Tomorrow (Thursday (10 June), members of the city council’s Policy and Sustainability Committee will consider a high-level strategy for 20-Minute Neighbourhoods in Edinburgh.
The model is a well-established approach used worldwide as a way of delivering services within communities. This includes finding ways for residents to access most of their daily services provided by the Council in a local, accessible and sustainable way, along with those delivered by our partners in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
This is a new approach for the Capital and the aim is to deliver more sustainable places, improve public services, and build on what is already a powerful sense of local community across Edinburgh.
Over the last year, the pandemic has seen a dramatic change to the way we all live and work in our local area, and while the concept was already underway in pioneer cities such as Paris, Melbourne and Portland, the global health crisis has highlighted even more strongly how important ‘liveable’ neighbourhoods are.
The emerging City Plan 2030 identified eight town centres as starting points and further work identified 11 more areas to prioritise as they are areas which have gaps in their service provision and/or no natural town centre.
Each of the 19 areas in total has its own unique cultural identity and local heritage and it’ll be important to clearly articulate the differing role each neighbourhood plays socially, culturally and economically as the strategy progresses.
The draft strategy outlines that, if approved, the first areas of focus will be where the need is greatest, whether that’s because of deprivation, poor connectivity, or demographic issues. For example, the council will:
Maximise the opportunities created by new school investments at Liberton and Currie
Work to deliver the new Pennywell Hub to provide a partnership between public and voluntary sectors
Build on the community-led Local Place Planning work in Wester Hailes and Leith
Work with the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership to combat loneliness and isolation, and build new networks of support and wellbeing
Look at new schemes to improve the quality of place in some of our busiest and most traffic-dominated centres such as Niddrie Mains Road.
Council Leader Adam McVey said: “Twenty-minute Neighbourhoods are about helping local people access the services they need, where and when they need them.
“Getting what you need in your community is about more than just having your services and amenities close at hand. It’s also about empowering communities, fostering stronger partnership working at a local level and, where appropriate, delivering multiple services from stand-alone ‘hubs’.
“We know from our Capital Resident’s Survey that 58% of people agree it would make sense to have all public services delivered from one location. We also know this can be a more efficient way of organisations working within our communities and getting better outcomes for our residents.
“Crucially, building thriving local neighbourhoods will not only boost quality of life and residents’ wellbeing but it will also be greener by cutting carbon footprint of frontline services and making support easier to reach within walking distance.”
Depute Council Leader Cammy Day said: “The Edinburgh Climate Commission supports our work on 20-Minute Neighbourhoods as the heart of a sustainable community and it’s clear the plans also support our wider Business Plan priorities in terms of ending poverty, increasing wellbeing, tackling inequality and focusing on prevention.
“The strategy we’ll be considering at Committee sets out a new way of working with our communities and we know from the experience of finding new ways to deliver services during the pandemic that communities want to work with us to co-design services, so it’s an exciting opportunity for Edinburgh.
“We’ll be working on supporting and creating environments where businesses can thrive and residents’ needs are met, helping to create a vibrant atmosphere and local identity.”
If approved, implementation of the strategy will begin immediately.
While the delivery of the strategy will be an ongoing programme of work, a detailed implementation plan will be developed, based on the ‘inform, engage, reflect and deliver’ model.
Potential locations for 20-Minute Neighbourhoods:
Corstorphine Lochend / Restalrig Ratho Craigmillar / Bingham Moredun/Gilmerton South Queensferry Currie/Balerno Morningside / Bruntsfield Stockbridge Gorgie/Dalry Muirhouse (above) Tollcross Granton Nicholson Street Wester Hailes Kirkliston Oxgangs Leith / Leith Walk Portobello
The next meeting of the Inverleith Neighbourhood Network will be on Wednesday 31st March from 6 – 8pm.
Agenda is below:
Minute of meeting – 210120
Role of Chair / Rep of the NN
Communications within NN
Inverleith NN Greenspace priority – how do we take this forward and are there any other local priorities to be considered.
