Marchmont and Sciennes Community
Council
Minutes of Meeting held on
October 22nd, 2025 at St. Catherine’s Argyle Church Hall
Present
Brian Gilmore - Chair, MSCC
Alison Service - MSCC Treasurer
Anne Laing - MSCC Secretary
Kate McNairney - SMAG
Geoff Parson - MSCC
Peter Olech - MSCC
Cllr Neil Ross
Anthony Holmes - MSCC
Kayleigh Gordon - MSCC Publicity
Apologies
Douglas Rogers - MSCC Inclusion Officer
Richard Shillock
Susie Agnew
Liane Phillip
Attending
Eli Ferrell - Minutes Secretary
Meeting began at 19:31pm
A G E N D A
Sederunt and apologies
Brian welcomes everyone to the meeting. Sederunt
and apologies as above.
Draft Minutes of last meeting September 2025
Geoff moves to approve the minutes. Alison seconds.
Actions and matters arising (not otherwise on
Agenda)
The local PO distribution office on Strathearn Rd
will close on 27th October despite many petitions.
MSCC will get a photograph of the defibrillator and
put it up on the noticeboards. There has been a short publicity piece on
Channel 8 Lothian TV mentioning the defibrillator’s successful installation.
The pink electric bikes plan to go from 50 units to
370 units in the near future, and it is important to keep an eye on how they
plan to develop their service in Edinburgh. They geolocate an area where they
can be parked, and they cannot be parked outside of that area.
Police Report
No report provided.
Meadows & Bruntsfield Links (report attached)
AGM was on 26th September with a talk by local
historian Andy Arthur on the history of the walkways. The landscaping
continues. A large group of volunteers from the university (the Dirty
Weekenders) helped enormously with the wildflower area by the links.
Publicity
Publicity plans to get in touch with Edinburgh Live
and the Edinburgh Minute about interest for a piece on the defibrillator.
The defibrillator is not as noticeable at night as
it is during the day. However, the hope is that people will know it’s there due
to its visibility during the day.
Tony suggested that any posters for the
noticeboards could include information about the other defibrillators in
the area.
City Councillor report on topical local issues
Cllr Neil Ross reports that there were intended to
be temporary gas repair works near the petrol station on Comiston Road, but
those works have now been classified as an emergency and that road has been
shut down entirely.
The bin hub team is still working through their
summer review. They are progressing with it according to the new bin hub
criteria. Their report should be published before the January MSCC meeting.
They are developing a list of bin hubs that require addressing. It could be as
large as 200-300
There is no update about the double yellow lines
change request (intended for a variety of locations). Cllr Ross will follow up
on that request.
Obliterated (but still legally existent) double
yellow lines should be written about to your Cllr.
Inclusion Officer’s report
Douglas messaged to remind everyone that he is
giving a talk at the Civic Forum on the 30th of October (link sent).
Planning (report attached)
As long as you do not live in a listed area, there
is no need to apply for permission to change your windows on the side or the
rear of the house, or to apply for permission to change your front windows as
long as they are the same type of window.
No additional comments.
Treasurer’s report (attached)
£1938 in the bank, mainly because MSCC has been
given the 2024 annual grant which was not paid out last year. Nisbets cups have
been purchased for Christmas, and cork for the noticeboards has been purchased
as well.
The new bank account with Virgin Banking has been
obtained. Nothing has been transferred yet, but much of it will be imminently.
The old account will not be closed until Douglas is no longer using it.
SMAG report
SMAG is preparing a newsletter for November to
highlight their progress.
Meetings attended
Alison attended the AGM for FoMBL.
Plans for Xmas
Susie Agnew is going to be the master of
ceremonies for the Christmas event.
Peter nominates Children 1st Scotland. The vote is
unanimous. Children 1st Scotland will be the Christmas charity.
AOCB
Sciennes Road ETRO 25/24
The proposal is currently that pedestrians and
cyclists will be excluded from that passageway during school hours, although
pedestrians have not previously been part of the exclusion during past
conversations. There is concern that this could cause serious difficulty and
confusion , particularly for the elderly people who live in the area.
MSCC wishes to object to this. MSCC is happy for
the pavement on the North side to be completely closed, but the South side
should remain open. Cyclists can be excluded, but pedestrians should not be
excluded at any time.
Enforcement will be difficult since it’s during
only certain hours of the day.
Date of next meeting: Wednesday 26th November 2025
All who live or work locally are welcome to attend
Marchmont & Sciennes
