We would like to inform you that the Sudanese Community in Scotland’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) wll take place on
Sunday 26 April from 2 – 4pm
at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre
Pilton Drive North
We have attached a copy of the annual report and a membership form for 2015-16 (below).
We hope that you can make it. Many thanks and kind regards
The Management Committee of the
Sudanese Community in Scotland
Trinity Community Council met on 13 April. Here are the main points – and please note the annual walkabout this Saturday:
CRIME
Police have focussed considerable resource on housebreaking with one particular arrest reckoned to account for a lot of the problems. Other arrests include a youth riding his motor bike at speed through Victoria Park and a housebreaker in Lower Granton Rd.
Nothing beats good security – lock windows/doors, set alarms, light timers and motion lights in gardens. Best of all, get to know your neighbours and keep an eye out for each other’s property. Maybe set up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme? Savings on house insurance alone will repay the effort!
A high speed chase through Trinity involving an unmarked police car raised concerns about risk to pedestrians. We have received assurances that the police vehicle was driven by a trained and authorised Roads Policing Officer and the pursuit was only undertaken following a careful assessment of risk. The culprit was eventually apprehended and charged.
Is there new LED street lighting where you live? Does it properly illuminate the street? It seems it isn’t fully effective everywhere depending on the distance between lampposts. CEC are trialling adjustments as a possible remedy.
FORTH NEIGHBOURHOOD PARTNERSHIP REPORT
Some highlights from the first of what will be a quarterly report on the performance of local services:
Refuse collection – short of target but trending closer and showing the benefit from a new system to quickly identify missed bins.
Park maintenance – both parks still show high ratings but concern from residents about the impact of staff cutbacks on Victoria Park.
Anti Social Behaviour Complaints resolved – improved sharply in February as newly trained recruits came into service.
Overall Residents’ Satisfaction – Forth overall has a poor showing on this. We have asked for separate figures for Trinity.
We have also asked for information on road repairs. While we are concerned about how often roads are dug up CEC cannot coordinate as utilities can give almost no notice of road works.
WALKABOUT – SATURDAY 25 APRIL (10-noon)
This year’s walkabout reviewing potential issues and community investments will start outside Wardie Primary School then via Afton Terr, Netherby Rd, Boswall Rd, down Wardie Steps to Wardie Bay and Lower Granton Rd. Then Trinity Rd Lane, back to the walkway via 5-Ways Junction and finishing at Trinity Academy/Victoria Pk. Do join us!
PLANNING APPLICATION – 127 TRINITY ROAD …
… has been withdrawn and will be resubmitted as the Firemaster is requiring improvements to the adjoining lane.
GRANTON HARBOUR DEVELOPMENT
We received an update from Granton and District CC which contained some disturbing messages about the behaviour of the developer and property management company and the patchwork nature of ownership which potentially will lead to piecemeal development and inadequate provision for road and school infrastructure.
Exacerbating everything is a lack of clarity concerning basic facts such as the applicability of planning consents. We have given our support to Cllr Jackson to convene a meeting of all interested parties to clarify matters. We support the principle of development but not at any price.
EAST TRINITY ROAD
City of Edinburgh Council have now written to local residents setting out plans as described in last month’s newsletter – with one important difference. Trialling single yellow lines will NOT now be included in the 6 month monitoring period only their potential use. This appears to meet concerns emailed to us by various residents.
TRINITY ACADEMY STUDENT COUNCIL (TASC)
Trinity CC held a stimulating and productive meeting with TASC when we discussed walkway safety, bike security, litter bin provision/emptying, and renovation of the basketball and tennis courts in Victoria Park. We plan to repeat these meetings every six months with pupils also being encouraged to attend TCC meetings.
HAPPY EASTER AT STARBANK PARK
The Easter Friday event was a great success. Over 200 parents and children enjoyed the morning and a net £350 was raised. In addition, Keep Scotland Beautiful has awarded £250 to establish a fernery. Consideration is now being given to how the two annexes of the current building might be best used. Ideas such as a cafe, gallery or exhibition space (but not toilet) are all being considered.
Do you have an idea for further events in the Park? Let us know and we’ll pass it on.
FOUR TOPS (TRINITY OCCASIONAL PIPERS SOCIETY) …
… have offered their support to other similar worthy causes. Do you have an event planned? Let us know. We’ll put you in touch.
