Category: Leith Links Community Council

Your Community Council needs YOU!

The Annual General Meeting of Leith Links Community Council is coming up, on 24 June, and a full scale Community Council election will be coming up later this year.  Our minds are turning to the future – we urgently need a few new people to join us, to ensure the  future of the Community Council, to represent local residents and businesses in this area. Please think about whether you might be able to come to a monthly meeting, and spend a few hours working on issues of local importance?

     

Call for urgent action – local building at risk of collapse

Responding to local residents’ concerns about their safety, the Chair of Leith Links Community Council (LLCC) has called on City of Edinburgh Council urgently to use its extensive powers to protect the public by requiring the owner of a building at risk of collapse in John’s Lane to make it safe and repair it.

22 John’s Lane is a listed Georgian warehouse which has been neglected for many years. It has been on the Historic Environment Scotland ‘Buildings at Risk Register’ since 1991, though pictures there show it had a roof at that time which is now long gone. See  22, John’s Lane, Leith | Buildings at Risk Register

The outer wall facing John’s Lane is now leaning dangerously and at over 3 storeys high, with obviously eroded mortar, a high wind could cause a collapse. Any falling masonry could cause damage or injury to passers by in this narrow lane, off Queen Charlotte Street. In addition to providing rear access to a number of homes and businesses, John’s Lane is used by a local garage business and their customers.

Clearly the owner of the building is responsible, but the Council has strong powers to act to prevent any accidents from the obvious neglect of this structure. It can issue a Dangerous Building Notice which is used by Local Authorities to protect the public when it appears that the building owner has failed to prevent the building from falling into a dangerous condition. The notice is served to require a building owner to reduce or remove the danger posed by a building.

A Dangerous Building Notice requires the owner “to make safe or demolish a building that poses a threat to public safety. Repair Notices can be served on both listed and unlisted properties, and specify those works considered reasonable and necessary for the preservation of a building, along with a timescale within which these works should be completed. Failure to comply within the specified deadline may result in works being undertaken by the local planning authority, and a charge being made to the owner(s).

The Council can also issue an Urgent Works Notice on vacant listed properties, to allow the local planning authority to undertake emergency works such as the erection of supportive scaffolding or temporary roof structures.

Leith Links Community Council reports acute concern

LLCC Chair, Jim Scanlon, said ‘I feel this is a very urgent issue because of the risks to life that the condition of the building currently represents.’

You can read the full letter sent by the LLCC Chair to the Council here [link]

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If you are concerned about a dangerous structure and don’t know who owns it, you can contact the City of Edinburgh Council Shared Repairs Service who have the responsibility for this type of issue.  Further information can be found here Unsafe buildings and emergency repairs – The City of Edinburgh Council
The email address is esrs@edinburgh.gov.uk. ‘

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New murals on Constitution Street? What do you think of the designs?

The Trams to Newhaven team is proposing to fund and install a series of 4 new mural panels along the recently rebuilt outer wall of South Leith Parish Church cemetary, at the top of Constitution Street. (The 5 old ones were removed when the original wall came down, and are not in a good enough condition to be replaced.)

So far so good. But the actual designs that are being proposed have not impressed (indeed rather horrified) some local people, for example –

The Tram Team says it consulted on new designs with some members of the church congregation, although we have so far been unable to find anyone that was consulted – were you? There is certainly no evidence of any wider community engagement – which would have been appropriate since the wall is public-facing to the roadway, not inward facing to the church. Perhaps people more widely should have a say in what replaces the former mural boards which included historical information about Leith, the layout of the area in 1770s, and a reference to the shipping/port/trading heritage of Leith.

The murals designer has now submitted an application for Listed Building Consent. Would you like to have a look, and submit your views? Please note that the deadline for lodging any comments – in support, or objecting – is Friday 24th May 2024.

How to view and comment on the application

The reference number for the application is 24/01951/LBC  and the planning address used is 1 Kirkgate (so a search for Constitution Street won’t find it). Here is a direct link to the application page. 24/01951/LBC | Aim to replace four of the five previously removal wooden artwork / interpretation panels that had deteriorated beyond repair 

The key document which shows images of the proposed murals is Document 4 ‘Planning Statement’ which you can reach through the ‘Documents’ tab via the link above, or download directly by copying and pasting the URL below into your browser. (Don’t just click on this link and expect a web page to appear, it may say, misleadingly, that it’s unavailable).

https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/idoxpa-web/files/C7CB192AE18326E31FD10152C1BE12E9/pdf/24_01951_LBC-PLANNING_STATEMENT-6268735.pdf

The application is made by a company called ‘Tactical Media’ based in Glasgow who are submitting it as part of Trams to Newhaven Project Support for Businesses Package.

