Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council
Minutes of Meeting held on April 26th, 2023 at St. Catherine’s Argyle
Church Hall
Present
Brian Gilmore - Chair, MSCC, Alison Service - MSCC Treasurer, Douglas
Rogers - MSCC, Susie Agnew - MSCC, Cllr. Ben Parker, Anthony Holmes -
Thirlestane Lane Association, Val Carson - local resident, Maggie Carson -
local resident, Jamie Long - local resident, Margaret Coughtrie - local
resident, William McGhee - St Catherine’s church representative
Apologies
Anne Laing - MSCC Secretary, Donald Henderson - Grange Association,
Kayleigh Gordon - MSCC Publicity, Liane Phillips - MSCC Publicity
Attending
Nora Flynn-McIver - Minutes Secretary
Meeting began at 7.36pm:
Draft Minutes of 22/03/23 Meeting
Issue noted on section about Sick Kids site, changes 2m to 600mm
Alison moves to pass, Douglas seconds
Publicity
No updates
Meadows and Bruntsfield Links, FOMBL Report
Benches have been restored, there are two new benches ready to be
installed across from the James Gillespie School. Tree group has planted 21
trees.
Going to have a water tap installed at the pavilion for watering and
maintenance.
Wildflower Meadows is going ahead, bulbs are being delivered and
planted. David Kyle has been very supportive in all efforts. Mowing rota has been changed so that it does not
interfere with the wildflower areas.
Allocating bird-friendly, low-bush area around the playground and tennis
courts.
Issues brought up with Red Bull commercial event promoting a future
event. FOMBL objecting as it is purely an advertising event. After discussing
it was agreed MSCC write to object to this event.
City Council Report
The council has been on recess for the last three weeks.
Councillors are still looking for a full update on the Warrender Baths
swimming pool.
TRO Travelling Safely orders will be readvertised due to previous
errors. Six month consultation period will begin again. Things that have
already been submitted will still be counted. More information will be coming
out soon.
Consultation on City Mobility plan is live now.
Consultation on busking amplification will go live in May.
All Party Oversight Group for Festival Events has flagged that this year
is exceptionally busy for event applications, which already exceed last year.
Alison asked about temporary public toilets for the Meadows in warm
weather, as she has emailed about this and has not heard anything back. Ben to check
into this.
Douglas asked about plans for extending a bike route from the Meadows
down the Mound. Ben check but it is outside of his ward. This might be delayed
due to the TRO process.
Douglas asked about a consultation on listed buildings and insulating
them with a net-zero policy. He will email Ben about this.
Anthony said that the Thirlestane Lane Assoc will no longer allow
parking to Warrender Baths workers when it opens for the sake of ensuring green
policy.
Kayleigh wrote about a damaged bollard near Marchmont Hardware following
a car crash in March; wants to see this fixed due to safety.
Police box on Marchmont Crescent is sinking; Ben will look into this.
St Catherine’s Church update
The church is being sold off as a part of a larger group sale in 2024.
The group is proposing a community right to buy for the church, and is looking
for support from the local community. The group is still working on developing a vision,
but the current thought process is to turn the church into a mixed community
space and continue to allow various groups to use the spaces.
Susie asked whether there would still be a Sunday service. William said
that people are being relatively cautious because of certain arcane rules based
on the Church of Scotland, but part of the reason for the community right to
buy is so that people have a place to worship.
If the community right to buy does not go through, the alternative would
likely be private residential development.
Susie asked about whether the groups that use the space would be
sufficient profit. William said that they are currently sustaining the church
and there could be other spaces in the church used to maximise profit.
William asked for the endorsement of the MSCC for the community buy.
MSCC agreed to support the proposal of a community buyout and will liaise with
William on how it can help with canvassing the community at large. William will maintain contact with the MSCC on
this.
Sick Kids Site Update
Douglas is having a meeting with Home Group on May 11th; they
are supposed to take control of the site on the 17th but there is no update on
the electricity.
The Sick Kids development was confirmed to be the cause of power cuts
affecting businesses in the Marchmont area, Kayleigh via Brian asked that Ben
make sure that no more unscheduled power cuts happen.
Astley Ainslie Hospital Redevelopment
No updates.
Pavement on Chalmer’s Crescent
The lower end towards Argyle Place has been resurfaced, Warrender Park
Road still needs to be resurfaced.
Scottish Water issues
50% way through building the tank at the Bruntsfield Links site, should
take about 6 more weeks.
Have been able to preserve tree at Marchmont Crescent. Still working on
the North side of Marchmont Crescent.
Buses got cancelled due to works, but works never happened. This may be
due to a delay due to some mistakes made. Provided updates may not be
completely accurate.
Ben will email Katherine Henderson to follow up on updates.
Planning Applications
No updates.
Conservation and Adaptation consultation
Douglas will prepare something to present at the May meeting.
Grange Cemetery Update
No updates.
Treasurer’s Report
£1448 in the bank now.
Looking for local projects to support; could help with printing leaflets
for the St Catherine’s Church buy out effort.
The Earl of Marchmont pub is still waiting for planning permission to
place their defibrillator outside the pub; Ben to check on this. ~At Susie’s suggestion, Alison to look into
organising a defibrillator training event with St Johns.
Meetings Attended
No updates.
AOCB
Residents of the Home Royal House on Chalmers’ Crescent are having a
meeting on May 11th and would like for a Councillor to attend, along with
members of MSCC.
The wall on Sylvan Place is bulging due to a tree’s roots; barriers have
been placed in front of the wall. The wall will have to be taken down and
rebuilt by the residents of the property. Alison knows people in the property, and
will pass contacts along to Douglas.
This year is the centurion anniversary for the Astley Ainsley Hospital;
there will be a large event on 29th of October.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be on Wednesday, 31st
May rather than the usual 24th May. Please note the change of date.
