Tag: Leith Links

Joy to the World

Seasons Greetings

If you were writing a new Christmas Panto script and you were looking for an idea, then Leith’s Christmas tree could be it.

Our sad tale begins in Leith with tram works and a modern-day plague.

Constitution Street and Leith Walk ripped up, and then Covid strikes.

The Christmas Tree that was installed and stood proudly in the Kirkgate for many, many years had to find a temporary home, and after little or no consultation a decision was taken by council officers to place a tree in Taylor Gardens instead, with 6 lights (4 working) added to lamp standards.

It’s a nice enough tree, but really not the true location where  Leithers would expect it to be, and that is something council officials don’t grasp in their decision making process.

It was supposed to be a temporary move, not permanent, but although it may tick boxes with council officers they miss the point of how the community view things.

When I first asked our elected councillors why the tree hadn’t returned to the Kirkgate, Councillor Faccenda kindly wrote to council officers and received a reply with reasons why it couldn’t go back to the Kirkgate. But all of those ‘problems’ really could have been worked out, had there been a willingness from council public servants.

“Unfortunately due to the installation of the Tram lines we are now unable to provide any festive Lighting on Leith Walk which involves working at height. The installation on a cut Christmas Tree involves using a telehandler to lift the tree into position and then a cherry picker later to install the lights”

Where there’s a will there’s always a way of achieving the impossible?

Someone in the council also had the idea to plant a fir tree in Taylor Gardens which could become the Leith Christmas tree of the future.

 

 

In reply to Councillor Faccenda the council said about this tree (- and please don’t laugh but I suppose it’s panto time. It’s behind you!)

The decision to move the Kirkgate Christmas Tree along the road to Taylor Park has enabled us to plant a tree which will hopefully be ready for dressing with lights within the next 5 years or so. We will continue to provide an 8m cut tree here until the planted tree is ready.

Now as I’m of a certain age and don’t have a life, I’m drawn to TV programmes like Gardeners’ World and Landward, and having done a few Christmas Quizzes I can confidently say that planted tree will not be ready in ‘less than 5 years’

Quiz answer is 15 years before an average Christmas tree is ready.

So why do council officers put nonsense in emails and expect us to accept what they say without challenging them? I suppose their get-out clause legally was ‘or so‘.

They apparently know even less about trees than me and it comes across that they really don’t care,and possibly haven’t been down to Leith to have a look because they call it Park not Gardens.

They reply in a confident ‘I know what I’m talking about because I’m a council officer’ manner then they don’t expect to be called out for nonsense speak, they expect the community to just say ok,move on.

However they miss the point that it’s not just about location of a tree on a spreadsheet.

They don’t take into account how people who live in the area view it, and have shared memories of good and bad times

The historic heart of Leith for a tree has, for as long as I can remember, been the Kirkgate beside Queen Victoria’s statue. If you take a walk down there today it looks drab and uncared for, and especially at this time of year it could do with some cheer.

We keep getting told that Leith is hip and has a vibrant community and is a top 10 destination as a place to visit and stay.

You wouldn’t think that if, as a tourist, you arrived at the Foot of the Walk by tram to an area that Christmas seemed to have by-passed all because of council bureaucracy which prior to lockdown had never been an issue.

But if you get it right, people will keep coming back, and spend money in our community, and tell their friends what a great place it is with friendly and helpful locals.

It doesn’t have to be over the top flashy lights.

It just has to be welcoming, which is supposedly what we in Leith are good at.

I would like the community to support me in bringing the tree back to the Kirkgate in 2024 and hopefully with help from local businesses in the Kirkgate, to brighten the place up.

Take a trip out to Davidson Mains Street or the front at South Queensferry and you will see what some communities and businesses can achieve at this time of year.

Let me know what you think, and more importantly hit the email inboxes of your elected Leith Councillors, MP and MSP

Don’t moan, just drop them a quick email: BRING BACK THE CHRISTMAS TREE TO THE KIRKGATE

Yes, I know life is hellish at the moment for many, many people, and you can’t eat Christmas trees, but let’s give it a go for our own pride and self-respect returning.

Thanks, and have a peaceful and enjoyable festive holiday.

