How should the Tourist Tax be spent?

Most people will have heard that the City of Edinburgh is going to charge visitors to the city a small charge per night, as many other cities do, all over the world. It has been called a ‘tourist tax’ and also a ‘visitor levy’.

The Council is now consulting on how the tax/levy should be set up and how the monies collected should be spent.

Please take time to fill in this survey. You may feel that you don’t have clear opinions in the first section (but there are ‘don’t know’ options) but PLEASE keep going until you get to the later section which is about how the monies should be spent.

You will see that the Council is proposing that it might be spent on advertising and promoting tourism. Is that what you think? Is that what it was originally meant for? Is that what the city most needs, and what council tax paying residents most urgently want to see done?

Please access the survey via this link, and give your views

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VisitorLevyforEdinburgh?fbclid=IwAR2ihyuo0LTcQ7H-b5BZNcoQGB2BqwnwiJnP49jKiDa3N-v2ZtGHcICPw4I

We are surprised to see that this survey is not on the usual Consultation Hub platform, but is separate, and has apparently not been widely advertised. Why would that be? We are trying to find out.

Bin Hub locations under review – have your say now!

Bin Hub locations are under review – please send in your views

Do you have one of the Council’s new communal ‘bin hubs’ first installed a couple of years ago?   Are you happy with how it is working, and its location?   Is it easy for you to use?  If not would you like to see it re-located or something about it improved?   If so, now might be the time to raise your concerns and make suggestions.     We have heard that the Council is starting a review of locations of bin hubs that were first installed in and around Leith Links (Phase 1 and 2 of the Council’s project).   They aim to finish this by end of this year.    They will be using a decision ‘framework’ agreed by the Council last May – see Appendix 3 of  Communal Bin Review Update report – cp26.

In brief, an alternative location will be considered if at least one member of the public proposes it.   There are then a variety of policy constraints on location and capacity of a bin hub which must normally be no more than 50 metres from the furthest away property using it, though that can be relaxed up to 100m.   The policy seems to be that a bin hub cannot be across the road from the properties it serves, though there also do seem to be relaxations of that envisaged in roads with low traffic speeds and we clearly do have at least one bin hub across a road within the Leith Links area (a dead end near to St Mary’s primary school).

Where the Council identifies bin hubs which they think can be re-located they will contact the affected residents by letter to inform them of the new location and a new Traffic Regulation Order (TRO)  will be advertised to secure the parking restrictions. It is anticipated the TROs, if any,  would be advertised early 2024 and implementation of any new bin hub locations will be delivered in late Spring/Summer 2024.

The Council has said they will review all the bin hubs locations of Phase 1 and 2 installations but have also asked us if there are any specific locations we would like them to prioritise.

So – if you would like your bin hub moved to a better place and have a proposed alternative location please let the Leith Links Community Council know (comment below and/or email: contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk), and also copy to your local elected Councillors.

 Even better if there is a group of neighbours who all want to see a change and agree what the better location would be.

We will publish more information on this review as we get it.

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Next meeting of Leith Links Community Council: Monday 27 November, 6:30pm, in person, at Duncan Place.

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 27 November at 6:30pm. This meeting will be in person, at Duncan Place.

Agenda for meeting, 27 November 2023
Previous Minutes, October 2023

Interested members of the local community are welcome to attend this meeting, and to raise & discuss issues, but space is somewhat limited in the room. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk to request, notify of your issues, and you will be invited or sent a link to attend remotely.

HISTORY OF LEITH GOLF

The next meeting of the Leith Local History Society will be on Tuesday 21 Nov. 2023 at Leith Community Centre at 7.00pm.
The original proposed talk has been rescheduled the talk will now be The History of Golf by Brian Graham.
We look forward to seeing you there. If you are interested in this, or the upcoming talks, why not complete a membership form and bring it to the next meeting.
Also, you may be interested to hear that an archaeology dig is due to start in Coatfield Lane off Constitution Street before new housing is built. The archaeology team are having an open day for the public to find out more on: Saturday, 25th November from 10am to 2pm .
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Leith Links CC Meeting, tomorrow 30 October, 6:30, online

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 30 October at 6:30pm. This meeting will be online (MicroSoft Teams).

