The Marchmont & Sciennes Christmas Tree lights will be turned on this year on Sa 3 Dec at 4pm

Each year we have a lighting ceremony for our community Christmas Tree in Marchmont & Sciennes.

The tree will be outside ScotMid at the middle of Marchmont Crescent and the lights will be turned on for the first time on Sa 3 Dec at 4pm

Please let your friends, family & neighbours know about this! 

If you'd like to volunteer to help please let us know by replying to marchmontsciennes.commcouncil@googlemail.com

Review of Polling Districts & Polling Places 2016: maps now available showing recommendations

Maps are now available showing proposed polling places. Click on the links below to access larger maps


Morningside Ward (includes Marchmont)











Southside/Newington Ward (includes Sciennes)

Plans for redevelopment of the Astley Ainslie Hospital site

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4666418

A group of local Community Councils (Morningside, Southside, Grange Prestonfield, Marchmont & Sciennes) met with representatives of NHS Lothian on Mo 31 October. Daniel Johnson MSP also attended.

With the redevelopment of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Morningside, NHS Lothian plan to move clinical services from the Astley Ainslie site over the next five years. The Astley Ainslie hospital (AAH) site will then be sold for redevelopment.

NHS Lothian will be submitting a master-planning application for AAH to City of Edinburgh Council within the next year and a half.  Having a masterplan before sale of the site will help NHS Lothian make a 'best value' sale. This does not necessarily mean sale to the highest bidder. 

It has not yet been decided whether the site will be sold in one parcel or several. Following sale of the site, a full formal Pre-Application Notice (PAN) process will be followed by whichever developer is successful in purchasing the site.

Commercial discussions have begun to appoint planning consultants. NHS Lothian will also be taking advice from lawyers and other consultants.

Historic Environment Scotland reviewed the listed buildings status of structures on the site two years ago. NHS Lothian have no plans to ask for re-listing.

AAH is recognised as a significant site.  There are rights of way, tree preservation orders and archaeology to consider. Given all this, and the considerable current local community use of the site, NHS Lothian plan a three year programme of community engagement, starting in Spring 2017.

The local Community Councils therefore intend to meet with NHS Lothian in early 2017 to co-design a community engagement process. Daniel Johnson MSP wishes to be involved.   Successful methods from the currently-underway discussions on options for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children's site will be re-used.

NHS Lothian agreed to alert Community Councils when they put updates on the redevelopment on to the NHS Lothian corporate website.

Volunteers sought for Marchmont & Sciennes Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on Sa 3 Dec

Each year there is a community Christmas Tree outside Scotmid on the corner of Warrender Park Road and Marchmont Crescent. The lights on the tree will be turned on this year on Sat 3rd December at about 4pm during an outdoor concert. We then go on to the German Speaking Church on Chalmers Crescent for refreshments and musical e on the day itself is from 3:30pm to 6pm including:

• Two volunteers needed for collecting and setting up the staging at the tree
• One volunteer needed to be in charge of the PA system - ie. will be delivered to the VOL but will need to be set up - all will be explained.
• Two volunteers needed for preparing the mulled wine in flasks  and taking them to the hall by 3.30pm on the day and setting up the table for soft drinks and warmed mulled wine in flasks to be distributed to everyone - plastic cups provided
• One volunteer needed for making up boxes/trays with festive paper (boxes can be got from the fruiterers in Argyle Place) to fill with mince pies and shortbread for handing out at the tree) - the goodies will be at the church hall ready for the boxes to be filled on the day.
• Several volunteers needed for handing around mince pies at tree from local traders, soft drinks and drinks at church)
• One Volunteer needed to be at the church hall to liaise with every the schools about the music/singing - where to put their instrument boxes, coats, etc.
• One volunteer to be in charge of the rest of the food at the church hall, ie. packets of crisps etc to be in big bowls ready for when everyone arrives (plus anything else that we get donated).
• Two volunteers needed for other general tasks ie. at the door of the church hall to direct everyone to the main hall, coat places, toilets, buggy parks, etc.

