Minutes of Leith Central Community Council AGM, at Nelson Hall, McDonald Road Library, on Monday 19 June 2023 at 7:00pm
Actions and decisions are red italic. nem con means that no-one spoke or voted against a decision.
1 Welcome, introductions, attendance, apologies
1.a Present, apologies
| Voting members | Zoe Curry | P |
| Alan Dudley | A | |
| Charlotte Encombe | P | |
| Pierre Forissier | P | |
| Nick Gardner | X | |
| Sheila Kennedy | P | |
| Ian Mowat | P | |
| Alex Ortiz | X | |
| Harald Tobermann | P | |
| Lucy Watters | X | |
| John Wilkinson | P | |
| Non-voting members | Bruce Ryan | P |
| Cllr Jack Caldwell | P | |
| Cllr James Dalgleish | A | |
| Cllr Amy McNeese-Mechan | A | |
| Cllr Susan Rae | X | |
| Ben Macpherson MSP | X | |
| Deidre Brock MP | X | |
| Number of residents/visitors attending | 11 |
P = present, A = apology, X = neither present nor sent apology, NA = not applicable
2 Approval of the minutes of the 2022 Annual General Meeting
Approved as-is (proposed I Mowat, seconded S Kennedy, nem con)
3 Annual Report: brief review of year
See full report in appendix 1. Thanks were made to all LCC members and specifically I Mowat (outgoing treasurer), P Forissier (planning convenor), C Encombe (chair), B Ryan (minutes secretary – during treasurer’s report).
4 Treasurer’s report: accounts for FY22/23
See full accounts in appendix 2. These are prepared on a cash basis. It was noted
- LCCC has now ceased using MS365.
- LCCC was just invoiced by McDonald Rd library for security costs due to meetings going on beyond library closing-time.
- Since preparation of the accounts, there have been further payments for advertising.
- LCCC’s projector’s value has depreciated so it does not appear on the accounts. (P Forissier currently has the projector.)
- The minutes secretary committed to not raising his fees in the coming financial year.
The accounts were adopted as-is (approved C Encombe, seconded H Tobermann, nem con)
5 Demit of current office bearers and election of office bearers
This item was chaired by Bruce Ryan. There was only one candidate for treasurer, secretary, vicechair and chair. It was noted that I Mowat will soon move out of LCCC’s area, so cannot continue as treasurer.
| Role | Nominee(s) | Proposer(s) | Seconder(s) | Outcome |
| Treasurer | Z Curry | S Kennedy | H Tobermann | Curry elected nem con |
| Secretary | S Kennedy | C Encombe | P Forissier | Kennedy elected nem con |
| Engagement Officer | There were no candidates, but C Encombe will take on this role pro tempore (agreed nem con) | |||
| Vicechair | H Tobermann | I Mowat | P Forissier | Tobermann elected nem con |
| Chair | C Encombe | S Kennedy | P Forissier | Encombe elected nem con |
It was noted that Tobermann and Encombe will step down permanently as vicechair and chair at the end of 2023-24, and therefore wish people to understudy their roles. There were no volunteers at this point.
6 Dates, times and venue of future ordinary meetings and the next annual general meeting
7pm on the 3rd Monday of each month, part from July and December
- Action: C Encombe to book the library for these meetings
7 Appendix 1: annual report
After 15 years of upheaval the Trams are now running. Since 2018, members of CCTT – Community Councils Together on Trams – met on a monthly basis with the Trams construction team to mitigate and minimise the impact of the works. This project will continue to take up our time and effort as the devil is in the detail; apart from numerous snagging items, there are many issues that will need to be revisited and possibly consulted on, not least
- Lack of pedestrian space around floating bus stops at Foot of the Walk, Pilrig and Elm Row
- The left turn on London Road and other closures of left turn opportunities going up the Walk
- Lack of landscaping and greenery
- ‘The bizarre’ cycle paths
- Ratruns created on the side roads
The CCTT team, who had to become experts in every aspect associated with the construction of the tram, deserve our recognition and thanks.
7.a Planning
As one of the most centrally located and most densely populated wards in Edinburgh LCCC responded to a large number of Planning applications. It has been a disappointing year as applications for affordable housing were granted only to be changed by the developers to yet more student accommodation. There were 6 applications for student housing in this area, totalling some 432 units. The process has upset many neighbours who felt that their objections were ignored.
