Marchmont and
Sciennes Community Council
Minutes of Meeting
held on May 28th 2025 at St Catherine’s Argyle Church Hall
Present
Brian Gilmore - Chair,
MDCC
Alison Service - MSCC
Treasurer
Anne Laing - MSCC
Secretary
Kate McNairney -
MSCC
Geoffrey Parson - MSCC
Peter Olech - MSCC
Richard Shillcock -
MSCC
Susie Agnew - MSCC
Cllr. Pauline Flannery
Jamie Skinner - MSCC
Apologies
Cllr. Ben Parker
Douglas Rogers -
MSCC
Attending
Zainab Sardar -
Minutes Secretary
Meeting began at
7:31pm
1. Sederunt and
Apologies
Chair Brain Gilmore
welcomes all to the meeting. Apologies are noted above.
2. Draft Minutes of last meeting in April
2025
- It was suggested that minutes should be
recorded in a more collective manner, referring to the meeting as a whole,
rather than specific individuals. For example, “the council heard a report
on x, the council voted on y”. Minutes should be in the third
person.
- This is agreed upon by the committee. Alison
will inform the new minutes secretary, Eli Ferrel.
Matters arising not
covered by the agenda
A.
Election of community engagement officer
- Douglas Rodger nominates himself and is
unanimously appointed
- As he is absent from the meeting, Anne
reads a message from him. He is happy to explain thoughts on how he would
carry the role out at the next meeting.
- New boundaries for MSCC
There are no changes to the CC
boundary
- Currently all those in the MSCC area are
in Edinburgh Southern constituency for Scottish Government elections.
- Constituency boundaries will change for
the upcoming Scottish Government elections in May 2026. MSCC will then be part of Edinburgh Central
constituency.
- Clarification that this new boundary will
not affect any bi-elections within the upcoming year, or UK Government
elections.
3. Police report
An email received from Mark Barry
apologising for not attending; hopes to be at June meeting
4. Update on Defibrillator
Grant application now
in and the judging committee has all the necessary information. Judging on the
application is in June.
5. Meadows and Bruntsfield Links
- FOMBL meeting on Monday 2nd June. Alison
will attend.
- Meadows Festival is on the weekend of
7-8th June. An email was received
inviting the MSCC to participate in a community council stall. The email
will be circulated to MSCC councillors.
- Meadows Toilets :
Due to be open for the summer, and expected date is in early June. Email
from Cllr. Marie-Claire Munro confirms that the toilets are compatible with the
recent Supreme Court judgement. All cubicles are separate. There was
discussion about potential issues with the toilets with concern being raised
that the toilets may be shared between genders, which may be an issue for some
religions due to hygiene concerns. This is however outside the legal
requirements, and less of an issue as the cubicles are individual
bathrooms. A further point was raised suggesting that urinals should have
been implemented to reduce queuing times.
It was further noted that the trench dug
for piping has now been covered with earth and sharp
stones,
which could impact games played and caused injuries to kids falling. Alison will mention this
at the upcoming FOMBL meeting. Marco Galli is the officer in charge of the
project so should be
followed up about this concern.
6. City
Councillor Report
- June is the final month of community
council meetings as EDC is in recess in July
- Officers have discussed experimental and
permanent traffic measures for Sciennes School congestion. Work will not
be done before summer 2026 as the process of consultancy and reworking of
plans takes around 18 months. Emergency plans will continue for now.
- Cultures and Community meeting will take
place in June
- Community inspectors are keen to have a
community presence but are very busy. They work out of St Leonards and are
happy to be contacted. Scott Casey:
Scott.casey@scotland.police.uk
and Johnny Wong
- Bin hubs are up for consultation. Proposals
can be looked at and changes suggested from May 23rd until June 13th.
Grounds for objections and amendments must be on the basis of public
amenity eg. noise or privacy issues
- New parking restrictions. Daytime waiting
restrictions are to be introduced on Sylvan Place. Daytime waiting
restrictions are to be replaced with 24/7 waiting restrictions on Argyle
Place, Fingal Place and Argyle Park Terrace. The reference is TRO/24/01.
Consultation is from May 23rd until June 13th
- Cllr. Flannery stresses that all
objections should highlight the effect on the community for example, the
harms caused to disabled and blue badge holders, and families. Notes that
Marchmont has a high 60+ age population so mobility may be of greater
concern. Manoeuvrability within the policy is minimal so acceptable
objections must align with the guidelines outlined on the proposal. She
suggests looking at past transport committee meetings minutes to
understand the policy and potential objections. Further information and
consultation can be found on the website streets.appyway.com/edinburgh-city
- Discussion about policy issues
a.
Lack of
clarity about what 24/7 waiting restrictions are. After discussion, consensus
is that
visitors will now have to pay to park at all
times, including weekends and overnight.
b.
