Category: Leith Links Community Council

Next meeting Leith Links Community Council, Monday, 31 August, 6:30pm, Duncan Place

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be next Monday, 31 August at 6:30pm at Duncan Place, in-person.

All members of the local community are welcome to attend these meetings.
There will be a link published here nearer the time for anyone needing to join remotely.
BUT BEFORE THEN  – Big new things are starting to happen in our area, please go along if you can to two Council consultations aiming to collect feedback and local people’s views on: 
1. re Two proposed new Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ) in the Easter Road area and the Lochend/Restalrig Road area.(These would also have a knock-on effect on the area further east – Claremont, Pirniefield, Prospectbank, all around Restalrig, into Craigentinny)
To find out more and to give your views, drop in to Norton Park Business Centre, 57 Albion Road, on one or other of the following days:

  • 25 August 2026, 2-7pm
  • 27 August 2026, 2-7pm
2. re A large new housing block (previously intended for student accommodation) purchased by Council to house 200+ homeless people on Manderston St./Halmyre Street. The council will be consulting local people, at a drop-in session at Classroom 1, Leith Academy 6-8pm, on Tuesday August 25th.
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Beautiful Toilets!

The public toilets on Leith Links are now delightfully transformed! (And, importantly,  actually open and functioning properly at last!) Make it your mission to drop by and see Leith’s latest artwork as soon as you can. This beautiful mural was painted by Leith artist Shona Hardie, and funded largely by the Council, with a significant contribution from Leith Links Community Council with money donated by the film-makers of Dept.Q TV series, who filmed there (and closed the road for a day!).

 

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Please tell us about your travel, since the Princes Street fire….

If you live or work in the Leith Links area, or own/run a business here, please tell us how you have been affected by the fire on Princes Street, and getting around the town since then? For example, getting to work? Do you use bus/car/ bike/walking more, to replace tram? What is bus travel like, for you? Getting to social/leisure activities? Are customers reaching your business? Or anything else you want to tell us about? Please get in touch asap, so we can pass this on to the Council. Email: contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk

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Annual Report 2025-2026, Leith Links Community Council

Following our recent AGM, we are pleased to publish here our Annual Report  for the past year.

To update you, the current Community Council line-up is as follows:

The current Community Council members are:

  • Abigail Cunningham (Co-Chair, Parks & Greenspaces)
  • Avril Ewing (Living Rent rep)
  • Aric Gilinsky (Treasurer and Engagement Officer)
  • Angus Hardie (Co-Chair, Seafield Master Plan)
  • Barbara Kerr (Leith Festival rep)
  • Aimee McInnes
  • Andrew Mackenzie (CCTT)
  • Sally Millar (Secretary)
  • Teresa Perchard (Planning, Bins)
  • Jim Scanlon (Seafield Sewage)
  • Eileen Simpson (Seafield Sewage)

Since the most recent CC election (March 2025), our long-standing Chair Person Jim Scanlon MBE has stepped back from the role of Chair due to family pressures (though happily he continues as a Community Council member). Jim is endlessly loyal, determined and very experienced, and has made a massive contribution to the community over the many years, for which we thank him most sincerely.

Sadly, we also recently ‘lost’ another long standing and hard-working CC member, ex Treasurer and Vice-Chair Gail Clapton, who moved out of the area. Both were presented with small thank you gifts.

 

Update on Public Toilets on the Links – opening again soon……..

We have been sent this latest update on the public toilets on Leith Links by Marco Galli, Green Space Development Officer at the Council:

The drainage works on site are now complete. We are carrying out final checks, including topographic survey and CCTV camera investigation survey, to make sure the new drainage network meets the required standard before the toilets can reopen. We are on track to reopen at the beginning of June 2026.

During the construction phase, the contractor encountered a number of unexpected challenges I wanted to make you aware of:

  • An old cast iron water main was found during the groundworks. The team had to work carefully around it and adjust how the works were carried out.
  • Extra work was done to protect sections of the new drainage pipework, making it stronger and more resilient for the long term.
  • A water leak was found during the works. This was caused by poor installation from the original build and has now been fully fixed.
  • One of the electrical cables in proximity to the toilet was accidentally damaged by the contractor. The contractor has organised for an electrician to remediate this and we estimate completion by the end of the week.

Despite these challenges, our contractor Healthmatic kept the programme on track.

Please note that the temporary toilets have been removed from site. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause in the short term and are working hard to reopen the permanent facility as soon as possible. Several incidents of antisocial behaviour took place, leaving the toilets unsafe and posing a risk to our colleagues who maintained them.

We know the closure has been frustrating and we thank you for your patience. We will keep you updated as we move towards reopening. Please feel free to pass this update on to anyone who may find it useful.

Thank you.

