Neighbourhood Partnerships Nomination Guidance and NP List

Eileen sent this:

We are supposed to nominate a representative and substitute by the 4^th of May.

She also sent this list of Neighbourhood Partnerships:

Neighbourhood Partnerships

1. City Centre
2. Craigentinny/Duddingston
3. Portobello/Craigmillar
4. Liberton/Gilmerton
5. Meadows/Morningside and Southside/Newington
6. Sighthill/Gorgie and Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart
7. Pentland Hills and Colinton/Fairmilehead
8. Drum Brae/Gyle and Corstorphine/Murrayfield
9. Almond
10. Forth
11. Inverleith
    
12. Leith Walk and Leith

MyEdinburgh Closing

I received this letter about the impending closure of the MyEdinburgh website.Do we need a replacement website? The blog is useful for keeping people up to date with developments but it is not, perhaps, the same thing. What do you think?

Is there anything on the website we want to keep?

Neighbourhood Partnerships Meeting

Eileen sent word of a meeting next month. We are invited to send two or three people. Volunteers?

Here is the letter:

We also received the following:
Invite and reply slip.doc (Just contains the letter above and a reply slip)
EstablishingNPsMarch2007.pdf (This has lots of detail in it about the NPs - it's quite chunky)

Here is the agenda sent out for the meeting:

THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL

CITY COUNCIL AND COMMUNITY COUNCILS

JOINT MEETING

WEDNESDAY 25 APRIL 2007

LARGE MEETING ROOM, COURTYARD LEVEL

WAVERLEY COURT

AGENDA

30. Reception and Coffee

7.00 Welcome and Introduction

Councillor Ewan Aitken - Leader of the Council

7.15 Services for Communities - Update on latest community planning developments

Angela Leitch – Head of Performance and Community Engagement

7.45 Questions

8.00 Workshops

8.40 Feedback from Groups

55. Closing Remarks

Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006

This came through about planning.
The supporting material included these:




There were also two more substantial booklets - this one is 60 pages:
This one is about 0 pages:
If you would like to read either of them, send me an email.

There was also this little business card.

Election Debate - You missed it, they cancelled it

Umm, I received this while I was abroad on business so you all missed it. Sorry about that. But, be consoled, since no one seemed interested they cancelled it anyway!

Microgeneration

I received this (well, Tina did really) about planning policies for renewables.

Nieghbourhood Partnerships Meeting

I went to a meeting about Neighbourhood Partnerships a few days back. Mary Dunbar has sent me the files that she presented on the night, which include below.

SOUTH CENTRAL Presentation 190307.ppt
Extract of Minute 8 March 07 - Neighbourhood Partnerships.doc
Establishing Neighbourhood Partnerships 16.doc

Community Council Study by Edinburgh University Students

Eileen Hewitt sent this out on the 23rd of March. You can read the report here:
http://marchmontandsciennes.googlegroups.com/web/Community+Councils+In+Edinburgh.MSc+Report.2007-03.pdf

Agenda for MSCC Meeting on 21st March 2007

Here is the agenda for the next meeting. If you have any comments or suggestions, please add them to this post (by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of the post).

This post will remain top post until the meeting is held. So, please check below it to see if there's anything newer.

The next meeting of the Community Council will be held on Wednesday 21st March 2007 at 7:30pm in St Catherine’s Argyle Church, Grange Road, Edinburgh.

1. Sederunt and Apologies & Welcome
2. Minutes of meeting held 21.2.07
3. Police Report: PC Bruce Burt
4. Presentation from consultants and Council staff on proposed street landscape improvements in Roseneath Terr/Argyle Place areas.
5. Minutes (contd): Matters arising
6. Controlled Parking Zone(s): update(s)
7. Treasurer’s Report
8. Website
9. Proposed garden party Marchmont Crescent
10. Gardens competition
11. Meadows Festival consideration
12. Sick Kids site
13. Membership:
1. Resignation of Chair during election period
2. Vacancies
14. Other Business
15. Next meeting: Wednesday 16th May 2007 (venue to be advised).

