City of Edinburgh Council – Page 28 – The NEN

Stay safe for a Happy Hogmanay

With the big night upon us, organisers of Edinburgh’s world famous street party are urging revellers to be warm, to stay safe and to enjoy all that Edinburgh has to offer this Hogmanay. City of Edinburgh Council, Lothian and Borders Police, NHS Lothian, G4S Events and the Met Office mt earlier this week and offer advice to help revellers bring in the New Year safely.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: “”To make sure you and your friends have the best possible time seeing in the bells at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party, take some simple steps to look after yourself: dress for the weather, bring your New Year cheer in plastic bottles, and use your common sense. It’s also a good idea to heed the advice from police and stewards, who will be working extremely hard on the night to make sure everyone enjoys themselves safely.

“Look after yourself and your friends and help us welcome 2012 in style at the official ‘World’s best Hogmanay celebrations’.”

Jim Watson, Public Weather Service Advisor for the Met Office, said:

“The weather is currently looking good for the Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations, generally dry but with the possibility of some showers reaching the City. Although temperatures are likely to stay above freezing the strong southwest wind will mean that it will feel cold. As always revellers should dress for the conditions and wrap up warm.”

Dr. David Farquharson, Medical Director, NHS Lothian said: ““We want everyone to have fun at Hogmanay and a few simple precautions will help make sure that celebrations are a night to remember – for all the right reasons. If you are heading for the street party, you will probably be outside in the cold for several hours. It’s worth remembering that alcohol lowers your body temperature, so warm clothes are vital. It’s also important for people who take regular medication to make sure they have what they need with them. When it comes to drinking, it is best to pace yourself and have a meal beforehand to soak up some of the alcohol – starchy foods are best. It is also a worthwhile tip to try drinking a soft drink or water in-between having an alcoholic drink. The temperature will drop throughout the night and icy weather can lead to nasty slips and trips, which in turn may mean a trip to the minor injuries unit or even the accident and emergency departments so try and take extra care when out and about.”

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party organisers are offering a few extra tips for revellers to bear in mind:

-Follow the instructions on the Hogmanay Street Party tickets

-Dress for the weather

-Look after each other and arrange a meeting point

-Think about how to get home

-Police and stewards are on duty to look after everyone’s safety – bags may be searched on entry

-Revellers are encouraged not to bring under 16s to Street Party on the 31 December.

-People under the influence of too much alcohol may be refused entry

-No one will get in unless they have an Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party ticket

-Don’t bring glass into the arena

-Pay bars and food outlets are located within the Street Party Arena.

The three day festival began in style with the last night’s annual Torchlight Procession but the biggest draw to the programme is undoubtedly tonight’s Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party. Now in its 19th year, the world famous event welcomes 80,000 revellers from around the world to the ‘Home of Hogmanay’. With seven live music stages featuring headliners including Festival favourites The Vaccines and Friendly Fires, superstar DJ Mark Ronson, Celtic superheroes Peatbog Faeries and Capercaillie, Fringe Favourites Frisky & Mannish and The Cuban Brothers alongside an unmissable mix of artists including Kassidy, Wild Beasts, Jaymo & Andy George and Rura. Throw in one of the world’s largest New Year fireworks displays and a host of surprises and you have the ultimate Edinburgh’s Hogmanay experience.

On the same night, Concert in the Gardens headliners Primal Scream will be having their own party beneath Edinburgh castle and are joined by special guests, Bombay Bicycle Club, Sons and Daughters. The Concert in the Gardens is opened by Matt Norris and the Moon, the new, unsigned Scottish band from Edinburgh, winners of this year’s Hog The Street Competition.

If you like a bit more birl with the bells, then The Keilidh is the place to be. Dance the night away on the outdoor ceilidh dance floor on Mound Precinct to the very best in traditional music with Hugh McDiarmid’s Haircut, Ceilidhdonia and The Sensational Jimi Shandrix Experience.