Jim Scanlon MBE

Chair, Leith Links Community Council

 

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HISTORY OF LEITH GOLF

The next meeting of the Leith Local History Society will be on Tuesday 21 Nov. 2023 at Leith Community Centre at 7.00pm.
The original proposed talk has been rescheduled the talk will now be The History of Golf by Brian Graham.
We look forward to seeing you there. If you are interested in this, or the upcoming talks, why not complete a membership form and bring it to the next meeting.
Also, you may be interested to hear that an archaeology dig is due to start in Coatfield Lane off Constitution Street before new housing is built. The archaeology team are having an open day for the public to find out more on: Saturday, 25th November from 10am to 2pm .
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Leith Local History Society, Tuesday 17th October, George IV Visit

The next meeting of the Leith Local History Society will be on Tuesday 17 Oct. 2023 at Leith Community Centre at 7.00pm. The Talk will be  George IV’s Visit to Leith  by Eric Melvin. We look forward to seeing you there.
If you are interested in this or the upcoming talks why not complete the attached membership form and bring it to the next meeting.
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Dalton Metal Recycling ,52-66 Salamander Street planning application

As you are aware, Dalton Metal Recycling is seeking to redevelop its scrapyard site at 52-66 Salamander Street for a proposed mixed-use development, comprising purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), residential (build-to-rent), retail/commercial space and associated works.

The site has been operated as a metal scrapyard for over 30 years. During this period much of the surrounding land has been transformed from industrial to residential, with recently constructed residential properties now encircling the site.

Dalton is now seeking to have the site redeveloped as a mixed-use development. This will provide high-quality living accommodation including PBSA and residential (build-to-rent), as well as retail/commercial space, serving to compliment neighbouring residential-led developments.

A second public consultation event outlining these proposals will be held on Wednesday 18th October 2023 from 3pm to 7pm at Leith Library, 28-30 Ferry Road EH6 4AE.

This follows an initial consultation event held on Wednesday 20th September, and will aim to update the initial proposals and incorporate relevant feedback from the first event.

A flyer promoting this event is attached, and please feel free to circulate it as you see fit. This is in the process of being distributed in the local area neighbouring the site.

A project website can be viewed at www.daltonregen.co.uk.

Consultation material, detailing the proposed development, will be available to view on the website from 9am on Wednesday 18th October.

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Leith Local History Society, Tuesday, 21st February

After an absence of two years due to covid Leith Local History Society returns with a programme of talks over the next five months. Unfortunately numbers of people attending meetings have dropped as some members have moved on.

It would be great to see new faces so if you’re interested in finding about the history of the local area it would great to see you

The next meeting of the Leith Local History Society will be held on Tuesday, 21st February at 7.00pm in Leith Community Centre. The Talk will be by Ashleigh Thompson, City of Edinburgh Archivist who will tell us about new items added to the city collection

 

llhs_flyer_for_feb_2023

Best wishes

Jim Scanlon

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O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

In last weeks Evening News, there was an article detailing where the council would be installing Christmas trees around the city this year. Leith wasn’t mentioned.

Last year because of ongoing tram works the council decided not to put one at the usual central Leith spot at the Kirkgate.  I know we all have enough on our minds with fuel and food costs going through the roof but a bit of Christmas cheer would be welcomed.

When I asked why another location couldn’t be found to place a tree, I was informed that the council had planted one in Taylor Gardens.

Exhibit 1

The council did eventually install a full size tree, which we welcomed, but could have been placed more centrally possibly at the Shore outside Malmaison or outside Bank of Scotland in the Kirkgate where many more tourists and Leithers pass during the day.

This year we had the same excuse about tram works for no tree at the Kirkgate but the council told us they had planted a tree beside Leith Library.

Exhibit 2

The council also intend to install a full size tree in Taylor Gardens but when I passed there yesterday there was one Christmas light from the bottom of Leith Walk stuck on a lamp post.

Why have I decided to moan? Because I feel the people of Leith deserve better and have stoically put up with continual disruption to their lives from ongoing tram and road works.

Having had a year to investigate alternative sites, it should have been simple for the council to find somewhere for a tree in Leith’s historic centre where more people pass including much welcomed visits from tourists.

Rightly or wrongly it does give the impression that the council really don’t care.

From an environmental point of view I applaud them for their tree planting but it could be 20 years before these trees are mature enough to be decorated.

After all Leith has been through over the last few years surely it’s not a lot to ask for a Christmas tree to be located in the heart of the community to be enjoyed by all.

Jim Scanlon MBE

Chair, Leith Links Community Council

 

 

 

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Leith Links Master Plan Consultation closing soon – have your say!

Have you looked at the proposals for the improvement of Leith Links park? Have you taken the chance to comment on them? This weekend is your last chance, as the public consultation closes on 31st July. Please go to the survey and add your views.

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/leith-links-masterplan/

Or, if you prefer, email in your comments to Lindsay.Grant@edinburgh.gov.uk

The plan as it stands has incorporated ideas from all sorts of local people and groups who know the park well, but there is still room for new ideas and /or modifications of the ideas proposed. Or is there something in the plan that you downright disagree with? Now is absolutely the right time to state clearly your objection and the reasons for it!

