MSCC - Minutes for February 2026

 

Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council

Minutes of Meeting held on February 25th, 2026 at St. Catherine’s Argyle Church Hall

 

Present

Brian Gilmore - MSCC chair

Alison Service - MSCC Treasurer

Anne Laing - MSCC Secretary 

Douglas Rogers - MSCC Inclusion Officer

Kate McNairney - SMAG

Richard Shillcock - MSCC

Peter Olech - MSCC

Margaret Coughtrie - Local resident

Sara Kondracki - Local resident

Anthony Holmes – MSCC

Susan Agnew - MSCC

Cllr. Neil Ross

Cllr. Pauline Flannery

 

Apologies

Kayleigh Gordon & Liane Phillips - MSCC Publicity

Cllr Munro

 

Attending

Eli Ferrell - Minutes Secretary

 

Meeting began at 19:30pm

 

Sederunt and apologies

Brian welcomes everyone to the meeting. Sederunt and apologies as above.

 

Draft Minutes of last meeting June 2025

Anne moves to approve the minutes. Douglas seconds.

 

Actions and matters arising (not otherwise on Agenda)

Anne contacted Sgt Rachel Lumsden regarding the community meetings but has not had a reply

 

Meadows & Bruntsfield Links

None.

 

Police Report

No police report. Wednesday 18th February, two policemen were observed patrolling the Meadows on foot.

 

Publicity

No publicity report.

 

City Councillor report on topical local issues

Licensing conditions for pubs for FIFA World Cup: a general extension was agreed by the Board in line with other Scottish Cities. There would be a difficulty in complying with timescales to administer without this general extension. Only pubs/establishments that have televised sports within existing operating plans will be able to show FIFA games. It was agreed that the general extension covers all featured football matches and not just Scottish/UK games. Outdoor facilities may be granted to alcohol licences if they get a public entertainment licence. The Council is anticipating applications from pop up venues to show FIFA World Cup.

 

 

HMO license fees will be reviewed at the next regulatory meeting. The fees have been potentially too high for some period. Many HMOs were unable to move to three year licenses due to certification practicalities. Therefore, potentially HMO fees will be reduced and there are very unlikely to be increases at this time. 

 

There is a problem with deceased residents maintaining cycle hanger spaces. This will continue as long as the payments continue, because the cycle hanger spaces have been contracted to an outside company.

 

Cllrs to ask collectors to be more careful with the bins during collection in order to avoid replacements being needed at cost to the council. The replacement service is easy to use and quick.

 

 A resident in Warrender Park Crescent has reported the very poor the state of the road. He has emailed the local councillors, but nothing has been done. Brian has verified this report for himself and notes the road is difficult to pass due to this damage to the central strip of road. The pavement is also in poor condition and difficult for some wheelchair users. Complaint noted by the Councillors present.

 

Tomorrow is council budget day.

 

Inclusion Officer’s report (attached)

Community Space

Progress has been made with IQ students to allow the use of the community space thanks to input from Cllr Tim Pogson. It is hoped that the space will be used for money generating activities in order to fund the work required to bring it up to standard.

It is hoped that the MSCC meetings will be able to take place there soon.

Banzai Local (Bruntsfield Area net Zero Action Initiative) Place Plan Work

Banzai got a 5k grant to fund the project. Next Saturday they will be hosting a Peoples assembly at the Pianodrome building (St Oswalds Centre, Montpelier Park) Free lunch will be offered from 13:00, and discussions will take place from 14:00. 

 

Items for discussion

Planning (report attached)

The objection has been lodged regarding the Rillbank development, but has not yet been heard. There were over 100 objections. It is likely to go before planning soon. 

 

Treasurer’s report (attached)

The report has been circulated. The old bank account is now closed, so the council will no longer be paying monthly charges to that account. 

 

The defibrillator notice is going up on the publicity boards. The notice will include the other defibrillators in the area. The defibrillator has now been used.

 

SMAG report 

The TEC meeting has now taken place. Some aspects of the presentation were altered upon advice from MSCC. At the end of the presentation, Steven Jenkinson has offered to meet to discuss some of the most upsetting locations for the bin hubs. SMAG was uncomfortable with choosing more important locations because they represent the community as a whole, and so they have determined they will not note specific locations. They might highlight some locations upon Steven Jenkinson’s request to illustrate problems, but those will be examples.

 

A meeting is now scheduled with him.

 

266 bin hubs have been complained about. 22 will have their locations reassessed. Cllr Neil Ross notes that there will be a published reason why the 244 remaining bin hubs are not being reassessed.

 

In terms of practical solutions, some people at the Local Place Plan event noted other countries sometimes have bins underground.

 

Meetings attended

No meetings attended.

 

AOCB

 

The Together Alliance is holding a big event in London on March 28th noting public favour for community cohesion and unity against division and certain members request that MSCC note its support for this event in the light of the graffiti on the Edinburgh Mosque.  Other members have concerns about noting support for this event given its political ties. It was agreed not to publicly support this event and that the MSCC would contact Rachel Lumsden, the local community police liaison officer, noting our concerns at this graffitti.

 

 

Marchmont St Giles church has merged with Reid Memorial Church; worship is now held at the Kilgraston Road building and the parish is now called Blackford and Grange Parish and Church. Some activities are continuing to be held at the Reid Hub.

 

The date of the next meeting is Wednesday 25th of March. 

 

All who live or work locally are welcome to attend.