Safety fears at Drylaw’s Doo’cot

Drylaw Telford Community Council has raised safety concerns over the Doo’cot (that’s the old Listed structure, not the boozer!) with officials at the city council’s local North Office.

During the summer holidays local children, some of them older teenagers, have gained access to the old Doocot structure and have been climbing through the building, using trees and shrubbery that are growing through the heart of the structure. Some are jumping off when they get to the top, and residents fear that children will be injured – or worse – if they land on rusty railing below.

Drylaw Telford Community Council chairman Alex Dale has taken the safety issue up with the local North Office – along with another potential problem – Japanese Knotweed. This invasive plant is very difficult to remove, and residents believe that teh invader is gaining a hold in gardens surrounding the old Doo’cot.

“I have passed this information on to the local council office and the response has been very prompt. I understand that there has been some confusion about who is actually responsible for the old Doo’cot – it’s hard to believe it when you seen the state of it, but it’s a Listed building – but that’s been resolved and the council will be taking action. That will be a relief to local residents.”

knotwood-001 — a trail of knotweed at the old doo’cot?

More good news for Wester Drylaw residents is a council rethink on local street lighting. Following concerns raised by the community council earlier this year, council officials looked again at the quality and positioning of street lighting in the area.

“John McFarlane and his Lighting team have come up with an action plan, fitting 70w bulbs instead of current 45w metal halide bulbs in three sections of Wester Drylaw Place”, Alex added. “Around end of November or early December they shall consult with all residents on which would be their preferred option and before the end of the year the preferred option will be fitted throughout Wester Drylaw Place. We hope that all residents will participate in the consultation when asked in order to achieve the best result for all, and make Wester Drylaw Place a brighter and safer place for the community.”

Meeting reminders

Reminders of some local meetings taking place this week:

Tonight (Wednesday 29 August):

CORE

Extraordinary general meeting to wind up the organisation takes place at 6pm in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, Pilton Drive North. All welcome.

DRYLAW TELFORD COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Regular monthly business meeting at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre off Groathill Road North. All welcome.

Tomorrow (Thursday 30 August):

TENANTS and RESIDENTS IN MUIRHOUSE

Monthly meeting at North Edinburgh Arts Centre 6pm. All welcome.

PILTON CENTRAL ASSOCIATION

Annual general meeting in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre at 6.30pm. All welcome.

Keep us posted about any meetings you think our readers should know about!

What a waste! Recycling sites added to Drylaw agenda

Drylaw Telford Community Council will discuss an extra business item when they meet tomorrow evening at Drylaw neighbourhood Centre – members will be asked to consider suitable locations sites for recycling sites.

A list of suggestions provided by the council (see below) includes one site on Ferry Road and a further five in Wester Drylaw Place and Drive.

DTCC chair Alex Dale said: “Councillor Lesley Hinds has asked if this could be discussed at next DTCC meeting. This is in response to questions raised at the last Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership meeting on 13 August and by residents’ approaches to her following the council’s changes to waste uplifts. Although the sites pinpointed on the map are all in Wester Drylaw we need to try to identify areas in both Easter Drylaw & Telford too”.

The meeting starts at 7pm – all welcome.

W Drylaw Recycling

No swings but roundabouts at Drylaw Telford Community Council

June’s meeting centred on one roundabout in particular – the one in Groathill Road North. Drylaw Telford community councillors are unhappy about the money that was spent on ‘environmental improvements’ to this roundabout and the meeting on 27 June was an attempt to resolve the dissatisfaction.

The saga began last year when Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership’s NEP (Neighbourhood Environment Programme) allocated almost £13,000 to make environmental improvements to the roundabout, which was then surrounded by fencing. It was decided that the fencing was no longer required and that the money should be used to remove the fencing and to landscape the roundabout.

Drylaw Telford Community Association (Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre’s management committee) successfully bid to manage the piece of work, but four contractors later the roundabout is looking sadder than ever.

Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre worker Thomas Brown joined local Roads Manager Neil MacFarlane at last month’s meeting to establish what had gone wrong and to forge a new road ahead (!)

The main problem identified by the Community Council was that the design for the roundabout planting was not of acceptable quality. Neil McFarlane said that the design had been produced by Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre’s Gardening Group and that the Council will not accept responsibility for the roundabout’s maintenance as the original project is considered to be unfinished.