PUBLIC TOILET CLOSURES
CEC are consulting on closure of up to 10 public toilets in order to save around £300,000 pa. Granton Square and Canonmills are included in the list. You can express your view at: https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/public-toilets-survey
NEW FACE. NEW PLACE.
We are grateful to Wardie Parish Church for hosting this and our remaining meetings this year. Welcome, also, to Kevin Taylor, the new representative from Wardie Parent Council.
Next meeting will be held on Monday 11 May then AGM on Monday 8 June. Both starting at 7 pm in Wardie Parish Church, Primrose Bank Road. Open to all. Join us if you have something to say or simply want to listen.
Did you find this useful or informative? If so, why not show it to a neighbour? Anyone in Trinity can subscribe to the bulletin simply by emailing tcc-comms@outlook.com Or drop us a line and tell us what you think could be better.
To coincide with the Scottish Independence Referendum in September, Pilton Youth & Children Project’s ‘Get Involved Group’ (GIG) undertook a ‘Democracy Project’ over several months.
The young people explored all the arguments about both sides of the independence debate and also found out about the roots of British democracy -did you know that only very rich people and only men used to get the vote?
The project ended with two performances of a play staged by the young people.
There were sketches about the working class people and suffragettes who fought and died for their right to vote and a sketch about a fictitious family in Pilton, whose kids eventually persuaded their parents to miss ‘Storage wars’ to go and cast their vote!
The young people performed brilliantly and all their weeks of hard work were well worth it as the audience gave them a standing ovation. Well done to the ‘Giggers’!
Following on from the GIG project about democracy, the young people in the ‘Get Involved Group’ went through a democratic process of identifying what the GIG should focus on next.
After much discussion, they unanimously voted for the next topic to be ‘Animal Welfare’ as this is something they care deeply about.
They are in the process of developing a ‘Dog Dirt Free’ zone around the PYCP building, as many children play there, but unfortunately people are letting their dogs foul there and not cleaning it up.
The group recently had a visit from Rachel Bliss from The Dogs Trust who spoke about the many aspects of Dog Welfare and Dog Safety. Rachel has agreed to come back to PYCP to do two more sessions for young people during the Easter holidays.
A couple of youngsters are very keen to look at protection of unicorns, and this is something that the workers are trying to figure out how best to tackle this subject-without shattering their illusions about unicorns being real!
Photos: (1) Suffragettes scene from GIG play, and (2) GIG trip to Cosmos to celebrate their West End Theatre run!
Pilton Youth & Childrens Project (PYCP)
North Neighbourhood Partnership is taking forward the Youth Talk initative as part of ‘Engaging Young People’ priority identified in both Inverleith and Forth Neighourhood Partnerships’ community plans. Youth Talk, originally developed in Liberton/Gilmerton where it was well-received, gives young people an opportunity to talk about facilities, activities and services in their local area.
It has now been launched in the Craigroyston Community High School, Royal High School and Broughton High School, where pupils were asked to vote/rate their local services. The results will be collated after the Easter break and the young people will then be gathered to map out their suggestions and discuss these in more detail.
It is intended that the outcome of the Youth Talk initiative will inform future service development and third sector commissioning. For more information contact info@totalcraigroyston.co.uk or scott.donkin@edinburgh.gov.uk
This video of last month’s community clean up event in Pilton was made by Alex Godlewski for the Action for Pilton community group.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDyTdOY8A0w (Preview)
You can find more about the group and what they are doing by visiting:
www.actionforpilton.org.uk
Are citizens and community groups as effective as they could be? This is the question that is being asked by the Fred Edwards Trust and Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC).
We want to find out if activists have access to the information, tools and skills they need, not just to tackle the issues that matter to them, but to challenge and address the root causes as well.
We would like to know to what extent citizens and community groups who are working on issues of social, economic and environmental justice find the space to help them critically analyse the policies, decisions and systems that affect them.
Our aim in doing this is to find out if more needs to be done to support active and effective citizenship in Scotland. We would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to respond to the questions in the link below.
This survey will close on Friday 20 March 2015
Political engagement is highest in Scotland – but few people believe they can make a difference
Most people in the UK now believe Scotland will become an independent country and eventually leave the UK, according to new research from the University of Edinburgh.
The findings are taken from a survey of more than 7000 voters across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland which asked people about a range of constitutional issues.
