Family Funday in aid of Pakistan Floods Appeal

A Family Funday in aid of the Pakistan Floods appeal will be held on Su 10 October from 2-5pm at Marchmont St Giles Church.  There will be a climbing frame, face painting and bouncy castle for children. And asian snacks, tea and coffee for adults. There will also be a raffle, a silent auction and gifts stalls.  Entrance: adults £1 - kids £0.50.  Tickets are for sale on the gate. For further details and make a donation contact Nadia Aslam

Large scale 20 mph zone passed by City of Edinburgh Council

A proposal for a 20mph speed limit on roads across Marchmont, Sciennes and the Edinburgh South Central Area was approved today at the City of Edinburgh Council Transport Committee.

EACC meeting on planning

A note of the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils meeting (11 Sep) on strategic aspects of planning is now available.

Fundraising Concert of Sacred and Secular music at Marchmont St Giles on Su 3 Oct

Marchmont St Giles church choir & friends invite you to their Fundraising Concert of Sacred and Secular music on Su 3 Oct at 7:30pm in the church on Kilgraston Road.  


The concert will support victims of recent natural disasters. Proceeds will be shared between survivors of the Chilean earthquake in February and the people of Pakistan affected by the recent flood.  Entry is by donation.

Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places

The City of Edinburgh Council must ensure that all electors have reasonable facilities for voting and that arrangements are as realistic as possible. We must also make sure that, as far as is reasonable and practicable, the polling places are accessible to all electors including those with disabilities.


The Council has a statutory duty to review all polling districts, places and stations every four years. The last review was in 2007. There has recently been a review of the constituency boundaries for the Scottish Parliament and the opportunity is being taken to undertake another review, so that the new electoral register, which will be published on 1 December 2010, reflects these new boundaries.


A consultation on the revised proposals started yesterday. Any interested person or body can submit suggestions for change.  Public access to the information is available at the City Chambers and can be accessed on-line at any Library in the City. Please submit your comments (to polling.consultation@edinburgh.gov.uk) by 1 October 2010.


If you have any general questions about the review, or the maps, please contact Mairi Cruikshank in the first instance.

Chalmers Sexual Health Centre

NHS Lothian Family Planning & Well Woman services (currently in Stockbridge) will integrate at a refurbished Chalmers Sexual Health Centre (on Lauriston Place) early next year with the Genitourinary Medicine clinic currently housed at the Lauriston Building.  


Further information will be available closer to the time, including detailed leaflets.  

Draft Management Plan for the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage site

A draft management plan for for the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage site has been prepared and comments are requested, by 31 Oct 2010 to Jack Gillon.  


Comments are particularly sought on the way the Statement of Outstanding Universal value is interpreted; the vision, whether the objectives and actions are appropriate and achievable, and whether the proposed management structure is appropriate.

Consultation on Revised Edinburgh Standards for Sustainable Building - responses requested by Fr 15 October

A revised version of the Edinburgh Standards for Sustainable Building is out for consultation until Fr 15 Oct 2010.  The aim of the standards is to "promote sustainable development that mitigates against climate changes caused by carbon emissions".  


Please send your comments to Kate Hopper.

Regeneration of tenement common gardens in Marchmont

Contributed article by Fiona Savage

The buildings in Marchmont are almost exclusively four-storey early Victorian  tenement buildings and are mainly pink sandstone in a Scottish baronial style. Behind these building lies a substantial piece of land which can be up to 5 acres in size. This land is divided up into common gardens. This term common gardens is often misunderstood.  These gardens are only common to those who own them!

Some ground and basement properties that have their own private garden do not necessarily have access to the common garden owned by the stair. Again title deeds need to be checked.

There is an increasing interest in regeneration of gardens. However before embarking on such a project some research and clear consultation needs to be undertaken.

Under the Tenement (Scotland) Act 2004 the maintenance of a tenement garden or back green should be shared by all owners in the block UNLESS it says otherwise in the title deeds.   READ MORE...

