Author: Sally Millar

Your Community Council

There will be no Leith Links Community Council meeting in July, although work will still be going on behind the scenes, and this page will provide updates.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Do you like the stickers we had made for the Proclaimers concerts? We gave them out to people coming in, and it turned out to be a really good way to welcome people to Leith Links and to start a conversation.

Meanwhile, here is some background.

What actually is the Community Council?

Leith Links Community Council, like all Community Councils, is a voluntary organisation set up by statute by the Local Authority, that is City of Edinburgh Council, and run by local residents to act on behalf of its area. Community Councils are the most local tier of elected representation and as such can /should play an important role in local democracy (although in practice they do not really have much power…)

Community Councils are basically groups of people who care about their community and want to make their area a better place to live. Their main role is to engage with the locall community, to share information to ensure that the local community is informed about things going on locally that will affect them, and to listen to members of the local community and try to represent their views and wishes to the City Council, to ensure that communities ‘have a voice’. The Community Council also has a statutory role in responding to Planning and Licensing applications in the area. CCs are non political.

The role of Community Councils is explained more fully on the Improvement Service website, here.

You can see more about CCs in Edinburgh here on the Council website

How can I find out more about what the Leith Links Community Council does?

You can use this website to explore areas of our work, and we are also on Facebook (/LeithLinksCC) and Twitter (@LeithLinks_CC) You are very welcome to attend meetings, which are held on the last Monday of every month (except July and December).

You don’t have to be a member of the Community Council to come along to meetings. The meetings are held in public (whether online or in person) and anyone who lives in the area is welcome to attend and can be given a chance to speak.

How is the Community Council funded?

The Community Council gets an annual grant from the City Council which is to cover things like hire of meeting venue, payment of a Minutes Secretary, stationery, payment of website domain name & hosting charges, Zoom subscription, payment of essential Third Party insurances, Data Protection fees, and things like getting leaflets printed. Our grant for 2023 was £737. You’ll be able to work out that that doesn’t go very far at all, indeed only barely covers these essential costs (and that explains why we simply do not have the money to make donations or grants to other community organisations, sadly.).

If you want to see the finances of LLCC, these are presented each year at the AGM, and subsequently can be found in the AGM Minutes and the Annual Report. These can be viewed on this website, on the Our Library page

How many people make up Leith Links Community Council?

The number of members of any Community Council is determined by the population of their designated area. Currently Leith Links has 12 places. This is based on 2011 Census figures (Leith Links’ head count is probably very out of date now as so many new flats have been built in the area since 2011, and more to come).

We had 12 members in 2019, but over the period, some members have resigned and some new members have been coopted; we currently have 10. So there are spaces right now; if anyone is interested, please do get in touch.

There are also places for extra members who represent established community groups. We currently have members representing two such groups  – Leith Festival, and Leith Rotary (but this position was recently vacated as former rep. just retired). Would your local group be interested in this? Do get in touch.

Who can be a Community Councillor? 

To be a member of a Community Council, you have to live within the Community Council area, and you have to be on the Electoral Register (although there could be special ‘Youth Member’ arrangements for someone who is not yet old enough to vote but will be soon, if they are keen to join). You are expected to attend as many of the monthly meetings as possible, though obviously nobody can make every single one, and to contribute to ongoing activities.

Members of the Community Council are elected every four years. Often local people are unaware of these elections, but our aim for the next election in 2024 is to try and attract as many people as possible to put themselves forward to become members, and for as many people in the local community as possible to vote, so that the process is as open and democratic as possible.

Next Meeting of Leith Links Community Council, Monday 26 June 6:30pm in person at Duncan Place

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 26 June at 6:30pm. This meeting will be ‘live’, in-person, and will take place at Duncan Place centre (4 Duncan Place).

Previous Minutes and Agenda will follow.

Members of the local community are welcome but, sadly, space is very limited in this venue, so please be sure to contact us in advance if you would like to come along. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if possible, well BEFORE 26 June.

We will also set up a Zoom link so that people can attend the meeting remotely, email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will be sent the link nearer the time. Warning – the quality for listeners will not be particularly good, as we only have a standard laptop and no special broadcasting equipment, but you would be able to ask questions and make a point via the zoom host.

A Letter from – the concert promoters

Regular Music, the promoters of the Proclaimers concert next weekend have written this letter to the community of local residents:

Concerts at Leith Links, Edinburgh

Saturday 17-Sunday 18 June 2023

The Proclaimers

Dear Neighbour

We would like to inform you that we are staging 2 concerts with The Proclaimers in a big top tent at Leith Links on Saturday 17 June and Sunday 18 June 2023.

The concert arena doors will be open to ticket holders from 4.00pm and the concerts are scheduled to end at 10pm. There will be licensed bars and food village available for the attendees. 