Please take this last minute chance to have your say!

Next meeting of Leith Links Community Council, Monday 27 May, 6:30pm, in-person Duncan Place

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 27 May in-person at Duncan Place at 6:30pm.

Agenda May 2024.

Minutes of previous meeting available here.

April Community Police Report here.

The meeting is held in public, to allow interested local residents to participate, as well as members of the CC. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if you wish to attend. There may not be an online option this month, sorry.

N.B. This is NOT the AGM meeting, the AGM will be held next month, on 24 June 2024.

Archeology tests on the Links

Please be aware that there will be people working on site at the bowling greens at Leith Links this Thursday 9th May.  In case you are wondering – and to combat any possible misinformation – these are workers from AOC Archaeology Group who have been officially contracted to carry out archaeological tests at the site. This is part of the development work and site scoping for the proposed Activity Hub project (part of the Leith Links MasterPlan).
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Hello Sun! ……Hello Stench?

As the weather warms and softens a little, local people will have noticed the return of our old friend(?),  the disgusting ‘Seafield Stench’.

Despite the assurances of the sewage plant operator Veolia, that the weather and the smells are not connected, we have all noticed that the Stench seems to descend on sunny days, just to try us. Report smells here!

Same campaign success, some progress?

Although it is a long-running saga, local people may remember that our years of campaigning DID get the Scottish Government to commit funding-

  1.  – to build a £100,000 million state-of-the-art new Sewage Plant, starting in 2029 when the current private finance agreement with Veolia comes to an end, and
  2.  – in the meantime, to spend £10 million on improvements to the existing plant, aimed at reducing odour problems.

These improvements are, sadly, still at the procurement stage, and they are not expected to ‘break ground’ until early 2025. Though they may well improve things longer term, it’s possible that there will be more, rather than fewer, stink incidents next year, as the work disrupts the normal running of the plant. So it’s important to keep them on their toes!

Reporting Portal Working again, please report!

Those in authority have openly admitted that our reporting facility (see on this page), which so many of you used to great effect, was a huge factor in getting the Government to commit to spending on Seafield. Unfortunately, for the past few months it hasn’t been working properly due to technical glitches

However, we have got the report form system working again and some of you have already been using it to complain about our recent, treasured sunny days becoming stinky days.

So please take the few moments needed to report every time you smell sewage from Seafield. Your reports go to every official who has anything to do with Seafield Waste Water Treatment facility, right up to the Scottish Government Minister, who gets every email!

It worked the last time, let’s keep the pressure up!

Report smells here! leithlinkscc.org.uk/seafieldnuisancereportform

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Next Meeting of Leith Links Community Council, 29 April 6:30p, online (Teams)

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held online only (via Teams) on Monday 29th April, at 6:30pm.

Agenda April 2024.

Minutes of previous meeting available here.

February 2024 Police Report here.

March 2024 Police Report here.

The meeting is held in public, to allow interested local residents to participate, as well as members of the CC. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if you wish to attend, and you will be sent a link.

Duncan Place Trustee Recruitment

Duncan Place are recruiting 6 new trustees to help run this important community hub.

If you would like to find out more about what the role involves then contact Duncan Place at:

info@duncanplace.org

or drop in to Duncan Place on 16th April between 7pm and 8pm for more information on what would be expected from you.

Duncan Place already delivers a range of services to the community and this is an exciting opportunity to get involved.

link to job advert on Right Move

Potential Trustee Form V1

Next meeting of Leith Links Community Council, Monday 25th March, 6:30pm, in-person at Duncan Place

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 25th March, at 6:30pm. This will be an in-person meeting at Duncan Place.

Agenda available here.

Minutes of previous meeting available here.

February 2024 Police Report here.

March 2024 Police Report here.

The meeting is held in public, to allow interested local residents to participate. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk if you wish to attend.

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