Tag: 2026

Long overdue playpark repairs coming….slowly……

Much to the distress of local families, the state of the childrens playpark on the Links has been extremely poor for some time, and is deteriorating. Complaints have been pouring in, demanding repairs and restoration of favourite play equipment but the Council seems to have taken its eye badly off the ball on this one. Leith Councillor Katrina Faccenda, having escalated the matter on our behalf and on behalf of the many frustrated local parents, has recently received this reply from the Parks Technical Manager:

Dear Cllr Faccenda,

Thank you for your email to Gareth (Corporate Director of Place) regarding the ongoing issues with the play equipment at Leith Links and which has been passed to me for a response. I fully appreciate the frustration this situation has caused for residents and park users, particularly given the length of time these matters have remained unresolved.

There have unfortunately been prolonged difficulties in progressing these repairs. This has been caused by a combination of staff shortages within the service, wider supply chain issues affecting the availability of specialist parts and equipment, and the complexity involved in working with suppliers to identify solutions that are both safe and cost-effective for the specific faults affecting the units.

I do however understand that a series of repair solutions has now been agreed and that the necessary equipment and components have now been sourced. I have discussed this directly with the outsourced maintenance provider, who has assured me that the required works are expected to be completed within the next two to three weeks.

This situation has very much highlighted the need for the service to improve responsiveness to play area repairs. We are currently progressing recruitment to several vacant posts within the play park maintenance team to help address both these issues and wider repair backlogs currently being experienced across the service.

In addition, where agreed targeted repair programmes are not being delivered within expected timescales, we will also look to engage additional external support to help accelerate delivery and improve overall performance.

I appreciate the continued patience of local residents while these matters are resolved and apologise for the delays experienced.

*

Hhhmmm. Could do better, let’s hope they do!

 

 

,

We hate the sewage smell – but that’s not the end of it…….

Sorry if this is depressing, but this needs to be more widely known……

We all know about the offensive stench that frequently blights the lives of us locals living near the Seafield Sewage Treatment Centre. (And our ongoing fight to stop or at least reduce it! There is some good news on that, by the way, as work has apparently FINALLY started on building new undergound storage tanks, using the ‘no regrets funding’ provided by Scottish Government some considerable time ago…..)

But what happens next to the sewage? At our recent Community Council meeting, we listened with horror to our visiting speakers, long time campaigners Jo Hirst and Doreen Goldie who talked about the dangers to human health, to animal health, and to the soil and the environment, when the processed sewage leaves the plant in the form of ‘sludge cake’ and is spread across local agricultural land as a fertilizer. There is growing research evidence that this sludge is toxic, and causes an extremely serious public health risk, but it seems that the Scottish Govenment does not want to hear that, nor do anything about it.  The practice of dumping sewage sludge at sea is now banned, and a number of countries have also banned spreading it on farmland. But not here. In fact, the Netherlands, who have banned it there, actually export their sewage sludge to the UK for dumping here!

See this recent article which summarises the situation, and if you wish to follow up further, see this comprehensive reading list of links

A campaign has been launched to have this practice ‘paused’ until the full facts are made known. At the very least a much more stringent system of monitoring, testing, regulation and enforcement is urgently needed, as very little of any of those is currently done.

The Leith Links Community Council will continue to participate in the Seafield ‘stakeholder meetings’ and will be keen to add this issue to the list of important considerations facing SEPA and Scottish Water as the time for handing over running of the Seafield plant from Veolia to Scottish Water draws closer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

, , , ,

What news of the Leith Links toilets?

We have been asking!

A message has recently been received from the Council, providing an update regarding:

Leith Links Public Toilets

Drainage remediation works have begun on site during the week commencing 4 May 2026. The construction works are expected to take approximately 3 to 4 weeks, followed by reinstatement of the surrounding area and testing of the drainage system before reopening. We are currently targeting completion by the beginning of June 2026, subject to final testing and verification.

The toilets were temporarily closed in December 2025 after issues were identified with the drainage system. Investigations found that the service disruption was caused by a combination of foreign objects entering the drainage network and a construction fault which needs to be rectified to ensure the system works reliably. Since then, the Council has been working with our contractor Healthmatic to develop a solution that addresses both issues and ensures the facility can operate effectively in the long term.

The temporary chemical toilets were removed during the week commencing 14 April 2026 and replaced with a new set of temporary toilets, which will remain in place until the drainage works are completed.

 We understand that this has caused inconvenience for park users and the local community, and we appreciate your patience while we work to resolve the issue properly. We look forward to bringing the new public toilet facility back into operation as soon as possible and will continue to provide updates as works progress.

