Category: Leith Links Community Council

Next meeting of Leith Links Community Council, Duncan Place, 6:30pm, Monday 26 May 2025.

The next meeting of Leith Links Community Council will be held in person at Duncan Place at 6:30pm on Monday 26 May 2025.

Minutes of previous meeting are here.

Agenda is here.

This will be the second meeting of the new Community Council, as elected in March 2025, and we will welcome our new Community Councillors, and any local residents who wish to attend. Thre are quite a few things going on locally so it’s good to catch up!

A Teams link will be set up for councillors and local residents who are unable to attend in person, but we do not have the technical facilities to guarantee a good ‘hybrid’ set up.

Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if you wish to receive an online link.

 

Next meeting of Leith Links Community Council, in-person at Duncan Place, 6:30pm Monday 28 April 2025.

The next meeting of Leith Links Community Council will be held in person at Duncan Place at 6:30pm on Monday 28 April 2025.

Minutes of previous meeting are here.

Agenda is here.

This will in effect be the first meeting of the new Community Council, as elected in March 2025, and we will welcome new Community Councillors, and any local residents who wish to attend.

A Teams link will be set up for councillors who are unable to attend in person, but we do not have the technical facilities to provide a good ‘hybrid’ set up.

Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if you wish to receive an online link.

 

Scottish Police Federation releases film on the realities of policing in Scotland

The Scottish Police Federation, led by General Secretary David Kennedy, has commissioned a new film to shine a light on the everyday realities and challenges faced by police officers in Scotland.

In recent times, UK police have been portrayed negatively due to isolated incidents, but this film aims to shift the focus back to the vital and selfless work officers do, often at great personal risk.

“The media coverage doesn’t reflect the full picture,” says Kennedy. “Our officers face trauma daily, risking their lives to protect the public. It’s crucial that the public understands this reality.”

The film, titled Relentless, captures the relentless pressures officers endure. From young recruits thrust into life-threatening situations, to the violence they regularly face, the film highlights the raw and unpredictable nature of policing.

Kennedy stresses, “Officers deal with violence on a daily basis, and the mental and physical toll is immense. Batons and handcuffs provide some defence, but nothing prepares you for the split-second decisions needed in dangerous encounters.

“They want you to come to them, when you need help. When you see a police car, you might think they are going to arrest somebody. No, they’re going to help somebody. We are part of the public and the public, a part of us”

In closing, Kennedy reiterates the importance of community trust. “In Scotland, we police by consent. We want the public to understand that officers are members of the community in uniform. Don’t shy away from them—speak to them, engage with them. They’re here to help.”

Links Place Bus Gate Open to ALL traffic

Duncan Place and Johns Place are currently closed for possibly the next 10 weeks for maintenance work on pavements.

The road network around and through Leith has had increased traffic volumes as traffic that would normally use the closed off roads attempts to find another route to destinations withing the ‘liveable neighbourhood’.

The Community Council asked council officers to consider lifting restrictions on Links Place until the road works have been completed allowing traffic to flow East and West along this road.

Council Officers responded that this was possible and the restrictions which includes the camera have been removed for the duration.

Hopefully we’ll be told before work is completed a date for the camera being switched back on.

 

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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Next Meeting, 31st March, 6:30pm, in-person at Duncan Place

Following the recent election, the Leith Links Community Council is now reconstituted, with 12 members – 9 of whom were previously CC members, and 3 of whom are new members. We would like to welcome both our ‘old’ and our new members and look forward to the first meeting of the ‘new’ Community Council, which will be on Monday 31st March, at 6:30pm, in-person, at Duncan Place.

Agenda and previous Minutes to follow shortly.

 

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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Statement from Leith Links Community Council re the LTN

The role of a Community Council is to keep local residents and businesses informed about matters that will affect them, in the area, and to consult members of the local community for their views, and to represent those views to the Council, and elsewhere, so that the ‘voices’ of local people are heard. That is our job, and that is what we have been trying to do, over the Low Traffic Neighbourhood issues.

Although we had suggested that the bus gate should be excluded from the approval, the Leith Links Community Council is happy that the effects of Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood which benefit many within the area have now been permanently established, for example quieter safer roads that encourage active travel, especially for children. Naturally, we want the best for our area and its residents.

However it was disappointing that members of the TRO sub-committee apparently made no serious effort to understand or analyse the traffic monitoring figures (or lack of figures in many cases, such as no baseline measures to allow true comparison). One Councillor did point out how badly the figures were presented, so as to make them difficult to understand. Overall the committee just accepted unquestioningly what the Leith Connections team told them, and dismissed the experience of the people who live in the area, who consistently report evidence of displaced traffic causing increased congestion on the boundary roads, and correspondingly reduced quality of life for many who live and work just outside the LTN. The Community Council would like to see a better scheme for traffic monitoring in future.

 

Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood is made permanent

The City of Edinburgh Council’s Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) Sub-Committee today voted to make all of the temporary traffic regulation orders of the Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood permanent. You will be able to watch a recording of the meeting by Thursday, when it should be archived.

The committee acknowledged that they had received a large number of representations from the public and from different groups, and thanked all who had made the effort to contribute. Their decision seemed to be at least partly based on the fact that ‘the majority’ were in favour (although one Councillor did remind them that this was “not a referendum”). They agreed that the current scheme is “not perfect” but felt that no scheme is perfect and that you couldn’t please everybody.

It took the Committee less than an hour to reach this decision. A lot hinged on the issue of increased displaced traffic on the boundary roads, the data on which none of them understood, but were happy to take the word of Council officers and dismiss the experience of people who live here. The Committee Convener said in conclusion that in relation to increased traffic displacement that she was “happy that’s being thingummied”.

This decision means that all the features of the LTN that people are enjoying and valueing will remain, such as quieter and safer roads inside the LTN that encourage active travel, especially for kids, so hopefully that is something that everybody can feel good about.

This Community Council had asked the Committee to make the measures permanent in part only but excluding the bus gate, however this option was rejected.

Making all the current measures permanent means that the current bus gate will remain. It means that in due course – perhaps in a few months –  the Leith Connections team will come back with a proposal to change its location and to move the bus gate to Links Gardens and to make it two way.

Meanwhile, thank you to all who got involved in putting their views forward.

 

 

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