Central Local Development Committee - Police Report - 21 March 2007

John Simon thought you might be interested in this: (Click on the images to see them better)

Central Local Development Committee - Police Report - 21 March 2007 - (Item 4)

Introduction

The Meadows Public Park and Bruntsfield Links is a popular area for people living or working nearby, and is especially popular with runners and dog walkers. As it splits the city centre from the residential areas of Sciennes, Marchmont, and Bruntsfield it is frequently used as a short cut home for the population living in these areas and beyond. The Meadows is also used extensively throughout the Edinburgh Festival in August as a venue for many of the shows, and periodically throughout the year for other events, attracting large numbers of people to the area.

In recent months there have been a number of media reports, considering the view that the large areas of open space, dark pathways and lack of CCTV, in The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links, may mean that users feel unsafe walking through the area, and the perception of the area as a crime hotspot is widespread.

A report entitled, “Meadows Area: Safety, Security and Vandalism” was recently presented to the Executive of the Council. This report considered a number of different issues and included crime data.

Intention

The intention of this report is to provide the scrutiny panel with the following additional data -

• recorded violent crime and analysis of this crime in The Meadows area;
• impact of night-time economy; and
• update on police and council activity in The Meadows area.
  

Number of Crimes Committed

In 2006 there were a total of 18 crime reports of Assault and Robberies and Serious Assaults in the Meadows/Bruntsfield Links area. This comprised 15 Assault and Robberies plus one attempt and 2 Serious Assaults. Three of these crimes were part of the same incident, making 16 separate incidents.

During 2005 there were a total of 12 crime reports, consisting 10 Assault and Robberies and two Serious Assaults. Two of these crimes were part of the same incident, making 11separate incidents.

The peak times/days for incidents is Saturday night between 20.00 and midnight. This is followed by the early hours of Saturday morning, between midnight and 04.00, and the early hours of Sunday morning (same times).

This suggests that suspects are mainly targeting the late night weekend foot traffic through The Meadows. Many of these victims are returning from pubs or clubs around the city centre to the mainly residential areas of Marchmont, Bruntsfield, and beyond. Pedestrians walking through the area at night after consuming alcohol may be increasing their chances of being attacked, as they are less aware of their surroundings, and therefore more vulnerable should they encounter person(s) prepared to commit crime.

Complainer profile

Analysis of complainers suggests that the typical complainer for Assault and Robberies and Serious Assaults in The Meadows is a white male aged 21 to 25 who has been drinking.

Police and Council activity

The majority of the violent crimes recorded occurred at weekends, late on Friday or Saturday evening or in the early hours of Saturday or Sunday morning. These times coincide with when police resources are in high demand and deployed across busy city centre areas including Lothian Road, Grassmarket and the Cowgate.

In acknowledging the concerns regarding The Meadows area, the following police and council resources have been deployed:-

• A City Centre Police Unit (CCPU) officers deployed on mobile pedal cycle patrols across the area;
• Targeted high visibility police operation, involving officers from divisional Tutor Unit;
• Targeted patrols involving local Community Beat Officer,
• Youth Action Team officers and Safer Communities Unit officers;
• Officer from divisional Safer Communities Department is a dedicated police liaison with the Edinburgh Student Safety Forum and has delivered a number of personal safety and crime prevention talks to student groups;
• Environmental Wardens night-time team conduct mobile patrol in The Meadows area (aim to patrol between 01.00hrs – 02.00hrs); and Parks Department staff cutting back undergrowth and tree branches.
  

Central Local Development Committee

Police report (update) - March 2007

Introduction and Methodology

The following report has been produced to provide further information on the extent of crime in The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links area.

Crimes have been searched on the Police OSS system from 01/04/06 to 31/03/07, and the corresponding dates for the previous three years. Please note that since the searches were conducted on 05/03/07, the figures for 2006-7 will be slightly incomplete.

