Tag: Leith Links

Leith Local History Society, Tuesday, 21st February

After an absence of two years due to covid Leith Local History Society returns with a programme of talks over the next five months. Unfortunately numbers of people attending meetings have dropped as some members have moved on.

It would be great to see new faces so if you’re interested in finding about the history of the local area it would great to see you

The next meeting of the Leith Local History Society will be held on Tuesday, 21st February at 7.00pm in Leith Community Centre. The Talk will be by Ashleigh Thompson, City of Edinburgh Archivist who will tell us about new items added to the city collection

 

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Best wishes

Jim Scanlon

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O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

In last weeks Evening News, there was an article detailing where the council would be installing Christmas trees around the city this year. Leith wasn’t mentioned.

Last year because of ongoing tram works the council decided not to put one at the usual central Leith spot at the Kirkgate.  I know we all have enough on our minds with fuel and food costs going through the roof but a bit of Christmas cheer would be welcomed.

When I asked why another location couldn’t be found to place a tree, I was informed that the council had planted one in Taylor Gardens.

Exhibit 1

The council did eventually install a full size tree, which we welcomed, but could have been placed more centrally possibly at the Shore outside Malmaison or outside Bank of Scotland in the Kirkgate where many more tourists and Leithers pass during the day.

This year we had the same excuse about tram works for no tree at the Kirkgate but the council told us they had planted a tree beside Leith Library.

Exhibit 2

The council also intend to install a full size tree in Taylor Gardens but when I passed there yesterday there was one Christmas light from the bottom of Leith Walk stuck on a lamp post.

Why have I decided to moan? Because I feel the people of Leith deserve better and have stoically put up with continual disruption to their lives from ongoing tram and road works.

Having had a year to investigate alternative sites, it should have been simple for the council to find somewhere for a tree in Leith’s historic centre where more people pass including much welcomed visits from tourists.

Rightly or wrongly it does give the impression that the council really don’t care.

From an environmental point of view I applaud them for their tree planting but it could be 20 years before these trees are mature enough to be decorated.

After all Leith has been through over the last few years surely it’s not a lot to ask for a Christmas tree to be located in the heart of the community to be enjoyed by all.

Jim Scanlon MBE

Chair, Leith Links Community Council

 

 

 

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Leith Links Master Plan Consultation closing soon – have your say!

Have you looked at the proposals for the improvement of Leith Links park? Have you taken the chance to comment on them? This weekend is your last chance, as the public consultation closes on 31st July. Please go to the survey and add your views.

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/leith-links-masterplan/

Or, if you prefer, email in your comments to Lindsay.Grant@edinburgh.gov.uk

The plan as it stands has incorporated ideas from all sorts of local people and groups who know the park well, but there is still room for new ideas and /or modifications of the ideas proposed. Or is there something in the plan that you downright disagree with? Now is absolutely the right time to state clearly your objection and the reasons for it!

Some of the proposals could perhaps be implemented fairly quickly, but lot of what is proposed is still entirely ‘aspirational’ in that there is not yet funding in place to make it happen. But if the plan is adopted, then various bodies can start to try and raise funds, and the improvements could be actioned in stages.

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New MasterPlan to improve Leith Links – your views? Urgent!

Leith Links is a great park and we all love it –  BUT it could certainly be EVEN BETTER!
In recent months, a new 10 year ‘concept MasterPlan’ for improving the Links has been developed, by a team led by the City of Edinburgh Council’s ‘Thriving Greenspaces Project’ and including representatives from a number of local organisations; ourselves i.e. Leith Links Community Council, Earth in Common / Links Activity Park group, Leith Councillors, some local residents, and consulting a wide range of ‘stakeholders’ such as Leith Athletic, Leith Franklin Cricket Club, Duncan Place, local Primary Schools etc.

The final draft has now been published and it is open to public consultation  RIGHT NOW (closing on 22 July 2022).

        
You can see the plans and give your views via the Council web site
If you don’t like using the Consultation Hub with its usual forced route through leading questions, then please feel free to write / email in with your thoughts and ideas to thrivinggreenspaces@edinburgh.gov.uk (and it’s a good idea to copy to your local Councillors),  and/ or use the comments facility below to record your thoughts and we will forward them to the project team.
Whichever route(s) you choose, please do it NOW, before the holidays, otherwise you might forget, and miss your chance!
The draft master plan is based on the conversations we have been leading and facilitating  over the past year, about what local people need and want. It lays out a vision of what could happen in the future, but there is no guarantee at this stage that it will actually happen; significant new funding is still to be found, and support from the local community is vital (if there are objections or new suggestions, there is plenty time for these to be taken into account, the details of the plan are NOT a ‘foregone conclusion’).
  
The plan includes lots of great ideas (yes, including permanent toilets!), such as nicer benches, better bins, improved lighting, wheelchair accessible picnic tables, cycle parking, wildflower meadow, use of surfaces for heritage mural, arboretum (started already), ping pong tables, a ‘trim trail’ and 3km fitness loop and a ‘natural play area’ at the east of the Links. Also a modern bandstand (or ‘outdoor performance space’), and many other upgrades.
         
To bring the old bowling greens area back into productive use, there is a proposal for an ‘Activity Park’ that could incorporate a bike pump track and a skatepark.
A skatepark came out as a very popular suggestion, in last year’s surveys that we carried out, and is likely to be heavily promoted by its supporters – but there are also issues to be explored about what impact it might have on near neighbours.
Please make sure YOUR voice is heard!
 
