Excellent turn-out to provide views on future development of current Royal Hospital for Sick Children Site.

About 75 local people braved the lashing rain to join a three hour Public Engagement Event to explore options for the current Royal Hospital for Sick Children site on Wed 16 November. 

This was the latest in a series of events co-hosted by Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council (MSCC) to allow local residents to contribute.  Daniel Johnson MSP and a couple of local City Councillors also attended. So did Sciennes Parent Council and a representative of James Gillespie's High School Pupil Voice.  The event was facilitated and managed by Grant Myles of People Assets, an experienced event facilitator who has worked with NHS Lothian before, on masterplanning.

The meeting opened with a quick update on the proposed timescales for the sale of the site by NHS Lothian, as they prepare to move children's healthcare facilities in 2018 to the Royal Infirmary site at Little France. The site will be advertised for sale within the next week and offers will be invited from prospective developers by February 2017.  These offers will be considered from a financial perspective, and proposals will also be independently assessed against a 'pre-application position statement' being prepared by NHS Lothian's planning advisors (GVA) for NHS Lothian.

The aim of the event was to generate community views and ideas for inclusion by GVA in that 'position statement'. Alongside components in the 'position statement' about i] formal planning constraints and ii] heritage considerations (listed buildings, conservation area etc) the collected community views will support NHS Lothian's identification of the scheme that represents 'best value' and lead to an agreement to sell by Easter 2017.

The event continued with an opportunity for each individual attendee to write down ideas and views on post-it notes.  These ideas were then arranged under five headings: Uses; Buildings; Movement; Spaces, and Next Steps.  Participants then moved around the room reviewing each others' ideas and adding to them.  The emerging commonalities under each theme were then summarised by groups of participants onto flipcharts and reported back in turn to everyone present. 

The meeting closed with a discussion of how all the information gathered will be used (by NHS Lothian in selecting a developer, and potentially by developers), and how participants at the workshop can continue to contribute to the consultation process and stay informed (about the sale, and proposed site designs).  All the flipcharts and post-its will be retained and all the contributions will be included in a full report of the meeting.  The report will be available by mid December and will be publicly available for review and comment, including at the MSCC Infoblog.  This is the report that will contribute to the community views section of the GVA 'position statement' for NHS Lothian.

Once a developer is selected there will be further community engagement, including through the statutory 'pre-application notice' process that must precede submission of a major planning application. MSCC will be working to promote as much on-going additional community involvement as possible.

Thanks to Grant Myles who facilitated and to GVA (planning advisors) and NHS Lothian who partnered with MSCC to organise the event.  

If you'd like to stay informed please join our dedicated mailing list by e-mailing pagsk2017@gmail.com or keep an eye on the MSCC Infoblog or on the MSCC Facebook page, or follow @marchsciennesCC on Twitter.

South Centra£ Decides - VOICE YOUR CHOICE - Sat 30 April

The South Central Neighbourhood Partnership has over £200,000 worth of funding available for distribution in 2016/17 and residents of South Central are asked to Voice your Choice and decide which projects get what.   Anyone over the age of 12 is eligible to vote so long as they live in South Central.  Voting will take place at a marketstall event in the main Hall of the Methodist Church Hall, Nicolson Square on 30th April.

The money is split into three different "pots" – Community Grant Funding and two different sections of the Neighbourhood Improvement Programme.   

Check out the South Central Neighbourhood Partnership website where you can get information on all three funds and lots more about what’s happening.  

Community Grant applications are currently being sought from local groups – the closing date is Friday, 25^th March so if your group is interested, please get a move on.   We are keen to reach the wee groups that are working away quietly in a local hall and who could really do with some money to buy some new equipment etc.  Groups will be given a stall at the event and local people can come and chat about the applications before they score them.

We want loads of local people to turn out on the day when you will able to wander round the three Zones we will create and then score the projects.  It’s should all be very easy and good fun.

If you need any further information please contact Mags Campbell, Partnership Development Officer.

Easy Read version of the Policy Memorandum for the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill

An Easy Read version of the Policy Memorandum for the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill has been published on the Scottish Government website.

Scottish Government Community Empowerment Newsletter

The first issue of a new community empowerment newsletter is now available from the Scottish Government website.  As well as updating readers on the progress of the Community Empowerment Action Plan, and detailing training and upcoming events, the newsletter includes inspiring examples of how communities across Scotland have become empowered, from Orkney through South Lanarkshire to Dumfries and Galloway. 

The newsletter will be issued on-line on a quarterly basis, to help inspire, encourage and support community empowerment across Scotland.

For more details please contact WendyLouise.Smith@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.