The boundaries for the different elections can be confusing. Edinburgh Southern for the Scottish Parliament elections in May, has different boundaries from the Edinburgh South constituency Westminster elections.
Postal ballots have begin arriving for the Holyrood elections and if you want to check your constituency, the easiest way to check is a postcode check at this website.
There is an Edinburgh Book of Condolence following the death of this great public servant.
You can sign it here.
One of the reasons tens of thousands of people gathered on the Meadows over Easter (and previous sunny days), is the lack of places to go.
Clearly, over Easter week-end the augmented provision and emptying of bins was totally inadequate for the tens of thousands who visited.
Now none of this is to excuse those who left litter lying on the grass. It should be taken home if the bins are full. That's just common decency.
And it is worth pointing out that the next morning clean up is always excellent and effective. And was this week-end. Thank you to the early shift.
But there need to be far more bins - skips if necessary (and anyone caught drinking alcohol can dispose of it there) - on sunny days. And the arrangements for emptying them need to be more frequent. We do get weather forecasts and we know reasonably accurately in advance when it will be a warm sunny day.
But further, there need to be patrols by police and wardens with the will to ticket offenders. Police and Council are working on that as well.
With queues of 40 people waiting for the toilets which were open, the provision was totally inadequate and many residents know that the inadequate provision was a contributory factor to the surrounding area being used as a toilet. (I'm not saying that was an excuse!).
Opening hours had been extended by two hours - 12 noon to 8pm - but they now need to be extended further.
But just as important, the restrictions on access (only one person in the toilet block at a time) need to be dispensed with. The restriction, and its impacts, bears no relation to the actual risk. The situation needs reviewed and re-risk assessed immediately,
Temporary toilets need to be provided. In the longer term more modern toilets need to be provided anyway.
Earlier this year, under Coronavirus legislation, a ban on outdoor drinking of alcohol was introduced. Not a lot of people know that!
The time is here to enforce that ban. Prominent signs should be produced and displayed. Police and Council wardens should enforce. Now I know I argue elsewhere that the Covid restrictions have contributed to the recent problems on the Meadows, but while we have the ban in place it should be enforced in the Meadows.
It is important not to conflate a number of issues which came together over the week-end in events in the Meadows. All were important in themselves but first I include a response from the local Police Chief Superintendent in relation to those who came - either expressly to get involved in violence or allowed themselves to participate in the incidents.
So let me start with a key paragraph from the police response:
"From our enquiries to date, it would appear that there was a core group of individuals who attended at the Meadows with the express purpose of causing disorder, and whilst I can advise that a number of parties have already been identified, charged and reported, a number remain outstanding. These behaviours will not be tolerated and I have established a dedicated investigation team, formed from CID resources and community based proactive teams from across our 4 local policing areas. As a priority, officers are reviewing CCTV and social media footage to identify, trace and hold individuals to account."
That is the action we want to hear and I hope people will come forward with information those who the police are still seeking to identify.
There is a lot more to be done but that is a good start.
I have obtained the following figures about the new chargeable garden waste service (which starts on 8th October). The current service is...