Some of the proposals could perhaps be implemented fairly quickly, but lot of what is proposed is still entirely ‘aspirational’ in that there is not yet funding in place to make it happen. But if the plan is adopted, then various bodies can start to try and raise funds, and the improvements could be actioned in stages.

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New MasterPlan to improve Leith Links – your views? Urgent!

Leith Links is a great park and we all love it –  BUT it could certainly be EVEN BETTER!
In recent months, a new 10 year ‘concept MasterPlan’ for improving the Links has been developed, by a team led by the City of Edinburgh Council’s ‘Thriving Greenspaces Project’ and including representatives from a number of local organisations; ourselves i.e. Leith Links Community Council, Earth in Common / Links Activity Park group, Leith Councillors, some local residents, and consulting a wide range of ‘stakeholders’ such as Leith Athletic, Leith Franklin Cricket Club, Duncan Place, local Primary Schools etc.

The final draft has now been published and it is open to public consultation  RIGHT NOW (closing on 22 July 2022).

        
You can see the plans and give your views via the Council web site
If you don’t like using the Consultation Hub with its usual forced route through leading questions, then please feel free to write / email in with your thoughts and ideas to thrivinggreenspaces@edinburgh.gov.uk (and it’s a good idea to copy to your local Councillors),  and/ or use the comments facility below to record your thoughts and we will forward them to the project team.
Whichever route(s) you choose, please do it NOW, before the holidays, otherwise you might forget, and miss your chance!
The draft master plan is based on the conversations we have been leading and facilitating  over the past year, about what local people need and want. It lays out a vision of what could happen in the future, but there is no guarantee at this stage that it will actually happen; significant new funding is still to be found, and support from the local community is vital (if there are objections or new suggestions, there is plenty time for these to be taken into account, the details of the plan are NOT a ‘foregone conclusion’).
  
The plan includes lots of great ideas (yes, including permanent toilets!), such as nicer benches, better bins, improved lighting, wheelchair accessible picnic tables, cycle parking, wildflower meadow, use of surfaces for heritage mural, arboretum (started already), ping pong tables, a ‘trim trail’ and 3km fitness loop and a ‘natural play area’ at the east of the Links. Also a modern bandstand (or ‘outdoor performance space’), and many other upgrades.
         
To bring the old bowling greens area back into productive use, there is a proposal for an ‘Activity Park’ that could incorporate a bike pump track and a skatepark.
A skatepark came out as a very popular suggestion, in last year’s surveys that we carried out, and is likely to be heavily promoted by its supporters – but there are also issues to be explored about what impact it might have on near neighbours.
Please make sure YOUR voice is heard!
 
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LEITH CONSULTATIONS

Just like when you’re waiting on a 16 bus stuck in a traffic jam three arrive at the same time.

The City Council have added three really important consultations for the future of Leith to the consultation hub on the city council webpage.

LEITH CONNECTIONS PHASE 3

Leith Connections: Phase 3 west – east proposals – City of Edinbu

Leith Connection Phase 3 has some lovely graphics including one of Salamander Street with a new cycle lane and narrowed road space for cars and trucks that I’m sorry to say do have to use our roads every day on one of the main arterial routes East to West through the city.

I also find it strange that the graphic doesn’t show the CPZ plan for the same route which had permit holder and pay and display parking on Salamander Street at the same view in the graphic so I do wonder IF these teams actually communicate with each other.

The Leith Connection Phase 3 consultation is open until 17 July so please, please make your thoughts known.

 

ETRO Go Home?

The next consultation is on ETRO which we may remember in a previous life was known as Spaces for People. Love it or loathe it,  the road coning and closures project introduced to make streets safer for cycling, walking and wheeling during the pandemic is now finally up for public consultation. This is your opportunity to comment on the future plans. Do you want them kept or ditched? Have your say now or you could be stuck with them permanently.

 

LEITH LINKS MASTERPLAN 

Finally, the Leith Links Master Plan is also open on the consultation hub for your positive or negative comments. Please use this opportunity to add your views on how you would like to see Leith Links developed for all residents in the future.

The Leith Links Masterplan Team had a stall at Leith Gala and many members of the public visited the tent to find out more and to share their views, so now it’s your turn to do the same.

You can see more about the plans here.

Leith Links Masterplan – City of Edinburgh Council – Citizen Space

You can also comment here, on the Hub, but you’ll only find a very limited set of leading questions. If you have more to say on any specific point, you should email directly to Miles.Wilkinson@edinburgh.gov.uk

The deadline for this consultation is 31 July. Please also be sure to copy your email also to our elected Councillors:

Chas.Booth@edinburgh.gov.uk

Cllr.Katrina.Faccenda@edinburgh.gov.uk

Adam.McVey@edinburgh.gov.uk

 

 

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