MARCHMONT
& SCIENNES COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MINUTES OF
MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 23RD NOVEMBER 2022 7:30 P.M. AT ST. CATHERINE’S ARGYLE
ATTENDANCE
PRESENT:
Brian Gilmore
(Chair, MSCC), Alison Service (MSCC Treasurer), Anne Laing (MSCC Secretary) Anthony
Holmes (Thirlestane Lane Association) , Emma Willson (local resident), Nigel
Ayton (Grange Association), Susie Agnew (MSCC), Margaret Coughtrie (local
resident), Liane Phillips (MSCC Publicity), Kayleigh Gordon (MSCC Publicity),
Alastair Philp (local resident), Sarah Sandow (local resident), Douglas Rogers (MSCC),
Tim Wright (local resident), Cllr. Marie-Clair Munro, Cllr. Ben Parker, Cllr.
Pauline Flannery
APOLOGIES:
Nil
IN ATTENDANCE
Modupe Ojo (Minutes Secretary)
Catherine Henderson
(Scottish Water)
Graeme (Scottish
Water Site Manager)
DISCUSSIONS
The meeting began at
7:31 p.m.
Catherine Henderson
gave an update on the ongoing Scottish Water project in the area. She began
with an overview of the project which is the upgrade of the sewer system in the Marchmont
area. The project involves increasing the capacity of the sewer network by
putting in a 15m diameter, 20m deep stormwater tank, and upsizing the sewer
pipes along Marchmont Crescent which is ongoing. The enabling work for the
stormwater tank is ongoing, but no major excavation will happen until the new
year (2023). The project will last for
16 months if everything goes smoothly. She added that a nice wraparound has
been designed for the hoardings around the main site with climate campaign
messages and the designs would hopefully be finalised and put up before
Christmas. Disruption-wise, the first phase of the project began on 7th
of November and should be completed just before the Christmas holiday. According
to Graham, the next phase of the project won’t start till the 9th of
January 2023. Catherine added that
letters would go out imploring people to move their cars out of the next phased
section where suspensions will be placed to ensure there is no avoidable delay.
She added that as the project proceeds to other sections, the Scottish Water
website (https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/In-Your-Area/Investments-in-Your-Area/Marchmont-Road-Edinburgh)
will be updated with relevant information and she can also be contacted via her
email address.
Catherine added that they have been trying to
reach the Council about extending and allowing people to park outwith their
normal zones but were yet to get a response on this. Cllr. Parker said the Councillors
present at the meeting would look into this.
Kayleigh asked to confirm if the sewer system will
benefit both those in Marchmont Crescent and Marchmont Road, and Catherine
confirmed this was the case.
Sarah stated how impressed she was with the speed
with which they had gone about beginning the project, and things are being done
efficiently. She asked for reassurance on how the state of the pavement would
be improved at the end of the project. Catherine stated that Scottish Water
would reinstate anything worked on at the end of the project.
Cllr. Munro asked if Catherine had any update about
the plans for university buses operating along that area. Catherine said they
had contacted the university directly and it would not be till towards the end
of the project, and they would contact the university again towards this period
and update any available information on bus diversions the website.
Douglas asked if they would have to go into the
bedrock for only the stormwater tank or for the sewer as well. He also asked
how they intend to handle the flower beds/planters along Marchmont and
Catherine said they would be moved carefully if they are in the way at all.
Margaret asked if there are any plans for the other
parts of the Meadows as she was also experiencing some form of flooding issues
in her house and had contacted Scottish Water but was yet to get a response.
Catherine stated that Scottish Water was aware of these kind of issues but due
to available resources, they need to prioritise and the flooding team was
getting a lot of calls but someone will eventually get back to her. Margaret
asked to know what metrics Scottish Water was working on to know what dictates
concerns/actions on what projects to prioritise. Catherine noted that it was a
changing process and it is when there is a justifiable need and there is
justification but that this wasn’t her area of expertise. Cllr. Parker stated
there was a lot of work being done by the Council on climate adaptation, and
the Council can therefore also be informed about this kind of issue.
