Marchmont
and Sciennes Community Council
Minutes of
Meeting held on March 27th, 2024 at St. Catherine’s Argyle Church Hall
Present: Brian
Gilmore - Chair, MSCC, Anne Laing - MSCC Secretary, Alison Service - MSCC
Treasurer, Douglas Rogers - MSCC, Susie Agnew - MSCC, Cllr. Tim Pogson, Cllr.
Neil Ross, Carolina McKellar - Sciennes Parents Council, Gordon Molholland -
local resident, Ryan Gilmour - local resident, Rhona Mechen - local resident,
Jenny Davidson - local resident, Lisa Craig - local resident, Celia Morfi -
local resident, Sheila Spraule - local resident, Evelyn Dickie - local
resident, Kate McNairney - local resident, Ruth Dolan - local resident, Suzie
Weigert - local resident, Sandra Jack - local resident, Nick Hepworth - local
resident, Silke Dykstra - local resident, Stephan Antic?? - local resident,
Beverly Frison - local resident, Patrick Frison - local resident, Patricia
Paolozze Cain - local resident, Edward Milligan - local resident
Apologies: Anthony
Holmes - Thirlestane Lane Association, Kayleigh Gordon - MSCC Publicity, Lianne
Phillips - MSCC Publicity
Attending: Nora
Flynn-McIver - Minutes Secretary
Meeting began at 7:35pm
Draft Minutes of 28/02/24
Clarified that the bin hub situation
has been added to the agenda. Anne moves to pass, Alison seconds. Minutes pass.
Matters Arising
None.
Police Report
None this month.
JR Builders update
No report this month, Anne notes
that it seems to be progressing well.
Sciennes PTA - Caroline McKellar
There have been concerns for years
about the size of the playground in comparison to the size of the school, this
has become an increasing concern over time. When the road was closed, the
school started to utilize this area to widen the playground area. Now that the
Sick Kids site is closed, it is more reasonable to close this area permanently.
Thus far, a TRO has been advanced and are waiting for further action that has
been delayed. There is not expected to be material objections to this, the hope
is that the experimental closure will become permanent. Parents have been
volunteering to try to stop drivers from going through this area, but this is
not a good solution. The original TRO does not deal with what happens on either
side of the school, so there is a hope that this can be dealt with in the
future. Next step would be to deal with street signage to make it clearer to
drivers. In the future, the school would like this area to be a safe extension
to the playground. The design has only been circulated to the council officers
thus far, they had no real objection at the time. The TRO is not progressing
yet, there is a deadline of April 19th to move forward. Douglas Rogers notes
that it might be a good idea to make this area into a play street without any pavement
and with appropriate signage. Caroline notes that there are Council
restrictions for this and that it has to remain a road in technicality, though
it can look in many different ways. There are likely to be future issues with
how cyclists view and use the area, the school would like there to be one path
for pedestrians outside the bounds of the playground. Ryan Gilmour asks about
how this could affect the residents of the old Sick Kids site and whether their
needs have come into account. Caroline notes that this is probably the
responsibility of the planning people. Cllr. Pogson notes that he would expect
the developers to have thought about this quite a bit and that he thinks that
this might increase the value of the property. It is unclear how one can take
these perspectives into account, the developers have been spoken to and they
have been generally positive, this is likely the best way to try to take the
residents into account. Cllr. Pogson notes that what is being proposed is not
any different from what exists right now. Brian notes that we have to wait
until the consultation for this to be addressed, as it is not the school who
has any say in this.
City Councillor report on local
issues
Cllr. Ross:
There has been a consideration of
the Greenbank quiet cycle route recently, the results of a survey were
considered at committee, split into northern and southern sections. In the
northern section, there was no clear support for any of the four options, option
two, which addresses rat running, was accepted. This would block Clinton Road
to traffic. In the southern area, the most people supported option three, which
was separated bike lanes.
The Council has been asked by the
Fringe Society if they can take over the South Bridge Resource Centre because
they have the money to do the repairs. The classes that take place there will
be rehoused to community centres, engagement is under way for these
relocations. The new arrangements will take place from August.
