LCCC November 2023 minutes

Minutes of Leith Central Community Council AGM, at Nelson Hall, McDonald Road Library, on Monday 20 November 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

Jun(AGM)

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Voting members

Zoe Curry

No meeting

Alan Dudley

Charlotte Encombe

Pierre Forissier

Nick Gardner

Sheila Kennedy

Ian Mowat

Alex Ortiz

Harald Tobermann

John Wilkinson

Non-voting members

Bruce Ryan

Cllr Jack Caldwell

Cllr James Dalgleish

Cllr Amy McNeese-Mechan

Cllr Susan Rae

Ben Macpherson MSP

Deidre Brock MP

Number of others attending

P = present, A = apology, X = neither present nor sent apology, NA = not applicable

An apology was also received from the police.

1.b to note: declarations of interest in any items on the agenda

Item 6.c: H Toberman is chair of EBUG.
Item 7.b: C Encombe is a former chair of the now disbanded Greener Leith.

1.c to agree: order of business below

agreed nem con

2 Approval of minutes of the ordinary LCCC meeting on 16 October 2023

Approved subject to removing L Watters from the attendance list, because she has moved out of LCCC’s area (proposed Z Curry, seconded C Encombe, nem con)

3 Matters arising from previous minutes (and not included on agenda below)

October items 3 (row 6), 3 (row 8), 6.a and 11 (obtain plans for London Rd, Montrose terrace, Alva Place) are closed by November item 3.a below. October item 4.a. is closed by November item 4 below. October items 5.b, 5.cii and 5.d are closed by November item 5 below.

October Item	Actor	Action	Progress
3 (row 1)	Cllr Caldwell	Chase CEC gully team about Abbeyhill colonies	In progress, hence Action: cllrs Caldwell and Rae to liaise on this
3 (row 7)	Cllr Caldwell, S Kennedy	Work together informally on Alva St and Mayfield issues	In progress, hence Action: cllr Caldwell and S Kennedy to pursue this matter
5.b	H Tobermann	Submit LCCC’s objection about 11 Pilrig St	Action closed. H Tobermann: SG reporter has denied this appeal about an illegally operating hotel. However, CEC will not undertake legal enforcement until January, enabling the hotel to operate until then.
6.a	LCCC	ascertain whether Spey St Lane is adopted	Action closedCllr Caldwell: all of SSL is adopted apart from its west pavement.
6.b	H Tobermann	ascertain why the bin-hub TRO comes after the installation work	In progress, hence Action: HT to ascertain why the bin-hub TRO comes after the work
6.c	B Ryan	Ask LHNCC if it will join CCTT	Action closed because LHNCC has nominated its representatives to CCTT
6.f	P Foressier	Chase up broken promises about Dalmeny St defect-repairs	Action closed because (thanks to Cllr Caldwell) CEC has fixed the relevant drains.
8.a	Cllr Caldwell	get relevant CEC manager to make address for submitting STL objections	Cllr Caldwell: an acknowledgement auto-reply is in now in place, but Action: Cllr Caldwell to check if this fulfils S Kennedy’s requeste.
11	Cllr Caldwell	investigate obtaining plans for junction at top of Easter Rd – this is about a personhole cover	In progress, hence Action: cllr Caldwell to pursue this

3.a to note: Cllr Caldwell NOV23 report/actions on matters arising

4 Policing matters

4.a to note: local (ward) Police Report October and November 2023

noted.

H Tobermann: police could not attend due to police needing to cover Edinburgh Christmas.

4.b to note: update on meeting with Ben Macpherson MSP

H Tobermann: the MSP agreed that the biggest issue is police officers, as first responders, staying potentially 5-8 hours with people suffering mental health issues, until professional care can start.
- Hence Action: the MSP to meet with the Acting Sergeant about Leith Police being abstracted to City Centre matters.
- It was suggested that to save police time, they should meet with/report to CCs less often, but a resident asked for monthly reports.

5 Planning

All points made by P Forissier, unless otherwise noted.

