Tag: Leith Links area

Fire!! Cuts to our local Fire Services

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is proposing a number of changes and service cuts, one of which is to close the Marionville Fire Station. This could have very serious consequences for our area, as it would mean that fire services would come out instead from NewCraighall which would clearly take much longer to reach a fire in the Restalrig, Leith Links, Leith, Seafiled, Craigentinny, Meadowbank, Willowbrae etc. areas. And as we know, the time it takes to attend a fire can be crucial in terms of saving lives, as well as protecting property and preventing fire spread.

If you would like to learn more and comment on these plans, please come along to the public meeting tomorrow, and/or please complete the survey mentioned below.

SFRS is running a public consultation on the future of Marionville Community Fire Station in the city of Edinburgh. We will be holding a public meeting as follows:

Tuesday 2 September (2-4pm and 6-8pm)

Craigentinny Community Centre, 9 Loaning Road,

Edinburgh EH7 6JE

In addition, SFRS has launched an online survey and is keen for individuals and groups from the local community to share their views. The consultation ends on 16th September.

https://firescotland.citizenspace.com/sfrs-communications/sfrs-service-delivery-review-consultation/

https://www.fbu.org.uk/campaigns/scotland-cuts-leave-scars

www.firescotland.gov.uk

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Next Meeting of LLCC, Monday 25th August, in person at Duncan Place 6:30pm

The next meeting of LLCC will be next Monday, 25th August, in person at Duncan Place, 6:30 pm

We have 2 speakers:
  • Matthew Farnham, Community Engagement & Operational Communications          Coordinator, Veolia (re Seafield)
  • Architect Joanne McClelland re the Leith Place Plan (in progress)
The meeting is open to interested members of the public.
Get in touch if you would like a link to enable remote attendance.
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Brace yourselves….

Sounds like there may be some Seafield related issues this week – two messages in today from Scottish Water –

(1) Dear stakeholder,

Veolia, the site operator at the Seafield Waste Water Treatment Works, intends to undertake a routine cleaning of the storm tanks commencing tomorrow, Tuesday 22nd July. 

Conditions are forecast as favourable for the duration of the task.

Both SEPA and the City of Edinburgh Council have been informed.

We will issue a further update once Veolia has completed the task.

and

(2) Dear stakeholder,

I am writing to let you know about urgent sewer repair work we will be carrying out on Seafield Street in Edinburgh.

From Monday 28 July 2025 we will be closing one lane at the junction with Seafield Road so that we can carry out the work safely.

Temporary traffic lights will be in operation, and it is possible there may be some delays.

We anticipate completing the work within a week.

We would like to thank everyone affected for their patience and understanding.

Kind regards,

Matt

 

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What will our area be like in 20 years? Have your say!

What will our area look like in the future?
Well, what we put forward NOW will shape what happens later.

EALA Impacts are working with all three of the Leith Community Councils (Leith Links, Leith Harbour & Newhaven, and Leith Central) to make a Local Place Plan for Leith.

This is important because the Local Place Plan will feed into the City Council’s “City Plan 2040”, which sets out what is allowed to be built in the city, and will be used for many other things to shape the future of our neighbourhood.

It is really important that local poeple say what they want and don’t want in their area, in the future.

The deadline for submission to the City Council is Autumn 2025, but your comments and ideas should ideally be in by end of July / August.. Please use the QR code below or send in by email.

Read more about the importance of Local Place Plans, and how to make them, here

qr code
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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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Join the Litterpick, Saturday 22nd March

Please come and join in the Spring Litterpick on Leith Links, next Saturday morning, 22nd March! Litter-picking is surprisingly satisfying in itself, and you will be contributing to making our area a much more pleasant place for everyone.

Duncan Place is coordinating the litterpick, which is also supported by the Leith Links Community Council.

  • We’ll all meet in the Duncan Place car park at 10am. 4 Duncan Place, Leith, EH6 8HW.
  • We have litter pickers you can borrow, however please do bring your own if you have one. Bring gloves (not your poshest pair!)
  • We’ll supply bin bags. We have a limited number of bin bag hoops and sturdy gloves that people can borrow.
  • Children very welcome, but under 16s to be accompanied by an adult.
  • Join us after the litter pick for a hot cuppa and biscuits, inside Duncan Place, as a thank-you for getting involved.
  • If the weather is *really* bad, we’ll call the litter pick off. If in doubt, check the Duncan Place socials, or call 0131 364 4351.
  • Litter picking volunteers can just turn up on the day, but it does help to let the organisers know you’re coming. You can email on events@duncanplace.org or fill in the form here > https://forms.gle/e7DbVQHq7ENikTSZ6

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Leith Local History Society, Tuesday 18th March , Leith Community Centre, New Kirkgate

Do come along to the next meeting of the Leith Local History Society, on TUESDAY 18th March AT 7pm in Leith Community Education Centre, to hear this fascinating presentation:

The Royal Navy and Leith between 1780 and 1805

Brian Pinkstone will share his research into Royal Navy ships, some with Leith crew or ‘pressed men’ who escorted valuable cargo during a time when shipping could be attacked by privateers

All welcome, £2 or free to members

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More changes planned for our area…?

The Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood has now been made permanent  (and has apparently also been ‘renamed’ the “Leith Liveable Neighbourhood”)

But things have not stopped there. At the Council’s Transport and Environment Committee next week (6th March), Councillor Chas Booth is proposing a motion that signposts to further changes in our area. (See below) What do people think of these?

Can / should such steps just be imposed from ‘above’? Is it time for a public meeting, and a focused discussion with local residents, to explore the ideas Councillor Booth is pushing forward?

You can comment below, or email your views to: contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk

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Motion by Councillor Booth – Liveable Neighbourhoods

“Committee:

1)         Notes the decision of TRO sub-committee on 18 February to make the Leith Liveable Neighbourhood, introduced under ETRO 23/20, permanent; further notes that while the scheme was generally successful at reducing motor traffic, there was a traffic increase on Duncan Place and northbound on Salamander Place;

2)         Notes that while there is a commitment in the City Mobility Plan (CMP) to roll out liveable neighbourhoods, this work is currently unfunded within the CMP action plan (action 105) but this is being assessed as part of the CMP CIP review agreed by committee in December 2024;

3)         Requests a report to committee in 4 cycles setting out:

           a)         options to address the increase in traffic on Duncan Place and northbound on Salamander Place including, but not limited to, moving the bus gate to Links Gardens and introducing a full modal filter at either the north end of Johns Place or the south end of Duncan Place;

            b)         what further action can be taken to improve dropped kerbs, pavements camber and improve conditions for walkers and wheelers throughout the project area and in particular at Claremont Park/Gladstone Place, including the potential for a new pedestrian crossing near the nursing home;

            c)         what further action can be taken to improve conditions for those cycling in the area, in particular along quiet route 10 between Sandport Bridge and Links Gardens;

            d)         whether there would be advantages to coordinating the timing of any further changes to the Liveable Neighbourhood with rollout of the CPZ to the area south of Leith Links;

            e)         any lessons learned from the Leith Liveable Neighbourhood scheme, in particular on how the council can better engage with disabled people who might be impacted by a scheme at the earliest possible stage.”

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At the same meeting, it is proposed to launch proceedings to ban parking on a number of streets, by introducing new double yellow lines on both sides. Worryingly, according to a recent Evening News article, Claremont Park is included on the list – can this really be the case, given that it is a wide road with plenty room for buses to pass each other, and no record of pavement parking? Seafield Place, Seafield Road and Salamander Street are also listed. Further information urgently needed!

 

See the full meeting agenda here: https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=7245&x=1

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Close off Links Gardens again?

URGENT

The Council’s TRO Sub-Committee meets in one week’s time (18th February) to take important decisions about the Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood (whether to make all the changes permanent or not).

The Community Council has recommended that the bus gate be dropped from the scheme, allowing traffic to flow through from Links Gardens to Queen Charlotte Street, thus relieving pressure on Salamander Place, Duncam Place, Johns Place and on the narrow residential streets (Fox Street, Pattison Street, Elbe Street).

We now see in a newly published Report that has been sent to the Committee (by Council Officers) the recommendation that the bus gate be moved so that it blocks off Links Gardens (not just Links Place) to all traffic except buses. And that it would be made two-way, so that as well as forbidding traffic as at present from east to west, it would also block all traffic coming through from west to east.

The proposed new bus lane/bus gate would remove through traffic from the raised pedestrian/ cycle crossing point on QuietRoute 10 at Links Gardens.

This would be a re-introduction of the situation caused by the Places for People blocking of Links Gardens during the Covid period, which was massively unpopular because it caused huge increases in traffic and congestion all along Claremont Park, Gladstone Place, East Hermitage Place, Hermitage Place, Vanburgh Place and the junction with Lochend Road / Easter Road / Duke Street, and all along Duke Street and Great Junction Street.

This is something that would have a huge effect on the lives of all who live in the Leith Links Area. You can read the proposal in Para 4.70 (and elsewhere) in this Report to Committee (uploaded here, as it seems to ‘come and go’  a bit on the council website, but you can try via https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=645&MId=7581)

Closing Links Gardens couldn’t be decided at the meeting next week, it would require a new consultation, but local people need to be aware that this is a first step.

If you have a view on this proposal, please write immediately to all the members of the TRO sub-committee, whose email addresses can be found here.

And please copy to the three Leith Councillors who have been reported in the press as being ‘united’ on supporting these proposals.

chas.booth@edinburgh.gov.uk
cllr.katrina.faccenda@edinburgh.gov.uk
adam.nols-mcvey@edinburgh.gov.uk

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