This blog is where you will find community council information, including meeting times, minutes and agenda. Do please comment on postings.

Friday 1 December 2017

Sick Kids Exhibition #1

The first Exhibition is now online!

Last Tuesday, over 200 people attended the first exhibition of Downing Group's plans for the Sick Children's hospital site. If you didn't manage to make it, it's not too late, the plans are available here (click this link).

It is important that the developers receive as many of our responses as possible. So if you didn't make it to the exhibition or still haven't completed one of their forms, please could you fill in the attached evaluation form and send it to consultation@holderplanning.co.uk in the next week. All our responses will be summarised by Holder Planning, as part of the official planning process.

Representatives of our community will meet with Downing Group, their architects and Holder Planning later this month. At this meeting, we will ensure that your opinions are properly considered.

For this meeting, the Community Council will be creating a detailed response to the exhibition, so feel free to email me with any points you think we should include.

Douglas

Tuesday 27 June 2017

Status of the Bid by MSDT for the Sick Kids site

Just an update for agenda item 7 (sick kids) (MSCC Meeting): 

Tonight I submitted two CRtB (Community Right to Buy)
applications for buildings and land within the RHSC, owing to the legal
complications/ technicalities that came to light during review of the
initial community right to buy application in March. So, we¹re hoping that
the Community Land Team will review these new documents (crtb forms plus
17 annexes) over the next few days, and once again press pause on the sale
of the site. If anyone can help expedite that process, we¹d be very
grateful. For now, I¹ll update Douglas as soon as we receive feedback from
the government.

On behalf of Marchmont and Sciennes Development Trust I¹d like to say that
we really appreciate all the help and support from you and your colleagues
at MSCC, in addition to the continued support from our excellent
Councillors, MPs and MSPs ‹ a huge effort to ensure that community
interests are represented during a very busy period for all. Really nice
to see us come together on issues that can be challenging and sometimes
divisive. Onwards!

All very best wishes and see you soon,

Tom.

Sunday 25 June 2017

The next Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council meeting is on Wed 28th June.


All are welcome. 

Here is the agenda.

Marchmont & Sciennes
Community Council


Meeting on Wed 28 June 2017 at 7:30pm
St Catherine's Argyle Church Halls, Beaufort Road

A G E N D A

 1             Sederunt and apologies
 2             Draft Minutes of last meeting, 24 May 2017, and matters arising (not otherwise on Agenda)
·         Update on 19 Palmerston Rd.
 3             Police Report
 4             Meadows & Bruntsfield Links
·         Jawbones update (Mike Shields to provide)
 5             City Councillor report on topical local issues
 6             Election of Secretary (repeat)

Items for discussion
 7             Royal Hospital for Sick Children Redevelopment, including Community Right to Buy Process:
                                Current Position
 8             Astley Ainslie Hospital Redevelopment: update
 9             Planning (Applications & consultations)
·         Thirlstane Lane Planning Application
·         Any others
10           Neighbourhood Partnership position

Items for information
11           Treasurer's report
12           Meetings attended
13           AOCB
14           Date of next meeting (and AGM): 27 September 2017

All who live or work locally are welcome to attend.
MSCC is online at: http://marchmontandsciennes.blogspot.com

Tuesday 30 May 2017

RED TAPE DELAY HITS SICK KIDS COMMUNITY BID

RED TAPE DELAY HITS SICK KIDS COMMUNITY BID

A community group’s bid to buy a historic Scottish hospital has been delayed by red tape.
The Scottish Government was considering an application by residents living next to the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh to be given first refusal to buy the site under new urban ‘community right to buy’ laws.
But the process has stalled after complex land ownership issues around the 122-year-old hospital revealed that although the four-acre facility is being marketed as one site, it is owned by two separate legal entities.
This means the Marchmont and Sciennes Development Trust (MSDT) has had to drop its single application to be given first refusal on the site and will now submit two separate bids to Scottish ministers to try and gain control of the iconic hospital.
The two landowners at the Sick Kids are NHS Lothian and its charitable trust, the Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation.
MSDT has today asked both the health board and foundation to release all of the tittle deeds it holds for the land and buildings in order to get beyond this impasse.
However, this latest development effectively means that a suspension of the sale process - ordered while the Scottish Government considered the original right to buy application - has now been lifted and health chiefs can resume talks with short-listed private developers.
Affordable co-operative housing, healthcare and nursery facilities, space for social enterprises and a multi-purpose community hall are among the ideas for the Sick Kids already suggested by MSDT – the community body representing local residents.
A MSDT spokesman said: “This complication is disappointing but not unexpected given it is a complex site and it is a bid that really tests the new legislation.
“We are now focused on definitively determining who owns which parts of the site and submitting the two applications that could ultimately see the community take control of the Sick Kids site when the NHS moves out. 
“We have asked the health board and the foundation for help with this task as they hold the relevant title deeds, a move which will benefit all parties as it would speed up the process and get us all closer to a decision on whether MSDT should get first refusal on the site."
“This site remains a dream opportunity to bring this historic hospital under community control.”
https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B58qXXBpRT25dFMxbzJ0NEphUmc&revid=0B58qXXBpRT25UXQvaUpBUUZGcFNqbkZWQSt5aFFRbUJCbTR3PQ

Registered in Scotland SC558295

Sunday 8 January 2017

Final version of Summary of Collective Views of the Community (on RHSC) published by MSCC

NHS Lothian have confirmed that the closing date for interested developers’ offers for the current RHSC site will be 9 February 2017.

Therefore MSCC have been asked to share a set of views from the community by mid-January.

After considering comments on a draft 'Summary of Collective Views of the Community', and discussing the document at a meeting, on 5 Jan, with NHS Lothian, we have produced a final version .

This final version of collective community views produced by MSCC will be added to the final 'position statement', being completed by GVA in mid January for NHS Lothian (and available to developers).

The collective views will also be sent with the final NHS/GVA 'position statement' to interested developers.

If you'd like to stay informed please join our dedicated mailing list by e-mailing pagsk2017@gmail.com or keep an eye on the MSCC Infoblog or on the MSCC Facebook page, or follow @marchsciennesCC on Twitter.

Tuesday 3 January 2017

Draft Summary of Collective Views (on RHSC) published by MSCC


NHS Lothian have confirmed that the closing date for interested developers’ offers will be 9 February 2017.

Therefore MSCC have been asked to share a set of views from the community by mid-January.

In response to a 'position statement' (including community views expressed at a public meeting; see previous post), MSCC have produced a draft 'summary of collective views'; 6 page PDF).   

MSCC will meet with NHS Lothian on Th 5 January to present this draft document and discuss next steps.


The collective MSCC views will be added to the final 'position statement', being completed by GVA in mid January for NHS Lothian (and available to developers).  


The MSCC views will also be sent with the final NHS/GVA 'position statement' to interested developers. 


Please comment below if there is anything you think we have missed from the draft 'summary of collective views'.  Or e-mail pagsk2017@gmail.com. 


If you'd like to stay informed please join our dedicated mailing list by e-mailing pagsk2017@gmail.com or keep an eye on the MSCC Infoblog or on the MSCC Facebook page, or follow @marchsciennesCC on Twitter.


[updated on 4 Jan to include screen shot of document cover and add detail on closing date from previous blog post]