Please, Please Please - do help with this community event - We cannot do it without you!

Contact us via marchmontsciennes.commcouncil@googlemail.com or Tel: 07515 376 173

Vote at Tesco for the James Gillespie’s Primary Plant to Plate project

The James Gillespie’s Primary Plant to Plate project initiative is to develop gardening opportunities in the playground and a programme of learning around growing and food. They will also be developing biodiversity/wildlife areas in the school grounds and depending on how much is raised,  may be able to purchase some more play materials for the playground. This project will benefit JGPS children and many children for generations to come. 

Tesco are running a community funding initiative where shoppers vote for projects.  Plant to Plate is one of them.  

Next time you are in any of  the Tesco Stores (below), please could you pop the token given to you at the check-out into the James Gillespie’s Primary Plant to Plate project box. The top prize is £12k and JGPS need all the votes they can get! Many thanks.

Bruntsfield Metro (EH10 5DN)

Fountain Bridge Express (EH3 9QG)

Earl Gray St Express (EH3 9BN)

Causewayside Express ( EH9 1PR)

Nicolson Street Metro (EH8 9EW)

Princess Street Express (EH2 4BL)

Southbridge Express ( EH1 1LS)

Haymarket Express ( EH1 1LS)

Holyrood Express (EH8 8AU)

Roseburn Express (EH12 5NG)

Have your say: Royal Hospital for Sick Children Site Public Engagement Event on We 16 Nov at 6-9pm

There will be a Public Engagement Workshop Event to explore ideas for the current Royal Hospital for Sick Children Site on We 16 Nov at 6-9pm.  

This is a fantastic opportunity for us to contribute our ideas before the site is sold. Our opinions will be given to all potential purchasers through a position statement as part of the site marketing. There will be other opportunities to build on the ideas generated, at a later stage of the process.

The event is being run by Grant Myles of People Assets - a professional facilitator, with Matt Ansell of META Architecture providing urban design support, and GVA providing town planning advice. All our contributions will be recorded by GVA and META and the results will be summarised at the end and shared with us, and the Edinburgh planning department, after the event.

There will be an introduction to the site and area, followed by an opportunity for any thoughts to be shared before breaking up into small workshop groups of about 8 people. These groups will discuss the key issues of movement, spaces, buildings and uses. Each group will have a map showing the existing site layout and support will be available from the many professionals that will be attending.

Please come early as we will start promptly at 6:00pm. The TechCube will be open from 5:30pm and there will be signs to it at Summerhall main entrance. There will be tea, coffee and other refreshments available.

All are welcome but if you intend to come please let us know in advance by contacting pagsk2017@gmail.com

The Nov edition of the Meadows directory is now online to view

The Nov Meadows directory is now online to view

James Gillespie's High School open morning (10:00-13:00) on Sa 5 November (with Callum Skinner)

Firework Cafe to raise money for Marie Curie: 5 Nov at Holy Corner from 10:00 to 12:30

Agenda for MSCC meeting on We 26 October 2016 at 7:30pm

Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council will hold its monthly regular meeting on We 26 October 2016.  

The meeting will take place in our usual venue of St Catherine's Argyle Church Halls on Beaufort Road/ Grange Road. 

The meeting will start at 7:30pm. 

This will be our second meeting of 16/17.  

The next meeting after this one will be We 23 November 2016. 

All who live or work in the area are most welcome to attend 

A G E N D A

 1                  Sederunt and apologies

 2                     Draft Minutes of last meeting, 28 September 2016, and matters arising (not otherwise on Agenda)

·     Pedestrian route on Beaufort Road

·     Public toilets

·     Pothole patching

·     Marchmont & Sciennes Trader’s Funds

·     Seagull nesting: options to dissuade

·     South Central Contacts

 3                  Police Report

 4                  Meadows & Bruntsfield Links:

·     Update from Mike Shields

 5                  City Council Councillor report on currently topical issues

Items for discussion

 6                  Home Energy Scotland: “Restore warmth to your historic home” – Ewan Fisher

 7                  Planning applications

 8                  Next steps with redevelopment of RHSC (Sick Kids) site

 9                  Grange Cemetery: community payback & work on gravestones

10                  “Your services are changing – play your part” consultation

11                  SESplan Proposed Strategic Development Plan Publication - 13 October to 24 November 2016

For info:

