Leith Community Centre has a massive amount of good quality essential household items and adult / young adult clothing looking for a new home on 19th & 20th October 2019.
Anyone can come & help themselves to anything they need, free of charge, regardless of their income or circumstances.
The partnership between Leith Community Centre Association SCIO & Recreate Scotland is aimed at reducing waste.
City of Edinburgh Council, who have oversight of Leith Links, are considering a proposal to host an event at Leith Links, and you are invited to submit your views and questions.
The event – ‘Tom Kerridge Presents Pub In The Park’, is proposed to take place at Leith Links from 22 June 2020 to 1 July 2020. We have also been informed that a Council officer has suggested the event be held in the same area of the Links used by the Mela.
You can view the proposal below (there is very little information provided to us by City of Edinburgh Council) then submit your views or questions.
Your views should be submitted to parks@edinburgh.gov.uk by 4th September 2019.
You may wish to copy in one or more of the City of Edinburgh Councillors who represent Leith Ward 13;
You may also wish to copy in Councillor Lesley McInnes (lesley.macinnes@edinburgh.gov.uk), who is the Convenor of the City of Edinburgh Councils Transport & Environment Committee.
Click on the picture for more information.
This is what is happening –
Footway widening outside former Leith Academy building from Duncan Place is progressing with new slabs being laid this week. It will stop at the existing pedestrian crossing for now until the roundabout is removed in around 3-4 weeks.
The contractor is also widening the footway outside the shops on Duke Street and they are currently laying the new slabs – will probably be completed later this week.
The contractor will then remove some of the existing islands at Lochend Road / Vanburgh place and will widen the footpath at that location. At the same time they will also start laying new ducts for traffic signals outside St. Andrews Church on Easter Road (so there may be some temporary pedestrian walkways created to facilitate this).
The new bus shelter for Vanburgh place will be installed early September, however the existing bus stop will be kept in operation until all works are complete.
The deadline has now passed with regards the plants in the roundabout and transportation of these to new owners will be arranged.
If any local residents living near the junction would be prepared to commit to watering them regularly, some trees in giant pots could potentially be relocated to the newly widened walkway, from Leith Walk. Let us know! Quickly!
City of Edinburgh Council is currently exploring the possibility of a mural on the footway as you enter the Links from Vanburgh Place, and also discussing the option of planting additional trees at that same location. In addition, Transport for Edinburgh are exploring the possibility of utilising the widened footway outside the former Leith Academy building to reintroduce a cycle hire station on the basis that this location is more open and may be less susceptible to vandalism.
If you have any further queries, please directly contact:
Steven Blacklaw ¦ Engineer – Transport Design & Delivery
Place ¦ Planning & Transport ¦ The City of Edinburgh Council
G4, Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh EH8 8BG
Tel 0131 529 3252 steven.blacklaw@edinburgh.gov.uk
Leith Links Residents Association have launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund a solicitor to act on their behalf in relation to the ongoing Seafield odour issue.
Further information can be found on their Facebook page.
Nota bene: Leith Links Community Council is featuring this crowdfunding campaign as local news, it has as not as yet given its formal backing to the campaign.
For more information please click on the image.
Leith Community Centre Association SCIO, which manages Leith Community Centre, 12a Newkirkgate is hosting the second Leith Volunteer Fair. Following on from the success of Leith Volunteer Fair #1 in June this year, the event will now be held twice each year.
Leith Links Community participated in the first Leith Volunteer Fair, with colleagues from Leith Central Community Council and Leith Harbour & Newhaven Community Council.
There is a volunteering opportunity for everyone. Come along to the second Leith Volunteer Fair to explore volunteering opportunities in Leith & beyond.
There will be number of organisations seeking one off, occasional & regular volunteers and they are looking forward to meeting you.
Volunteering is a great way to meet new people & make new friends, build your confidence, try something new, get hands on practical experience, develop your CV and give something back to your community.
The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be on Monday 26th August , at 6:30pm in the Leith Community Education Centre, New Kirkgate.
If you live in the area, you are warmly welcomed to attend.
Later this year Leith Links Community Council (LLCC) will be holding its next election.
