Southside & Newington Newsblog |
|
Cameron Rose, Councillor for Southside/Newington, Edinburgh - Conservative
A new development of Microloft houses off Peffermill Road has been named Cellarbank. The name comes from the park now occupied by Clearburn Crescent and Clearburn Gardens which once was known as Siller Park, thought to be named for the silver grazings in the area.
There has been some concern and confusion about the size of the P1 intake in the coming Session for Sciennes Primary School. A full summary and the Council position was contained in a recent letter for a concerned parent. A lengthy extract is appended below:
"An intake limit of 90 pupils was originally agreed for the new P1 at Sciennes Primary School (2 classes of 25 and 1 class of 40 with 2 teachers). However, as there were 92 catchment pupils and accommodation problems at both James Gillespies and St Mary’s (Leith) RC Primary Schools, it was agreed to raise the intake to 99 pupils (2 classes of 25, 1 class of 38 with 2 teachers and 1 P1/2 composite class of 25 – 11P1/14P2). A limit of 99 pupils would allow the formation of 3 classes of 33 at a future stage.
37 non catchment placing requests were received and all refused initially on the grounds that admission would:
(1) have the consequence that the capacity of the school would be exceeded in terms of pupil numbers in terms of section 28A (3) (a) (vii) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, as amended,
and
(2) be likely to be seriously detrimental to the educational wellbeing of pupils attending the school, in terms of section 28A (3) (a) (v) of the Act.
It should be noted that the above could only be avoided by undertaking works which would:-
(3) give rise to significant expenditure on extending or otherwise altering the accommodation at or facilities provided in connection with the school, which in terms of section 28A (3) (a) (ii) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, as amended, is also a ground for refusal.
All refused applicants were advised of their statutory right to appeal against the refusal of their request to the Placing in Schools Appeal Committee. The Appeal Committee is a quasi-judicial body, part of the civil justice system and its powers are strictly defined by statute. The Appeal Committee is obliged to uphold the parent’s appeal unless it considers,
(a) that one of the grounds of refusal set out in legislation exists and
(b) that, in all the circumstances, it is appropriate to confirm the education authority’s refusal.
There are therefore 2 stages to the Appeal Committee’s decision. Firstly the Appeal Committee has to consider whether the authority has established a statutory ground of refusal (the common case). If it concludes that it has not, it must allow the Appeal. However, if satisfied that a statutory ground of refusal has been established, the Appeal committee moves to the second stage of the test which involves an exercise of its discretion in determining whether or not to uphold the education authority’s decision. At this stage the focus shifts to take account of the circumstances of the individual child.
In the case of the Sciennes appeals, the Appeal Committee did not agree that the authority had established a statutory ground of refusal and agreed to uphold all the appeals presented to it. The decision of the Appeal Committee is final and the authority must abide by their decision. As a result, the new P1 intake at Sciennes has been raised to 111. This decision of the Appeal Committee may have an impact on our ability to accommodate all catchment pupils in session 2010/11 but it is too early to say. The situation will become much clearer early next year when we know the number of catchment pupils registered and the numbers of pupils attending the school at that time. This will allow us to plan the class organisation for 2010/11".
It may interest you to know that during the past few weeks the authority successfully defended appeals for 27 primary schools, losing 2 “common cases”(Sciennes and Roseburn) and 7 individual cases for other schools based on the particular circumstances of the pupils/families."
Nellie Gembles, born in Causewayside on 30th January in 1902, passed away at the weekend.
Christened in Grange Church (later Newington St Leonards) she attended there regularly and went to Causewayside Primary School. Her grandma stayed in Forbes Street and Nellie spent much of her early years there - often earning pocket money for cleaning jobs.
Aged 12 when the World War 1 broke out, she left school at 14 working in an accessories shop in Lutton Place. In 1929 she married fellow Southsider Howard in Pleasance Church and moved to a house in St Leonards Street.
Her husband died in 1992 and she has resided recently in the Cameron Park Nursing Home in Peffermill Road where she has been visited on recently birthdays by the Lord Provost.
