Marchmont
and Sciennes Community Council
Minutes of
Meeting held on May 24th, 2024 at St. Catherine’s Argyle Church Hall
Present: Brian
Gilmore - Chair, Anne Laing - MSCC Secretary, Alison Service - MSCC Treasurer,
Douglas Rogers - MSCC, Cllr. Pauline Flannery, Stephen Antram - local resident
Apologies: Susie
Agnew - MSCC, Lianne Phillips - MSCC Publicity, Kayleigh Gordon - MSCC
Publicity
Attending: Nora
Flynn-McIver - Minutes Secretary
Meeting began at 7:32pm
Draft Minutes of 24/04/24
Alison notes that 27-31 Ratcliffe
Terrace should be listed as a property, not a house, and also requested that it
be clarified that Calum Bell will be donating the table tennis and benches to
FOMBL, but they do not yet have these.
Anne moves to pass, Alison seconds,
the minutes pass.
Matters Arising
None.
Police Report
None.
City Councillor report on local
issues
On the bin hub issue: Cllr. Flannery
gave statistics on bin hubs - there have been 135 changes to bin hubs,
approximately 9% of bin hubs in total. There will be a list of changes
published and there are some changes to come as well. The main difficulty is
the rigidity of the application of the criteria for bin hub placement. In some
places, there were particularly good reasons for moving bin hubs that have not
made the bins be moved. Controlled Parking Zones is another reason why moving
bin hubs is difficult. There are some bin hubs where CPZs are different, so 2/9
properties on a street are in one area and 52 are in another. The ward
councillors are meeting in the next few weeks to try and figure out the issue.
The noise of the glass bins is also being addressed because the lining of the
bins is not sufficient. Douglas asked about whether there might be a mandate to
recycle glass through shops, but this seems unlikely.
Brian notes the circulated email
from Cllr. Ross about Cllr. Osler bringing a motion to the committee tomorrow,
Cllr. Flannery believes that this motion is a possibility for to go through.
The bins that have not been changed already will be monitored and will
hopefully be able to be changed if necessary.
It may be possible for the bins to
be changed without a TRO if moving them takes less than 45 minutes, Cllr.
Flannery is going to check on this.
There is a meeting of the Transport
and Environment Committee covering bin hubs on the 23rd.
There is a local housing strategy
online and people can sign up and give their views - this may be specifically
relevant in Marchmont/Sciennes due to its diverse population.
The student housing application on
Causewayside was withdrawn, but there is a possibility that the sale of
Summerhall could result in more student housing. Summerhall is being sold with
protections for the groups that use it, meaning that it is likely to still be
an arts community centre of some sort. The property has also acquired an
alcohol license for the entire property. It is possible that one part of the
property will be sold but not the others. Cllr. Flannery will be looking into
what parts of the property are listed. There is a petition on Change.org about
the sale of Summerhall and there have been meetings and requests for
councillors to try and give support. If people want to try to preserve
Summerhall, this likely needs to be a community effort.
The feasibility for the tram
extension from the North to the South will be looked at tomorrow, but the money
necessary is not available at the moment - it would be difficult to justify
this cost to council. If this does go through, there will be a consultation.
Douglas asked about what is
happening to St Catherine’s Argyle church, Anne says that it is being sold at
the end of the year and the congregation is merging with Marchmont St Giles - a
new name for the union is being chosen but has not been decided on yet.
Publicity
None.
Planning applications
Grange Association report has been
circulated.
FOMBL Report & Meadows Festival
There will be an AGM in June along
with a public meeting, this is on their website and has been circulated to the
MSCC mailing list.
There should be updates upcoming
about the installation of the toilets, the only current information is that
they are on their way.
MSCC will be contributing to the
Southside Community Council’s tent at the Meadows Festival.
Update on Sewer Flooding project
Two updates have been circulated,
including a diagram of the plans for the works.
Treasurer’s Report
£1280 in the bank, the audit is done
and ready for the AGM.
Meetings attended
None.
Bin Hub Situation
Anne reached out on behalf of the
MSCC to Michael Richardson, but the only response was an attachment to the next
two phases. Alison wrote to Cllr. Pogson about the planning and whether there
is any flexibility. Cllr. Flannery notes that it is worth reaching out again
and copying in Paul Lawrence, who is high on the chain of command. Stephen
Antram has reached out to Paul Lawrence, who delegated to a clerk, and he got a
response eventually. His bin hub is now being used as a smoking area and people
have been dumping garbage disproportionately in his bin. Cllr. Flannery notes
that it is good to continue exerting pressure, specifically referencing bad
communication and lack of consultation. The motion going in tomorrow is
specifically on the impact on the local community. Brian spoke with Cllr.
Arthur about the bin hubs and got nowhere.
AOCB
Douglas is going to try to figure
out who now owns Mortuary Chapel, as it has been sold by Downing, possibly to a
student accommodation company.
Stephen Antram also notes that the
storm drains need to be cleaned - he has reported this to council, but nothing
has happened. Cllr. Flannery will chase this up. There are also several
overflowing bin hubs near the previous Downing site, Douglas is going to chase
this up.
Dates of events taking place in the
Meadows:
27-28 May, James Gillespie’s High
School Sports Day
29 May, Sciennes School Sports Day
14 June, Archers event
6 July, World Naked Bike Ride
15 July, World Orienteering
Championships
28 July, Mindful Peace Walk
Date of next meeting
Wednesday, June 26th, 2024 - the AGM
will also be at this meeting
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