Cycle lane from Hawthornevale to Seafield – Send in your views NOW!

If you do JUST ONE THING this weekend – please do this!

We have only until Sunday 17th November to respond to the current consultation on the proposals for a new cycle path to be built all along Seafield Street, Salamander Street, Bernard Street, Commercial Street, Lindsay Road, narrowing the road, removing or moving bus stops, removing bus lanes, and many other features such as new crossings, revamped junctions etc.

All the plans are here, in the form of very detailed drawings https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/leithconnections/supporting_documents/30197119ARCHGNZZDRHE00001to00023%20Updated%20Notes.pdf

It may be easier to make sense of them via the survey at: https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/leithconnections/

You can respond with your views in two ways. Either fill in the survey at https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/leithconnections/

Or, send an email expressing your views to LeithConnections@edinburgh.gov.ukf

Or do both!

For the latest Newsletter with an overview of all the Leith Connections plans, see https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/35786/leith-connections-newsletter-october-2024

 

Next meeting Leith Links Community Council, Mon 28 October, 6:30pm

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 28 October 2024 at 6:30pm. The meeting will be online, via Microsoft Teams. We will be welcoming a guest speaker, Dr. Sam Gallacher, new Director of the Scottish Historical Buildings Trust, to speak about the new plans for a museum at the Leith Customs House. 

This meeting is open to the public and is a chance for local residents to make contact, catch up with local issues, and raise any local issues that concern them. It can also be a good opportunity to ‘meet’ elected councillors and sometimes a representative from Police Scotland. If you would like to attend, please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will be sent a link for the meeting.

Agenda is here.

Previous Minutes (September 2024) are here

 

Important – Leith Community Centre, Tuesday 29.10.2024 2pm-6pm

You need to know about more big changes proposed for Leith roads!The next phase of the Leith Connections scheme is about to be launched, and we are entering a very important consultation phase. Some residents have had leaflets delivered but many locals are totally in the dark about what is planned. The plans are very extensive: the creation of  new cyclepaths on the main roads through Leith for vehicles including public transport will have a big effect on many Leith residents.The following streets will be affected:

  • Great Junction Street
  • Henderson Street
  • Sandport Place Bridge
  • Yardheads
  • Parliament Street
  • Salamander Street / Baltic Street
  • Bernard Street
  • Commercial Street
  • Lindsay Road
  • Hawthornvale path to Seafield Road
  • Replacement of Lindsay Road Bridge

 

You can see more details (and can sign up to receive the email Newsletter, to keep up to date) on the Leith Connections website

Please go along to the Leith Community Centre on 29th October between 2pm and 6pm to view the plans and give your feedback to the development team.

And/ or please fill in the online survey to be found at consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/leithconnections

You can also email your views directly to the team at LeithConnections@edinburgh.gov.uk (copy to Miles.Wilkinson@edinburgh.gov.uk)

Worrying…

We recently posted here a discussion about the heavy concentration and ever-increasing number of ‘hotel’ rooms around our area. There have been recent further developments.

Local residents may have seen press coverage last week that Edinburgh City Council is using unlicensed HMOs to house homeless people. This is very relevant to Leith Links area, indeed quite possibly the issue disproportionately affects this area, compared to other parts of the City.

In Scotland an HMO (house in multiple occupation) licence is mandatory for properties that meet the following conditions:

  • The property is rented to three or more unrelated people.
  • The occupants share basic amenities such as bathrooms and kitchens.
  • The property is their primary residence.

So, any property ranging from individual flats shared by 3 or more unrelated people to student halls of residence with hundreds of occupants must have an HMO licence.

There are quite a few HMOs, mostly former hotels or hotels that combine HMO and hotel operations around Leith Links. Where the Council houses people in a hotel for longer than a few days we understand that because this becomes the person’s place of residence and their home, then if there are 3 or more unrelated people living there, the property becomes an HMO.

