Leith Links Community Council are recruiting two new Community Councillors following the resignation of two elected representatives (Who have moved out of the area).
As a result we are inviting interested members of our community to think about volunteering their time, energy, enthusiasm and local knowledge to make a difference in our community.
Any person from the age of sixteen, and listed on the Electoral Register as residing in the Leith Links Community Council area can be co-opted onto the Community Council following a vote by our members.
If you would like to find out more information about becoming one of our Community Councillors please contact us by emailing contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk. Your email will be received by our Chair and Secretary who will liaise with you directly to organise a discussion with you.
Jim Scanlon MBE, Chair of Leith Links Community Council said today;
Leith Links Community Council are keen to fill two vacancies for councillors following the departure of two members who moved outside the area.
If you want to give something back to your local community and have an interest in a wide range of issues which could include green space/planning/transport then please get in touch with us to find out more.
We have a great well respected team and have a positive social media presence working together with other local community councils to be the voice for local residents in Leith
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;
<<< 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.
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
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/
The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 29th March 2021 at 6:30pm, online via Zoom.
(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.
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
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
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.
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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.
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.
