SOUTHSIDE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting on Monday 28th October 2019, 6:45pm

The Gray Room, Nelson Hall, 5 Spittalfield Crescent, Edinburgh EH8 9QZ

Present: Caroline Barr, Kaaren Haughton, Stephen Rodger Benson, Joan Carter (JC), Liz Logie (LL), Philip McDowell (PM), Bob Hodgart (BH), David Wood, Svetlana Repanova, Cllr Steve Burgess, Nicholas Oddy
Also Present: 3 members of the public

  1. Welcome and Introduction:
    A warm welcome note and Introduction of council members


  2. Apologies:
    Apologies from Tim Pogson and Daniel Fisher


  3. Declaration of Election results:

    • 9 nominations for 12 positions
    • No election required
    • Successful candidates’ names were announced: Tim Pogson, Joan Carter, Liz Logie, Caroline Barr, Robert Hodgart, Steven Rodger, Kaaren Haughton, Philip McDowell and Svetlana Repanova
    • Role of engagement officer described by Steve Burgess
    • Suggestion by Joan - Philip does most of the engagement work and can continue working on it.
    • Community Council Scheme available on council website to familiarize i.e. annual grant, newsletter, banking arrangements, insurance, booklet etc
    • Future meetings: minimum requirement of 6 general and Annual meeting in May/ June
    • Minutes and agendas - publicly available


  4. Appointment of Office bearers

    • Nomination for Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary and Treasurer
      • Chair- Person- Tim Pogson
      • Vice-Chair- Joan Carter and proposer were Caroline and Kaaren
      • Secretary- Caroline, Proper were Kaaren, Liz and Joan
      • Treasurer- Svetlana, Proposer- Joan and Philip
      • Engagement Officer- Not obligated, up to community council
    • In absence of Tim, Joan chaired the meeting and talked about refreshing of scheme and minimum attendance
    • Community Councillor Induction: Session for new members; 9th Nov- 10-12.30 PM and 14th Nov- 10-12.30 PM.
    • 2/3 members supported co-option for Nicholas
    • Dates of future council meetings were decided. 2nd Monday of the month not available so 2nd/3rd/4th Tuesday of the month/ 4th Thursday of the month was proposed
    • Everyone agreed for 2nd Tuesday of the Month
    • Next meeting scheduled for 12th Nov 6.45PM at Nelson Hall.


  5. Report on Group Membership

    • Continuation of 3 subgroups was proposed: Communications, Planning and Environment
    • Questions were raised whether these groups are needed or not and it was decided that all three groups are needed but not engagement officer
    • Membership of these groups was decided
      • Planning: Nicholas, Tim, David, Stephen
      • Communications: Philip, Caroline and Svetlana
      • Environment: Liz, Kaaren, Nick, Joan
    • University of Edinburgh student representative is required, and Joan suggested to co-opt Stuart Tooley (university communities representative). However, according to community councils scheme, he needs to live here.
    • Svetlana suggested a website for volunteers and will check about it.
    • Course organisers of appropriate course subjects could be contacted to encourage student participation in the CC.
    • Update: Neighbourhood meeting:
      • 2nd meeting poorly attended, and questions raised about Southside/Newington Network’s existence
      • Key thing is how these things influence council- asked by Kaaren
      • What should the neighbourhood network do? Whole point is to come up with the community plan and work together with other communities, wider level of locality improvement as per ‘local improvement plan’ and this all under structure of Edinburgh Partnership
      • Members come from Public sector, NHS, Police etc and community members to support community planning.
      • Major challenge is to decide the purpose of Neighbourhood.
    • Philip mentioned Virus protection due which amounts to £19.99; will discuss with Svetlana
    • Bob raised a query on Declarations of interest, explained by Steve Burgess
    • Philip suggested applying for a grant through a University grant scheme for community volunteer action to make a Video with students about how to dispose of waste here. Many challenges exist e.g. survey of bins
    • There was an invitation to apply for Ed Uni grant for community actions but deadline is 4th Nov and it would be difficult to get the budget together and to make a plan


  6. Update on City Plan 2030

    • Consulting process has begun and plans that inform all development in the city
    • It proposes new Planning regulations i.e. what is acceptable development
    • 19th November is meeting about City Plan pre-Choices consultation at Waverley council at 6-7.30PM
    • First phase: Consultation will end in Feb 2020 and variety of events, i.e. awareness before consultation, are planned


  7. Report on Short-term let

    • Report on Short term let has come out and Joan raised a query if council can do something or govt must take an action
    • 1 in 6 flats are Short term lets. Licensing and HMO’s in terms of safety and potential to regulate the numbers needs to be in place


  8. Any other business

    • Philip mentioned about NHS letters regarding opinions on Niddrie/Braefoot revised practice boundaries
    • Bob mentioned about the march in Meadows on 1st October and it created a lot of mess. Joan to check on next FoMBL meeting
    • Liz mentioned about Christmas market, regarding safety measures. There was supposed to have been a meeting today, but it didn’t happen
    • Tourism strategy being consulted on


  9. Action Events

    • Discussion on NHS letters
    • Joan to check regarding Meadows march follow up in next FoMBL meeting
    • Meeting re Accelerator Fund that Council has won. Would involve attending a walkabout gathering ideas of how to sustain Edinburgh’s green spaces
    • Notice boards for asking video ideas


  10. Thank You Note:

    from Steve Burgess to all the members of the council for doing excellent work in council meetings


Next meeting: 12th November, 6.45 PM