Community Council
Minutes of Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council
Meeting of Wed 27 November 2019 at
St Catherine’s Argyle Church Halls,
Beaufort Road
Present: – Brian Gilmore (Chair, MSCC), Mike Shields (Edinburgh Council
Parks), Cllr Dickie (CEC), Shane Voss (MSCC), Alison Service (MSCC), Adam
Stewart (MSCC), Anna Nicol (Minute Secretary), Susie Agnew (MSCC), Nigel Ayton
(Grange Association)
Apologies: – Anthony Holmes, Anne Laing, Douglas Rogers
Matters Arising:
Draft Minutes from the last meeting, 23rd October 2019,
have been circulated. These were approved by Alison and seconded by Shane.
Adam was talking to other council members from Morningside and
Southside to share what common themes seem to be arising across the communities
and could be collaborated on.
Police Report:
No police present.
Meadows and Bruntsfield Links:
Mike Shields highlighted four points of notice following the ‘Walk
About’ on 13 November. The yellow paint on the roadway forming the junction box
at the bottom of Marchmont Road will be replaced. A couple of tree pits on
Roseneath Street were empty or had dead trees in them and these will be dealt
with in June and the dead tree will be removed. There was a bin sitting in a
permit zone with a keep clear sign and over a drain which has been passed on to
waste who have taken note as they are conducting a review of all bin
placements. Michelle Ross was the main contact regarding the bins. The Brian
Harris tree which was planted in Marchmont Crescent in memory of him has died
and so the tree has been replaced.
There is a plan to reinstall the jawbones in June 2020 which are
currently in storage but this has not been fully confirmed yet.
City Councillor Report on topical local issues
Cllr Dickie:
Two current issues include the ongoing issue regarding the road
outside of Sciennes primary school. Long-term solution would entail the road
closure but an interim solution is that they will move out the signage and
expand the pavement area in order to ensure child safety.
Long-term GME (Gaelic Medium Education) strategy will entail
moving the gaelic pupils in James Gillepsie into Darroch temporarily and build
a new school by 2024. Moving gaelic pupils into a new school would open up
space for Darroch to become another primary school.
Cllr Dickie wanted to highlight how the council’s ongoing budget
conversations are framed within their aims of poverty reduction, promoting
sustainability, and promoting wellbeing.
Susie Agnew raises the issue of unappealing temporary road diversion
signs mounted in cement blocks around the Sciennes school area, such as outside
the Argyll Bar, which were installed as a temporary measure at the start of
Sciennes Road school-time closure scheme, and that she says no one now pays
attention to and that don’t look attractive. Alison agrees and Cllr Dickie says
she will look again and will enquire into the process of their removal and will
provide feedback. Adam Stewart notes that a potential future item will be to
think about what these road signs should be replaced with.
Election of Secretary (repeat):
No one is standing for secretary.
The Council’s revised Community Council scheme includes an
additional role of Engagement Officer to try and engage with the community and
determine their views on changes within the community. Adam Stewart nominates
himself for engagement officer and is elected.
There is a discussion in which Adam suggests looking into
different ways to communicate with the wide variety of community members. Cllr
Dickie emphasises the importance of the role regarding the diversity of the
community and galvanising said diversity. Nigel Ayton notes that having an
engagement officer would encourage a more active medium through which to engage
with all representatives of the community in addition to the noticeboards.
Items for Discussion
Royal Hospital for Sick Children Redevelopment: update
There is no current update on the redevelopment.
Astley Ainslie Hospital Redevelopment: update
Nigel reports that the council are drafting the brief which he
hopes will be shared prior to the next meeting in January 2020. The NHS has reiterated
that it won’t put the for sale sign up until the brief has been approved.
Marchmont, Meadows and Bruntsfield Conservation Area Consultation:
A link was made available to the consultation circulated at the
last meeting by Adam. Updated document with an overview of the area has been
circulated, focusing on the Meadows in particular. Both Alison and Adam approve
of the new document. Nigel notes a risk with conservation areas is that some
people use it as a justification to oppose any change but notes that in order
to protect how the community uses the conservation area, there needs to be
change and development for it to become a ‘Place’ for all residents, young and
old, to enjoy, growing and changing but retaining certain treasured aspects
Nigel raises the difficulty in finding the best way to listen to
the community to represent a diverse set of views. There is a thought towards
potential future investment to collaborate with the council’s sustainability aims
as well as to preserve the residential element of the area.
Other Conservation issues raised:
There is a discussion regarding a previously mentioned issue of
raising roof space in tenement blocks. Susie suggests encouraging community
members who want to stop the installation of windows in roof space to refer to
their title deeds to see who is responsible for roof care and help them take
action.
Adam sees two separate issues: planning (planning permission is in
keeping with the character of the tenements) and ownership, which is a legal
matter and less to do with the council. Alison suggests to Cllr Dickie that the
council could make a move to make the information accessible and Susie notes it
might be a good idea to put it at the end of planning permission statements.
Review of Parks
Mike says that no issues have been raised yet regarding the events
taking place in the parks. These reviews take place to ensure that events
taking place in the Meadows, and parks elsewhere, continue to cause little
disturbance to locals and are being managed correctly. Mike believes that so
long as events are managed well and properly, few issues should arise.
Alison notes that toilets are the main issue but Brian suggests
that FOMBL deals with it and Alison suggests she brings their report here when
it is ready, to see if the MSCC wants to take part.
Brian notes that the issues relating to the Meadows have declined
in the last few years, in part from the help of FOMBL. Adam suggests that the
MSCC do contribute to the review as the residents do see the Meadows as part of
their community.
Parking Charging changes
Brian does not think the MSCC were formally consulted on parking
charging changes. He says they consulted narrowly on this issue, only around
the James Gillespie area.
There is a brief discussion on whether these are city-wide
changes. Shane says they are turning some yellow lines into bays and that the
multi-purpose charging so that there are more pay and display bays which are
also permit bays. Adam raises the issue that expanding parking bays and lifting
charges could contradict a sustainability initiative. Susie believes the some
of the pressure is from inaccurate boundary divisions.
The deadline to contribute has passed and so MSCC will wait for
the outcome.
Planning (Applications and Consultations)
Nothing material. Interested parties should visit the Grange
Association website.
Items of Information
Treasurer's report:
£987.25 in the bank as of the end of September. Alison has done
the forward plan and estimates for the end of the year will be a deficit of £17.18.
This means a tight budget and so the MSCC can’t give a lot of donations if there
is little funding coming in.
Meetings Attended:
City Plan 2030
Adam was unable to attend the City Plan 2030 meeting but he thinks
the activity has been paused because of plans to review.
EACC
Adam went to the AGM where they were electing new office bearers.
John Tibbett was elected chair.
AOCB
Adam has circulated a draft response to the tourism strategy. It
closes this weekend and so need to finalise the response in the next couple of
days. Important point is the impact of tourists from the Old Town in areas such
as accommodation. While there is an aim to look at it from a positive view, the
volume of tourists needs to be managed and the council needs to ensure
investment to make sure the area can cope. Brian notes that Airbnb has been
raised before as an issue that affects the area. Nobody has objected to the
draft response.
XMAS Tree Ceremony 7 December: Raffle prizes and volunteers
sorted.
Date of next meeting: 22nd January 2020 (No December
Meeting)
