Cameron Rose, Councillor for Southside/Newington, Edinburgh - Conservative
Two exceptional ladies celebrated 100 years each in the St Raphael's Care Home today.
Here is the update from the council administration group about their actions and position in the refuse dispute. In summary
The dispute has gone on long enough. The background can be summarised in the Bin dispute: 5 key points post a few days ago.
Here are a further 5 important points:
Here is yesterday's Council update.
Mercy Corps, the international charity which recently moved its European headquarters to Sciennes, has linked up with the Council to provide a quick channel for donations after a major international disaster. Details here.
The proposals for the Sciennes and Grange rejig of the CPZ zones (see here for more details) were not approved this morning at he Transport committee. Instead they were continued for further consideration and analysis of the proposals from Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council (which have been on the table for some time). In essence they are simply to extend zone S1 to Melville Drive (Meadows boundary) between Marchmont Road and Livingstone Place - or a similar selection of streets.
Here is a report of promising research at the School of Informatics in Potterrow led by Professor Nigel Topham which might extend battery life of phones and MP3s.
Tomorrow the Transport committee is considering long delayed proposals to change the boundaries of Zones 7 and 8. A link to the report was included in the previous post.
The changes proposed are reproduced here:
The legal changes required to implement these changes mean they will not be in place at least until mid 2010. If the committee pass these proposals tomorrow there is still a formal consultation and opportunity to make comment.
As of today the Council has brought in another firm to collect trade waste - which has been a major problem in the Southside & Newington ward. Here is the latest council release:
TRADE WASTE COLLECTIONS
Commencing this morning (Monday 27 July), the Council has contracted an external company to collect the city's trade waste. This is necessary due to refuse collectors in the city not working normally for the past four weeks. Trade Waste staff have been redeployed to start clearing the backlog of domestic waste.
Some businesses have already taken their trade waste business elsewhere and there is a real risk of other companies doing likewise – this would have significant financial implications for the Council and could lead to job losses.
Trade waste customers are being advised to present their waste as normal for pick-up.
Updates clips from the council management can be found here.
The Council have moved to counter the "unofficial" action taken by binmen. Further details can be found here.
"The world is changing, the public sector is changing - and the Council's got to change too." These are the closing words in this clip from Mark Turley as he explains the current bin dispute in Edinburgh. Mark Turley is the Services for Communities director in Edinburgh.
Rory Bremner and his sculptor wife Tessa Campbell Fraser have local roots in Edinburgh and are looking to return. Tessa went to school at St Margaret's.
A siege is underway in Roxburgh Street where a man in possession of a sword is the subject of attention. The BBC have the story and pictures here.
Update: MAN ARRESTED. The siege is over after 2 hours.
In the Southside & Newington ward the main problem during this dispute is with trade waste.
You can take this to Seafield or Sighthill recycling centres. There is no charge and these depots do accept vans dropping off such waste.
The other recycling centres are all open and you can take and drop off domestic waste at Craigmillar which will for most residents of this ward be the nearest.
Traders are entitled to make arrangements with alternative companies to have their waste uplifted.
The Meadows did not achieve the national Green Flag status this time round. More here.
The Evening News reports today that Sir Fred Goodwin and his family are expected back to their home in Edinburgh in the next few weeks. Previous posts on Sir Fred can be found here and here and here.
A report is coming to the Transport Committee in Tuesday 28th July on proposals to ease the pressures created in 2006 by the introduction of the S1 zone. These considerations affect residents and others using parking spaces in zones 7, 8 and S1. The report is published here.
James Finlayson, owner of the Edinburgh City Car Club is to invest a further £1m with a view to growing the number of cars on the streets from 90 to 150. This follows a significant growth in membership in the past year. More details of the club's growth here.
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Many Southside people will be attending the funeral of Nellie Gembles who died at the age of 107 earlier this month. It is at Mortonhall at 1:50pm tomorrow, Tuesday 21st. More details on this remarkable lady here.
On Saturday 1st August, Prestonfield Primary School will be the site of a car boot sale in support of the Mark Wright Project.
At the age of 27, Cpl Mark Wright from Newington was killed in action in Helmand in Afghanistan. This event is part of a national campaign to raise funds to set up the Mark Wright Centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh for the support of returning service personnel.
The details: Prestonfield Primary School is between Peffermill Road and Prestonfield Road and the sale is between 9am and 1pm. Free admission. Sellers should arive around 8am (pitches £7) and all proceeds will be donated to the Mark Wright Project.
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.
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