Category: Community information, events and news

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Long overdue playpark repairs coming….slowly……

Much to the distress of local families, the state of the childrens playpark on the Links has been extremely poor for some time, and is deteriorating. Complaints have been pouring in, demanding repairs and restoration of favourite play equipment but the Council seems to have taken its eye badly off the ball on this one. Leith Councillor Katrina Faccenda, having escalated the matter on our behalf and on behalf of the many frustrated local parents, has recently received this reply from the Parks Technical Manager:

Dear Cllr Faccenda,

Thank you for your email to Gareth (Corporate Director of Place) regarding the ongoing issues with the play equipment at Leith Links and which has been passed to me for a response. I fully appreciate the frustration this situation has caused for residents and park users, particularly given the length of time these matters have remained unresolved.

There have unfortunately been prolonged difficulties in progressing these repairs. This has been caused by a combination of staff shortages within the service, wider supply chain issues affecting the availability of specialist parts and equipment, and the complexity involved in working with suppliers to identify solutions that are both safe and cost-effective for the specific faults affecting the units.

I do however understand that a series of repair solutions has now been agreed and that the necessary equipment and components have now been sourced. I have discussed this directly with the outsourced maintenance provider, who has assured me that the required works are expected to be completed within the next two to three weeks.

This situation has very much highlighted the need for the service to improve responsiveness to play area repairs. We are currently progressing recruitment to several vacant posts within the play park maintenance team to help address both these issues and wider repair backlogs currently being experienced across the service.

In addition, where agreed targeted repair programmes are not being delivered within expected timescales, we will also look to engage additional external support to help accelerate delivery and improve overall performance.

I appreciate the continued patience of local residents while these matters are resolved and apologise for the delays experienced.

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Hhhmmm. Could do better, let’s hope they do!

 

 

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Take part in the Leith Festival Pageant!

A message from our friends at Leith Festival. Would you / your organisation like to take part in the Pageant?
Hello Marching Friends! 
It’s that time of year again, festival prep is well underway, bands are being picked, traders are booking in….and Pageant registrations are open. Will you take part? 
This year’s theme is ‘EAT SLEEP LEITH REPEAT’ and we look forward to seeing what you do with it – whether it’s celebrating the vibrant food scene, celebrating the places that you go back to again and again, or repeating everyday activities that make you want to come back, show us what you love about Leith.
We are particularly interested in hearing from local marching bands, or similar, but anyone who is interested is welcome to put together a group to bring along and take part.
You can see the details and register to take part here: https://leithfestival.com/pageant-registration/
If you would like to participate, but are unable to, it would be great to hear what barriers are getting in your way. While our budget is tight, we want to make it as easy as possible for local charities and volunteer organisations to participate. Please let us know if there are any ways Leith Festival can support you. Think about approximately how much it costs you to participate E.g. Staff time, cost of creating props/costumes, skills or expertise you could use to help you make costumes/themed props, anything else that could help you participate. We are considering applying for funding in future years, but would need an idea of what participants need in order to make an accurate application.

All the best
Barbara Kerr
Leith Festival Association Board Member
Email: barbara@leithfestival.com

Musical and social opportunity in Leith Links for people living with dementia

Music for Memory Group – Leith

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A community music group in Leith, open to all, led by Music Therapists Tilly and Tatiana. Come for the music and the reminiscences at St. James Church, 11A John’s Place, Leith, EH6 7EL. Free admission.

This session will be run by a group called Forget Me Notes who already work in other parts of Edinburgh, and who would like to be able to offer support in the Leith area to those living with dementia (and their carers / family members / friends).

A short, friendly – and free  – session; why not come along and give it a go!

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This Saturday – a grand day out!

The lovely folk from the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (Edinburgh/Leith branch, based at Royal Terrace) are hosting a ‘Festival of Unity’ this Saturday, 23rd August, on Leith Links. It is free and open to everyone and indeed is aimed to bring Leithers from all backgrounds together in friendship.

The event is funded by the grant the group won through £eith Chooses, earlier this year, so obviously seen as popular in the Leith community.

This is a very friendly and welcoming group, and – going by their smaller events in past years – they throw a great party and do really great food!! Their choir has been singing at the Tattoo this year, and rumour has it that Leith’s own samba band Pulse of the Place will also be there to set the beat.