From Sunday 11 June until Friday 16 June we will be setting up the concert arena and from Monday 19 June until Thursday 22 June we will be removing all the infrastructure from the site. Please note that we will be checking that the sound system is working correctly on the afternoon and early evening of Friday 16 June.

If you would like to contact us in advance of the event or with any issues during the event then please contact us on the following email or telephone no.

Email: info@regularmusic.com

Phone: 07983 596786

Grit your teeth Leith Links-ers! It’s ALL happening…

What’s happening NOW? LOTS!

Parking (lack of/chaos) There will be widespread parking restrictions all around our area over the next 2 weeks – yes, above and beyond those caused by the CPZ! This is because of the Leith Festival Gala Day on Saturday 10th June (fairly minimal disruption) and because of the Proclaimers Concerts to be held on Saturday and Sunday 17 & 18 June (fairly massive disruption). Crews will start building the enclosure and marquee site for the Proclaimers as of 9th June, and there may be heavy vehicles coming and going. All parking is suspended on Links Gardens (see the yellow notices attached to lamposts) and some other places.

Local residents all around will face displaced parking overflowing from Links facing streets.

On the concert days themselves, we can be pretty sure people will still try to drive            here (in spite of the tram and bus services), so it could be like two major Hibs                  matches in a row (lasting over 6 hours each)…

The official information release says:

“Excitement is building around Leith Links as over the weekend of 17th and 18th June part of Leith Links will see crowds of 6,000 people each night attending sold-out Proclaimers Concerts. In the build up to the concerts and over that weekend more ‘excitement’ will likely be generated by suspension of parking in Links Gardens and surrounding streets.   Initially from 8am on 9 June parking will be suspended in Links Gardens and part of East Hermitage Place until 6pm on 23 June. This is to facilitate building and removal of the event site. And from 2pm on 17 June until 11pm on 18 June parking will additionally be suspended all along East Hermitage Place, Hermitage Place, Vanburgh Place, parts of Somerset, Fingzies and Parkvale place, Gladstone Place, Summerfield Gardens and Claremont Road. So it’s going to be very difficult for local residents to park near their properties over the weekend of 17/18 June and there will likely be some displacement parking from 9 June.

For further details see temp-23-132-ending-on-23-june-2023 (edinburgh.gov.uk)“

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Low Traffic Neighbourhood

There is a new traffic island currently in construction on Links Place (near Links Gardens & junction with Salamander Place), aimed to make crossing easier and safer for pedestrians, as part of the Leith Connections scheme. (Note – this is NOT a zebra crossing as the Living Rent group claim.) Road markings are confusing right now but full signage will be going up very shortly. This will be a bus / taxi gate, and it will go live in a couple of weeks (delayed from original go live date of 12th June). So you can still drive through there for the moment.
Once live, no cars will be allowed to go through from Links Gardens west towards Queen Charlotte Street – only buses (there aren’t any), taxis (but not private hire cars), and cyclists. Vehicles heading west will have to go down Salamander Place and left along Baltic Street. As far as we know, vehicles WILL be able come through travelling from west to east.

Good luck folks!

 

 

 

 

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Controlled Parking& Low Traffic Neighbourhood in Leith Links

Parking Info

We were grateful to Gavin Brown and Gavin Graham of City of Edinburgh Council for coming along to the March ’23 Leith Links Community Council Meeting to talk about the forthcoming CPZ in our area, which is now scheduled to go fully live on 26th June.

The meeting was attended by a large number of local residents They answered our many questions very fully, and a transcript of those Q &As is available here.

They stressed that if anybody has questions about anything to do with parking controls in their street or area, expecially if urgent, they should in the first instance contact:

ParkingOperations.CustomerCare@edinburgh.gov.uk

as that email is constantly monitored and will achieve a quick reply, whereas emails to the personally may take longer to go through.

See also our earlier post witrh details about permits, at:

http://www.leithlinkscc.org.uk/controlled-parki…eith-north-leith/

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LTN Info

We were grateful to Councillor Scott Arthur and Miles Wilkinson of City of Edinburgh Council for coming to our April ’23 LLCC meeting and sharing information about the Low Traffic Neighbourhood, which has been being rolled out in stages throughout April and May (and June, to come). Again, that meeting was attended by many local residents, and many questions were asked and answered. The presentation that Miles gave that evening is too large a file to be handled easily here, but you can read the latest edition of the LTN Newsletter here.  (N.B for 35 read 34 bus).

Any queries about the LTN should be directed in the first instance to: leithconnections@edinburgh.gov.uk

 

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LLCC Annual Report 2022-2023

We are happy to present our LLCC Annual Report, for the year 2022-2023

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The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council is on Monday 29 May, 6:30pm. This meeting will be ‘live’, in-person, and will take place at Duncan Place centre, consisting of the AGM, followed by a short ‘ordinary’ meeting.

Previous (May 2022) AGM Minutes, and 2023 AGM Agenda for next week are here.