5.a to note: update on meeting with CEC Planning, including LCCC’s concerns and CEC Planning’s response

This meeting covered the most pressing parts of LCCC’s concerns:
- CC submissions may be present in planning officers’ reports but not discussed in DMSC meetings.
- Major changes to planning applications (e.g. from housing to student accommodation) being approved solely by planning officers. CEC stated that such changes are not material, as in the Iona St case.
  - A resident: planning officers’ summaries may be very short, omitting significant detail such as public comments.
- Poor planning applications. CEC stated that legislation only requires plans to be ‘sufficiently legible’, even if they omit significant details such as scales, and this increases CCs’ statutory workloads to point out such deficiencies. LCCC believes that ‘legibility’ includes provision of such details.
- Lack of public awareness of the need to object to both /CON and /FUL applications. NB /CON and /FUL applications about the same matter will not have the same preceding digits, making it difficult to find both.
- CCs not being informed that 20 separate objections are needed to instigate DMSC referrals, and that 20 letters of support result in the matter not being referred.
- Lack of publication of submitted comments, potentially dissuading others from commenting on planning applications. CEC stated that this is due to concerns about publishing commenters’ personal details, yet publishes comments after applications have been determined.
  - It was stated that personal details are included in when short-term let applications are published, hence CEC may be applying different standards, and that other LAs publish comments on planning applications.
  - It was suggested that when people submit comments, their personal details are entered into different fields to their substantive comments, so should easily be redacted from public views of comments. CEC stated that it does not have the resources to check that comments do not contain personal details, let alone undertake redactions.
  - Cllr Dalgleish: CEC may be concerned that people simply copy others’ submissions, leading to an untrue picture of public opinion about planning applications. LCCC sees no reason to prevent submission of the same comment.
  - A resident: potential commenters may be put off by lack of on-screen acknowledgment of receipt of comments.
It was suggested that other CCs have similar issues with their LAs’ planning processes, but that CEC may be worse than others, potentially due to funding cutbacks over many years.
Overall, the meeting was helpful, hence Action: LCCC to continue this dialogue, including asking other CCs about their experiences. P Foressier and C Encombe were formally thanked by LCCC for their work on this matter.

5.b to note: update on Hearing on 14 Ashley Place, Edinburgh 22/06251/FUL

C Encombe, J Wilkinson: this application was rejected, despite it being ‘artificially’ being made just smaller than the threshold so that only student accommodation was planned. (The rejection was due inter alia to poor cycling provision.)
- Action: H Tobermann to ask MSPs to consider such artificial divisions in subsequent planning legislation.

5.c to note: FOI correspondence on PBSA student Council Tax discounts/cost of waste collection/holiday lets

C Encombe: it appears that some CEC cllrs had not known that students do not pay council tax.
- H Tobermann: this is not a material consideration under planning legislation, even though it costs CEC £8m.

5.c.i to note: PBSA Pipeline Edinburgh

Encombe: this website shows planned Edinburgh student accommodation, which may help with establishing future student numbers.
- Cllr Dalgleish: CEC must take into account the number of students already living (according to the 2011 census) within 800m of any proposed student accommodation. CityPlan2030 should bring improvements.

5.d to note: plans for the development of the Bingo Hall on Manderston Street

5.d.i to agree: to collaborate with LLCC on this

The developers are aware that the hall is within a conservation area. It is not known how they plan to use the hall.
- H Tobermann: the developers have asked to present their plans to LCCC in mid-December. Other CCs have asked to collaborate with LCCC on this matter.
- Action: HT to invite the developers to present their plans at LCCC’s January meeting,, and invite other CCs.

5.e to agree: LCCC to participate in engagement sessions on visitor levy for Edinburgh

H Tobermann: such levies are enabled by SG legislation. CEC is consulting on how it would spend such revenue. The consultation is being run by CEC’s ‘destination marketing’.
Cllrs Dalgleish and Rae: a relevant report has gone to CEC policy and sustainability ctte. CEC is trying to decide whether the money would be used to market Edinburgh (e.g. supporting cultural events that attract tourists) or for ‘the city’ (e.g. transport, parks, footpaths, toilets – all used by tourists as well as residents).

5.f to note: status of current planning applications November 2023

Action: P Forissier to update this record.

5.g to note: any other Planning matters relevant to LCCC area

Because the forthcoming Iona St development will not be general housing, and change to student accommodation was not challenged by CEC planning officers, LCCC should undertake a public campaign against such decisions.
- Cllr Caldwell: in my time as a CEC cllr, only 9 residential flats have been approved in Leith Walk ward. This area had been earmarked for residential use.
- Cllr Rae: student accommodation increases pressure on services, but some CEC cllrs do not appreciate this.

6 Transport and clean streets

6.a to note: controlled parking, and increase in illegal vehicle activity, and impact on private parking at Balfour Court

A Balfour Court resident: there has been a significant amount of repeated parking of non-residents’ cars on our private parking places. It appears this is part of a (possibly unregistered) second-hand car business, and that some of the cars are not taxed, or even SORNed. Attempts by residents to prevent such unwarranted parking have not been successful. DVLA clamps have been broken off – a criminal offence. Police have taken no action, advising residents to contact DVLA. A parking enforcement company is unable to help. What can we do?
- Cllr Rae: it took the police 4 years to act on a similar issue near Brunswick St sheltered housing.
- Action: H Tobermann to write to police, expressing LCCC’s concern, asking for facts and police suggestions.