The loci of the crimes and incidents are the following Melville Drive; Bruntsfield Links; The Meadows (including the walkways which go through The Meadows, but not the surrounding streets).

The number of crimes has risen year-by-year since 2003.

Part of the reason for the substantial increase in crimes from 2003-4 to the following years was that prior to this, crime reports were not routinely input for breach of the peace or minor RTA offences.

Captor incidents

The following table shows the number of Captor incidents over the past three years (please note that we do not have information for 2003). The number of calls has gradually increased.

Overall solvency (crimes only)

The above table shows that solvency has progressively increased since 2003.

It should be noted that the solvency figure for 2006-7 will also rise as investigations are concluded.

The following crime types feature significantly and therefore recent crimes (2006-7) will be discussed in greater detail:

Assaults and robberies

There were 16 assaults and robberies in The Meadows this fiscal year. This is the highest figure since 2003, and an increase of 9 crimes since last year. Three of these have been solved to date. 5 of the crimes took place in Bruntsfield Links, and the remaining 11 occurred in the main park of The Meadows (mainly on the various walkways).

The majority of the crimes took place on Friday or Saturday nights or in the early hours of the morning (2230-0400). The area is a shortcut from many licensed premises to residential areas, and many people walk home this way after being in pubs/clubs.

Complainers were generally aged from 18-30, as would be expected from the type of people frequenting the area at these times.

The majority of suspects were under 20, many being in their mid-teens, and the majority of crimes involved more than one suspect. There has traditionally been a problem of groups of youths frequenting The Meadows and committing assaults, thefts and robberies, although this has not been a continuous problem and appeared to lessen after initiatives in The Meadows last summer/early autumn. However, it is possible that the problem is beginning to resurface again as there has been an increase in youth calls to the area in February.

Knives were used in four of the robberies. Items stolen were any personal effects the complainer was carrying, such as wallets, bags and mobile phones.

Thefts

There were 29 thefts committed in The Meadows this year, which is a decrease of 17 crimes compared to last year. There was no particular time or day pattern for thefts, although crimes are slightly higher at weekends. The vast majority of the crimes were thefts of property whilst left unattended. During the summer months The Meadows are busy with people sunbathing and playing sports, and belongings are often left unattended or near the complainer.

Minor assaults

There were 49 minor assaults committed within The Meadows this year, which is a slight increase (of 11 crimes) compared to the previous year. Peak days for minor assaults were Friday and Saturday, and peak times were from 20.00 – 23.00.

86% of the minor assaults were committed by strangers, the nature of the crime usually being a drunken altercation or a lone person being assaulted by a stranger or a group of strangers. The most common profile for the suspect and the complainer is males in their teens or twenties.

Yellow Line Removal

I received this from John Richmond:

Minutes of Meeting: 21 February 2007

1 Sederunt and Apologies
Cameron Rose noted apologies and welcomed attendees to the meeting, especially Donnie Henderson Shadlerz who had come to speak to the group about the James Gillespies Oral History Project.

2 Minutes of 17 January Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting were approved pending the following amendments:
Add ‘Susie Agnew’ and ‘Hugh Leather’ to the attendance list
Change ‘Redholme House Hotel’ to read ‘Redhome building’
(Proposed – Anne Laird; Seconded: John Simon)

3. Matters arising
There were no matters arising that wouldn’t be covered elsewhere on the agenda.

4 James Gillespie Oral History Project: Presentation by Donnie Henderson Shadlerz
Donnie Henderson Shadlerz gave a fascinating presentation, interspersed with interesting stories. She explained that the James Gillespie Oral History Project is being funded by the Heritage Lottery and James Gillespie’s Trust, and the project aims to collect stories from elderly people and others in the local community whose lives have been influenced by Gillespie’s. An open day is being held on Saturday 28th April from 10am – 4pm in James Gillespie’s library, when members of the local community are invited to share their memories of living in the local area. A further open day will be held in the library on Saturday 15th June, when there will be a screening of a 15-20 minute DVD of some of the stories collected during the project. The pupils of James Gillespie’s are involved in the project, and are doing some of the interviewing, recording and editing for the DVD. All the stories collected will be archived and entered on to a database that will be accessible to the public.
Donnie is happy to speak to any group about the project, and can be contacted by phoning: 01620 810 442.

