Leith Links Community Council has now submitted its response to the City of Edinburgh Councils Leith Connections consultation on their planned changes to how we move around Leith.
Our full response can be viewed by clicking here.
Previous website articles by us can be viewed by clicking here.
The City of Edinburgh Council intends to open the temporary public toilets on Leith Links from Wednesday 23 June 2021. Although it should be noted that this is subject to the Council having staffing in place, adequate supplies and that all connections are in place.
The toilets are located next to the disused bowling greens & derelict building will be open from 10am until 6pm each day until September 2021. The toilets will be staffed whilst they are open to ensure cleanliness and also that Covid-19 related social distancing is observed.
Earlier this year City of Edinburgh Council began planting an eighty four tree arboretum on Leith Links as part of partnership working involving The Mushroom Trust, Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust and The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.
This image shows the site of the Leith Links arboretum, note that planting has already began on the site.
Their consultation on their plans closes on 18 June 2021, so if you have not yet taken the time to complete the consultation survey please do so over the next few days. It is important that as many people in our community as possible are involved in deciding whether there should be an arboretum, where it should be, how it should be used and the way in which it should be managed.
City of Edinburgh Council has announced that those living in the Leith area without Covid-19 symptoms will be able to pop into McDonald Road Library for a Covid-19 test.
The tests take around fifteen minutes, with the results known within the hour.
The Library will be used as a Covid-19 testing centre from 14th June 2021 from 9am until 6pm, up until 20th June 2021. No booking required, just pop in.
Click here to read more information about community Covid-19 testing.
It is worth noting that almost 1 in 3 people infected with Covid-19 don’t have any of the usual symptoms but are potentially passing on the virus unknowingly to family, friends and others in the community. By getting tested people can find out if they are positive and self-isolate at home to stop spreading the virus to others. People who have been vaccinated are also encouraged to take a test as they may still carry the virus.
City of Edinburgh Council have today published full details of their two planned virtual public meetings about Leith Connections.
The virtual public meetings are not mentioned on the leaflets currently circulating in our community so please do help us to spread the word.
Meetings will be held on the following dates & times;
If you are unable to go to one of the meetings due to them being fully booked please email anna.mcrobbie@aecom.com to register your interest in attending as they may hold further meeting/s.
Leith Links Community Council would encourage you to fully participate in the Leith Connections consultation by filling in the project teams online survey and attending one of the public meetings.
Public meeting information from Eventbrite website:
We are hosting public co-design workshops so that residents can share their views and help inform the designs of the Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood. In these sessions we aim to:
The first session will be held on Wednesday 23rd June and the second on Thursday 1st July. Both sessions will be held between 6.30pm-8pm.
Further details on how to access the meeting will be issued along with an information pack in advance of the meeting upon registration.
On Friday 4 June 2021 City of Edinburgh Council launched its consultation on the proposed Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood scheme. This latest consultation follows community engagement activity earlier this year.
Leith Connections consists of two areas of development;
The City of Edinburgh Councils consultation survey says – ‘Leith Connections will create a safer and more comfortable street environment for residents and visitors walking, cycling, wheeling and spending time in the local streets and outdoor spaces of Leith. The project will build upon the City of Edinburgh Council’s current cycling and waking projects, our Active Travel Action Plan, the QuietRoute network and also the cycle and walking improvements that are part of the Trams to Newhaven project.’
City of Edinburgh are/have been delivering leaflets to local residents and are planning on displaying leaflets & posters within the local community. Social media is also being used to spread word on the proposals. Photographs of the leaflet are at the end of this post.
City of Edinburgh Council have informed us that they plan to hold two online public meetings regarding Leith Connections on 23rd June and 1st July 2021. As of the date & time of this blog post we have not been given details such as the time of the meetings or details as to how people can sign up.
As soon as we hear from City of Edinburgh Council what time the meetings are taking place and how people can sign up to attend we will post details in a new blog post on our website, and share on our social media.
City of Edinburgh Councils consultation survey is online until 4 July 2021, click here to read about the plans and submit your views.
If anyone wishes a version of the survey in braille, large print, paper, audio or another language please email miles.wilkinson@edinburgh.gov.uk, telephone him by calling 0131 332 1122 or by writing to him at – FREEPOST RTRS-YLCY-EAEA, Community Engagement: Leith Connections, Clocktower, Unit 1 Flassches Yard, South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9LB.
Paper copies of the survey can also be requested from Leith Links Community Council by emailing contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk.
Please note that if comments not submitted via the consultation survey, such as on social media, may not be viewed, recorded or considered by City of Edinburgh Council.
There are three City of Edinburgh Council Councillors representing Leith Ward 13, in addition to completing the survey you may wish to communicate with your Councillor.
If contacting Councillors please do so respectfully.
Four organisations are working together to develop part of Leith Links as an arboretum, with work already having began some weeks ago when planting of the arboretum began at the Seafield end of the links.
City of Edinburgh Council, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspaces Trust are working together to develop the arboretum on Leith Links, with some funding provided by The Mushroom Trust.
An arboretum is a specially designed area of different types of trees for scientific, educational and ornamental purposes. Eighty four trees are planned for the Leith Links arboretum.
We are encouraging citizens with an interest in Leith Links to take part in the consultation, and to make their views known.
Citizens may also leave comments below for the Community Councils information, and they may also wish to email Councillors Booth, McVey and Munro who represent Leith Ward 13.
We have been informed by City of Edinburgh Council that the North East Locality Improvement Plan has been revised.
The various Locality Improvement Plans, including the North East Edinburgh version are often used by public sector and third sector organisations when considering which services they provide, and is therefore of some importance to the citizens of North East Edinburgh, which includes Leith & surrounding communities.
In a City of Edinburgh Council report considered by its Culture and Communities Committee on Tuesday 16 March 2021 Council officials said;
In December 2019 the Edinburgh Partnership agreed to carry out a review of the plans to address challenges identified through the annual reporting process. This review activity was paused in March 2020 as a result of the pandemic but resumed in September 2020. The revised plans were subsequently presented and agreed by the Edinburgh Partnership at its meeting in December 2020.
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On Monday 1 March 2021 we held a virtual public meeting (using Zoom) where Community Councillors and assembled citizens gave due consideration to the City of Edinburgh Council ‘Leith Connections’ proposal & consultation.
We were very pleased that thirty two local citizens participated in the meeting, alongside our Community Councillors (and Councillors Booth & McVey) came along to engage with attending Council officials.
We used the discussions that took place as the basis of our formal response to the City of Edinburgh Council, which are we are pleased to make public this evening. Click here to view our response.
Our Chairperson, Jim Scanlon MBE said today ‘Firstly I’d like to thank Miles and Martyn from the City Council Leith Connections project team who gave up their time to attend the community council public meeting and answer questions from local residents.
We had an interesting range of questions and ideas from the community and hope that the team consider them as they produce finalised designs.’
Click here to sign up to our quarterly e-newsletter. We produce a new issue every January, April, July and October, with occasional special editions. We wont spam you and each issue includes a link to unsubscribe, which you can do at any time.
Andrew Kerr, Chief Executive of City of Edinburgh Council and Returning Officer for Edinburgh Constituencies has given official notice of the Scottish Parliament 2021 elections being called on 6 May 2021.
The formal notice can be viewed by clicking here.
If you wish to vote, or have someone vote on your behalf, you must make sure that you are on the Register of Electors at your current address. Click here for electoral information from the Lothians Valuation Joint Board.
The elections for Edinburgh constituencies are administered by City of Edinburgh Council who have posted various useful information on their website that can be viewed by clicking here.