7.b CPZ
Controlled Parking Zones are something LCCC has campaigned for since the beginning of 2019 and they are coming into force in the next couple of days. It is hoped that there will be fewer cars coming into our area and we will continue to keep in touch with the many small businesses for whom the new parking rules may be a challenge.
7.c Short Term Lets
Following the recent court decision that CEC’s short term licensing scheme, started in October 2022, was illegal, we anticipate that this issue will continue to rumble on. With over 10,000 short term lets available in Edinburgh while long-term rental properties are hard to get, we hope that CEC will look favourably on planning applications featuring affordable homes.
7.d Membership
Our membership stands at 11 members, but will be reduced to 10 as our Treasurer is standing down and moving to another area. On behalf of LCCC, | would like to thank Ian not just for his diligent book keeping, but more importantly, his spirited and thoughtful contributions. we are always looking for more people wanting to stand for membership. We also have 1364 Twitter followers, 1.4k followers on Facebook
8 Appendix 2: accounts for FY 2022-2023
| Year End 3ist March | 2023 | 2022 |
| Income and Expenditure Accounts | £ | £ |
| Income | ||
| Grants | 1049.06 | 1049.06 |
| Other income | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Total income | 1049.06 | 1049.06 |
| Expenditure | ||
| Adverts | [1]385.00 | 490.00 |
| Minutes Secretary fees for current year | [2]540.00 | 480.00 |
| Minutes Secretary fees carried over from previous year | [3]120.00 | 0.00 |
| Website maintenance | [4]42.35 | 42.35 |
| Data Protection Registration | 35.00 | 35.00 |
| Online hosting costs 2022-2023 | [5]328.32 | 0.00 |
| Room hire | [6]90.00 | 0.00 |
| Leith Links Gala Day stall expenditure | 16.67 | 0.00 |
| Total Expenditure | 1557.34 | 1047.35 |
| Surplus/ deficit | (508.28) | 1.71 |
| Balance Sheet | ||
| Opening bank balance | 1797.55 | 1795.84 |
| Surplus/deficit | (508.28) | 1.71 |
| Cash at bank at end of financial year | 1289.27 | 1797.55 |
| Current Assets at end of the financial year | 1289.27 | 1797.55 |
| Current liabilities at end of financial year | 0.00 | (508.32) |
| Reserves | ||
| Net current assets (general unrestricted funds} | 1289.27 | 2112.25 |
| Closing bank balance | 1289.27 | 1797.55 |
8.a Independent Examiner’s Report to the Leith Central Community Council
| report on the accounting statements of the organisation for the period ended 31 March 2021 which are set out on page 1 and the accompanying notes thereto.
8.b Respective Responsibilities of Council Members and Examiner
The Council members are responsible for the preparation of the accounts and consider that the Community Council is entitled not to have an audit. {t is my responsibility to examine the accounts and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
8.c Basis of Independent Examiner’s Statement
An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Community Council and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanations from the Council members concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required by an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
8.d Independent Examiner’s Statement
In my opinion:
To the best of my knowledge and belief the Receipts and Payments Accounts and Statement of Balances have been properly prepared from the records and are in agreement with them.
The accounting statements comply with the constitution of the Community Council.
David Cavaye
Independent Examiner
Dundas Street, Edinburgh
28.05.2023
[1] Charge for advertising in the Spurtle 11 Months print advertising, Spurtle back page, Jan to Dec 2022
[2] Bruce Ryan presented invoices BMR 82-90 for minute taking/website maintenance for 9 meetings between March 2022 to Feb 2023
[3] Bruce Ryan presented invoices BMR 80-81 for minute taking/website maintenance for January and February 2022 which were not paid till after 31 March 2022 so were recorded as current liabilities in the 2022 accounts
[4] includes 4UH Ltd annual Domain renewal (£6.35), Werdpress domain mapping fee (£11) & “Wordpress no ads” (£25) for 2022-2023
[5] Microsoft 365 Business basic Annual fee for 19.1.22 to 19.1.23 – recorded as a current liability in the 2022 accounts
[6] Invoices for the hire of Hillside Bowling club in February & March 2022 were recorded as current liabilities in the 2022 accounts- £30 was also paid for hire of Hillside Bowling club in Apri! 2022. in May 2022, with the end of Covid restrictions our normal meeting venue the Nelson Hall at Macdonald Road library became available and no charge has been incurred for its use
Leith Central Community Council 