Marco Galli
Green Space Development Officer
City of Edinburgh Council – Parks and Greenspace – Place
Waverley Court – 4 East Market Street – Edinburgh – EH8 8BG

Tel 07709720833  Email: marco.galli@edinburgh.gov.uk

,

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

, ,

Election Hustings! Come along and quiz your candidates!

Leith Links Community Council is not holding its own hustings this year but is supporting and promoting a hustings held by our sister Community Council Northfield & Willowbrae CC, with Craigentinny & Meadowbank CC.

Candidates for the 7 May Holyrood election will be present in person to answer questions from the electorate – what would you like to ask them? Send your question in writing in advance to:engagement@northfieldandwillowbrae.org.uk

This should be very interesting as we generally have rather less contact with our neighbours to the south and east than we do, traditionally, with parts of Leith. Yet we share many of the same issues, and we all share the same MSP and need to know that they have a good understanding of all of their constituency.

The hustings will be held this Friday 10th April at 6:30 in Northfield Community Centre, 10 Northfield Rd.

You are welcome to attend. Please register to attend (free) at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/united-kingdom–edinburgh/edinburgh-hustings/

 

 

Are you registered to vote in the election? Deadline to register is 20 April.

https://www.mygov.scot/vote-elections-scotland/register-to-vote

 

This is a map of the Edinburgh North Eastern & Leith constituency:

Click to access Edinburgh_North_Eastern_Leith.pdf

,

Please avoid the sea wall footpath alongside Seafield sewage plant

Scottish Water has just made us aware that Veolia, the site operator of Seafield Wastewater Treatment facility, is working to repair a leak that has caused some localised flooding affecting the footpath that runs along the sea wall adjacent to the facility. 

The leak consists entirely of waste water that has been fully treated (called effluent) and is not raw or untreated sewage. 

With current low temperatures, there is a risk of freezing and slippery surfaces. Members of the public are politely asked to be cautious and please avoid the path if possible. Scottish Water and Veolia apologise for any inconvenience caused.

SEPA, and the City of Edinburgh Council as well as a number of local stakeholders have been informed and a further update will be issued once Veolia has completed the repairs.

If you have any questions or issues, please contact laura.boyce@scottishwater.co.uk

,

Your chance to comment on development of Daltons Salamander site

Developers will soon submit a new planning application to build purpose built student accommodation and flats on the Daltons site at the corner of Salamander Place / Salamander Street (their previous application was refused by the council).

There is a Pre Application Notification (PAN) process for this new application for the Dalton’s site which requires consultation by the developer. A drop-in consultation session for the public, with a display and explanations to help us understand what is being proposed, will be held at St Marys Star of the Sea on 15 January from 3pm to 7pm.   All members of the public, especially local residents, are invited to come in and view the display, and this will be a good chance to ask questions and find out exactly what is being proposed.

Leith Links Community Council objected to the previous application and will be formulating a response to this new proposal once we have seen the plans, and as soon as a formal planning application has been submitted. This will probably happen soon – the developers seem to have left very little time for people to comment at this consultation stage. We will alert you via this website when the planning application is in, as there will then be the usual opportunities for all individual members of the community to comment (whether to object or support).

The developers have also been invited to attend the next LLCC meeting on 26th  January at Duncan PLace (6:30) but we have not yet had confirmation whether or not they are coming – will let everybody know as soon as we know.

The information below is taken from the flyer that developers are sending by post to near neighbours of the site.

Face to Face Public Consultation Event- Invitation Flyer

PRE-APPLICATION CONSULTATION: Prospective Major Application on Land at Dalton Metal Recycling, 52-66 Salamander Street, Edinburgh. Proposed mixed-use development, comprising residential (built- to- rent), purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), retail/ commercial space and associated works.

The in-person public consultation event will take place on Thursday 15th January 2025 from 3pm to 7pm at St. Mary, Star of the Sea, 106 Constitution Street, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6AW

Further information will also be available at the prospective website www.scotthobbsplanning.com/consultations/salamanderstreet from Thursday 15th January 2026. If you wish to make comments on the proposal, you may do so at the event by submitting a feedback form.

Alternatively, you can email your comments to consultation@scotthobbsplanning.co.uk or post comment to SHP Ltd., 24a Stafford Street, Edinburgh EH3 7BD by 22nd January 2026.

Please note that all comments must be sent to the above address and are NOT representations to City of Edinburgh Council. There will be an opportunity to make formal representations to the council, as the planning authority, when a planning application is made.