Revised LIP (Locality Improvement Plan) priorities – update from LCPP (Local Community Planning Partnership)
Poverty Commission – update from LCPP
The meeting will take place online using Microsoft Teams.
Joan Beattie, Inverleith community representative on the North West Locality Community Planning Partnership ( LCPP), said: “Our Neighbourhood Network is having a Team’s meeting on 31st March starting at 6pm to discuss among other things how to take forward our priority ‘MAKING THE MOST OF OUR GREEN SPACES’.
“This was chosen as our priority in the last meeting before Covid restrictions but has proved to be even more important given the use of our green spaces over the last year.
“I would really like to hear all of your views on this to feed into the next LCPP meeting and to let you know how I think it could be linked to the Local Improvement Plan.
I really hope you are all able to make the meeting but if that’s not, please pass on your ideas.”
For further information contact:
Elaine Lennon
North West Lifelong Learning Development Officer, City of Edinburgh Council
‘Think local, act local’ is the strong message coming from Edinburgh’s community planning partnership as city residents and community groups rally round to support each other.
This week the Edinburgh Partnership, the city’s community planning network, held an urgent meeting to co-ordinate the city’s response to Covid-19 and to look at what more we can all do to help Edinburgh’s residents and businesses through this unprecedented and difficult time.
They have committed to working together to do everything they can to keep vital services running, supporting the most vulnerable and isolated and making sure our frontline workers are able to continue with their essential work.
Council Leader Adam McVey said:“The Edinburgh Partnership brings together the heads of public sector like Council, police and NHS with the third sector, and the business community with the chamber of commerce, and are all working together to co-ordinate Edinburgh’s efforts.
“We’re supporting our residents, businesses, communities and working hard to sustain essential and lifeline services at this incredibly challenging time.
“There’s a lot we’re already doing to work across organisations, and we’ll continue to do everything we can to keep our vital services operating. This will mean everyone in the city doing their bit or simply bearing with us so we can direct support where it’s most needed.
“We’re already seeing many examples of organisations and individuals being hugely creative to help people in our communities and we’ll do everything we can to effectively coordinate help and support being offered and keep everyone up to date with the most recent information.”
Depute Leader Cammy Day said:“As we continue to develop our plans and respond to this constantly evolving situation, we’ll also be doing all we can to help those working incredibly hard to make sure important services can continue.
“Part of that will be helping to coordinate the huge volunteering effort that we’re already seeing across the city. It’s amazingly heart-warming, but unsurprising, to see the scale of kindness and generosity from Edinburgh people and businesses.”
Ella Simpson, EVOC Chief Executive said:“Every day we’re seeing wonderful examples of communities and the voluntary sector coming together to help each other and we’ll continue to support that effort working with volunteers and community groups, guiding them to where their support is most needed.
“Just being a good neighbour will be a lifeline to many older, vulnerable or isolated people.
“If you’re keen to help, we advise that you look within your own street and community first, see what your local charity is already doing and ask if they need your support. There’s so much you can do without looking too far. Very simple actions like help with shopping and checking on neighbours are key to getting the city through this.
“There are fantastic resources available for voluntary groups and individual volunteers and we’ll keep providing that support and sharing information on how you can help.”
What you can do
Already a volunteer or want to know how to volunteer? Contact Volunteer Edinburgh for information and advice.
Voluntary organisations responding to COVID-19 in their communities should contact EVOC for advice and support.
The Inverleith Neighbourhood Network meeting that was due to take place in December has now been rescheduled and will take place on Tuesday 21st January from 6.30 – 8.30 in Stockbridge Library in Hamilton Place.
The city council are holding a series of public consultation events on the future of a development site at Leith Walk / Halmyre Street. The site area is shown on the plan below although the surrounding area will be considered in the consultations.Continue reading Leith Walk consultation sessions
The next Forth and Inverleith Edinburgh Voluntary Sector Forum meeting will take place on Thursday 24th October from 10am – 12pm in EVOC’s office at 525 Ferry Road.