5 Membership
5.1 Resignation of Secretary
Tina Cumming has resigned as the Secretary of MSCC, and the group thanked her for all her hard work over the last year.
5.2 Appointment of new ordinary members
The group was given the opportunity to nominate new members to the MSCC committee, and Hugh Leather was adopted as a new committee member.
ACTION
Further spaces are still available on the committee, and the group may return to this matter at a future meeting.
5.3 Appointment of a new Secretary
The group was given the opportunity to nominate a new Secretary and Hugh Leather’s offer to take over this role was gratefully accepted.

6 Parking: Extension of Controlled Zone
6.1 Local Businesses
Monica Higgins provided an update of the activities of the Trader’s Association on this issue. The two issues that are affecting businesses are:
· Difficulties for customers in finding on-street parking to allow them to do their shopping at local shops
· The need for businesses to apply for special retailer’s parking permits.

Trader’s Association representatives have attempted to build a picture of the impact that the new regulations have had on the finances of local businesses, but have been unsuccessful in gaining figures from traders. However, Monica believes that businesses in Marchmont Crescent and Spottiswoode Road have been most affected by the changes in parking regulations. The activity of the Trader’s Association has concentrated mainly on the issue of business permits, and around 90 people heave objected to these, primarily on the basis of cost and the fact that they are only available to those businesses with liveried vans.
This issue was opened to general group discussion, and the following points were made:
· Churchill and Morningside traders seem to be having similar problems.
· There is a need to first quantify the problem and then decide what to do. If traders are reluctant to give out information about their finances, perhaps they would be happier to present the figures in percentages.
· Car-users are only one section of the Marchmont/Sciennes community, and car-parking arrangements should reflect this.

Monica Higgins further updated the group that she and Marilyne Maclaren had attended a meeting with the consultants who have been employed by the Council to do a feasibility study into possible improvements to the street landscape around Roseneath Terrace and Argyle Place. Issues discussed included parking outside shops; more bike parking; signage to show the location of shops and parking spaces; and possible locations for notice boards. Concerns were raised that this study covers too small an area, since the shopping community extends across Marchmont. However, with limited resources it was felt unlikely that this concern would be addressed.

ACTION
A meeting of the Executive is taking place on 27th March, and a decision on business permits will be made then. The group voted, and it was agreed that a deputation from the MSCC would go to this meeting in support of local traders.

6.2 General
Marilyne Maclaren updated the group that her trip with council officials to identify unnecessary yellow road markings had been successful in identifying 50 further possible car-parking spaces, and there may be a further 10 spaces if refuse bins can be moved. A list of the spaces identified is available at: http://www.marchmontparking.blogspot.com/ If there are no formal objections, it is likely that these spaces would be made available within four to six months.

General group discussion followed and centred on issues arising from the temporary arrangements allowing residents of zones 7 and 8 to park in zone S1. The group will continue to maintain awareness of these issues and provide opportunities for discussion at future meetings.

7 Meadows Festival
Peng Lee Yap updated the group that he had previously convened a couple of meetings between representatives from the MSCC, Tollcross and Southside community councils, and Friends of the Meadows, to discuss a possible resurrection of the Meadows Festival. Though it had been agreed that, in principal, it was a good idea to resurrect the Meadows Festival, there had been differences of opinion regarding the scale of the event – whether it should be a city-wide event, or a local fete. Whatever the scale of the event, there were also barriers to overcome regarding funding. Though it may be possible to gain an LDC grant, this would only be applicable for the first year of the festival. Most importantly, for this event to happen, an individual or group of individuals would have to take responsibility for leading the organisation of the event.

