Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council
Minutes of Meeting held on May 22nd, 2023 at St. Catherine’s Argyle
Church Hall
Present: Brian Gilmore - Chair, MSCC, Alison Service - MSCC
Treasurer, Anne Laing - MSCC Secretary, Douglas Rogers - MSCC, Cllr. Tim
Pogson, Archie Minto (local resident), Edith Stewarts (local resident), May
Bowie (local resident), Sheila Sproule (local resident), Caroline Ferguson
(local resident), Bob Gates (local resident), Margaret Minto (local resident),
Fraser McKendrick - Earl of Marchmont, Donald Henderson - Grange Association,
Ruth Robertson (local resident), Jamie Long (local resident), Carol
Howard-Williams (local resident), Alastair Philip (local resident)
Apologies: Susan Agnew - MSCC, Anthony
Holmes
Attending: Nora Flynn-McIver - Minutes
Secretary
Meeting began at 7:34pm
Draft Minutes of 26/04/23
Alison moves to pass, Douglas seconds, passed unanimously
Reminder to ask Anthony Holmes about putting parking/Warrender
Baths on the next agenda.
Matters Arising
No updates
Conservation and Adaptation Consultation
Douglas Rogers has provided a consultation regarding debate on
insulation in listed buildings, outlining what the CC and local residents need
to know. This will be circulated in the next few days.
Publicity
No updates
Meadows and Bruntsfield Links
No current updates
City Councillor report on local issues
Cllr. Tim Pogson: CEC is working with Sciennes Primary Parent Council on
Sciennes Road closure and playground. Temporary road closure will stay in place
for now, but the works on the school itself should be ending, therefore less
road closure is needed. Council is hoping to get a permanent road closure near
that area and are currently working on it.
Various parking dispensations were suspended with immediate effect, but
this has now been put on hold because of how quickly this decision was made and
will not be enforced until at least August 7th.
Consultation ongoing on making the road closure at Whitehouse Loan
permanent, but the issue is contentious.
There are works on Kilgraston Road to improve different junctions and
making the area safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Meadows toilets: Temporary toilets still not in situ yet. The leader of
the Council got involved today to get them in place as soon as possible. Alison
questioned why the installation took so long, flags that the request should be
put in place much earlier so that toilets are in place in early May. The
Council is also looking into a permanent solution for the future. Carol
Howard-Williams asked about this and Cllr. Pogson replies that they are looking
at this for next year but there is not a concrete timeline yet. Fraser McKendrick,
Earl of Marchmont manager, offers their toilet for those in the Meadows until
early June.
41 Bus Issue
Councillors have been in touch with Lothian Buses, with two responses.
First: fairly standard response, loss of government subsidy as of the end of March,
Lothian buses is looking at which routes are most profitable for them and are
having to make cuts. The big problem is the issue of rerouting the bus across
the bridges. Lothian Buses seem very unlikely to make any change on the issue,
other than a promise to monitor the situation, which is unfeasible. Ian Murray
has a petition going on the bus routes issue, which goes beyond just the 41
bus. Responsibility lies with Scott McArthur, head of transport commission, and
people should be getting in contact with him, and maintain pressure on Lothian
buses to at least reroute some buses to ensure that all areas are served. Brian
Gilmore asks about the George Street New Town project which would stop the 41
bus running there, as this is the remit of the Council. Tim Pogson said that he
would check on this issue and see how it affects bus services. Alastair Philip
asked about plans to include cycling routes on George IV Bridge and whether
this plan played a part in the Lothian Buses decision. Cllr. Pogson said that
there is likely still funding being gathered for this. Archie Minto asked why
the 41 bus has been channelled towards Nicholson Square, as the George IV
Bridge work won’t start for another year. Cllr. Pogson said that Counsellors
have asked about this and have not received a satisfactory answer. Cllr. Pogson
suggested that he check with Lothian Buses in about a month, after pressure has
been applied. Edith Stewarts flags that many older members of the community
depend on the 41 bus to be able to access centrally based necessities like the
post office. Cllr. Pogson suggests that MSCC reach out to Lothian Buses
directly, and Alison volunteered to do this, taking into account the poins
raised at this meeting. Anne Laing suggests that an alternative could be that
the 41 goes down Chambers Street thus cutting the distance to walk to the
Central library and PO. Caroline Ferguson flags that there are a lot of
disabled and elderly people in Marchmont and they depend on the 41 to be able
to go places (ie. the Central Library, National Library, Santander Bank,
M&S on Princes St). They now have to change buses, which can be very
difficult. Students have not been inconvenienced to the same extent as elderly
and disabled community members. Margaret Minto flagged that this is likely to
affect parents of young children trying to get to the Children’s Library. Bob
Gates asked if the George Street issue may be less of an issue than the Lothian
Buses is making it seem, and also asked what is the best way to protest the bus
change. Brian Gilmore pointed out that this was done with very little
consultation with the community. Cllr. Pogson notes that, while Lothian Buses
did follow the law as far as consultations go, it would have been advantageous
if they had reached out beforehand to discuss with the Council. Cllr. Pogson
also recommended emailing Lothian Buses directly, and said he is happy to do he
can to try and rectify the issue. Brian Gilmore recommended emailing all
councillors to make the issues known. Edith Stewarts flagged that it may be
problematic for Ian Murray’s petition to only be accessible online, and Cllr.