Yesterday the Council received a report at its meeting which highlighted that ‘The Council therefore remains in breach of its HMO Licensing Duty by maintaining the support of homeless persons and households in some unlicensed HMO properties’. This has also been reported in the local press as ‘Council breaking law ‘on industrial scale’ by use of unlicensed temporary accommodation’ with the numbers involved said to be 30 properties and 700 rooms.

The full report can be viewed here Item 7.4 – Monitoring Officer Report Conflict of Legal Obligations.pdf (edinburgh.gov.uk)

The public register of licences applied for and granted can be found here: Licensing registers civic – The City of Edinburgh Council  It’s a clunky excel spreadsheet on which all applications over time are recorded, so searching for an address will bring up all previous applications as well as any current licence.

We will not list here, for the moment, the exact addresses of the particular properties around Leith Links that apparently fall into the category of premises used by the Council that do not currently have HMO licences (though they may have had such licences in the past).  However, searching the register just for Hermitage Place and Johns Place alone (there are several other locations as well) revealed: 3 large properties (total of 65 occupants) with expired licences; one new application not yet determined (10 occupants); 3 applications for ‘continuation of licence ‘ which have been marked as ‘incomplete’, ‘incompetent’ or ‘invalid’ (60 occupants); and 1 application for continuation that is as yet undetermined, with no details of capacity or occupancy.

So apparently in these properties alone, where data is available from the register on proposed occupancy, at least 135 people are being housed in unlicensed HMOs around Leith Links.

It is our understanding that the Council has called for a report.

Having done a bit of digging recently into HMO standards, we suspect that these properties are perhaps unable to meet the physical standards for HMOs. It is a Licence Condition that ‘The licence holder must ensure that the physical standards for HMO living accommodation assessed as suitable by the local authority when approving the licence application are met at all times.’ (HMO3)  However it so far appears to be impossible to find a copy of the physical standards the Council has adopted against which HMO3 is judged – they can only be found in a pre 2012 Committee paper when read with 2012 guidance from SG.  (By contrast,interestingly, they are easily found for many other Councils as standalone policy documents.)

In response to a recent FOI request on this, the Council said they would improve the information on the website about the standards – but that has yet to appear.  It appears that the Council may have ‘adopted’ without change the suggested physical standards that appear in the body text and Annex A to the Scottish Government’s guidance for Councils on HMO licensing issued in February 2012 Microsoft Word – HMO licensing – Guidance – updated for overprovision and discretionary link – 20 January 2012.doc (www.gov.scot).  Would all these local properties be able to meet the requirements in relation to kitchen facilities and space per person?  Back in 2012, the Council apparently decided to not apply some of the expectations on renewals of extant licences as a ‘transition’ to the new standards, but there seems to have been no end date for that transition. We also noet that, framed in 2012, the requirements for HMOs are actually less extensive than they are for STLs.

This is worrying. We think a review and update is overdue.

 

Trams to Newhaven Project – Road Safety Audit Report Published

The following is taken from a document issued by the Community Councils Together for Trams group following the recent publication of a report regarding the Trams to Newhaven Project Road Safety Audit.

‘The independent Stage 3 Road Safety Audit of the Trams to Newhaven project recommends 145 changes to improve the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. In their response, the Council (CEC) and the Contractor (SFN) have agreed to implement only 49.’

After several direct requests and two Freedom of Information requests over a 12 month period, a report responding to the independent Road Safety Audit (RSA) of the project undertaken in mid 2023 on completion of the construction phase has just been published.

The RSA makes 145 recommendations to improve the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. Of these recommendations, 91 were carried over from the Stage 2 RSA conducted in 2021 which examined the project’s detailed designs.
In response to the RSA’s recommendations, SFN and CEC have agreed to undertake remedial work on only 44 of the recommendations. In a further 5 cases, it was reported that the recommended work had been already completed by the time that this report was approved in November 2023.

This leaves just under 100 recommendations for which the Council intends to take no action (apart from some monitoring) nor require the Contractor to take any action.