General group discussion followed and the following points were made:
- Any individual or group who took on responsibility for organising the festival would be starting from scratch, since no-one with previous experience of the festival is available to provide guidance.
- Audrey Simon questioned why the previous organisers were not being required to pass records on to future organisers. She also questioned whether previous organisers had registered a charity, or had received a grant from the Council, in which case they would have been required to account for the spending of the grant.
- Further funding options could be explored by contacting council officials.
- This discussion should be opened up to the wider community, possibly through holding a specific meeting for this purpose. Such a meeting may also attract individuals who are willing to help organise or lead such an event.

ACTION
A vote was taken on this issue, and the group agreed that the MSCC should continue to investigate the feasibility of resurrecting the festival. Susanna Lacey, Hugh Leather and Cameron Rose will take this forward, including contacting the other relevant organisations (other community councils, Friends of the Meadows etc).

8 Planning and Licensing Issues
Proposals for the Scottish National Heritage Building have been approved largely as recommended by council officers (concerns previously raised by the MSCC have not been upheld).
Anne Laird has sent a letter to the Planning Department requesting information about their policy on heights of new buildings and is awaiting a response.
Members may be interested to know that the Edinburgh Skyline Exhibition will run from 13 February to 13 April, and aims to find out what city residents think of the sky line.
Alastair Philp referred to discussions at the January meeting regarding sale of public buildings (item 8.1), highlighting that NHS bodies have a duty to get as much money as possible when they sell assets such as property. He suggested that the idea that one public body (e.g. NHS Lothian) can transfer an asset to another (e.g. Edinburgh Council) for less than the open market value is a non starter since they would then be sharply criticised by their auditor and by Audit Scotland.
Cameron Rose highlighted the fact that Sciennes Primary School Board is holding a public meeting to discuss the lack of accommodation at the school and the possible uses of the Sick Kids Hospital site when the hospital moves in 2012. This meeting will take place on Wednesday 14th March at 7.30pm. The group agreed to support the meeting and that it was important to canvass the views of the community on this issue.

ACTION
Cameron Rose will circulate the dates and venues of the Edinburgh Skyline Exhibition to members of the group.

9 Publicity
Cameron Rose updated the group that Melanie Main is continuing to move forward with plans to obtain funding for the erection of notice boards.

10 Meeting Venue
The January MSCC meeting trialled St Giles Church Hall as a meeting venue. The group agreed that it could not justify the extra expense of using this as a regular meeting venue, and that future meetings would continue to be held at St Catherine’s Argyle Community Hall.

11 Other Business
11.1 Treasurer’s Report
In response to a query about the MSCC accounts, it was highlighted that the MSCC receives a Treasurer’s Report annually at the AGM.
ACTION
An interim Treasure’s Report will be presented at the March meeting of the group.
11.2 Warrender Park Terrace Pavements
Some local residents are currently trying to get Warrender Park Terrace Pavements returned to the original paving, and have approached the council and the Heritage Society to find ways of raising money to pay for this. The MSCC gave its general support to this initiative.
11.3 Warrender Baths
All showers and hairdryers at Warrender Baths are now working.

12 Next meeting
The next MSCC meeting will take place on Wednesday 21st March 2007, beginning at 7.30pm in St Catherine’s Argyle Community Hall, Grange Road, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Skyline Exhibition at Cameron Toll

I visited the Edinburgh Skyline Exhibition down at Cameron Toll today. I should have gone on a Tuesday or a Thursday when it would have been staffed by the council. I'm not sure it's the type of thing I associate with the word 'exhibition', but there you go.

Here are a few of photos of the exhibition (click to enlarge):





Here is the previous blog entry where you can find more information about the exhibition and all the dates, etc.