Family and her many friends admired her remarkable clarity of mind right to the and her positive and caring nature. It was a delight to discuss current events as well as memories stretching back to the beginning of the last century with her.
She was an active member of Kirk O Field Church in the Pleasance. Funeral details will be announced in due course.
More information on the remarkable life of Nellie Gembles can be found in this previous post and by following the links there.
For the record: Last month a lady thought to be Scotland's oldest person died at the age of 108. It will be interesting to know if Nellie held that title for the intervening period. Please add a comment if you have any information which clarifies this point.
Later note: It has been suggested that Annie Turnbull, just short of 111 years old is Edinburgh's oldest resident. See here for her 110th birthday celebrations last year and more details.
Enoch Chan (21) of Grange Loan has been jailed for two years following a feud between Chinese cannabis growers. He was found guilty of participating in the beating up and abduction of a man in Ellens Glen Road and taking him to another part of the city. The victim was thought to have stolen part of a cannabis crop in an inter gang rivalry. The abductors then discovered that their victim was the wrong man! The incident took place in April last year and Chan was sentenced earlier this week. A few more details can be found here and here.
Ken Stewart is a plastic surgeon, who works part of the time at the Sick Kids in Sciennes, who specialises in ears! See here for the full story.
Forth One DJ Grant Stott, who lives in Southside and Newington, is featured in a piece in today's Evening News on holidaying at home in Edinburgh. You can read the article here.
I have a reputation as a good attender at committees. Someone asked me again this week about an Evening News article which purported to give a list of good and poor attenders at committee meetings of Edinburgh Council. My friend had noted that I appeared near the bottom of the list among other 'poor attenders'.
As there will be others who read the original article the opportunity is taken again to put the record straight.
First the article was inaccurate; for example, the number of planning committee meetings I had attended in the last two years was under counted by 11.
Second the article was more than a little misleading. The councillor placed at the top of the list had the exemplary record of attending 70 meetings. I attended more than twice that number in the same period - a reflection of my taking on more committees than the 'top' councillor!
My rebuttal was published here and the original article can be found here.
Surgeries will be held this evening at 6pm in the Southside Community Centre in Nicolson Street and at 6:45pm in the Cameron House Community Centre in Prestonfield Avenue.
It is sometime since this newsblog has carried a post on the issue of the number of events on the Meadows. Council staff have negotiated most major events away from the Meadows and there are now three major events left in August.
The Urban Circus, which incorporates the Lady Boys event is scheduled to take place from 7th to 31st August and is moved to a new pitch on the north side of the Meadows just east of Middle Meadow Walk. In addition, the Parks Department have agreed a let to the usual Evans funfair for 5th to 15th August (2pm to 10:30pm). The latter is subject to approval at the Licensing Sub-committee which meets on Wednesday 15th July and is not on the usual site next to Melville Drive.
In achieving a better balance of activities and between organisations (commercial and charitable), the last couple of years has been a painful experience. There has been a working group meeting regularly which has particularly represented the views of some local people. The lack of clarity of participants on who is responsible for decision taking and how to reconcile local and wider city interests has added to frustrations. The short notice and uncertainty for organisers planning events has also been very disappointing.
However, progress has been made in drawing up guidelines so that the competing interests at least know the ground rules. Serious consideration is also being given to upgrading the maintenance of the events area.
Much has been done in recent years to meet the views of local residents and to protect the appearance of the most used parts of the Meadows. For example, there have been reductions in the times and duration of some events. There has been a significant reduction in the number of events and protective surfacing has been installed at suitable access points.
One disappointment has been the negative attention which has been created by some campaigners for change who have overstated their case. The Save our Meadows campaign has, at times, hit the wrong note implying that the Meadows are just for local people and allowing the extent of surface damage and its effect, to be exaggerated. Visitors and local people alike marvel at the fantastic 63 acres of green space we have in this part central Edinburgh and we need continually to celebrate the benefits we enjoy bequeathed by our predecessors.
Care not cotton wool is the apt summary of one person's view expressed here. (See here for another article today.)