GETTING HOME: Lothian Buses will be running free services from various departure points around the City Centre to return revellers safely home after the Street Party. For the first time Edinburgh’s Hogmanay have teamed up with Citylink Buses to offer late night buses to destinations outside Edinburgh after the Hogmanay celebrations. Revellers will be able to travel home from the Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party to a range of destinations in Glasgow, Fife including Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and St Andrews, Dundee, Perth and Kinross. Tickets cost £30 and can be booked online or by calling 0871 266 3333. Passengers wishing to travel on these services are required to pre-book their ticket to guarantee a seat.

The fun continues on Sunday 1 January with the Loony Dook, the annual dip in the River Forth at South Queensferry at 11.00am. Revellers are also invited to come and play at the all new event, The New Year Games, which will take place in the Grassmarket and around the Old Town. Two teams – the Uppies and Doonies – will play games in four stunning venues – Dancebase, The Hub, St Giles Cathedral and the National Museum of Scotland.

Working with innovative Scottish artists and game design studio Hide&Seek, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay has re-imagined some of the traditional Scottish street games with the support of the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. Giant board games, re-imagined classics, secret missions and a huge playground in the Grassmarket invite residents and visitors to play, participate or just spectate in a fun-filled afternoon of mental stimulation and physical challenges.

So enjoy yourself – but stay safe!

Holiday Refuse Collection Reminder

For residents living in the Edinburgh area there will be no change to collection dates for green wheelie bins/ black sack collections, food waste bins and red and blue boxes over the festive period.

However residents are reminded that there will be no garden waste collections or special uplifts between 26 December and 6 January. Normal service will resume on Monday 9 January.

City of Edinburgh Council

Could you be a Volunteer Snow Warden?

The Council has sent out the following advert:

Join the snow clearing effort

During severe weather the Council will do all it can to keep the city moving. However, our focus has to be on priority routes for buses and emergency vehicles and giving access to hospitals, health centres and schools.

snow warden image — The Council want local people to help clear snow. (Picture: Thomas brown)

In previous years, we have been encouraged by the number of residents who contact us to see how they can help. There is a lot you can do by clearing pavements in your area and checking on neighbours.

We are enlisting some volunteer snow wardens to be our eyes and ears in their community. They can tell us about specific problems and help residents with the local effort to clear snow and ice from pavements.

To find out if you could be a Volunteer Snow Warden call 0131 529 3687 or email winter.maintenance@edinburgh.gov.uk

Stop dividing our communities, no to closures

This week, Muirhouse and Salvesen Community Council launched their campaign to stop the Council closing paths that lead from Muirhouse into Silverknowes Eastway. The petition was launched following a public meeting organised by the Davidsons Mains Silverknows Association last month where they have requested the Council look to close off these public footpaths.

Muirhouse to Silverknowes pathway — This is one of the paths that would be closed if the plans get the go ahead. (Picture: Thomas Brown)

As well as closing off the footpaths the Council are also looking at installing up to twelve CCTV monitors in private houses, two of which will be linked to the City in View system which will allow the Police to monitor them at a cost of £4,800.00.

The public meeting which took place on 17th November was attended by over two hundred residents from Silverknowes following a spate of vandalisms and an increase in anti social behavior. Natalie Hoy, Neighbourhood Manager for the West of the City, was in attendance along with Ruth Stanley from the North Office, local Politicians and representatives from the Police.

It was agreed that the Closure of the access points from Muirhouse was the “most important consideration in trying to solve these problems” and according to the Davidsons Mains Silverknowes Association website “there was an assurance this would proceed as quickly as possible”

This is a move, which has angered the Muirhouse and Salvesen Community Council and their Chairperson, Roy Douglas said ” We are disgusted to learn that residents of Silverknowes (who are technically part of Forth Ward) want to close public access footpaths. These footpaths are part of Muirhouse and lead into a newish housing complex that is part of Muirhouse and the Forth Ward. No “Berlin Wall” should be allowed to be built between Communities in this day and age. These paths are used by our school children to get to school safely away from busy main roads and are used by people to access local shops and bus routes.”