On short-term lets, there have been
4000 applications put in, none have been refused. The result from the most
recent judicial reviews show that existing owners must rejustify their
application. Ruth Dolan asked if the change means that there will be the same
number of short-term lets, Cllr. Ross notes that regulations coming in is
rebalancing over time. There has not been time yet to look into unlicensed
operators, once this is done there may be a better idea of whether longer-term
housing is coming into play to a greater extent. Cllr. Pogson notes that a lot
of applications for planning permissions for short-term lets have been refused,
meaning that they can’t apply for permission to run them at all.
Cllr. Pogson:
On the Astley Ainsley site, Cllr.
Pogson recently met with the Astley Ainslie Community Trust, who are interested
in taking charge of this site in the future. There has been very very little
movement and there is little chance of the NHS moving off of the site any time
in the near future. Some services have moved back to this site, nothing is
likely to happen there until 2030. The community trust needs to be prepared to
move in the case that something suddenly happens, which could happen because
the NHS has few resources, so it might be appealing to sell to the highest
bidder in the future.
Anne asks for an update on the
proposals to extend the hours of parking charging to 10pm in the centre and
could extend to this area. Cllr. Pogson notes that he and Cllr. Ross do not
know about this and will find out about this for the future.
Susie Agnew asked that the Council
reverse its decision to allow people to nail memorial plaques to trees in the
Meadows due to the area not being a memorial garden. FOMBL is pushing for the
policy to change to be either hanging or plaques set in the
ground at the tree base.. Cllr. Pogson notes that the Edinburgh &
Lothian Green Space Trust has pushed this initiative to allow people to adopt
trees and care about trees. Brian notes that the council has to give approval
to do this. Cllr. Ross will look into this.
Ruth Dolan asked about the Astley
Ainslie site under the understanding that the person who gifted the site to the NHS under the condition that it must
be used for health care, Cllr. Pogson has heard this but there hasn’t been any
hard proof of this. Beverly Frison asks what the plans would be, Cllr. Pogson
notes that there are no existing plans and that there is the intention to do a
master plan but this is on the back burner at the moment.
Brian notes that a block of stone
has apparently fallen next to the Margiotta’s, the councillors do not know yet
what is being done about this. It is possible that somebody has dumped the
stone there because the stone does not match the stonework of the building.
Publicity
Anne has been putting up notices on
the notice boards but they are slightly out of date due to the windy weather
making it dangerous to open them.
Planning applications
Douglas speaks on 27/31 Ratcliffe
Terrace, which is being sold under the understanding that the frontage would be
kept, which is not under the plan. This is being turned into student
accomodation but many groups are planning on objecting to the planning
proposal. Cllr. Pogson is going to ask about this but this is outside of the
MSCC purview.
Edward Milligan notes that the Rajas
listed building planning application has been passed, despite many objections.
The main application has not yet been considered, only the listed building
consent has been approved. It is unclear why the application has been approved.
The residents in the building have sent a lawyer’s letter to Rajas about the
noise. Patricia Cain notes that the application passing is a problem and
indicates a part of the system that doesn’t work and has set a precedent that
could affect future issues. Residents and objectors do not have any standing in
the project. Cllr. Pogson said that planning decisions have to be taken in
light of planning legislation and cannot have an opinion on different things.
He doesn’t know the main difference between the listed building application and
the planning application but notes that the planning application still has to
go through. He also notes that it is unfortunate that residents do not have the
ability to appeal planning applications and that there was legislation for this
in the future that did not pass. Patricia notes that there is an inconsistency
in the application being passed and is unclear on what the difference would be
as to why it was failed before and passed now. Cllr. Ross will look into this.
Update on Sewer Flooding project
None.
Treasurer’s Report
£1524 in the bank.
Meetings attended
Douglas Rogers attended the
Edinburgh Climate Action Network meeting.
Bin Hub Situation
Many concerns were raised last
month, particularly about the lack of consultation and the effects on
residents. Over 80% of the people who Kate McNairney has spoken to are
distressed about this and have had little to no ability to have a consultation
on this or to contact the Council. Anne notes that people were invited along to
consultations approximately a year ago. Ruth Dolan notes that many people were
unaware of any consultation existing. There are also issues with the appearance
and smell of the bins. Gordon Molholland asks about whether the councillors
from last month were able to look into this. Cllr. Pogson speaks to the fact
that he has been involved in some conversations regarding moving bin hubs in
his ward, the number of disputes is relatively small in his experience.
