SOUTHSIDE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting on Tuesday, 13th October 2020, 7:00pm
(by Zoom), including the Annual General Meeting

Present:
Tim Pogson (TP, Chair), Bob Hodgart (BH), Sakshika (minute), Daniel Fisher, Philip McDowell, Ian Perry (Councillor), Svetlana Repanova, Amanda Scully (Vice President EUSA), Stuart Tooley (UoE), Stephen Benson, Liz Logie, David Wood, Joan Carter

Agenda item	Discussion	Action
1. 1. Reports from Office Bearers: Treasurer & Chair Reports	1.1 Svetlana presented accounts details of 2019/20. Balance at 31/3 - £2,403.58 1.2 Tim gave thanks to everyone for their support and work. He drew attention especially to the engagement work of the Community Council, including the very successful Westminster election hustings, the erection of a dedicated Community Council noticeboard and the involvement of members of the public in online meetings during lockdown. Tim also mentioned the work of the CC in organising volunteers to help people isolating because of Covid.
2. Election of Office Bearers: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Webmaster	2.1 Ian Perry asked for nomination for each post. Elections results are : 2.2 Tim is re-elected as Chair. 2.3 Joan is re-elected as Vice- Chair. 2.4 Secretary post remains vacant. 2.5 Svetlana is re-elected as Treasurer. 2.6 Philip is re-elected as Webmaster. A plea was made for a member to come forward and fill the Secretary post.	All
3. Welcome and Apologies	Chair welcomed all to the AGM of the Community Council, especially the recently-elected EUSA Communities Vice-President, Amanda Scully. Apologies: Maggie Peatfield, Caroline Barr
4. Previous Minutes	Adoption of the minutes of the meetings held on September with amendments noted.
5. Matters Arising	Tim mentioned about Holyrood Park Road signage for turning into Holyrood Park. Philip continuing to raise with Council officials and others. Andres Lices, Edinburgh City Council, is continuing to pursue the idea of murals in the Innocent Tunnel.
6. Councillor's report (Ian)	6.1 The council is tracking the health of people in Lothian area as covid case numbers rise. 6.2 Covid has had a substantial impact on the Council's budget, both meeting the costs of specialist measures and the losses from income-generating services. Budgets for future years will require to be substantially reprofiled, subject to what further funding may come from Scottish Government. 6.3 The council is trying hard to keep schools safe for children from virus. So, council has decided to gradually open the schools more to extracurricular activities while protecting the school environment. 6.4 Safety of all is high on agenda of council. Joan raised issues regarding mental health for school children as psychologists were not going to school due to Covid19, and children were also missing out because peripatetic tutors were not going into schools. Hopefully the limited reopening of schools will help.
7. Reports from Committees and meetings attended	7.1 City Centre Community Councils' Network meeting with Cllr Mowat (10/9) - tourism strategy. Joan and Bob had attended the meeting. The principles of the paper were welcomed, balancing the needs of Edinburgh as a city attractive to tourists and the needs of resident communities. There was much discussion, including the role of Festivals. Councillor Mowat will be keeping us in touch with developments. 7.2 Local Business Framework Meeting, 15 September Daniel and Joan attended the telephone meeting. The original thinking behind the meeting had been to encourage more socially-distanced engagement, but it had developed into a general discussion of support for local businesses. It was suggested to revisit the work that had been done previously on developing a vision of the businesses that local communities would welcome. 7.3 Licensing meeting Daniel had attended this hearing into the Summerhall licencing application. The application had been granted. The mood of the licencing board was to support licenced businesses during the covid lockdown. However, this had prompted Summerhall to seek to reach out to its community neighbours.	Chair
8. Response to Scottish Government Short Term Lets Licensing Consultation (TP)	8.1 Tim raised issue of licensing of short term lets and mentioned that they are not appropriate for tenement properties as it can cause disturbance for neighbours. 8.2 Additionally, Tim summarised a further six amendments to the consultation proposals, most notably that temporary 28 day licences would be granted with reduced requirements. 8.3 The meeting agreed with the response proposed.	Tim to submit by deadline of 16 October
9. Meadows East End Improvements	9.1 David gave the report regarding improvements in Meadows East End and Meadows Tennis Pavilion area. 9.2 Proposed improvements were welcomed and agreed. However, challenge will be to secure funding. David will hold another meeting regarding potential funding sources.	DW
10. AOB	Daniel informed the meeting about the dissolution of Dumbiedykes Residents Association. Tim recognised that this was a significant development and while there were other community-based organisations in Dumbiedykes, the Community Council should pay particular attention to representing the needs of that community particularly. Daniel suggested to identify residents associations in Southside Edinburgh and identify any community organisations that may be vulnerable. Liz mentioned about Nicolson Square summer clean-up. She raised the concern of the public not sanitising hands in stores and she urged that it should be made mandatory like the wearing of masks. She mentioned also about mental health issues due to covid19.	Chair
11. Date of Next Meeting Next AGM	Tuesday 10th November 2020, at 7pm. June 8th 2021