We are also disgusted to learn what Police resources have been used and how much is being spent in response to the residents of Silverknowes Eastway complaints. According to a Police representative who attended our meeting said reports have been minor incidents, a smashed window, car keying. In other areas of the Forth Ward they happen every other day. We acknowledge that there is a youth issue in parts of Muirhouse but with the involvement of our local professional Youth Agencies which have great success in engaging with local youth in resolving such issues, and we feel that resources should be given to them.

If the Council allow such division in communities where does the Equality and Diversity policies for our city stand? Peter Strong did apologise that our Community Council was not informed but he should hang has head in shame for allowing another Neighbourhood Partnership to become involved in the affairs of the Forth Ward. We are heading up to a local election and councillors of an adjoining ward want to scare monger and get support to the splitting up of communities and get votes for their parties. Leave our Community alone, do not create more problems with a wall of division.

Our Community Council have circulated petitions for residents of Muirhouse to become aware of this and sign. All we all want for Christmas is Peace and Goodwill lets achieve a New Year with Communities living in Harmony not peering over a wall at each other.”

Inspector John Cooper from Lothian and Borders police said “The main issues are youths passing through Silverknowes to congregate in the Davidsons mains area and this has lead to a number of minor vandalism’s such as car windows being smashed and cars being scratched.

At this moment in time we have not been asked to provide any evidence to suggest that closing these paths will resolve the problems currently being experienced. Over the past few months we have had undertaken a variety of tasks to identify these youths and this has included increased patrols in the area as well as the use of the CCTV van which has been located in the are for the past few weeks.”

Natalie Hoy the West Neighbourhood manager said “To be very clear the Council and Police committed to commissioning a Environmental Survey of the area using Safer by Design which is an accredited and recognised tool for assessing environmental factors in a local area, this survey is carried out by colleagues in Lothian and Borders Police.

Natalie Hoy West Neighbourhood manager — Natalie Hoy says a summit will be held within the next few weeks

I must stress that the council have not committed to closing the footpaths, this will be subject to further discussion and will involve communities from both West and North. A cross neighbourhood summit involving senior officials from the police and council, elected members and community representatives will be convened in the next few weeks.

The Council has committed to offering CCTV provision in domestic properties in the area affected and to explore the Silverknowes Community Representative’s idea that he would like to see further cameras purchased, no cameras have been purchased and these discussions have commenced this week.

Significant work is already underway with young people in both the North and West looking at positive engagement and diversion, action will be taken in cases where this is appropriate jointly in partnership with our Police colleagues however we recognise that the vast majority of young people themselves want to live in a safe community. Council and Police work hard to tailor responses to local community issues and this is part of our neighbourhood working on a day to day basis.”

Almond Councillor Kate Mackenzie said “There have been lots of issues in and around the Silverknowes area caused by young people passing through. These issues have been mainly vandalism and local people have had enough of it. I am unaware what, if any, work has done been to engage with the young people that are causing this problem.”

Local Councillor Cammy Day said “I was made aware of the issues in Silverknowes Eastway, and a public meeting held in Almond ward regarding a few incidents that had taken place. Silverknowes Eastway is in the Forth Ward, and I was surprised not be invited to attend.

It’s important that we take this in perspective, and we take appropriate action to respond positively to any acts of vandalism or anti social behaviour.

I would be keen to have our community safety team and youth street work teams engage with the young people involved for a positive resolution.

A meeting of local representatives is to be arranged later this week to agree a course of action.”

What are your views on building fences to separate communities?

Severe Weather Warning

Decision taken due to expected travel disruption

All Edinburgh schools will shut at noon today because of the high winds forecast and the expected severe disruption to travel and transport. School transport has been arranged to collect children at noon.

Children and Family Centres/Nurseries/Community Centres are also closing at noon.

All community use of schools from noon onwards today will be cancelled including the Adult Education Programme.

The Scottish Government has issued advice to all local authorities on this which you can see in its news release from this morning: severe weather update.

The Council has some general advice for the public and information on its own responsibilities on the high winds page.

City of Edinburgh Council