Despite living in Leith Links since 1987, I had never heard of the Community Council until I started a campaign against the giant biomass incinerator that Forth Ports proposed building in Leith Docks, in 2010. I needed to learn – and fast! – about all sorts of things like Scottish energy policies, how planning permission works, who all the key players were, in local and national politics, and how to find and mobilise friends and supporters for a campaign to fight off a threat to the local community. One staunch source of local support turned out to be members of the Leith Community Councils, (Biofuelwatch and Friends of the Earth Scotland were other important allies). We won, by the way! (2012).
After that, I really valued the work of the Leith Links Community Council and took the opportunity to become a full member in 2013, standing again for election in 2016. I have been Secretary for the past 3 years and I am intending to stand again for election this year because I feel that some experience and continuity could be useful, to balance and support input from new members.
I firmly believe that although many people aren’t even aware of its existence, the Community Council is a force for good in the local area.
Meetings are always interesting and it is a good chance to meet and get to know the local City Councillors, who usually, attend, as do the Community Police. Community Councillors are also invited to many other meetings and projects – a great way to learn about and participate in local activities and events. To be honest there’s a lot more ‘paperwork’ than ‘manning the barricades’ in Community Council work, but while that can be tiring and frustrating at times, being able to (sometimes) have a direct positive influence on important services and decisions, is a source of satisfaction and pride.
Being a Community Councillor has certainly really helped ME to truly become part of my local community, to feel active and useful, to learn new skills, and to get to know and work with so many interesting and committed local people, and worthwhile causes. It is a good way to learn how the City of Edinburgh Council works, and to learn the true facts and the complicated ins and outs of so many important matters that affect us all. (Almost nothing you read in the Evening News is a true representation of any situation!) I feel that it is privilege and a pleasure to ‘serve’ the local community to the best of my ability.
Click on the picture for more information.
From Rachel Green, Director of the Ripple project:
A while back we asked people if they would like to come together as a North East Voluntary Sector Forum to discuss possible opportunities for joint working. The Citadel, The White House and The Ripple have now together organised a first network meeting:
Thursday 15th August, 2pm to 4pm, at The Ripple, 198 Restalrig Road South, Edinburgh EH7 6DZ
This is really just an opportunity to start some conversations and get to know each other. We will also be joined by Jen Swann from the Scottish Government Community Empowerment team who will talk about the current Local Governance Review and what this means for local organisations and the people we serve.
The meeting aims to bring together people from Leith, Restalrig, Lochend, Craigentinny, Portobello and Craigmillar, and potentially any others interested. If you wish to attend, please reserve your free place via this link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/north-east-edinburgh-voluntary-sector-network-event-tickets-67431652889
Please feel free to cascade through your networks if you think this will be of interest.
Any queries to rachel.green@theripple.org.uk
0131 554 0422 www.rippleproject.co.uk
Leith Community Centre (Where Leith Links Community Council holds its regular monthly meetings) is extending its opening hours from Monday 2 September 2019.
Leith Creative recently described Leith Community Centre as the town hall for Leith.
The Community Centre is managed through a partnership between Leith Community Centre Association SCIO and City of Edinburgh Council. For fifty years the Community Centre in the Newkirkgate has been supporting the Leith community to access opportunities to learn and be active. The centre provides eight rooms & halls for community activities such as adult education classes, sports, exercise & dance classes & activities, local community & interest groups and even hosts the annual Leith Chooses voting event.
From Monday 2 September 2019 the new opening hours will be:
In order to support new community groups & activities to take advantage of the new Sunday opening there is a special Sunday offer for new regular bookings, entitling them to up to two hours per Sunday free for the first four weeks providing their booking starts in September.
The centre still has availability through the week, and on weekends.
Click on the picture for more information.
LLCC is still awaiting confirmation of the start date of work (‘soon’) on the new junction. The latest designs have more or less sorted out most of the problems raised by LLCC and residents, with the exception of the loss of a right turn from Lochend Road into Vanburgh Place. This raises worries about development of a possible ‘rat run’ through Burns Street/ Industrial Road/the Colonies. Council has agreed to monitor traffic here and to review the situation after an initial period with the new junction in place.
Meanwhile:
Council will provide a further update in due course and in the meantime any questions or comments can be sent to transportdesign@edinburgh.gov.uk
Click on the picture for more information.