A procedure which leaves the question of granting permission for an event to a few days before the event is a procedure which needs revision! As has been done in previous years the operating hours need to be reduced from a 10:30pm close to 10:00pm. In future years the question of the funfair needs to be judged against the rules that are currently being drawn up.
The bigger issue here is to make changes to the system of authorisation of events in the Meadows which is bureaucratic and cumbersome.
My area of Southside & Newington had the normal uplifts of bins this morning and the main streets (and the Royal Mile area) are looking much better today. Do post if you are experiencing otherwise. If you are seeing this issue for the first time see here for the background.
Some readers may be interested in this article on devolution by a Southside & Newington resident. And this letter on education in today's Herald by a well known Findhorn Place resident.
Edinburgh Leisure runs a wide range of sports facilities throughout Edinburgh. It is based in Nicolson Street. With the summer holidays now under way here is the Edinburgh Leisure programme for kids.
The 'work to rule' by refuse staff is affecting the city. The current situation derives from new conditions of employment which are being introduced to conform with equal pay legislation. Effectively it means staff are refusing to work overtime - the loss of overtime is a reason why some of the refuse workers fear their earnings will reduce (though the whole situation is more complex than this).
Arrangements residents and traders can make to dispose of waste by way of supplement to normal collections can be found in last week's post on the subject. In addition, arrangements have been made for traders to take their waste to Seafield and Sighthill recycling centres free of charge. Here is a map of the four recycling depots in Edinburgh.
Southside & Newington ward is already undergoing a pilot of new working arrangements. This involves no collections on a Monday - confining refuse workers' core working days to Tuesday to Friday. This seems to have been working satisfactorily from a customer perspective.
The south boundary of the Edinburgh World Heritage site runs along the north side of Nicolson Square. Edinburgh World Heritage is currently engaged in a restoration project at Pound Savers, 37-41 Nicolson Street which was purpose built in 1899 as a multi-floored shop. The project is to restore the original Victorian shop front and repair the decayed and cracked stonework (details here).
Brattishing? A recent release from Edinburgh World Heritage on the progress of the project gives the answer. You can read it here. (You can find a map of the Edinburgh World Heritage Site here - though it will take a few moments to load.)
In May this newsblog reported that powers were being sought to make Nicolson Square an exclusion zone to give effective powers to deal with the anti-social behaviour of an number of addicts. Many local people have reported how they feel threatened and uncomfortable by the presence of addicts who have made the recently refurbished square their place of resort.
However, I understand that for reasons of legal complexity, the exclusion zone route is not now being followed. Instead, there has been an upgrading of police activity and local people will have seen frequent visits by uniformed officers to the square and the presence of a marked police observation van. The police activity is now focused on individual people and recording specific behaviour and offences which can lead to anti social behaviour orders (ASBOs).
Alas, what is needed is not so much specific additional powers (ASBOs, exclusion zones), but the enforcement of minor public order legislation. As I understand it the police are in something of a bind here. It is difficult for them to enforce action against say, littering and foul language, for three reasons. First, they are seen as minor and trivial in the context of the many other more serious individual matters they deal with every day. Secondly, gathering evidence is often difficult and costly and the law expects surveillance and other measures to be proportionate to the perceived offence. Thirdly, the enforcement of current sanctions is twice difficult; the Fiscal service will be very reluctant to take proceedings against what are seen as minor offences and the enforcement of fines against people who are homeless or substantially dependant is unpopular and difficult.
Another solution is a change of lifestyle by some of those involved. Whilst there are examples of such dependent people who have changed their lifestyles (yes, locally), this can only be encouraged rather than imposed.
Meanwhile, feelings are strong amongst local residents and people who frequent the local shops and businesses. The reluctance to use the the square because of such fears and discomfort- especially at this time of year - is just bad news for all.
There is no easy solution at the moment. But there is a need for the police particularly to keep up the pressure on those whose minor offences change the atmosphere for the worse for residents and frequenters of this vibrant area.
Following further recent concerns expressed locally this newsblog will report on further contact with the police and developments to address the issue.