The majority of people surveyed across the four nations believe that Scotland will eventually leave the UK – 69 per cent in Scotland; 59 per cent in England; 54 per cent in Wales; and 59 per cent in Northern Ireland.
The survey found that 15 per cent of Scots think the country will become independent within five years and 32 per cent believe it will happen within ten. Overall, more than two-thirds of Scots believe the country will eventually vote for independence.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “The Scottish Government continues to believe independence is the best option for Scotland, and the survey finds most Scots think this is where the constitutional journey will take us.
“We also believe strongly that Scotland being taken out of the EU in a referendum in circumstances, where a majority of Scots had voted to stay in, would be massively damaging economically and have major constitutional implications.
“The referendum on independence was a wonderful experience of democratic engagement, bringing people into politics who in some cases had not been involved in decades, if at all.
“I therefore welcome the findings that political engagement in Scotland is higher than in the rest of the UK, particularly among young people and that there remains a strong appetite for debate over the constitution. Scots are significantly more likely to say that they will vote in the 2015 Westminster election.”
Despite the views on constitutional issues, those surveyed do not believe ‘ordinary people’ have a big influence on how the UK is run – politicians, political parties, businesses, trade unions and local councils are seen to hold greater influence on the running of the country.
Dr Jan Eichhorn, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Social and Political Science, said: “People across the UK show an appetite for discussions about how the country should be governed. However, it is worrying to see how little people think they can actually make a difference.”
Dr Daniel Kenealy said: “Despite Nicola Sturgeon’s call for an EU referendum veto by the four nations of the UK, and First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones’s support for the idea, it remains unpopular with people across the UK.”
A Labour spokesman said: “This poll shows that people are frustrated with the way that politics works, and they want to have a bigger say in how our country is run. Making our country work for working people is the best way to bring all parts of it together again.
“That is why Labour has committed to a constitutional convention, made up of people from all parts of the country and all walks of life, to change the way our country works.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said fears about the end of the Union were being heightened by the prospect of a pact at Westminster between Labour and the SNP in the event of a hung parliament.
The spokesman said: “With Labour flirting with the SNP in the hope it gets them into government, and the Lib Dems dead in the water it’s no surprise people fear the constitutional question isn’t yet over.”
The votes have been counted and your MSYPs for Edinburgh are:
Edinburgh Central: Wing Yan Ng and Lucie Duffy
Edinburgh Eastern: Mahnoor Shah and Shannon Donoghue
Edinburgh Northern and Leith: Terri Smith and Eilidh Mackay.
There were only two candidates in each of the other constituencies so Kishore Lennon and Panashe Muzambe (Edinburgh Pentlands), Sarah Garland and Charlotte Watt (Edinburgh Southern) and Owen Cruickshank and Laura Holloway (Edinburgh Western) were returned unopposed.
Congratulations to all the candidates, successful or otherwise – hope you go on to do great things for your communities!
More and more local and national governments have come to the view that engaging with citizens and planning, purchasing and delivering services at a ‘sub-local’ or ‘localities’ level is the way to add value.
In Edinburgh the City of Edinburgh Council has agreed a localities way of working, with the city divided into four quadrants, or localities, as described in the Council’s ‘Organise to Deliver’ reports.
Simultaneously, there is a drive within the legislation covering the integration of Adult Health with Social Care that services will be designed and delivered closer to communities.
What does this mean for Edinburgh? What does this mean for the city’s Voluntary Organisations? What are your hopes and your fears? What are your expectations of EVOC?
EVOC intends to bring organisations together to consider current plans, and their implications for our communities, by means of a series of four thinkSpace events spread across the city.
This comes out to you as a request to ‘save the date’ to attend the event within the locality most relevant to your service provision:
SOUTH WEST
Tuesday 21 April 2 – 4.30pm, WHALE Arts
NORTH EAST
Thursday 30 April 10am – 12.30pm, The Halls
SOUTH EAST/CENTRAL
Wednesday 6 May 10am – 12.30pm, Methodist Church
NORTH WEST
Monday 11 May 2 – 4.30pm, Royston/Wardieburn Community Centre.
If you have any comments or queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Dianne Morrison on 0131 555 9100 in the first instance.
EVOC will continue to publish relevant documents on its ‘Organise To Deliver’ page:http://www.evoc.org.uk/information/organise-deliver-bold-initiatives/
Milind Kolhatkar
senior development officer – community planning