6.b to note: CCTT deputation on tram to Transport & Environment Committee 16-11-23

H Tobermann: there were 30 deputations at this meeting, indicating the level of discontent. The trams project is unfinished. (Cllr Rae concurred.) Contractors may not be compelled by CEC to pay for completion work.
- I used selected points from the Hardie report to emphasise CEC’s responsibilities. The response was basically silence.

6.c to note: upcoming Elm Row Bus Stop design discussion – Living Streets, Community Council(s), Edinburgh Access Panel, Spokes, Council officers and Ward Cllrs

H Tobermann: various groups have been invited to take part, including EBUG. Residents’ associations have not (yet) been invited take part, but CCs will speak for them.
- Elm Row is now a ‘free-for-all’ car-park. It could have been a wonder place for people.
A resident: there are still issues with delivery lorries etc in WELM’s area, especially large lorries on Montgomery St.

6.d to note: proposed changes to supported bus services (Lochend – Craigleith ECL 13)

Cllr Dalgleish: this is part of several changes proposed to CEC TEC. There was very little notice of them. Cllr Caldwel and I made a ‘ward deputation’. It was agreed to keep service 13 as-is, but funding is tight so other services may lose subsidies.
- A resident: there will be consequences for other supported bus services.
- H Toberman: decisions should be holistic, not piecemeal, to enable a transport system. I commend Bus Users Scotland as a way to pressure about poor bus services.

6.e to note: implementing pavement parking prohibitions

noted

6.f to note: FOI response on Middlefield anti-pavement parking bollards and paving slabs renewal

H Tobermann: LCCC thanks Cllr Rae for her lobbying. There should have been a planning application.

6.g to note: NOV23 update Scottish Water works in Murano Place

This work has now finished.

6.h to note: any other Transport and clean streets matters relevant to LCCC area

H Tobermann: Leith Walk cycle paths are not open de jure but are open de facto, apart from some unfinished work by Stead’s Place. Both paths are two-way for cyclists.
H Tobermann: are floating bus-stops causing any issues?
- Two residents: yes – alighting bus-passengers are unaware that they are stepping into cycle-lanes.
- A resident: litter bins have been positioned to be in the way of bus exit-doors.

7 Parks and green spaces

7.a to note: (verbal) report from Friends of Pilrig Park

J Wilkinson: FoPP continues to engage with ELGT and local police on improvements to community woodland and reduction of antisocial behaviour. FoPP welcomed corporate volunteers’ help with clearing undergrowth and woodland management. Some committee members took part in a wildflower meadow workshop in September. Bulb-planting with local pupils is anticipated. FoPP would welcome interest from local schools and community groups. FoPP’s next public meeting is at 6:30pm on 5 December, at McDonald Road library.

7.b to note: Coalie Park Improvement Project Update – works from 27/11/23 for 25 weeks

C Encombe: work on phase 1 of the improvement plan begins on 27 November, covering from Great Junction St bridge downstream to the North Leith Burial Ground paths. Hence the paths will be shut for up to 25 weeks will be shut. Plans are available online. Greener Leith donated its closing balance (£10,000) to this work.
- Action: C Encombe to forward an email about the work to LCCC members.

7.c to note: any Parks and green spaces matters relevant to LCCC area

Cllr Caldwell: Friends of Montgomery St Park is very active.
- H Tobermann: reports and/or attendance at LCCC meetings would be welcome.

8 Licensing

8.a to note: continued consideration of Street Trader Licence REF: 504429 Elm Row (for ref: LCCC Objection to New Civic Notice 504429)

Action: C Encombe to ascertain if S Kennedy can attend the hearing.

8.b to note: any Licensing matters relevant to LCCC area

none

9 LCCC governance

9.a to note: formal constitution of Windsor Street, Elm Row, Leopold Place and Montgomery Street West (WELM) Association

WELM reps: WELM aims to improve and maintain its area. It aims to recruit further, and be represented on LCCC as a local interest group. However, this is not currently possible.

9.b to note: any other LCCC governance issues

none

10 Open Forum (local residents)

A resident: there will be an art exhibition opposite Leith Depot.
Cllr Caldwell: a constituent is concerned about the safety of the Wellington St bin-hub.

11 AOCB (LCCC members)

LCCC thanked Cllrs Caldwell, Dalgleish and Rae, and the residents, for their attendance

12 Bulletin

12.a Delay to law on e-scooters criticised (BBC 7-11-23)

noted

13 Future meetings and planned meeting topics/presentations

2024: 15 January, 19 February, 18 March, 15 April, 20 May (AGM), 17 June (no meeting in July)