Here is the current situation and advice on options where your refuse has not been collected. You can take refuse to the recycling depots on Saturday and Sunday between 8am and 6pm and weekdays between 8am and 7:30pm. Here is a map of their locations and here are details of what you can deposit.
The longtime gap site on the south side of Nicolson Square at Nicolson Street has, after many years, now been filled. Alas the pavement on the south side of Nicolson Square has not been reinstated and a number of constituents have been in touch about this.
The developer completing the works is Festival Inns and their contractor, Edgar Building Services has indicated they have had a contractor lined up to complete the works some time ago. However the work has still not been completed. I now understand the Council is now set to do the work at the Developer's expense. Apparently there may be some underlying dispute and I will try and get further information on the source of this delay.
Celebrate Independence Day with an all comers Volleyball competition in the Meadows on 4th July. Jets Volleyball are running a tournament just off Middle Meadow Walk. You can find more details here.
I always tear down illegal posters on street furniture. I then forward samples to our environmental wardens requesting action. The flyposting situation is far from good but has improved significantly in the past few years. There are several reasons.
The Forest Cafe at 3 Bristo Place is a regular host of events broadly referred to in category 2 above. After a particularly virulent strain of poster spreading throughout the Southside area in the last week they have again been approached. We shall see if they can respond as positively at Colin Fox did a year ago.
Some refuse workers have begun an unofficial work to rule as part of their bargaining over the implementation of a revision of pay grading.
The Council website will contain regular updates and, where possible, advise on revised collections.
Foul play at the week-end test match in South Africa was reflected in advance in a mock Lions v Springboks warm up rugby match on the Meadows. This critique of violence in rugby includes an account of deliberate injury to one of the participants.
Where do you find 800 horses, the people needed to feed and care for them, as well a well-oiled network of media savvy foreigners ready to help you organize such an unprecedented equestrian event. In this case the organisers of the Mongol Derby went to friends at Mercy Corps.
Started in 1979, the famous charity raised £140m in 2007. It operates in more than a hundred countries, maintains an international headquarters in Portland, Oregon, keeps a major office in Sciennes in Edinburgh and has run an elaborate system of programs from Ulan Bator, the Mongolian capital, for the past ten years. According to Mercy Corps officers in Scotland and Mongolia, the charity is pleased to assist Morgan in organizing the endurance race.
Jennifer Adams, the Event Development Coordinator at Mercy Corps, European Headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland, explained that the charity has been happily accepting money from the organiser Tom Morgan's motor racers since 2005. That’s why, “Mercy Corps are delighted to be a part of the first ever Mongol Derby,” Adams said..
Earlier this week the Evening News put me third bottom of a list of councillors' attendance at council meetings and committees. Perhaps I should have ignored it but pride drove me to respond and they have published my letter today (second one down - the first, from Gavin Corbett, is equally relevant). In short, their figures were wrong and they also used a misleading measure (percentage of possible attendance rather than the number of meetings attended). Grumble over.
The East of Scotland Salvation Army Division are celebrating 100 years of their hostel work in the Pleasance. They will be holding a centenary celebration service at the Salvation Army Hall, 1 East Adam Street at 10:45am this Sunday 28th June.
John Crossan was saved from an intense fire earlier this week when his Jack Russell woke him just in time. The full story is here.
A few days ago this newsblog reported on major improvement works to the South Sub falling short of passenger services. Here are details of the improvements and their timing. Babcock Rail are doing the work in July and August. This will remove and replace life-expired insulated block joints. These split the track into different electrical sections to allow the automatic detection/location of trains on the track and control the associated lineside signalling.
The physical work involves cutting and removing sections of rail, and welding new sections in place using grinding machinery, welders and temporary lighting. The work will be confined to between 11:55pm and 9:00am on Saturday/Sundays. For the information of local residents, the work will take place as follows
Patricia McCall, headteacher of Campie Primary School in Musselburgh and local resident in the Newington is retiring after 37 years of teaching. The details are here.
