Category: Leith Links Community Council

Public Toilets on Leith Links 2025

 

They’re open.

The public toilets located at the Northern end of Leith Links are now open. While we were disappointed in the delay to the opening, it is good to see the toilets are now in use.

The operating hours are published on the front of the building.

They will be open seven days a week, over spring and summer from 8am to 8pm, and over autumn and winter from 8am to 6pm.

There is a water fountain on the side.

 

For more information on the project as a whole see: Thriving Green Spaces Website

Who gets to say how Visitor Levy funds are managed?

This Herald article raises the question of who will influence how the £50million per year raised from the Visitor Levy is spent, across Edinburgh. Surely this process should be completely transparent, highly democratic and fully accountable, otherwise how can citizens / council tax payers trust/have confidence in it?

However, a recently set up Advisory Forum includes members whose names have raised eyebrows. For example, someone who is well known to this Community Council in his role as manager of the Cameron Guest House Group and agent of the Akbar Mir family who own and profit handsomely from an ever increasing number of ‘hotels’ and guest houses for homeless people (especially in the Leith Links area). Is this an appropriate background for an initiative that aims to “‘fund public services, infrastructure and resident-visitor experience’, and to “manage the impacts of tourism”?  

Our view, quoted in the article, is that the Forum should consist of members with a strong track record in delivering improvements for communities.

Read the whole article here.

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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Next meeting of Leith Links Community Council, online at 6:30pm, Monday 30 June 2025

The next meeting of Leith Links Community Council will be held online at 6:30pm on Monday 30 June 2025.

Minutes of previous meeting are here.

Agenda is here.

We have a guest speaker attending, Catherine Scanlin, Senior Council Officer in charge of ‘Licensing’ at City of Edinburgh Council, who will give us some much needed clarity on how the Licensing process works, and be able to answer questions.

The online link will be sent to all Community Councillors and invitees. Members of the public are welcome to join;

Secretary LeithLinks invites you to a Microsoft Teams Meeting:

LLCC June Meeting
30 June 2025
18:30 – 21:30 (GMT)

Leith Festival Gala Day coming up!

The great Leith Festival Gala Day is nearly upon us! Next Saturday 14th June, 10am-5pm, on Leith Links. It’s always fun, and a great chance to catch up with people and all the amazing things going on in and around our lovely neighbourhood. You need to be there!

The Leith Links Community Council will be there on a stall, with our colleagues from the other Leith Community Councils. Do come and have a chat with us about what is important to you, about our area.

And be sure to sign one of our postcards, which we will be delivering to the CEO of

Scottish Water, to let him know that we have HAD ENOUGH of the evil smells from Seafield…..!

Lots of other exciting events in Leith all the following week, too!

 

Events on the Links this spring / summer

People often say that they wish that there was a list that they could view, of events happening on Leith Links, so we asked for one. The Council has sent us this list for the meantime and has also said “We are looking to get a public facing events calendar for events in all of our Parks up and running as soon as is practicable.”

We will update this list with more details of each event if, as, and when we receive more information.

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.”

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