Alastair stated he understood there were some
suggestions about Scottish Water providing money for trees, and Catherine and
Graeme confirmed this was the case.
Anthony asked if there was any form of lobbying being
done about the wet wipes which was reported to have caused 80% of the blockages
but which are actually being marketed as flushable. Catherine noted that this
was a complicated issue, but the core message of Scottish Water is that wet
wipes should not be flushed.
Cllr Munro asked if there is a rough estimate as to how
long the project will last, and Catherine said it will take around 16 months
but if there are any delays, it will be updated on the website accordingly. Cllr.
Munro also asked for assurance that there were security systems in place at the
site, and Graeme confirmed there were measures in place. Catherine also added
that they would engage in the new year with the schools which would include
some safety talks.
Draft Minutes of last
meeting 26th October 2022
Corrections were made to
the Minutes. Alison moved the motion for adoption and it was seconded by Susie.
Publicity
Kayleigh updated that the digital footfall on the
MSCC sites has increased by about 40% over the past few months which is quite a
big turnout. For the twitter account, she stated that people had been tagging
the account on different issues and she wanted to know how to deal with these
issues. She said that currently the main focus for publicity is the Christmas
tree event and posters have been put up and Alison has been speaking to local businesses
about it and they are being supportive.
Resolution:
It was agreed that issues arising from the online
tagging to the twitter account should be directed to the Councillors.
Meadows & Bruntsfield Links:
Including FOMBL report
Alison said there is a public meeting on 24th
November 2022 with a talk about Hibs and Hearts FCs playing in past times on
the Meadows but there is no trustees meeting date set yet. Anne said the FOMBL
newsletter has also been circulated. Alison said she would send the link to the
newsletter to the publicity team to advertise.
City Councillor report on topical local
issues
Cllr. Flannery reported :
* That Sciennes primary school was still awaiting
confirmation with respect to the status of the street presently blocked to
motor traffic becoming a permanent part of the playground, but things are still
in abeyance on that.
* The council are seeking suggestions for warm and
welcome spaces for winter such as churches, libraries, museums to get in
contact with her with ideas.
* The Gaelic implementation group which was suspended
before the election is about to meet again, but the details of the meeting has
not yet been finalised.
* James Gillespie’s High School Trust were looking
for new Trustees and anyone interested can contact her or Sheena for more
details.
* There were still two live consultations—one relating
to Housing with Multiple Occupancies and another on World Heritage site
management plan and encouraged anyone interested to give their views on the consultations.
Cllr. Parker reported:
* The City Plan which dictates the future and
planning decisions in the city would go through planning committee at the end
of the month and will be submitted to the Scottish Government before it is
returned to the Council possibly with some revisions for implementation.
* The HMO consultation will be closing at the end of
December
* The World Heritage Site Mgmt Plan consultation will
close also end December
* The thriving
green spaces consultation is also ongoing and it has been extended till the end
of December and gives more time for contributions.
* There is a new biodiversity action plan and there
is a lot of exciting work anyone interested can get involved with.
* A new group called Marchmont Neighbours are having
a storytelling event on Saturday 10th December and he would send the
link to anyone interested in getting involved.
Cllr. Munro reported:
* She has already emailed the council about the current graffiti on
the Born Free installation on the Meadows and hopefully something would be done
soon about it.
* The transport committee was also working on
addressing the issues with the EV charge points as it has been discovered that
some users of the EV charge points were not able to take advantage of their
22kW capacity because the on-board chargers in their cars have lower capacity,
typically 7kW. Thus those users cannot
get enough charge in the three hour limit for each charging sessions and excess
charges were given to those who stayed beyond that period, and the committee
was considering how to address this issue.
Douglas explained how EV vehicle chargers work and
said there is a need for more 7kw chargers on the lamp posts. Cllr. Munro said
the current budget is very tight and may not be able to accommodate this.
