About us

Leith Links Community Council is a local voluntary body composed of people who care about our community and want to make our area an ever better place to live, work, study, volunteer or visit.

The general purpose of Community Councils is to act as a voice for our local area. We do that by sharing information with local residents and businesses, and by raising matters of concern with our elected City Councillors (Leith Ward 13) or directly with public bodies. We also work to improve our local community by taking part in partnership work and by undertaking our own projects.

We meet regularly throughout the year, usually the last Monday of each month at 18:30 either online or at Duncan Place Community Hub, except July & December when we don’t have a monthly meeting. Members of the local community are welcome and in fact encouraged to come along to our meetings. Further details can be found on our ‘our meetings‘ page.

During the Covid-19 global pandemic our meetings took place online using Zoom or Teams. Now, we vary between online (usually on Teams as that is the platform recommended by Edinburgh City Council), and in-person meetings. There are advantages to each. We sometimes have a higher attendance by the public at online meetings, and Councillors or Council staff may find these easier to attend. But in-person meetings are also valuable, as these allow members of the Community Council and the local community to get to know each other and build trust, hold better discussions etc.

Elected representatives

Our Community Councillors are people who live in our area and who care passionately about our community. They were elected at the 2019 Edinburgh Community Council elections, apart from two who were co-opted at a later date.

Nominated representatives

‘Nominated representatives’ are Community Councillors who represent the interests of specific local interest groups on our Community Council.

We currently have only one nominated representative (representing Leith Festival) but there are six seats available, so there are currently five seats still available to local interest groups.

Local interest groups who are interested in joining us should contact City of Edinburgh Council to find out eligibility for registering, and the process for joining. Or just get in touch with us at contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk

Associate representatives

Associate representatives are people the Community Council has decided to bring onto the Community Council because they have specialist skills, knowledge or experience that would be beneficial.

We currently have no associate representatives.

Ex officio representatives

Our ex officio representatives are automatically members of our Community Council by virtue of holding elected office at the City of Edinburgh Council, the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament or the Scottish Youth Parliament. The area they represent includes part or all of the Leith Links Community Council area.

Leith Ward Councillors generally attend our meetings on a fairly regular basis, as does MP Deidre Brock when available due to Westminster Parliamentary recess, but the others generally do not attend.

  • Councillor Chas Booth (Leith Ward 13)
  • Councillor Adam McVey (Leith Ward 13)
  • Councillor Katrina Faccenda (Leith Ward 13)
  • Councillor Danny Aston (Craigentinny/Duddingston Ward 14)
  • Councillor Joan Griffith (Craigentinny/Duddingston Ward 14)
  • Councillor Ian Whyte (Craigentinny/Duddingston Ward 14)
  • Councillor Alex Staniforth (Craigentinny/Duddingston Ward 14)

 

 

 

Police Scotland

We normally get a written report each month from the local community police officers, and they will often also attend meetings (or part of meetings) in person, as and when they may be available.

Our area

We are specifically tasked with representing the Leith Links Community Council area however, our work is not confined to this area. For example, a large planning development in another Community Council area may have an impact on local infrastructure in our area in, in which case it would be legitimate for us to become involved.

Our area is defined by the red line in the map below.

Our elections

Community Council elections were last held in Autumn 2019. We had twelve candidates standing for twelve seats which meant that no public vote was required, and all candidates were returned as elected unopposed.

Click here to view our blog posts about the 2019 Edinburgh Community Council elections.

Delayed by the Covid 19 pandemic, the next Community Council elections are dure to take place in 2024 (date still to be advised).

We are actively seeking local people who might like to put themselves forward to be nominated and elected as new Community Councillors at the 2024 elections.

How we are governed

Community Councils were first established in Scotland by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

The City of Edinburgh Council produces a Scheme of Administration for Community Councils which lays down local provision & rules for Community Councils in the City.

Our Community Council also adheres to its own Constitution and Standing Orders.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section we have provided answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.