Pogson said he will flag this to Ian Murray to circulate. Alison asked if it
would be helpful to mention the lack of consultation when reaching out to
Lothian Buses, and Cllr. Pogson confirmed this would make sense. May Bowie
asked who is in charge of where traffic goes, and whether the Council has
control over what buses can go on which routes. Cllr. Pogson says that the
Council has no direct control over where Lothian Buses sets their routes, but
does have a level of representation and influence. Douglas Rogers asked if
Lothian Buses publishes usage data, it seems that they do not. Alastair Philip
asked if the Council can subsidise specific routes, but Cllr. Pogson said that
he didn’t think that the Council can specifically subsidise bus routes, and has
had trouble in the past convincing Lothian Buses to put routes where they are
needed. Bob Gates asked what degree of influence the average age of passengers
has, because of bus passes, but was told it is unlikely to be an issue as they receive
money for all those on bus passes. Cllr. Pogson suggested it might be useful to
have a Lothian Buses representative invited to the next meeting. Brian Gilmore
asked if Cllr. Pogson could see if it is within the Council’s power to
subsidise a bus route.
Sick Kids site
Douglas Rogers, Cllr. Tim Pogson, and Anne Laing met with Home Group recently
and discussed their traffic plan, which is to close the bottom of Sylvan Place
for 14 months. This amount of time could be shortened but will not go below a
year, and will begin in August. Douglas feels the community will have to live
with this, despite frustrations with the issue. Brian Gilmore asked how much is
being closed and was told about half of the road is being closed with a barrier
on the pavement edge. Douglas suggested inviting a representative from JR Group
(the construction group working on site) to the next meeting and allowing
community feedback.
It is likely that the Mortuary Chapel will be put up for sale by
Downing. Groups are asking about preserving the murals in the Mortuary Chapel.
Archie Minto asked if the Chapel is listed, Douglas responds that everyone
involved is aware of the historical value of the site. Downing wants some money
for the site because they can no longer put housing units there. There has been
no significant positive move from any groups involved (Traquair Trust and
Historic Scotland) to give a solution of any sort.
Douglas also discussed with them how the streets in the area will be
restored, and will suggest that Sciennes Road outside the block become a play
street.
Cllr. Pogson asked about the previous suggestion to turn the Mortuary
Chapel into a community space, but Douglas thought this is not a viable
solution. Alastair Philip asked whether the Mortuary Chapel would make a good
community space, and Douglas said there are certain areas in the building that
could be used as a community space.
Astley Ainslie Hospital redevelopment
Cllr. Pogson is currently trying to set up a meeting between the groups
involved in the redevelopment, planning, and the NHS. There are other
priorities for the groups involved, therefore nothing will happen there for a
while yet.
Anne will take this off of the agenda for the next meeting.
Arden Street Proposal - Jamie Long
Arden Street has very little availability for pedestrians, and |Jamie is
suggesting that the parking be angled by 45 degrees to allow the road to become
one-way, which then reduces the road by 25%, which allows more room for
pedestrians. Two problems with this: first, there are communal rubbish bins on
both sides of the street which inconveniences the rubbish truck. Second, a lot
of people are moving into this area, so there would need to be dedicated
loading spaces. James has circulated this around the neighbourhood and has
gotten a relatively positive response. He would also like for the bays to be
clearly painted. He also proposed a new parking/street plan for the Marchmont
area. Alastair Philip voiced certain objections to the Arden Street proposals
which he’d not heard about though he’s resident there, as the number of parking
spaces is already limited. Donald Henderson pointed out that people are
complaining about some vehicles being too large for the area, and suggested
that the Council charge parking fees based on size of vehicle. Cllr. Tim Pogson
said that Jamie should send his proposal to all the ward councillors, as there
are multiple levels of stages in the proposal. It was suggested that he wait
and see how the new placement of the refuse bins affect the street. Caroline
Ferguson suggested that university students should not be allowed to have cars
in the City Centre.
Scottish Water issue
Archie Minto asked what the timeline looks like for the closure of the
South side of Marchmont Crescent and was told that the MSCC will contact them
for an update for the next meeting.
Defibrillator issue - Earl of Marchmont
The present leaseholder of the Earl of Marchmont is giving up the pub,
and if Fraser McKendrick replaces him, he will get the defibrillator set up
right away. If he does not get the post then he suggested that the
defibrillator be given to a different business in the area (like ScotMid) to
house it in the street (relevant planning permission should be pretty
straightforward). Margaret Minto mentioned that there is one outside Saundersons
Butchers in Tollcross and they could advise on this. Alison to liaise with
Fraser on this after his meeting with the Brewery this week.
Fraser also suggested that maybe Lothian Buses could set up a mini-bus
once or twice a week to help locals affected by the 41 bus closure, and he offered
(if he becomes the new leaseholder) to help offset some of the costs.
Planning applications
Donald Henderson of the Grange Association said that a few planning
applications have been submitted.
Permission for a 5G mast is being applied for at the bottom of
Whitehouse Loan, there have been multiple objections.
24 Mansionhouse Road application has been put in, objections have been
stated.
140 Causewayside (office block near Tesco), proposal for demolition to
be replaced by a student accommodation site. Cllr. Pogson is generally opposed
to student accommodation development, and wants to question why this could not be
an affordable housing site. Issue raised that affordable housing is necessary
for everyone, including students, and any replacement for this development
could possibly welcome students as well as non-students. Two events are
happening regarding this development, 1st is on the 15th of June, 2nd is on the
27th of July, both from 4pm-7:30pm at Mayfield Church.
Grange Cemetery
No updates.
Treasurer’s Report
£1408 in the bank at the moment.
Meetings attended
No updates.
AOCB
Alastair Philip asked about the suggestion of the community buying the
St Catherine’s Argyle church that was suggested at the last meeting. There have
been no updates on this.
Margaret Minto mentioned that the notice board outside ScotMid is not up
to date, and MSCC will follow up with the Publicity team.
Date of next meeting
Next meeting will be June 28th, along with the AGM
Reports