12                  Treasurer's report

13                  Astley Ainslie Hospital meeting

14                  Rising rolls at local schools

15                  Christmas Tree Lighting event

16                  Co-options

17                  Meetings attended                   -

18                  AOCB

19                  Date of next meeting: 23 November 2016

City of Edinburgh Council consultation on priorities for public spending and suggestions for delivery of services

The City of Edinburgh Council are continuing to consult on our priorities for public spending, and suggest how services should be delivered:

"Your services are changing – play your part"

There’s still plenty of time to get involved and give views on what your priorities are for where you live and how they should transform Council services.  Responses are requested by 18 Nov.

Like other cities, Edinburgh is changing:

·         our population is growing and changing

·         demand for our services is increasing all the time

·         council budgets are reducing

·         technology is improving.

We need to think about the future and how we can change and improve services by making better use of technology, working with partners and involving communities.

Participants of a previous budget challenge campaign told the council that they would like to be involved in helping the Council to identify solutions for maintaining and improving the quality of services.  So please play your part if you haven’t already done so.

They’ve improved their online pages and made it easier for you to give your views.

Open morning at James Gillespie's High School on Sa 5 Nov

[picture via https://www.facebook.com/john.macleod.165]

James Gillespie's High School are hosting an open morning from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday 5th November.  

All are invited to tour the new campus.

SESplan Proposed Strategic Development Plan Publication - 13 October to 24 November 2016

SESplan, the Strategic Development Planning Authority for the Edinburgh and south east Scotland region has published the Proposed Strategic Development Plan. This is a key step in replacing the current Strategic Development Plan of 2013 and is the final opportunity for comments to be made. The Proposed Strategic Development Plan deals with a range of strategic planning issues including housing, transport and green infrastructure for a twenty year period beginning in 2018. Its role will be to guide Local Development Plans produced by Local Authorities in the future.

Comments, known as representations, can be made on the Proposed Strategic Development Plan for a six week period between Thursday 13 October and Thursday 24 November 2016. Representations can be submitted using SESplan’s consultation portal: sesplan-consult.objective.co.uk. In line with government guidelines, representations should set out the specific changes you think should be made to the plan along with your reason(s) for them. Representations should be limited to 2,000 words per issue, though you are welcome to submit representations on more than one issue.

SESplan will also be running a series of public events where you can find out more about the Proposed Strategic Development Plan. These will be held on the following dates:

1. Monday 24 October, City Chambers, Dunfermline
2. Wednesday 26 October, Lasswade Centre, Bonnyrigg
3. Thursday 3 November, West Lothian Civic Centre, Livingston
4. Monday 7 November, City Chambers, Edinburgh
5. Wednesday 9 November, The Brunton, Musselburgh
6. Thursday 10 November, Council Headquarters, Newtown St. Boswells

Each event will be open from 3pm to 6.30pm on a drop-in basis when anyone can come along to discuss the plan without prior arrangement.

Additional copies of the Proposed Strategic Development Plan and supporting documents can be downloaded from the SESplan website.

Home Energy Scotland events: “Restore warmth to your historic home” - 8 and 16 November

Home Energy Scotland is a free advice service funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Energy Saving Trust.

They are hosting two events in November (8 November at Summerhall and 16 November at Royal Scots club) called “Restore warmth to your historic home”. These bring together a range of industry experts to help people keep the heat in their homes, with a focus on older building such as Georgian or Victorian properties.

Next meeting of MSCC is on We 26 October at 7:30pm

Agenda for MSCC meeting on We 28 September 2016 at 7:30pm

Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council will hold its monthly regular meeting on We 28 September 2016. 

The meeting will take place in our usual venue of St Catherine's Argyle Church Halls on Beaufort Road/ Grange Road. The meeting will start at 7:30pm.