Association of Scottish Community Councils

I received this:

From Norman Bonney,
Chair Edinburgh Association of Community Councils and Executive Member for Edinburgh and Lothians of the Association of Scottish Community Councils

The Association of Scottish Community Councils has recently commenced a complete revamp in order to make it a much more effective champion of Scottish community councils.

All community councils should have, or will have recently received, a copy of the newsletter. The website (www.ascc.org.uk) has begun reconstruction.

Under the new structure I am the representative on the Executive Committee for Edinburgh and the Lothians area and I plan to keep in regular touch with member community councils through the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils and its sister organisations in the Lothians.

If your community council is not yet a member please contact the new National Secretary, Vincent Waters at info@ascc.org.uk or 0845 644 5153

Please pass this information to your members.

Norman Bonney

Neighbourhood Partnerships

I have received a meeting invitation. I will go unless anyone else would like to do it.

Dear Community Representatives,

INVITATION: INFORMAL JOINT LOCAL GROUPS DISCUSSION MEETING

Last Thursday, the Council approved 'Interim Constitution and Protocol' arrangements for the new Neighbourhood Partnerships.

Therefore, to provide more information and encourage joint local discussion before the final South LDC meeting, you or another representative from your group, are invited to participate in the informal 'Joint Local Groups Discussion Meeting' (groups within the future Meadows / Morningside and Southside / Newington Neighbourhood Partnership) which will be held on:

• Monday 19 March 2007, in the Eric Liddell Centre (Elsome Suite) from 7pm to 9pm.

I apologise for the very short notice and I do hope that you can attend. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Copies of the Council Report (including the Constitution and Protocol) and the Extract of Minute 8 March 2007, will be circulated via the SLDC Mailing list in the next couple of days. However, if you don't receive the papers and would like a copy of the report, please contact me.

Kind Regards

Mary Dunbar
LDC Co-ordinator South and East Edinburgh
The City of Edinburgh Council
Services for Communities
Business Centre C4
Waverley Court
4 East Market Street
Edinburgh
EH8 8BG
0131 529 4415

James Gillespie's Primary School - Edinburgh 20mph Zone Extension

I received this about extending the 20mph zone. Sadly the photocopying destroyed the colours when whoever it was copied this so the key is not very helpful. Anyway, I think it adds the Thirlestane Road chunk to the zone.

Community Council Office Bearers

Eileen Hewitt has sent an up to date list of office bearers throughout the city. You can pick up the latest list at http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/city_living/your_neighbourhood/CEC_community_councils_in_edinburgh (she will be updating the online one shortly).

Two New Sources of Environmental Funding

I have received this info:

To All Potential Partners!

Two New Sources of Funding for Environmental Projects: 2007/08
We are writing to let you know about two new sources of funding for environmental projects from the Scottish Executive under the banner of Natural Scotland: It's Our Future. The Environmental Justice Fund has £2 million available for communities, and The Community Environmental Renewal Scheme has some £1.75 million. The schemes are being managed by Forward Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Executive, and will run for one year to the end of March 2008.

Both schemes were launched today, 5 March 2007, and will support projects that help communities enjoy their local environment and become more involved in the amenities and activities it provides, as well as the issues and decision-making that surrounds it. We hope this will lead to communities becoming stronger, safer and more inclusive. Although applications can be made to both schemes, projects may only receive an award from one of the funds.

The Environmental Justice Fund (EJF)
Grants of between £100,000 and £500,000 will be available to improve the quality of local environments in communities that suffer the effects of negative environmental impacts such as past or present industry, pollution or other damaging activities. We are particularly keen to see applications submitted from community organisations such as Community Councils or local community/voluntary groups, although a range of organisations are eligible to apply, including local authorities and other agencies. However, awards will only be made where local communities are fully engaged in the design and delivery of the project. Projects typically supported by EJF will follow two themes: community facilities and amenities; and landscape, access and biodiversity. Partnership funding, whilst welcome, is not a requirement.