Alastair Philp said he wrote to the Council some
years ago about the strategy for widespread electric vehicles in the city as
charging at a distance from your home may be a disincentive to using electric
vehicles. He asked about Edinburgh’s policy for charging electric vehicles in
tenement areas. Anne said the Scottish National Investment Bank tried to invest
in Trojan Energy which is a provider of plug-in charger points on the
pavements, but she was unsure how this would work.
Cllr Parker explained that the council has a number
of climate strategies, one of which is the council's emissions reduction plan
that focuses on the council's internal emissions. He added that key parts of
the council's emissions strategy are focused on buildings and the way we heat
our homes and also the transport system, because those are the two biggest sources
of emissions and he said the council has an internal strategy to address this.
Also, transport is a major concern and the emphasis is on reducing the number
of private vehicles that we have in the city, and not only about electric
vehicles. Having lamppost charging around the city for electric vehicles creates
its own problems and that the main emphasis should be on congestion and the
need to reduce private vehicles in the city centre.
Douglas noted that forcing people out of using their
cars by not being able to access charging points would mean those living in new
housing around the green belt will have an advantage in that they can come into
town and block up roads and cause more congestion.
Cllr Munro said that on the issue of the pavement
condition outside Marchmont Hardware, she said the feedback she got was that
the condition of the pavement was not bad enough. Brian also read the mail
printout given by Kayleigh stating that the pavement was assessed and deemed
priority 4 which did not require immediate attention. Cllr Munro said someone
else had fallen on that pavement and she had contacted the authority again stating
that she was not satisfied with the email sent and wanted to do a personal
inspection with them.
She further updated that she and the other Councillors
were contacted by the developers of Midmar Paddock (which is currently used for
recreational purposes) to ask for a meeting with the Councillors in order to
show them more detailed plans. She said she would organise a meeting.
Anne raised the problem of the potential sinkhole at
the bottom of Sylvan Place which she was told has been reported to the Council by
Downing Construction but was not sure if anything had been done about it. Cllr
Flannery offered to deal with this if Anne emailed her about it.
Christmas event
Alison updated that everything has been organised and
all relevant permissions has been obtained. However, helpers are needed at the event itself.
Alastair Philp said that if Alison contacted his wife she might be able to
spread the word about helpers at the JG Parents Association. Alison said she
would do that and would contact the Sciennes Head Teacher as well. There is no need for staging as the Acapella Kids
would sing in the Church hall. The event will start by 4:30 p.m.
Sick Kids site: update
Anne said the update on this has been circulated.
Douglas said there had been a successful meeting with
the Home Group who are building the affordable housing block at the bottom of
Sylvan Place and doing the site landscaping.
He said he had already sent out some notes on this meeting. He asked for
the Community Council to support him in getting Square and Crescent, the
developers of the Victorian buildings and the old main hospital Building for
private housing to meet him and anyone else interested to get specific details
about the renovations envisaged, such as
the insulation, heating etc but that their communication was poor. Anne said the email sent earlier implied they
would not be having a meeting till February.
Douglas also raised the issue about cobbles (setts) for
Sylvan Place to be reinstalled, and said he wanted to petition the council to
review this. It was suggested he check around the neighbours as not everyone
there would welcome cobbles – they can be very noisy!
Resolutions: It was agreed that Douglas should survey
the residents to see who wanted the cobbles or not
Astley Ainslie Hospital
Redevelopment: update
Nil
Condition of pavements
Update given above under Councillor
Topical Issues by Cllr. Munro.
Proposed defibrillator
No news back on this though the fund
raising is ongoing.
Planning applications
Nigel
said some local residents were upset about the planning application at 30
Mansionhouse Road to build a new 2-storey house in the grounds, in place of its
double garage. The Grange Association
has a meeting on Monday and expected a decision to object.
Grange Cemetery update
Nigel said the update has been circulated and more
volunteers were always welcome.
Treasurer's report
The balance is
now £1932
Meetings attended
Douglas said he has attended all the meetings offered
associated with COP27 and he will send an email summarizing them plus some
comments on the discussions at the meeting.
AOCB
Nil
Date of next meeting
Wednesday 25thJanuary
2023