AGM and Next Meeting, Monday 25 May 2026

The AGM and next meeting of Leith Links Community Council will be on Monday 25th May, at 6:30pm, at Duncan Place Community Hub, 4 Duncan Place.

There will be a short AGM followed at 7pm by an ‘ordinary meeting’. We have guest speakers Jo Hirst and Doreen Goldie coming to talk about what happens when sewage at Seafield is treated and turned into sludge cake which is spread across local agricultural land as fertilizer and may potentially have a dangerous impact on our food systems, water courses and the wider environment.

We also have a busy ‘general’ agenda of local issues. Do come along and join the discussions – the Community Council would really appreciate more support from local residents.

If you need to join remotely, please use this MS Teams link

Secretary LeithLinks invited you to a Microsoft Teams Meeting, 25 May 18:30

 

Documents

AGM Minutes April 2025

April 2026 Minutes here

May 2026 Agenda here

Police Report May 2026

Annual Report 2026

Annual Accounts 2025-2026

 

We need to talk about sewage……..do join us!

The next meeting of Leith Links Community Council is on Monday 25 May at 6:30pm. Following a brief AGM and a short break, starting at 7pm we will hold our ‘ordinary’ CC meeting, starting with visiting speakers Jo Hirst and Doreen Goldie to talk about what happens to our sewage, why it may be dangerous, and what regulation and enforcement is necessary.

 

 

Everyone knows about the offensive stench that frequently blights the lives of those who live in the vicinity of Seafield Sewage Treatment Centre. However what is not so well known is that after the City’s sewage has been ‘treated’, the resultant sludge cake is spread across local agricultural land as a fertilizer. Many believe that the several contaminants that remain in this ‘treated’ sludge cake represent a serious public health risk. A campaign has been launched to have this practice ‘paused’ until the full facts are made known.

 

Come to our next meeting on 25th May at 7.00pm  at Duncan Place Community Hub to hear more about this campaign and about why there is so much concern about the potential impact on our food systems, water courses and the wider environment.

Latest news on Restalrig Road works

Here is the latest news from the Council on the Restalrig Road works (in response to a request for information from Leith Links Community Council, via Councillor Katrina Faccenda).

“….please find the following updates regarding the ongoing improvements on Restalrig Road.

The project began on 9 March 2026 and is divided into 8 phases (approximately 150m each.) covering Restalrig Road and Restalrig Road South Each phase consists of two parts:

  1. Civil Works: Improving crossing points and drainage (conducted under temporary traffic lights).
  2. Resurfacing: Improving the road surface (conducted under road closures).

Civil works are currently in Phase 6 (near Restalrig Park) and should be finished by 7 May.

Resurfacing began today (20 April) and is estimated to be complete by mid-July 2026.

While it may appear that little progress has been made, civil works are inherently slower and less visible than surfacing. To date, we have successfully upgraded 10 crossing points and vehicle crossovers with new tactile paving and dropped kerbs, and renewed dozens of gullies. The project is currently progressing to plan.

We are working closely with Lothian Buses to provide regular updates. Diversion details for the current surfacing phase were posted on the Lothian Buses website last week. We encourage residents to check both the Lothian Buses site and our dedicated project webpage for the most recent updates.

I can confirm this is a full resurfacing. The boundaries cover the area between East Hermitage Place and Sleigh Drive (ending just before the roundabout). Furthermore, once Restalrig Road is complete, we will resurface the section of Blackie Road between Summerfield Gardens and Claremont Road.

Due to safety concerns at the Claremont Road/Claremont Park junction, I will instruct our contractor to place no-parking cones to improve visibility and traffic flow while Restalrig Road remains closed. Please note that these cones will be advisory because there is insufficient time to promote a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO), so they will not be legally enforceable if ignored. However, we hope this visual deterrent will encourage safer parking behavior during the works.”

Stylianos Kapetanakis BEng MSc NECReg – Senior Engineer Transport Contracts & Design

Infrastructure ¦ Planning and Transport ¦ Place ¦ The City of Edinburgh Council

Planning and Transport, 1.7 , Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh EH8 8BG

Email: stylianos.kapetanakis@edinburgh.gov.uk

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Next LLCC meeting, Monday 27 April 2026, Duncan Place, 6:30 pm

The next meeting of LLCC will be on Monday, 27 April 2026, in person at Duncan Place, at 6:30 pm.

As usual we have a busy agenda of local issues to discuss.

We also have guest speakers Sutherland Forsyth and Sam Gallacher from Scottish Historic Buidlings Trust, to give a short presentation on the latest plans and news about a Leith Museum at Leith Custom House.

The meeting is open to interested members of the public.
If you need to join remotely, please use this Teams link:
LLCC April Meeting, 27 April 2026, 18:30 – 22:00 (GMT)
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