Today the 58 members of the full council met for their monthly meeting - which was the last before the July recess. It was not expected to be a lengthy or controversial meeting but it did result in a first. Council voted to suspend Cllr Andrew Burns, leader of the Labour Group, for accusing the Council Leader Jenny Dawe of being 'untruthful' in one of her replies and declining to withdraw the accusation. It all concerned the restructuring of Council companies and whether correct procedures had been properly followed at Board Meetings of two of the Council companies. The suspension of Cllr Burns was a first of a councillor that anyone present could recall.
More personal today is a list in the Evening News showing a table of councillors' attendance at the main committees. Alas the Evening News made something of a mistake in placing me third bottom of the list. First of all their figures were inaccurate. One of their miscalculations showed me as attending 62 meetings of the Planning Development Sub-committee. Actually I have attended 73 out of a possible 87 in the past two years. In addition, I have attended rather more meetings than those councillors at and near the top of the Evening News list - as I am involved in more committees than many other councillors. The table showed percentage figures - which didn't indicate that I attended more than twice as many meetings as the person the paper put at the top. It should also be remembered that there are more committees and also council business than those surveyed. For the record here is the corrected list of my attendances (with total possible attendances):
Economic Development: 10 (10)
Finance 9 (10)
Neighbourhood Partnership 6 (10)
Full Council 26 (27)
Planning 17 (21)
Planning Development Sub-Committee 73 (87)
Pensions 7 (7)
That works out at 147 out of a possible 172. That is 86% and many of those missed were because I was elsewhere on other council business or meetings.
I just thought I would set the record straight.
But then effectiveness does not correlate directly with attendance either! I have sent a correction to the Evening News. We shall see if the publish!
Network Rail are spending £1m this summer on upgrades for the South Suburban line between Slateford and Niddrie. But this will secure its use for freight and does not represent a commitment to returning it to passenger use. Details can be found in this Transport News briefing. The line, which runs through the heart of the Southside and Newington ward, last carried regular passenger traffic in1962.
Earlier this month the Royal Company of Archers held its shoot for the Edinburgh Arrow in the Meadows, the 300th anniversary of the presentation of the Arrow by the magistrates of the city of Edinburgh.
In just over 3 years the Sick Kids hospital is due to move to Little France. Meanwhile, work in the current hospital is supported by the long established Sick Kids Friends Foundation. A new charity supporting the new hospital has been established - known as the new pyjamas campaign. You can find their website here. Patricia Hess, the Manager of the new pyjamas charity, kindly phoned me to advise that the story last week about Ben Clarke from the Apprentice was wrong. The local report culled form the Evening News and repeated on this newsblog was not accurate and Ben is not working for the charity. Apologies. See further comments from Patricia in the comment section of this post last week.
The Scottish government has announced some funding for the building of schools which urgently need replaced. St Crispins Special School in Watertoun Road just off West Savile Terrace is one of the schools urgently in need of replacement. This article reviews the implications of the recent government announcement.
Yesterday 330 people completed the Seven Hills of Edinburgh Race and Challenge which took place for the 30th year. The course includes the seven hills of Edinburgh including Blackford Hill (the only one fully in Southside and Newington ward). The others are Calton Hill, the Castle, Corstorphine Hill, Craiglockhart Hill (East), Braid Hill and Arthur's Seat.
Ben Clarke who was fired from the Apprentice look like heading for a job helping the Edinburgh Sick Kids New Pyjamas campaign. Find more details here.
This year Moonwalk, the breast cancer charity, has been moved to Inverleith Park after local pressure to reduce pressure on the Meadows. Two years ago at the end of a very successful event, a day long deluge whilst the huge tent was being taken down resulted in considerable damage which took two years to recover.
So it is Inverleith this year but the 10,000 to 12,000 walkers this year will be travelling a route which includes Dalkeith Road, St Leonards Street, Bernard Terrace, Hope Park Terrace & Melville Drive. There are two events - a half marathon and a full marathon both beginning and ending in Inverleith Park and taking place overnigh on Saturday 20th/Sun 21st June.
Today has seen the heavily censored publication of MPs expenses. Below are links to where you can see the expenses claimed by your local Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South.