Miles Wilkinson from City of Edinburgh Council will attend to provide an update on the Low Traffic Neighbourhood, answer questions, and take feedback. Otherwise the Agenda covers the usual range of topics from Planning Applications to Bin hub locations etc.

Interested members of the local community are welcome to attend this meeting, and to raise any points of concern. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk to request, and you will be sent the link.

Agenda for meeting, 30 October 23
Previous Minutes (September 2023)

Community Council Scheme and Boundary Review 2023

Overview

Community Councils are voluntary organisations set up by statute by the Local Authority to act on behalf of their areas. They are involved in a range of activities which promote and protect the well-being and identity of their communities; and help bring local people together to make things happen. They advise, petition, influence and advocate numerous causes and cases of concern on behalf of local communities.

Edinburgh currently has 46 community council areas. All local authorities must provide a Scheme for Community Councils, which outlines their governance arrangements, which also includes details on boundaries for Community Council areas. The last review of the scheme was carried out in 2019.

As the city’s population increases, the scheme needs to be reviewed to make sure that our Community Councils are the right size to fairly represent our new and growing neighbourhoods.

Why your views matter

The council has a statutory requirement to consult with affected stakeholders as part of the review. There are three phases to the consultation process. This is the first phase, where City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) wants to hear your views on community councils and any suggestions on how we can improve the scheme and boundary areas.

Phase 2 will then ask for views on any proposed changes to the scheme and boundaries. These proposals will be based on the initial feedback received during Phase 1. Phase 3 will give you the opportunity to make any last comments before the final scheme is adopted.

You can find more information on Community Councils in the related section below. You can also download the current scheme for Community Councils and access a map tool where you can see the boundaries for community councils.

Give us your views

Online Survey

 

Next meeting Leith Links Community Council, Monday 30 October, 6:30pm, online (Teams)

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 30 October at 6:30pm. This meeting will be online (MicroSoft Teams).

Agenda for meeting, 30 October 23
Previous Minutes (September 2023)

Miles Wilkinson from City of Edinburgh Council will attend to provide an update on the Low Traffic Neighbourhood, and to answer questions, and take feedback. Otherwise the Agenda covers the usual range of topics from Planning Applications to Bin hub locations etc.

Interested members of the local community are welcome to attend this meeting, and to raise any points of concern. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk to request, and you will be sent the link.

 

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Leith Local History Society, Tuesday 17th October, George IV Visit

The next meeting of the Leith Local History Society will be on Tuesday 17 Oct. 2023 at Leith Community Centre at 7.00pm. The Talk will be  George IV’s Visit to Leith  by Eric Melvin. We look forward to seeing you there.
If you are interested in this or the upcoming talks why not complete the attached membership form and bring it to the next meeting.
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Grab this Car Club bargain!

Don’t want to struggle with car ownership, and parking stress?

The Enterprise Car Club is currently waiving their joining fee to celebrate the launch of the Leith Connections project.
Use code EDILTN to get the discount.
EnterpriseCarClub.co.uk/EDILTN

Enterprise Car Club cars and vans are available from eight locations around the Leith LTN area.

 

Leith Connections – latest updates

Here are links to the latest updates from the team responsible for the Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood and new cycle ways.

Leith_Connections_newsletter_October_23

Leith Connections Briefing Note October2023

Amongst several other changes – read and learn – you will see that the bus gate on Links Place will be formally operational from 18th October. Don’t get caught out! Apart from buses and taxis and bikes, no vehicles can go west from Links Gardens towards Queen Charlotte Street. But cars CAN come east eg. from Constitution Street or Johns Place  through Links Place and Links Gardens.

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