The recommendations include areas that have been identified as being serious safety concerns by the community councils, active travel groups and accessibility groups over the last two years. Issues highlighted by these groups and now confirmed by the RSA include:

  • 
Lack of tactile paving to warn visually impaired pedestrians of crossings,
  • 
Risks to cyclists crossing tram tracks,
  • 
Poor signage and lack of clear visibility for vehicles emerging from side streets,
  • 
Uneven surfaces on cycle paths leading to loss of control,
  • Excessive surface water due to poor drainage leading to increased risk of skidding,
  • Narrow pavements and poor segregation resulting in an increased risk of pedestrians being struck by cyclists.

Although the report is dated November 2023, it remains unclear how many of the 44 recommendations agreed to be actioned by SFN or the Council have been completed since then. We have certainly not seen evidence of much work being undertaken despite promises made by the Council on several occasions. The Trams to Newhaven team is due to be providing the Transport and Environment Committee with an update on their progress on resolving the many issues identified as requiring attention, at their October meeting.

We will be making representations to the Council seeking assurances that the issues identified in the audit and by the local community will be urgently resolved to limit the risks to all pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. 

We will also be seeking assurance that the final RSA, usually undertaken one year after operations commence, is scheduled and reports back promptly. There needs to be much greater transparency about the work that remains to be completed and the resources available to do so. In addition to the safety issues raised by the RSA, progress on defects remediation by the contractor, scope changes and design adjustments all require to be put in the public domain for scrutiny.

If you have direct experience of problems with the design and construction of the public realm surrounding the new tram extension, please let us know and contact your local Councillors.

Further information about the RSA can be found in the attached CCTT-Briefing Note on Stage 3 Road Safety Audit for Trams to Newhaven Project.

Community Councils Together for Trams (CCTT) is a coalition of the four community councils on the tram extension route:

25 September 2024

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

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 30 September 2024 at 6:30pm. The meeting will be in person, at Duncan Place.

There may be a chance to join remotely, but this is not guaranteed, at this point.

This meeting is open to the public and is a chance for local residents to make contact, catch up with local issues, and raise any local issues that concern them. It is also a good opportunity to meet elected councillors and sometimes a representative from Police Scotland. If you would lke to attend, please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will receive confirmation that a place is available.

Agenda is here

Previous Minutes (August 2024) are here

 

Proposals to Manufacture Wind Turbines in Leith Docks

All Leithers are invited to attend, to ask questions and give their views, at an exhibition and explanation of an upcoming planning proposal affecting Leith Docks and, potentially, the surrounding areas.

Vestas Offshore Wind Blades UK Ltd. will be hosting a second public consultation event in respect of their proposals for an off-shore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility at the Port of Leith. Do drop in  – all welcome!

WHEN? Thursday 26th September 2024 any time between 3pm and 7pm

WHERE? Leith Community Centre, 12a Newkirkgate, Edinburgh, EH6 6AD

Leith Local History Society, 17th September

Do come along to the next meeting of the Leith Local History Society, on TUESDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER AT 7pm in Leith Community Education Centre, to hear this fascinating presentation:

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE STONE OF DESTINY, PRESENTED BY DAVID MAULE

All welcome, £2 or free to members

 

 

 

Next Meeting of Leith Links Community Council is 26 August, online, 6:30pm

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 26th August at 6:30pm. The meeting will be online (Microsoft Teams).

As well as a short ‘ordinary’ agenda, we will have guest speakers, from Forth Ports and Holder Planning, who will present Forth Ports’ current planning applications for business developments, and for Vesta manufacturing (wind turbines) in the docks. They will also discuss in more detail the local implications of the Forth Green Freeport.

This meeting is open to the public and is a chance for local residents to tune in and catch up with local issues, also usually to ‘meet’ elected councillors and a representative from Police Scotland. If you would lke to attend, please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will be sent a link nearer the time.

Agenda is here

Previous Minutes (June 2024) are here

 

 

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