The Community Environmental Renewal Scheme (CERS)
The Community Environmental Renewal Scheme will award grants of up to £100,000 to support projects within communities that can demonstrate that they have been affected by local aggregates extraction activities, and which will improve the local environment for and with communities. Similarly to EJF, partnership funding is not a requirement, and the scheme aims to directly support community organisations in delivering their projects. There is no minimum grant size and projects typically supported by CERS will be directed at the provision, restoration, protection or the promotion of understanding of one or more of the following three themes: landscape, habitats and local biodiversity; the built or cultural environment, including historic, geological or archaeological heritage; and community recreational amenities.

Important dates
The first deadline for both schemes is 25 April 2007, and successful projects will receive a decision around 8 weeks later. There will be a final deadline in June for both schemes, although there is a desire that the majority of funds will be committed in the first round to allow the maximum time for project completion. All awards must be spent by March 2008.

What next?
Organisations who wish to submit an application are encouraged to contact Forward Scotland and discuss their project in the first instance. Further details of the schemes and application packs can be obtained from:

The Web: www.forward-scotland.org.uk/funding
By Telephone: 0870 974 2324 (CERS)
0870 974 2325 (EJF)
(calls are charged at local rates)
By Email: cers@forward-scotland.org.uk
ejf@forward-scotland.org.uk
By Post: c/o Forward Scotland, The Lodge
Earlsgate House, St Ninian's Road
Stirling , FK8 2HE

Theo Leijser

Chief Executive, Forward Scotland

Community Council Training

There are some training sessions left. Here are the details:

Social Housing Crisis

There's a meeting about the social housing crisis in Edinburgh. For those interested, the poster is below. Sadly it conflicts with the next MSCC meeting :-(

Sick Kids Site – What Now?

Sciennes Primary School Community in association with Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council are holding a public meeting, entitled "Sick Kids Site – What Now?" to discuss the lack of accommodation at Sciennes Primary School, and the possible uses of the Sick Kids Hospital Site when the Hospital moves in 2012.

Sciennes Primary School Board and Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council are keen to canvass the views of the community on what it would like to see replace the Sick Kids Hospital. Please come along to the meeting.

The meeting will be on Wednesday 14th March at 7.30pm (finishing 8.30pm) at Sciennes Primary School.

If you are unable to attend, but would like to contribute or to be kept informed, please contact the School: email headteacher@sciennes.edin.sch.uk or MSCC: email Melaniemain@btinternet.com or tel 07775 665499.

Meadows Festival Minutes

There was a meeting to discuss the future of the Meadows Festival tonight at Cameron Rose's house. This is a very brief set of minutes (I may miss a good deal since I wasn't thinking about taking proper minutes at the time - at least the action items should be present).

Please, if you are reading this blog and have some ideas for the festival, add a comment to this post.

Next Meeting
Wednesday, 4^th April, 2007 from 19:30 at Cameron's house.

Action Items
The following steps will be taken to further the project:

1. All - To visit any festivals that come up to report on them
2. All - To prepare different proposals about the form the festival might take
   
3. Andy - To further investigate the Meadows Festival Association to get budgets and details of anything that might be lurking there
4. Cameron - To get permission from the MSCC to be the legally responsible entity in the planning stages
5. Cameron - To begin discussions with potential sponsors
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Bank of Scotland
• Quartermile
• Sick Kids fundraisers
• Fairground
6. Cameron - To invite other councils to the next meeting
   

Attendees

• Andy Devenport (Tollcross Community Council)
  
• Cameron Rose (Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council)
• Hugh Leather (Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council)
• Justine Stansfield (Southside Community Council)
• Linda Hendry (Southside Community Council)
  
• Susannah Lacey (Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council)

Introduction
The group was informed of the previous meeting of the MSCC at which the status of the Meadows Festival was discussed. The MSCC was keen to continue the investigations of the festival. Peng Lee Yapp has withdrawn from the project, it is not clear if this means that the Friends of the Meadows wishes no longer to be involved. The group very much appreciated Peng's contributions and will miss his input.