This will be our first meeting of 16/17.  The next meeting after this one will be We 26 October 2016. 

All who live or work in the area are most welcome to attend 

A G E N D A

 1                  Sederunt and apologies

 2                  Draft Minutes of last meeting, 22 Jun 2016, and matters arising (not otherwise on Agenda)

·     Pedestrian route on Beaufort Road

·     Public toilets

·     Pothole patching

·     Marchmont & Sciennes Trader’s Funds

·     Planters at foot of Marchmont Road

 3                  Police Report

 4                  Meadows & Bruntsfield Links:

·     Update from Mike Shields

·     Progress with Jawbones’ return

 5                  City council Councillor report on currently topical issues

Items for discussion

 6                  Planning applications

                  - Process for applications to modify/ remove trees

                  - Next steps with redevelopment of RHSC (Sick Kids) site

 7                  Community Council elections/ co-options

 8                  Seagull nesting

 9                  Grange Road Crossings

10                  Leaflet delivery

11                  Rising rolls at local schools

12                  Christmas Tree Lighting event

13                  My worst roads – request from Daniel Johnson MSP

For info:

14                  Treasurer's report

15                  Meetings attended

                  - South Central Neighbourhood Partnership

                  - Edinburgh Southern Community Council Planning Officers meeting

16                  Marchmont Road crossing

17                  24 Bus

18                  AOCB

19                  Date of next meeting: 26 October 2016

Less than a week to go till nominations to join Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council close (Mo 26th)

There's less than a week to go till nominations to join Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council close (Mo 26th) and there are still plenty of spaces!  

If you want to discuss what's involved do get in touch via the contact details shown on the right of this blog.

Remember the nomination paper can be downloaded at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9b7RETLLe1mM1VNWjlFZFRRNEk

Note of public meeting about Redevelopment of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (RHSC) site

The meeting was held at the Church of the German Speaking Congregation on Tu 13 Sep starting at 19:30

Douglas Rogers welcomed around 100 people to the meeting and outlined the Agenda.  Alastair Philp added his welcome on behalf of the Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council. Ian Murray MP and Miles Briggs MSP had sent apologies. Daniel Johnson MSP and Cllr Steve Burgess were present, and Cllr Cameron Rose arrived during the meeting.

David Wood from PAS (Planning Aid for Scotland) gave a short introduction to PAS, which provides impartial advice and training on the planning process for local communities. He also spoke about how community engagement in planning can be assisted by the use of 'Charrettes' and described PAS’s Charretteplus approach.  The 'Charrette' process uses intensive community-design workshops to develop a shared vision.

Charles Campion from JTP then spoke. He outlined how the 'Charrette' process (including site visit, drop-ins and 2 days of workshops) had been used for redevelopment of a former hospital site in London. Experts had facilitated the process and when the eventual planning application was considered by the Planning Committee it was passed unanimously.

Stewart Adams from NHS Lothian then explained the approach to be taken in selling the RHSC site. The site will be marketed now (as a single site) with initial offers invited by Christmas, and final offers early in 2017. A developer will then be selected, and they will continue the planning process.  Community Engagement is starting now, with this meeting, and will continue, involving the developer when one is chosen.

Richard Slipper, from GVA James Barr (acting as planning consultant for NHS Lothian) shared the proposed plan for pre-planning activities.  He is compiling a 'position statement' that will summarise relevant planning 'facts' including what the local development plan says, constraints on the site due to listed buildings and the site being in a conservation area.  This 'position statement' will also include initial community views: to gather these there will be a public workshop in November (date to be set; involving local groups including MSCC).  The 'position statement' will help to develop a list of criteria that can be used as part of the developer selection process.

Laura Bird from Sciennes Primary Parent Council asked that the planning and engagement process considers how more playground space could be found for the school.  Perhaps by limiting traffic on Sciennes Road in front of the school to pedestrians and cyclists and enlarging the existing community woodland strip.

