase of their community bid to run Leith Waterworld. I’d like to thank Splashback for their continued commitment to developing their community bid.
“The council had agreed in January to re-market the property whilst we were supporting the feasibility phase of Splashback’s bid and in the intervening months we received two new unsolicited notes of interest in purchasing Leith Waterworld, one of which is being taken to council for consideration.”
Councillors will discuss the bid – and receive a progress report on the Splashback initiative – at next Thursday’s full council meeting.
Housing Minister Margaret Burgess welcomed new tenants to the first completed phase of Miller Homes’ Varcity North development in North Edinburgh yesterday.
In total, 89 new apartments, consisting of one, two and three bedrooms, will be available at mid-market rental rates at the development.
In 2011, Miller Homes, the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) created a limited liability partnership (LLP) as part of the National Housing Trust’s initiative (NHT), aimed at fast-tracking the delivery of new homes for mid-market rental throughout Scotland.
The LLP is working with managing agent Places for People to manage the completed properties, identify potential tenants and manage the rentals over the contract term.
Rent First@Varcity North will be available for rent to selected tenants, (employed on a minimum salary of £10k per annum, but struggling to find an affordable home to rent).
Under the NHT initiative’s rules, homes must be available to rent for a five year period, following which, tenants will have the choice to purchase their house at the market value or move on. Should tenants select not to buy, Miller Homes will sell the property on the open market.
Housing Minister, Margaret Burgess said: “It is fantastic to see house developers like Miller Homes embrace the opportunities offered by the Scottish Government’s pioneering National Housing Trust initiative. These new homes at Varcity North will go some way towards providing much needed affordable rented accommodation for Edinburgh residents.
“The initiative has been hugely successful, with deals secured with 13 developers to deliver over 1000 high quality homes for families throughout Scotland at very little cost to the taxpayer. A vibrant, expanding housing sector stimulates growth and protects and creates jobs in the construction sector and wider economy.”
David Knight, Managing Director, Miller Homes Scotland said: “We are delighted to bring the mid-market rental homes to market slightly ahead of schedule. Securing affordable housing in Edinburgh remains difficult and the challenging lending environment also means that buying is still out of reach for some households.
“The 89 apartments will go some way to helping those in employment secure an affordable rental tenancy. The apartments are developed to Miller Homes’ high standards of the quality of the build, fixtures and fittings and will form part of vibrant, modern development, which is quickly establishing its own sense of community.
“Rent First@Varcity North provides much needed homes at affordable rents for key workers and has also created vital local employment opportunities within the house building industry.”
Rents per month are set at £457.20 for a one bedroom, £594.39 for a two bedroom en-suite apartment and a limited number of three bedroom apartments available. Further details are available from Miller Homes.
Councillor Norman Work represented the city council at the event. He said: “The affordable homes available at Varcity North are a welcome addition to the market in Edinburgh. We continue to tackle the shortage in affordable homes and look for opportunities like the LLP with Miller Homes and Scottish Futures Trust to bring these very welcome homes to fruition.
“With around one half of the national uptake of NHT being in Edinburgh that gives us a sizable amount of homes available for rent. Not only will it enhance the local community, it will also offer a significant boost for those who are in work, who can’t afford to rent at full market rent.
“It is a great model to increase availability of the number of homes for rent in the city and gives people a real opportunity to become tenants and secure a home of their own and save for the future.”
Christa Reekie, commercial director at Scottish Futures Trust said: “I am delighted that the first phase of homes is now complete, providing hundreds of people in the capital with high-quality homes at affordable rents. We are pleases with the high standards of the Varcity North development which has already attracted a great deal of interest.”
Miller Homes purchased the Varcity North site as part of a larger transaction from Telford College, which comprised three campuses (Telford South, Telford West and Telford North). The development of Telford West campus for Home Scotland Housing Association (40 affordable dwellings) was completed in 2010.
Telford South is now known as Varcity South and has become one of the city’s – and Miller Homes’ – flagship developments. The last campus, now known as Varcity North, comprises 327 apartments within five new build blocks and a possible converted building. The apartments under the NHT initiative are within the Dundas Campus and the Dean Campus.
New Varcity North tenant Claire Wilson chats to Housing Minister Margaret Burgess
The Museum of Edinburgh on the Canongate is hosting the sparkling ‘Silver of the Stars’ exhibition, which makes a welcome return to the Scottish capital this summer following a triumphant six-year international tour.