The motivation for the project is to have a community event; possibly this may be different from the previous ethos.

The timeframe for holding the festival in 2007 is already passed and so all work is for a festival in 2008.

Legal Issues and Responsibility
We discussed the need to have a legal entity that will be responsible for the festival. There may be some issues further down the line in creating a legal entity to front the festival. However, we decided that as a matter of expediency, the MSCC would be asked to be the legally responsible entity where such is necessary for any parts of the initial period, only. This will not mean that the MSCC will be bound to be the responsible entity for the duration of the festival project.

Dates
It was noted that the previous festivals were always held on the first weekend in June.

Public Meetings and Involvement
The question of when and how the greater public should be involved was a topic of some debate. Options include holding public meetings, questionnaires, advertising in the local newspapers and speaking to local councils.

It was decided that going to the public would wait until a list of options for potential different ways to hold the festival has been drawn up by the steering committee.

Meadows Festival Association
The status of the existing charity is uncertain. It may be that they will hold on to the name. It is possible that the accounts for 2006 and 2007 have not and will not be returned.

This gave rise to thoughts about the name of the project. It may be necessary to alter the name to avoid conflicts with the existing organisation.

Further investigations were felt needed to ensure that no hidden pitfalls await due to the status of the existing charity.

Form of the Festival
Different parties had different opinions about the form of the festival. It was decided that it was important to have a number of possibilities so that further discussions could be based on concrete proposals and so that we can clarify that we are all talking about the same thing.

We will attempt to gather a small number of proposed festival ideas for next meeting. The ideas may come from other events run throughout the city or simply from the imagination.

Edinburgh Skyline Exhibition

There is an exhibition going on about Edinburgh Skylines. This might be a good thing to go to if you are interested in the skyline changes at Quatermile for example. This exhibition is also forming a platform for a public consultation about the skylines report.

I've copied a bit of the blurb from the website, but there's more there; particularly about the consultation part of it. I've also copied over the dates (not into the calendar - there are too many of them and I got bored! I just added a couple to represent it).

Brief Review
Easy to understand exhibition with photos for each ‘key view’ and a map of Edinburgh showing proposed view cones. Emphasis on protecting and enhancing views rather than a blanket limit on tall buildings ie focus on ‘views’ not ‘height’. Refreshing that what could be loosely termed ‘populist’ or ‘informal’ views such as from the seafront next to Matalan (Seafield) into town are included, not just ‘establishment’ or ‘traditional’ views around the city centre favoured by both tourists and powerful people who live and work in the Old and New Towns. This is further supported by views of peripheral streets with captions reminding us that even mundane suburban streets have often been designed with views to key landmarks – such as the Castle – in mind

Edinburgh Skyline Study - Exhibition Dates:
13 - 16 Feb: Waverley Court Council Offices
20 - 23 Feb: Edinburgh World Heritage Office

27 Feb - 4 Mar: Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, Ocean Drive, Leith
Mon-Fri 10am - 8pm, Sat 10am - 7pm, Sun 11am - 6pm

6 - 11 Mar: Gyle Shopping Centre, Gyle Avenue, South Gyle Broadway
Mon-Wed+Fri 9.30am-8pm, Thu 9.30am-9pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10am-6pm

13 - 18 Mar: Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, 6 Lady Rd
Mon-Sat 7.30am-10pm, Sun 8am-8pm

20 - 24 Mar: Central Library, Edinburgh Room, George IV Bridge
Mon-Thu 10am-8pm, Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 9am-1pm

27 Mar - 13 Apr: Waverley Court Council Offices, 4 East Market Street
Mon-Thu 9am-5pm, Fri 9am-3.40pm
Council staff shall be in attendance at the exhibition

Controlled Parking Scheme Changes

I have received a letter from the council (actually, Tina received and passed it on to me). I've attached scans of the pages below. If you click on the pages they should zoom in (albeit probably a bit slowly if you have a slow internet connection).