The Minutes of the recent April 2023 meeting, and the presentation given by Miles Wilkinson about the Leith Connections and Low Traffic Neighbourhood are here, and the Agenda for the 29 May 2023 ‘ordinary’ meeting, are here.

AGM & next meeting of Leith Links Community Council: Monday 29 May at 6:30pm, live at Duncan Place.

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 29 May at 6:30pm. This meeting will be ‘live’, in-person, and will take place at Duncan Place centre (4 Duncan Place).

The first part of the meeting will consist of the AGM,  followed by a short ‘ordinary’ meeting.

Previous (May 2022) AGM Minutes, and 2023 AGM Agenda for next week are here. Annual Report from Chair, Secretary & Treasurer will follow.

The Minutes of the recent April 2023 meeting, and the presentation given by Miles Wilkinson about the Leith Connections and Low Traffic Neighbourhood are here, and the Agenda for the 29 May 2023 ‘ordinary’ meeting, are here.

Members of the local community are welcome but, sadly, space is very limited in this venue, so please be sure to contact us in advance if you would like to come along. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if possible, well BEFORE 29 May.

If you have any issues that you would like to see on the Agenda, please get in touch as soon as possible.

We will also set up a Zoom link so that people can attend the meeting remotely, email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will be sent the link nearer the time. Warning – the quality for listeners will not be particularly good, as we only have a standard laptop and no special broadcasting equipment, but you would be able to ask questions and make a point via the zoom host.

Bus to the Western General

It has long been a serious complaint that there is no direct bus from Leith to the Western General Hospital. The situation for Leith Links residents has got even worse since the 21 was rerouted away from Restalrig Road. If you have to take 2 buses, here’s two ways to avoid Crewe Toll and busy Princes Street bus stops:

1.

Take a No. 1 bus from Leith Links (now increased in frequency to every 15 minutes) to London Road (Brunton Road stop, first stop after the top of Easter Road, outside the new Herringbone cafe). Change there to a No. 19 which goes to the Western.

or, 2

NEW There is also a green and white East Coast Bus No. 113 which now goes right into the Western. You can get a 34 bus heading into town from Leith Links and change on to the 113 on London Road at the Abbeyhill stop before Easter Road (colonies, Red Kite cafe, bike shop) as the 113 turns up Montrose Terrace. Lothian Buses passes, Day Ticket etc. are valid on East Coast buses.

Controlled Parking Zone (Zone N8), Leith & North Leith

Everyone is scrabbling for information about the new parking controls coming in.

At our LLCC and LH&N CC meeting a few weeks back, Council Officers Gavin Brown and Gavin Graham kindly attended and provided the Community Council and local residents with a range of information about the impending Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in Leith is available via the links below*.

However, some of that information is already out of date. Here is the basic key information, updated as of 17 May 2023:

PERMITS

You can apply for a Residents Parking Permit from 5th June. You need to set up an ‘Account’ and a Password first, and your permit will be electronic, not ‘paper’. Start here:

https://edinburgh.nsl-apply.co.uk/

When you apply, set your start date for the permit as 26 June 2023, to get best value.

GO LIVE DATE

The CPZ will actually go ‘live’ on 26th June 2023. That means parking charges will be enforced in all marked bays, whether for Residents’ Permit Holders Only or Pay and Park .

(The double yellow lines are already live, the moment they are painted, so you can get a ticket if you patrk there.)

PRICES

The actual parking charges and the cost of permits has gone up since the presentation in March. You can find the correct current prices for residents permits here.

There are separate price schedules for business permits, visitors permits, etc. here https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/parking-permits

You can find the ‘Pay to Park’ prices here, although unfortunately the website has not been updated to include Leith (Zone 8), but we’re guessing it counts as a ‘Peripheral’ zone, therefore might be £3.40 per hour.

* For more background and some specific details, follow these links and have a read of the information provided at the March Question and Answer session:

  1. The presentation on the CPZ from Council officers.
  2. The questions that residents asked, and answers to each question,  from the Council officers.

 

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AGM & next meeting of Leith Links Community Council: Monday 29 May at 6:30pm, live at Duncan Place.

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 29 May at 6:30pm. This meeting will be ‘live’, in-person, and will take place at Duncan Place centre (4 Duncan Place). NB NOT next week but the week after.

The first part of the meeting will consist of the AGM,  followed by a short ‘ordinary’ meeting.

Previous Minutes and Agenda will follow.

Members of the local community are welcome but, sadly, space is very limited in this venue, so please be sure to contact us in advance if you would like to come along. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if possible, well BEFORE 29 May.

If you have any issues that you would like to see on the Agenda, please get in touch as soon as possible.

We will also set up a Zoom link so that people can attend the meeting remotely, email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will be sent the link nearer the time. Warning – the quality for listeners will not be particularly good, as we only have a standard laptop and no special broadcasting equipment, but you would be able to ask questions and make a point via the zoom host.

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