On display until 21 September, this unique collection of contemporary Scottish silverware has been created by some Scotland’s best craftsmen and women in collaboration with world-famous Scottish actors, writers and musicians including Sean Connery and Ewan McGregor.
Commissioned by the Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh to mark their 550th anniversary, the exhibition has attracted over three-quarters of a million visitors across Europe.
On display will be the ten silver drinking vessels that make up the Silver of the Stars exhibition, including a vintage car-inspired whisky set for actor Robbie Coltrane, a bejewelled teapot for singer Sharleen Spiteri and a rolling teapot for Billy Connolly.
This year the collection returns to Scotland and is being shown at the newly refurbished Museum of Edinburgh before making its way up north for exhibitions at the Swanson Gallery in Thurso, the St Fergus Gallery in Wick and the Inverness Museum and Gallery.
Councillor Richard Lewis, the city’s Culture and Sport Convener, said: “The newly refurbished Museum of Edinburgh will be the perfect venue for this wonderful exhibition that has proved immensely popular both in Scotland and internationally. We’re delighted to be hosting Silver of the Stars and I’m sure it will draw in the crowds with ease, particularly during the busy summer months in Edinburgh.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by an exciting programme of events including silversmithing and jewellery workshops, handling sessions and lectures.
Tom Murray, the Deacon of the Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh, which commissioned Silver of the Stars to mark the Incorporation’s 550th anniversary, said: “Scotland is home to a unique community of artists working in silver. Their work is held by some of the world’s leading collectors and the demand from galleries to show this unique collection has been overwhelming. There is a huge interest in Scotland and its heritage and this collection combines ancient techniques and craftsmanship with superb artistry and new engineering solutions. In many ways it stands as a metaphor for Scottish talent and innovation.”
The City of Edinburgh Council’s Policy and Strategy Committee agreed to adopt a ‘no eviction’ policy for council tenants last week. The policy is in response to a series of national welfare reforms such as the new Under-Occupancy Restrictions (often referred to as the ‘bedroom tax’) which is expected to affect thousands of Edinburgh residents who receive housing benefits.
Where the Director of Services for Communities is satisfied that tenants subject to the under occupancy restrictions have done all they can to avoid falling into arrears and are actively engaging with Housing staff, they should not be evicted for failing to pay the part of their rent which is due to the new restrictions.
Convener of Health, Social Care and Housing, Councillor Ricky Henderson (pictured above), who proposed the motion, said: “We have a lot of challenges ahead and the welfare reforms implemented throughout the UK will have a significant impact on the city. It is essential that people make every effort to pay their rent as this funds housing services and investment. However, this decision will protect our tenants from losing their home due to the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’. We will do all that we can to support the people most affected by these changes and our ‘no eviction’ policy is an important step towards this.”
The Council recently announced that is has strengthened its advice services for people who are concerned about the reforms and has contacted residents who are likely to be affected to make sure they know about the support available to them.
The city council is calling on local green groups to back Edinburgh’s 2013 Britain in Bloom bid by helping to spruce up their local neighbourhood.
It’s Your Neighbourhood, run by Keep Scotland Beautiful, is a scheme that aims to bring members of the community together to make a positive change to the place they live, work or spend their leisure time. It is open to groups of all sizes who are interested in cleaning up and greening up their local area.
The initiative forms part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom competition, in which Edinburgh is competing against Bristol and the London Borough of Hillingdon in the City category.
Local community groups or businesses who enter the It’s Your Neighbourhood scheme will be mentored by assessors in an effort to improve and progress local green projects. This could be help with identifying funding sources, gardening and maintenance advice or providing access to tools.
Successful participants are presented with a certificate of achievement of either Establishing, Improving, Developing, Thriving, or Outstanding.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, the city’s Environment Convener, (pictured above) said: “Edinburgh will be representing Scotland later this year in the prestigious Britain in Bloom competition and so we’re calling in all green-fingered city residents to back our bid and do their bit to spruce up their local neighbourhood.”
Derek Robertson, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful – the independent charity which campaigns, acts and educates on a range of local, national and global environmental issues which affect people’s quality of life, said: “We would welcome any community group who is working to clean up and green up their local area in Edinburgh to register for this years’ It’s Your Neighbourhood campaign. It’s Your Neighbourhood is about giving community groups who work tirelessly year round, national recognition and support for their efforts, and currently we have over 70 groups registered from across Scotland.”
Registration for It’s Your Neighbourhood closes at the end of April. Further information can be found on the Beautiful Scotland website.
Pilton Community Health Project’s Anita Aggarwal gives an update on a key local initiative:
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