Lack of
clarity about why the policies are being implemented
- Cllr. Flannery notes that reducing traffic
is in line with Edinburgh’s goal to get rid of 30% of cars in the city
centre by 2030.
- Susie says the aspiration of the policy
was made prior to the consultation and so the public should get a say.
Brian says the policy did go through consultation but a long time
ago
- The Community Council agrees that
Marchmont is outside the boundaries of the city centre and therefore
greater clarity is needed to show why a reduction in accessible parking
reduces traffic in the city.
- Impact on visitors. It was suggested that
this is just about charging people and harms people who are seeing friends
and family.
- It was
suggested that an objection letter be written on behalf of MSCC - Agreed
this should be a MSCC officer and Susie volunteers to write the letter.
This will be sent through the consultation process and Anne will forward the
objection to the eight councillors of Morningside and Southside.
- Community led improvement framework :
Aims to do community wealth building, provide funding for community
projects. Scheme runs across 2 years. Each locality will receive 30K in
the first lot of funding for community development and 125K in the second
lot of funding for project maintenance and improvement. MSCC’s engagement
officer should look into this. Community gardens at the meadows may be
eligible for funding
- Details will be finalised on May 30th.
Papers for the meeting will be available one week prior. Meeting can be
watched live on the webcard. Recording will also be available
afterwards
- Libraries : Futures Library Strategy
aims to widen access and potentially change opening times. This will be
discussed at the Cultures and Community Committee on June 5th
7. Publicity
Kayleigh and Leanne are happy to be
coopted on the MSCC in the Publicity role and working with
the Community Engagements Officer. Anne
will continue servicing the notice boards when the
weather allows
8. Planning
- Two objections have been submitted on the
proposal for 1 Meadow Place refurbishments & STL
- Objection to the frontage as it is planned
to be a glass box-type front which would not fit with the aesthetic of the
area
- Objection to short term rent in these new
flats as it drives up prices and harms the local housing market
- General discussion followed about Airbnb’s
in the area and the effect this is having on driving people away from
living in Marchmont. Committee agrees that while Airbnb’s can bring
benefits and let people visit, they must be licensed in moderation. Alison
says very few planning applications in the MSCC area are for short term
rent so this isn’t a big problem. It was noted generally that more council
housing and long-term rents are needed. The Community Council should have
a consistent position this subject. It was suggested to hold a
separate meeting with a community council who takes a stronger stance on
this to discuss ways to change Edinburgh council’s renting policy and
regulation.
- Concern
was raised on the former RHSC housing parking plans. 95 new parking
permits are to be handed out however it is unclear where these parking
spaces will be. Zone 7 parking has an area which creates a cul de sac and
blockage, to the west is Hatton Place which has no space. The CC will look
into this and report at next meeting. This could be a justification to
argue to postpone the TRO parking updates as the parking situation in the
area will change with the new permits
10. Bin Situation
Kate reports that SMAG had a
successful meeting. Bins will be moved to better places, taking into
account residential amenities. Around
30 applications have gone into the council. Applications
should be submitted by June 2nd to be
prioritised. SMAG was in the Sunday Post so publicity is
going well. They now can be officially affiliated with
the MSCC as they have been in existence for over
one year
11. Treasurer's Report
£420 in the bank account. This will
increase as grant money will come in over the summer.
12. Meetings Attended
None
13. Any Other Business
1. Richard and Peter
highlighted a Newington CC initiative. Aims to inspire creativity and proactive
community outreach. It was suggested that the Engagement officer could look
into a competition for naming the new path at the refurbished sewer building
site. However, Chair flags this does not fall within the area boundaries.
Alison will mention this at the FOMBL meeting instead.
2. Concern was raised
saying the reopening of roads after the sewer works has led to an increase in
speeding. Lothian Road and Melville Drive are becoming a ring road and Argyle
Place and Roseneath Crescent have had more rat runs. Strathearn Road residents
have also complained to him about speeding. It was asked if the CC could
investigate the possibility of restrictions eg. speedbumps, low traffic areas,
neighbourhood spot checks. Alison points out that there is a 20mph
speed limit already and that restrictions on small roads could lead to more
traffic on Marchmont Road.
Chair said that a
concrete plan and proposal would have to be written so that a councillor could
bring it to committee. Advised to check the city mobility plan as it may
already cover the issue.
3.
Anne asks Cllr
Flannery to investigate the removal of the small bins at the meadows adjacent
to Fingal Place. Also wondering who is in charge of the trees outside Scotmid
and Warrender Park Road as some of them are dying. Alison will ask at
FOMBL.
4.
Richard
says the state of the roads surface on Strathearn Road and Strathfillan Road is
bad. High winds have meant that bins move and knock into cars. He said he
emailed the MSCC about this but Anne says this was not received so he’ll resend
it to Anne.
Date of next
meeting
Wednesday 25th June at
7.30pm