According to his experiences, there were letters sent to residents about a
consultation (there was wide objection to this idea, it is likely that some
residents did recieve letters but not all). When changes were made, people were
apparently written to again to note that bin hubs had been changed. Officers
are still making changes and exploring other options. He notes that when
difficulties exist, people should approach their councillors. Cllr. Ross notes
that there are different approaches on this by different councillors. In
certain places, there were poorly advertised engagement meetings and few
letters sent out. The council has looked into changing the rules for bin hub
location and has loosened them slightly. There has been engagement with those
who have gotten in touch with Council in the Marchmont ward based on feedback
and officers have taken notes and have generally responded and said that there
are not alternatives. The rules likely need to be relaxed. As a result of the
criteria, it is difficult to move bin hubs. Gordon Molholland asks why
councillors can’t change the criteria. Cllr. Pogson notes that they can oppose
these rules. Nick Hepworth notes that the relocation framework is flawed in
several ways and is in breach of the Duty of Care regulations, meaning that you
cannot manage waste in a way that results in a nuisance to residents. Glass
recycling causes 85 decibels of noise when it is emptied, which is too high. He
asks what the councillors are doing as the council is acting illegally. Nick
requests that the MSCC make a deputation at a meeting for the council. Ruth
Dolan notes that there seems to have been little consideration for people as
opposed to traffic. Nick Hepworth said that it seems that councillors are able
to get their bin hubs changed. Evelyn Dickie notes that the bin hubs should not
be directly outside of people’s windows. Ruth Dolan notes that the people who
are most distressed about this are people who are less able to stand up for
themselves. Cllr. Pogson asks that people ask the questions that they need to
ask so that answers can be sought out. Brian notes that we can write out a
document noting that the noise level is too high. He also notes that the
inflexible 50 metre rule is also a problem and would like to get this chased up
as well. Douglas Rogers suggests putting forward a proposition urging the
council to explore the possibility of moving the hubs, possibly specifically to
street corners. Ruth Dolan suggests also requesting that the bin hubs be broken
up a bit into less bins in a group. Gordon Molholland also asks that a question
be asked about how planning is considered. Cllr. Pogson has asked about
aesthetic impact of the bins, and the answer to this may help answer other
questions. Evelyn Dickie requests that the MSCC challenge the level of
consultation that the city claims that was done. Jenny Davidson asks why the
food recycling bins are needed when the food buckets are still being picked up,
Anne clarifies that when you live in a flat, you don’t get a food bucket.
Patricia Cain requests a discussion as to how democratic input can be put into
a decision like this and to look into the systems and not just the individual
issues. Brian notes that many of the questions are not specific enough to get a
clear answer. Cllr. Pogson notes that it could be useful for several
councillors to meet and have a discussion on this issue. Ryan Gilmour points
out that the framework is flawed and the appeals are nonexistent and wants to
ask about the way that this has been done. Anne suggests having a public
meeting of some sort with the people involved. Cllr. Ross says that he will
request that the bin hub officers attend an MSCC meeting to explain their
procedure. Additionally, he notes that the rules are too strict despite having
been lessened slightly in the past year. He has been meeting with other
councillors to try and figure out a way forward, there are meetings of the
committee at the end of May and there can be a deputation, but there has to be
engagement in advance. Ruth Dolan speaks on behalf of a woman with a disability
in her arm who is having a lot of difficulty using the specific bins and would
prefer that the foot pedal be put back in use.
Questions to ask:
- The
view was expressed that glass bins near to residential properties do not
meet legislative requirements, in that they exceed a statutory noise limit
of 50db. Please comment.
- What
flexibility is there around the requirement that no resident should be
more than 50m from their bin hub?
- Bins in
groups of six are visually quite impactful. What scope is there to offer
communal bin hubs made up of fewer numbers of individual bins?
- What are the
arrangements for food waste collection between main door flats and
communal flats?
- Could
the bin hubs be placed on street corners rather than outside of people’s
doors?
AOCB
None
Date of next meeting
Wednesday, April 24th, 2024
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