Elizabeth Cumming from the Mansfield Traquair Trust spoke about the Phoebe Traquair murals (picture 1 and picture 2) on the site in the current mortuary. These are class A listed. Some are painted directly onto lathe and plaster but some were moved to the site from another location in 1894 and are deliberately embedded in boxes. The murals are fragile and must be protected during construction. National Museums of Scotland would help with any fund raising.

Then Stuart Irvin, the Minister at St Catherine's Argyle asked us to consider, as we ponder redevelopment options, the fact that the hospital has been the site of many personal tragedies as well as triumphs.  He also made a plea for affordable housing to ensure a rich mix of ages of resident.

The meeting concluded with a question and answer session, including:

• There was concern that a developer might not take notice of community views. Hard to predict until they are chosen.
• Could affordable housing be constructed that is externally indistinguishable from 'posh flats'
• Daniel Johnson MSP asked if NHS Lothian would fund a Charrette process. They have no current plans to do full 'Charrette' but would engage if a planned funding application to Scottish Government is successful. They do commit to a 3 hour workshop in November.  In a quick poll of the meeting most said they'd like to take part in a 'Charrette' process if there was one.
• Could there be a stipulation on chosen developer to run a 'Charrette' process? This is in theory possible but would have to be paid for from proceeds of sale. It was pointed out (by Charles Campion) that a 'Charrette' can save a developer money if it smooths passage of the planning application.
• Could developer be compelled to leave public space? Always a balance between routes through a site and resident's privacy.
• Could there be 'meanwhile uses' if the site is vacant? Intention is for developer to develop as soon as NHS Lothian vacate (in spring/summer 2018) but could perhaps be considered by developer if there's a delay.
• Could property be transferred from NHS Lothian to City of Edinburgh Council for Sciennes School? NHS Lothian need to maximise money they make from sale on behalf of Scottish Government who get the money from the half of the site they own [the other half is owned by the Edinburgh & Lothians Health Foundation who have agreed a joint sale with NHS Lothian].

Edinburgh’s Volunteer Recruitment Fair #edvolfair16 is on Wednesday, 21st September 2016

Volunteer Edinburgh, as well as sixty volunteer involving organisations, will join together on Wednesday, 21^st September 2016 between 11.00am and 7.00pm at St Paul’s and St Georges Church Hall on York Place to host Scotland’s leading Volunteer Recruitment Fair.

Entry is free to the public, and we expect more than a thousand visitors to come along to find out about the huge variety of volunteering opportunities available across Edinburgh with charities, social enterprises, community groups and the public sector. 

This year, in addition to representation form a wide-range of volunteer involving organisations, there will be free learning zone workshops happening throughout the day, and for the first time a free app to enhance your experience.

When visitors need to sit down after taking in all this new information there’s a café serving delicious food and drink run by bespoke organic events (boe).

Volunteering helps people build new skills, get a taste of different working environments, create new friendships and boost individual confidence and wellbeing.

For those seeking a route into work, volunteering also adds skills to CVs as well as providing work experience and up-to-date references.

Making the choice to give your time and expertise to help others is a positive and meaningful commitment, with big rewards for the volunteer and the organisation or clients that the volunteer donates their time to. The Volunteer Recruitment Fair is the perfect way to match those who want to make the best use of their time with those who benefit from their input. It’s also an opportunity to publicise Edinburgh’s vibrant Third Sector community.

For more about the Volunteer Recruitment Fair, visit the Volunteer Edinburgh Website: www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk (you can also download programme from here)
Twitter: @VolunteerEdi
Facebook: VolunteerEdinburgh

Paul Wilson, CEO of Volunteer Edinburgh said “Volunteering is a simple enough word with a big impact.  It’s not just the difference that it makes to people’s lives and the city but the difference it can make to you.  It is proven to improve health and wellbeing and can make all the difference when looking for work or when starting out in Education.  You get the chance to do things that you never thought you would, make new friends, enjoy yourself and all the time knowing that what you are doing is genuinely changing the world. 

So if you are not sure what you can do, what you want to do or what you might enjoy then we are here to help”