Month: March 2021

Scottish Parliament elections 2021 – Edinburgh Northern and Leith hustings

We are holding a hustings on Monday 12 April 2021 from 7pm on Zoom to allow local citizens to pose questions & hear answers from the candidates hoping to be the next Member of Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Northern and Leith.

The candidates taking part in the hustings are;

  • Rebecca Bell (Scottish Liberal Democrats)
  • Katrina Faccenda (Scottish Labour)
  • Callum Laidlaw (Scottish Conservatives)
  • Ben Macpherson (Scottish National Party)
  • Jon Pullman (Freedom Alliance)
  • Lorna Slater (Scottish Greens)

<<< Click here to book your ticket & submit a question in advance >>>

We are currently exploring the possibility of a hustings for candidates standing in the Edinburgh Eastern constituency. We’ll promote details widely if we are able to organise one.

 

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John Rattray Statue Landscaping, Leith Links

For over two years fencing surrounded the statue of John Rattray and the landscaped mounds on the Links so that the planting of wild flowers selected by Royal Botanic Gardens staff could become established.

We could see the wonderful display of flowers developing each summer and the public, quite rightly asked when would the fencing come down and last September it was removed.

The ecosystem of the coastal planting is developing but is now in danger of being destroyed due to adults and children walking and cycling over the mounds.

The statue and mounds were created to celebrate Leith’s connection with the history of golf when the first recorded rules of the game were written for a competition on the Links in 1744.

The mounds represent the original landscape of the Links when it would have had a similar appearance to Longniddry, St Andrews or Carnoustie.

As we come out of the covid pandemic we hope that the statue will attract many visitors interested in the origins and history of golf.  Hopefully they will also spend more time in Leith discovering the areas historic past and supporting local businesses by spending their money in shops, cafes and restaurants.

The statue and landscaping are a great asset to the Links and Leith but we need you the public to help by respecting and caring for them.

I’ve attached a list of the range of seeds planted on the mounds below which we would hope to see each year.

PDFWildflowers planted on Leith LInks 2019

Best wishes

Jim Scanlon MBE

Chair Leith Links Community Council and member of Leith Rules Golf Society

 

 

 

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Keep or throw out the Spaces for People measures? Don’t forget to have your say!’

You still have 9 days to make your views known! Deadline is 5th April 2021.

Do you think that Edinburgh should keep the Spaces for People introduced over the past year as ‘temporary measures’  – or should they be removed?

Please fill in the consultation form as soon as possible. The consultation allows you to support or reject ALL of the measures, or to comment on some particular roads.

The Spaces for People measure that affects our own Leith Links area is the closure of Links Gardens to motor traffic. What is your view – should it be re-opened or stay closed?

Another proposed scheme that has had very little publicity is the intention to make a wider pavement and uphill cycle path on the Smokey Brae – which would then become one-way only (down) for motor vehicles. (This is not in the Leith Links area but it’s a route that many of us use, especially while Leith Walk is out of commission.)

Many people have felt that the voice of local communities has not been listened to, over the introduction of these measures. Well, now is your chance to say what you think! Please fill in the consultation. Do read it very carefully, as some of the questions are framed in unexpected ways so you might end up ticking the opposite of what you mean…. (the fact that the consultation is actually called ‘retaining spaces for people’ is a bit of a giveaway as to how the survey may be ‘leading’ you…)

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/bi/retainingspacesforpeopleconsultation/

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Next Meeting of Leith Links Community Council, Monday 29th March 6:30pm

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 29th March 2021 at 6:30pm, online via Zoom.

  1. Agenda for the meeting.
  2. LLCC MINUTES February 2021 (draft until adopted at next week’s meeting). 
  3. Minutes of Extraordinary meeting on 8 March 2021 (draft until adopted).

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

The meeting is 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.

 

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Planning Application for 57 Constitution Street

Cameron Guest House Group is seeking permission to extend its GPO hotel & cafe operation at 57 Constitution Street.

The planning application they have lodged is for the creation of 12 new bedrooms at the rear of the GPO (‘cafe with rooms’), with a new three-storey building facing onto Mitchell St.

The group and its associate companies already have very extensive property holdings and B&B establishments in the area around Leith Links, and concerns have been voiced that this proposed increase in the group’s temporary accommodation estate could have a significant impact on the local community and conservation area.

The application’s reference number is 21/00880/FUL and details can be viewed on the city council’s planning portal, at

https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/idoxpa-web/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=QOZ29EEWHQ400

Comments can also be made via this link, and we urge local residents to make their views known on this application; these have to be linked to planning matters like scale and density, and neighbourhood amenity (rather than who owns it or who lives there).

The deadline for comments is Friday 2 April 2021

Leith Links Community Council would be very grateful to hear your views, which we would be happy to treat in confidence if requested, so that we can try to represent community opinion to City of Edinburgh Council.

So as well as posting your comments on the council portal, do please let us know what you think by emailing us at planning@leithlinkscc.org.uk 

 

 

 

 

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Revised North East Locality Improvement Plan issued

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.

 

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.

 

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Leith Links Community Council response to ‘Leith Connections’ consultation

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.Leith Connections

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.

 

 

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Scottish Parliament elections 2021: Notice of elections

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 City of Edinburgh Council - Posts | Facebook

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.

 

 

 

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Spaces for People – junk them or keep them?

City of Edinburgh Council is consulting on whether you want to keep the Spaces for People measures that were introduced during the pandemic – some or all of them – or whether you’d rather see them removed – some or all. Please fill in the consultation form as soon as possible.

The Spaces for People measure that affects our own Leith Links area is the closure of Links Gardens to motor traffic. What is your view – should it be re-opened or stay closed?

The consultation period has just been extended and the deadline is now the 5th April 2021, and we are told that the findings from the consultation will be taken to the Transport and Environment committee in June, for final decision making.

A lot of people have felt there was inadequate consultation with communities over the introduction of these measures. Well, now is your chance to say what you think! Please fill in the consultation. Do read it carefully, as some of the questions are framed in unexpected ways so you might end up ticking the opposite of what you mean….

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/bi/retainingspacesforpeopleconsultation/

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