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LEITH CONSULTATIONS

Just like when you’re waiting on a 16 bus stuck in a traffic jam three arrive at the same time.

The City Council have added three really important consultations for the future of Leith to the consultation hub on the city council webpage.

LEITH CONNECTIONS PHASE 3

Leith Connections: Phase 3 west – east proposals – City of Edinbu

Leith Connection Phase 3 has some lovely graphics including one of Salamander Street with a new cycle lane and narrowed road space for cars and trucks that I’m sorry to say do have to use our roads every day on one of the main arterial routes East to West through the city.

I also find it strange that the graphic doesn’t show the CPZ plan for the same route which had permit holder and pay and display parking on Salamander Street at the same view in the graphic so I do wonder IF these teams actually communicate with each other.

The Leith Connection Phase 3 consultation is open until 17 July so please, please make your thoughts known.

 

ETRO Go Home?

The next consultation is on ETRO which we may remember in a previous life was known as Spaces for People. Love it or loathe it,  the road coning and closures project introduced to make streets safer for cycling, walking and wheeling during the pandemic is now finally up for public consultation. This is your opportunity to comment on the future plans. Do you want them kept or ditched? Have your say now or you could be stuck with them permanently.

 

LEITH LINKS MASTERPLAN 

Finally, the Leith Links Master Plan is also open on the consultation hub for your positive or negative comments. Please use this opportunity to add your views on how you would like to see Leith Links developed for all residents in the future.

The Leith Links Masterplan Team had a stall at Leith Gala and many members of the public visited the tent to find out more and to share their views, so now it’s your turn to do the same.

You can see more about the plans here.

Leith Links Masterplan – City of Edinburgh Council – Citizen Space

You can also comment here, on the Hub, but you’ll only find a very limited set of leading questions. If you have more to say on any specific point, you should email directly to Miles.Wilkinson@edinburgh.gov.uk

The deadline for this consultation is 31 July. Please also be sure to copy your email also to our elected Councillors:

Chas.Booth@edinburgh.gov.uk

Cllr.Katrina.Faccenda@edinburgh.gov.uk

Adam.McVey@edinburgh.gov.uk

 

 

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Street Traders Licence Application – Leith Links

We have been informed this week by City of Edinburgh Council that an application has been made for a Street Traders Licence in relation to a food & drinks unit on Leith Links.

Any person can make a representation with regards to the application but they must present that to City of Edinburgh Council by 3 May 2022. Leith Links Community Council will be submitting a representation, and should you have any comments which you feel should be considered as part of that representation please let us know in the comments area below. Please avoid only writing that you support or object to the application, please tell us why you object or support etc in the comments section below.

Below is a map of the location, and the formal notice of the application being considered.

Please note that we have published all the information relating to the application that we have been provided with.

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Leith Links Boules Court under refurbishment in preparation for re-launch

Refurbishment work is currently underway to prepare to the Leith Links Boules Court for an upcoming re-launch.

The boules court which is located next to the Leith Links Tennis Courts will shortly be suitable for use. The court is fenced in and we hope to be able to add proper signage, playing guidance, and seating shortly.

Work is currently underway to clear & level the court, before the dressed top surface layer is added. However, the court has been getting used over recent years as a place for people to take their dogs which is damaging the court whilst refurbishment is taking place. We do think this is partly due to there being no signage on the gates or railings to let people know what the court is for. So until we get some new signage we have added some temporary signage to the court to let people know what is going on. Whilst the refurbishment works are taking place we would kindly ask that people do not use the boules court.

To help re-launch the Leith Links Boules Court we will shortly be arranging some mini events including taster sessions for those who want to get involved. Boules is a great game that is accessible for people of all ages and experience.

We’ll keep you updated as works progress.

 

 

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Additional / improved street lighting for Leith Links?

We have learnt that City of Edinburgh Council took the decision last week to fund street lighting improvements in parks, with a budget of £150,000.

It is clear that citizens across Edinburgh will hoping for some of that funding to be spent in various parks, and it is highly likely the Council officers and Councillors will already have some intentions about which parks will benefit from the cash.

Therefore, if you feel that Leith Links requires additional or improved street lighting, it is important that you make that view known as soon as possible by emailing parks@edinburgh.gov.uk, and also emailing one of the Leith Ward Councillors;

When emailing them it is important that you are specific about your request (for example, just saying the whole of Leith Links is unlikely to receive support but if you identify a particular route through Leith Links that requires lighting for example that may be better received.  You should also say why you feel the additional  or improved lighting is needed perhaps share your feelings when walking through the route currently).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Leith Links Community Council next meeting Monday 28th February 6:30 online

Hello

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 28th, February at 6:30pm, online (Microsoft Teams)

Papers for the meeting can be found here:

1 Agenda 28 February 22

2 January 2022 LLCC Minutes draft

 

(These are also stored for access at any time in our online Library.)

If you have any questions  / issues about the communal bins near you, that you would like to raise with our local Councillors (and, hopefully, a relevant Council official), please email these in advance to contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk

As always, our meetings are open to interested members of the public. If you wish to attend, please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will be sent an invitation / link for the meeting.

You’re invited to join a Microsoft Teams meeting

Title: Leith Links Community Council
Time: Monday, 28 February 2022 18:30:00 GMT

Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting

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