Please do go along on Saturday to support the group and join in the fun! Opens at 12 and runs until 4pm – suggest you get there before the cakes run out…..

           

 

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Public Toilets on Leith Links 2025

 

They’re open.

The public toilets located at the Northern end of Leith Links are now open. While we were disappointed in the delay to the opening, it is good to see the toilets are now in use.

The operating hours are published on the front of the building.

They will be open seven days a week, over spring and summer from 8am to 8pm, and over autumn and winter from 8am to 6pm.

There is a water fountain on the side.

 

For more information on the project as a whole see: Thriving Green Spaces Website

Who gets to say how Visitor Levy funds are managed?

This Herald article raises the question of who will influence how the £50million per year raised from the Visitor Levy is spent, across Edinburgh. Surely this process should be completely transparent, highly democratic and fully accountable, otherwise how can citizens / council tax payers trust/have confidence in it?

However, a recently set up Advisory Forum includes members whose names have raised eyebrows. For example, someone who is well known to this Community Council in his role as manager of the Cameron Guest House Group and agent of the Akbar Mir family who own and profit handsomely from an ever increasing number of ‘hotels’ and guest houses for homeless people (especially in the Leith Links area). Is this an appropriate background for an initiative that aims to “‘fund public services, infrastructure and resident-visitor experience’, and to “manage the impacts of tourism”?  

Our view, quoted in the article, is that the Forum should consist of members with a strong track record in delivering improvements for communities.

Read the whole article here.

Revised Leith Links Community Council Boundary

Since March 2025, when Community Council elections took place, there have been some changes to the boundary of certain Community Councils, Leith Links amongst them.

Our area has shrunk very slightly, just at its southern edge. A very small sliver of Restalrig has been moved from the Leith Links area into the Craigentinny and Meadowbank CC area. The new southern boundary of Leith Links Community Council now runs along the Restalrig Road Railway path, which is nice and easy to make sense of.

The reason behind this change is to align the boundary of the Community Council with the boundary of the City of Edinburgh Council Ward (i.e.Ward 13, Leith), which means that the elected Ward Councillors responsible for each area are not straddling two (or more) different Community Councils, and in the process either duplicating the work of the neighbouring Ward Councillors, or ignoring one part of their area.

The map below shows the new boundary.

Our neighbours are –

to the North, and NorthWest – Leith Harbour & Newhaven CC

to the SouthWest  – Leith Central CC

to the South, SouthEast and East – Craigentinny & Meadowbank CC

For more information, see:

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/community-planning/community-councils/1

https://cityofedinburgh.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=06d64c0a7ae1405cb243c18e3fa2cd97

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Events on the Links this spring / summer

People often say that they wish that there was a list that they could view, of events happening on Leith Links, so we asked for one. The Council has sent us this list for the meantime and has also said “We are looking to get a public facing events calendar for events in all of our Parks up and running as soon as is practicable.”

We will update this list with more details of each event if, as, and when we receive more information.

Next meeting of Leith Links Community Council, Duncan Place, 6:30pm, Monday 26 May 2025.

The next meeting of Leith Links Community Council will be held in person at Duncan Place at 6:30pm on Monday 26 May 2025.

Minutes of previous meeting are here.

Agenda is here.

This will be the second meeting of the new Community Council, as elected in March 2025, and we will welcome our new Community Councillors, and any local residents who wish to attend. Thre are quite a few things going on locally so it’s good to catch up!

A Teams link will be set up for councillors and local residents who are unable to attend in person, but we do not have the technical facilities to guarantee a good ‘hybrid’ set up.

Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if you wish to receive an online link.

 

Leith Local History Society AGM, Tuesday 20th May, Leith Community Centre, New Kirkgate

The society will hold its AGM in Leith Community Centre on Tuesday, 20th May at 7pm.

Please join us to find out more about our exciting programme from September 2025 to May 2026. The society can do more if people join us by becoming a member.

We desperately need someone to join the committee who has IT skills to update our old website or help create a new one and help with our Facebook presence.

I hope to meet you all next Tuesday.

 

LLHS PROGRAMME 2025:26, LLHS AGM 20:05:2025,LLHS CHAIR REPORT 2025

Best wishes

 

Jim Scanlon

Chair, LLHS

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