City of Edinburgh Community Councils Newsletter (Sep 10)

 The most recent edition of the Edinburgh Community Council Newsletter (PDF) is now available. 

A G E N D A for meeting of the Community Council on We 8 Sep at 19:30

The next meeting of the Community Council will be held on September 8th at 7.30pm in St Catherine’s Argyle Church Community Hall, Grange Road


At 7.30pm: Marchmont and Sciennes Gardens and Garden Issues


Speakers:
* Edinburgh Garden Share Scheme - Mandy Rathjen*
* Green Banana Gang - Anne Leith
* CEC Parks Dept - Mike Shields.


This part of the meeting will be chaired by Cllr Mark McInnes.




Normal Business from 8.30


1. Minutes of the meeting of 9 June (corrected draft) and matters arising


2. Police Report : questions


3. Sub Groups
    a. Planning Group (Sarah Sandow; inc response to SESplan)
    b. HMOs Group (Ann Laird)
    c. Parking Group (Susie Agnew)
    d. Events: Garden Competition (Tina Cumming)


4. External Meetings
    a. Neighbourhood Partnership (Alastair Philp)


5. Any other business
    a. Christmas Tree Lights Ceremony
    b. City of Edinburgh Budget consultation meeting on 23 Sep


All who live or work or are active in the area are welcome.  Hearing loop available – please request in advance

gardens competition prizegiving 2010

Some photos from this afternoon are on the MSCC Facebook page and can be accessed (even without a Facebook account).


A fuller report will be published later. [Update (20:23, 7 Sep 2010: see below]


Thanks to all the judges and in particular Tina Cumming for organising and Monica Higgins for writing such fine descriptions of the winning gardens!


Update (20:23, 7 Sep 2010): List of winners

Front gardens (East, South, and West-facing) & Winner of the Smalley Quaich 2010: Sindy Cunningham, 21 Livingstone Place

North-facing front gardens: Neal & Angie Rayner, 36 Warrender Park Road

Hanging baskets and containers:  Jan Gaffney, 61 Spottiswoode Road

Wildlife-friendly gardens: Dan Sutton, 11 Meadow Place

New gardens: Rosemary Robertson, 145 Warrender Park Road

Other commended: 

• John Palmer, 14 Marchmont Street 
• Jola Jurasinska, 45 Spottiswoode Street
• Mystery Neighbour, 108 Thirlestane Road

Other commended (Window boxes):           

• Elaine Henry, 35 Lauderdale Street
• Theresa Dixon, 34 Thirlestane Road
• Jane Ramsay, 43 Thirlestane Road
• Mrs McDonald, 47 Thirlestane Road
• Anne McCoubrey, 6 Roseneath Terrace

Update (20:00, 9 Sep 2010): Citations for prizes (courtesy of Monica Higgins, Head Judge)

Photos of tenements in Marchmont

Readers may be interested in the photos taken by Robert Galloway of tenement buildings in Marchmont. 


They featured in a recent exhibition in the Butterflies Cafe at Marchmont St Giles and some are available as cards at the Marchmont Stationery shop at the top of Marchmont Road.  


A book with a fuller set is also available to order online.

Forthcoming meetings of the Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council

The meeting on 8 September will be a panel led discussion about local projects concerning gardens and back greens.  It will feature presentations by:

* Mandy Rathjen - Edinburgh Garden Share Scheme
* Anne Leith - Green Banana Gang

* Mike Shields - CEC Parks Dept

The meeting will be chaired by Cllr Mark McInnes.

The meeting on 13 October will explore issues arising from shared tenemental living in our diverse community. Three speakers, with special knowledge and understanding of the issues, anxieties and pleasures of `tenement life' will make short introductory statements about their organisations. There will then be an opportunity for questions and discussion.  The three speakers will be

• Jennifer Jones from the Licensing Department
• Derek Brown from Homeworks
• Richard Pontet from Edinburgh Stair Partnership

The meeting will be chaired by Cllr Ian Perry.

Both meetings will start at 7:30pm and will be held at St Catherine Argyle Church Halls, 61 Grange Road.