Thomas Brown said that there had been problems with contractors almost since the very beginning of the project, and the current contractor was the fourth to take on the work.

After a discussion it was agreed that a report will go Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership when contractors finish remedial work next month. In the meantime a small working group of community councillors, Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre staff and council officers will look at reworking the landscaping design to come up with practical, low maintenance – and affordable – alternative before the council takes ownership of the site in August.

Neil MacFarlane said: “This was the first scheme in Inverleith where local people actually did the work and delivered the scheme. We have got to learn lessons from this project as we do not want to make the same mistakes again”.

Drylaw Telford Community Council chair Alex Dale said: “It’s clear that mistakes have been made, but what’s in the past is past – it’s time to move forward and to try to resolve this”.

In other business, Councillor Nigel Bagshaw reported that he had been able to establish a list of all the owners of premises in Drylaw Shopping Centre. The dilapidated state of the shopping centre has been a concern for the community council for many months now – leaking canopies, run-down shop fronts and cracked and broken footways have been raised consistently at meetings over the last year. Now, with a list of current owners, the community council hopes to work with Inverleith councillors and local shopkeepers to improve the local shopping area.

There was also a flying visit from Mike Clark, who stepped down as chair last month. Mike was presented with a token of appreciation by Alex Dale (above, pic John Stuart).

Drylaw Telford Community Council has a month off now and doesn’t meet again until Wednesday 29 August at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre. As always, all welcome.

Mike moves on and Alex takes the chair

Alex Dale is the new chairman of Drylaw Telford Community Council. The Wester Drylaw man was elected unopposed at last night’s annual general meeting held in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre.

Alex (above left) takes over from Mike Clark (right), who was chair of the community council for three years. Choking back the tears (!), Mike explained that he now had just too many other commitments and that he felt it necessary not only to step down as Chair, but also to resign from the community council.

Thanking Mike for his sterling service, Jackie Brown said: “Mike has been a very popular chair and we’ll miss him. We all wish Mike all the very best and hope he’ll come back to join us for the occasional meeting”.

Following the election process – conducted by new Inverleith SNP councillor Gavin Barrie – the other office-bearers remain in place: Jackie Brown (treasurer), Dave Pickering (vice-chair) and Ian Greenhalgh (secretary).

Guest speaker at the meeting was local historian Ian Moore (pictured below), who gave an entertaining talk on the history of the area, in particular Drylaw House.

Drylaw House was built in 1718, and perhaps it’s most infamous inhabitant was James Loch, who was born there in 1780. Loch is best known for his role in the Highland Clearances, and during research for the North Edinburgh Social History project Ian was so incensed by Loch’s actions that he wrote a song about him.

Ian sang the song at last night’s meeting, and in the process made his own piece of local history – by being the first man ever to sing at a Drylaw Telford Community Council meeting in it’s long and august history!

Council candidates at Drylaw hustings

A reminder that Drylaw Telford Community Council’s local election hustings event takes place tomorrow (Tuesday) evening at 7.30pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre (off Groathill Road North).

Meet the Inverleith ward candidates and get your questions answered. All welcome.

Ian is Drylaw's Citizen of the Year

Ian Moore has been chosen as Drylaw’s Citizen of the Year. Drylaw Telford Community Council members met earlier this week to decide the recipient of the annual Thomas Tierney Award for Good Citizenship, and Ian was the popular winner.

“There was a bit of a delay in making our choice for 2011 because of some other pressing local issues, but we got there in the end! Ian is a well-known figure in the area and we’re sure he will be a very popular choice”, said Mike Clark, Drylaw Telford CC chair.

Ian will receive his award at a reception in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on 25 April at 7:30pm. All welcome

Ian is Drylaw’s Citizen of the Year

Ian will receive his award at a reception in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on 25 April at 7:30pm. All welcome

Inverleith Hustings

Two Inverleith Ward community councils have organised hustings for the forthcoming council elections, giving you an opportunity to meet and hear the candidates and get your questions answered.

Craigleith Blackhall CC will hold their hustings on Thursday 19 April at 7.30pm in St. Columba’s Church on Queensferry Road, while Drylaw Telford CC’s election event takes place on Tuesday 24 April at 7pm in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre (off Groathill Road North).

All welcome.

Get in touch if you know of any more hustings events in Forth or Inverleith.