Due to the coronavirus outbreak, we are hosting a virtual meeting from 7pm on Monday 30th March.
Residents are welcome to join in using Zoom with the link zoom.us/j/323515008
It will follow the agenda initially outlined for the meeting on 16th March which can be read on our meeting page, including our response to the City Mobility Plan and new proposed developments at Iona Street.
Residents and community councillors are encouraged to follow the chair and keep microphones muted unless selected.
Special thanks to Community Cllr. Amy Woodgate for facilitating this new solution.
There’s not much we can add to government advice and rulings, but we want to reiterate;
Stay at home. Protect the NHS.
Wash your hands.
Ensure your news is from a trusted source.
Leith, Bonnington, Broughton and Hillside are very densely built up areas which means we need to take particular care and heed the advice. If you’re confused about the fast moving rules, please check out either of these definitive websites (and only them!);
We applaud the dozens of community groups popping up in the area in response to COVID-19, from street-wide WhatsApps to larger community networks. Several of our members have been active in facilitating these groups, but to ensure the safety of everyone, as well as the magnitude of them now springing up (mostly on “street by street level”, we’re no longer catalouging them.
Volunteer Edinburgh are now starting a larger directory of them. Here are some national organisations that may be of help;
Nationwide support (phone and online)
0800 111 4000 is a national helpline to provide essential assistance to those who don’t have a network of support but who are at high risk of contracting COVID-19. Those with health problems are re-directed to phone NHS 111 (dial 111) or the NHS Inform website. More information is on the Scottish Government Website.
0800 028 2816 was the original helpline. It remains live for general advice and guidance on COVID-19. It is non-clinical.
GP practices remain available during usual hours (primarily for non-Covid-19 health matters).
For people over 50 – confidential help with local services and opportunities, benefit entitlements, care rights, housing options and heating, loneliness
Buchanan Street-based Pilmeny Development Project have launched referrals for their alternate services for both older people and young people/families.
The controversial plans proposed by Drum Property Group (18/04332/FUL & 18/04349/CON) have formally been rejected by the Scottish Government today, after several campaign groups and statutory bodies including Leith Central Community Council and the City of Edinburgh Council objected to the proposals earlier this year.
This means that the plans that have been circulating this year are definitively shelved, and the site owners will have to pursue another option, be it new plans or a sell-off of the site. We do not yet know how they will respond.
Please see the PDFs provided by the Scottish Government below.
Although it’s a welcome decision, it’s Leith Central Community Council’s duty to continue objectively scrutinising and examining all future planning applications, including any that come forward relating to this site. There will no doubt be work to be done and we look forward to continuing the work.
Lastly, Leith Central Community Council must reiterate the importance of the shopfronts down Leith Walk, and encourage the site owners to re-open the shops in the interim if there is no immediate development taking place.
Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service & the City of Edinburgh Council Trading Standards will be holding public drop in events focussing on providing the public with information on how to stay safe over the festive period.
Bogus callers, Dangerous Christmas presents/CE markings, Fire Safety, Home Security, Cycle Safety etc. are all impacted by the change in season so come along to learn how to stay safe.
On Monday the 9th of December 2019 at the following locations.
Bield Sheltered Housing Complex, Gordon Court (Lounge area) – 10:30 am to 12:00 noon
Out of the Blue, Dalmeny Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Please come along and speak to them about how to stay safe over the forthcoming festive period. Free bike marking and cycling safety equipment available (limited availability, so come early).
Arguably, tenements are the most successful form of urban living around the world. Our area* – the most densely populated in Scotland (census 2011) – is more or less defined by strong lines of tenements along our residential and shopping streets. Where these tenements are arranged around a “back green” they also provide much needed breathing space in a busy city. A lot of tenements in our area are more than 100 years old. Most residents in our area live in a tenement.
For a variety of reasons (latterly, including AirBnB), it is sometimes difficult to manage a tenement and even more problematic to maintain them collectively. This has also been recognised elsewhere as an issue and since March 2018, a Scottish Parliamentary Working Group has been meeting with the purpose of establishing solutions to aid, assist and, where necessary, to compel owners of tenement properties to maintain their buildings.
Leith Central Community Council (LCCC) is pleased to have Euan Leitch, Director of Built Environment Forum Scotland, at our monthly publicmeeting on 18 November at McDonald Road Library to provide an update on the final recommendations of the working group and upcoming (legislative) developments. His talk is titled Tenements: strengthening the repair & maintenance culture through legislation and will be followed by a Q&A.
* roughly between Easter Rd, London Road, Leith Walk, McDonald Rd, Ferry Road and the Foot of Leith Walk
18 November 2019 7pm McDonald Road Library – all welcome
Leith Central Community Council 