But first an update on expense claims by your local councillors. You can find the summaries of claims for 2008/9 here along with summaries for the previous two years. You can find other recent newsblog posts on councillors' expenses here and here. At its May meeting Edinburgh council responded to my ongoing pressure and agreed to post online itemised records of each claim by every councillor in 2008/9 and thereafter in the future on an ongoing basis. This newsblog will provide a link to this detailed information as soon as it is published. Publication is expected within weeks.
Now here are the links to details of the expenses claims by the local Edinburgh South Westminster MP Nigel Griffiths:
2004/05 Expenses and staff
2004/05 Additional costs
2005/06 Expenses and staff
2005/06 Additional costs
2006/07 Expenses and staff
2006/07 Additional costs
2007/08 Expenses and staff
2007/08 Additional costs
Additionally, here is the communications allowance claimed for 2007/08.
Note that the 2008/09 claims have not been published.
It should also be noted that the Green Book and other rules in force are also available here.
The Evening News reports that a number of successful appeals by parents have resulted in Sciennes Primary School being obliged to increase the size of P1 classes beyond the guideline of 25. The full story can be found here.
The St Ann's Community Centre memorial seat was vandalised earlier this month as this report relates.
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the first competition for The Edinburgh Arrow which is a prize competed for by the Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland - The Royal Company of Archers. The official date that The Royal Company was founded is 1676 although some members appear to have been competing for archery prizes as early as 1603 as shown by the medallions on an earlier prize - The Musselburgh Arrow. However, it was in 1709 that the Magistrates of Edinburgh presented a silver arrow to be competed for by members of The Royal Company as an archery prize. Originally a prize of five pounds was given to the winner by "The Magistrates" of the City but this fell into abeyance after 1716.
Early records show that The Royal Company used to march with its drums and colours to the location for the shoot - something which that will take place on 16th June this year, but although those competing will have a pipe band to lead them, colours will not be carried. The competition will take place on The Meadows on the north side in East Meadow Park in an area which is normally roped off by the City Council. The prize is shot for over a distance of 180 yards with two targets or 'clouts' as the aiming mark - one at each end of the range.
The above is an extract from the website of the Royal Company of Archers and the shoot is this afternoon between 2:30 and 5pm
In a post a couple of weeks ago Alfie the tortoise was featured, having disappeared from Palmerston Road (off Grange Road). He is still missing and here is an article giving a bit more of his background from his owner, Susie Agnew.
Local owner of the Allison House Hotel David Hinnrichs makes comments today on a report which suggests April was a relatively good month for guest house owners. Mr Hinnrichs, whose hotel is in Mayfield Gardens, is spokesman for the Edinburgh Hotel and Guest House Association. Last week's post concerning 41-43 Craigmillar Park relates to a proposal for a Travel Lodge.
Edinburgh Bargain Stores failed a test purchase exercise last November and two members of staff pled guilty to selling fireworks to children under the legal age of 18. More details here.
Work began this week on the refurbishment of the villas at 41-43 Craigmillar Park (the old Oratava and St Margaret's School premises at the junction with Lady Road. The contractors expect to be on site until around April 2010.
Yes, Our Dynamic Earth is part of Southside & Newington. And they now have a full dome 360 degrees digital planetarium show entitled 'We Are Astronomers' which looks for answers to some of the unresolved questions of the universe.
Footway maintenance works are to take place in Marchhall Place next week and the road will be closed to vehicle traffic for much of the time from 7am on Monday 15th to 2pm on Friday 19th.
My surgeries are this evening. Click here for details. It is of interest to note that on Friday (12th June) local police will conduct a surgery at 5 Nicolson Square between 1:30 and 3pm. Designed for those who are reluctant to go to a police station or make a more formal report to police, the surgery is nonetheless available to anyone.
Following a racist jibe made at a pupil by a passer-by on Monday this week police are investigating. More information here.
Two of the three Community Councils in Southside & Newington meet tomorrow evening (Wed 10th). Southside Community Council meets at 7pm in Nelson Hall whilst Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council meets in St Catherine's Argyle Church hall at 7pm for their AGM followed by their ordinary meeting. Public are welcome at both meetings.
Posts
All Comments
