SCC CHAIR’S REPORT, for meeting of September 10, 2018

1. Clerk Street Bus Stop opposite end Montague Street

– despite all approaches, the Council appears to be not for reinstating this bus stop. Gordon Turnbull of The Grapes pub has not given up however. He has a petition signed by 400+ ready to deliver and he is also trying to engage the local press.

2. Underbelly on the Meadows

– 13th August, Joan and myself attended the usual mid-Festival meeting with the management of the Underbelly site on the Meadows. The meeting was thinly attended, due I think to the Council not promoting the opportunity properly. However those of us who attended had nothing but praise for the Underbelly’s approach and practice. We raised the issue of the length of time the facility is on site but this is a Council decision and not the responsibility of Underbelly itself. We also asked Underbelly to support us in ensuring litter bins on the Meadows were emptied efficiently by the Council and not allowed to overflow.

3. Secretary Post

– following Deborah’s resignation at the AGM, Liz has agreed to take our minutes, thank you. I have secured our room bookings at Nelson Hall for the forthcoming year. The only outstanding function is to monitor the Secretary email account and compile a brief report of incoming ‘correspondence’ for our meetings. No responses were received to my request for support with this. I would be grateful if one of our members would be prepared to help with this. In the meantime, the Secretary’s email account is set to forward to the Chair’s email account.

4. A7 Resurfacing

– this seemed to be a very well-managed project and we were all impressed by the degree of consultation with community organisations and responsiveness to concerns. Some final touches remain to be completed during September. The main outstanding issue is the provision of bollards, or not, to prevent parking on the pavement outside Surgeons Hall. Cllr Rose is objecting to this approach on the grounds that it would spoil the view but we are hopeful that he will reconsider this position.

5. Le Dermex

– we objected to a planning application for the installation of flues to the rear of this building but permission was granted. The residents of the tenement however refused to give consent so the works could not go ahead. I understand that the proprietor is continuing with their plans to convert this premises into a restaurant but with a different kitchen and ventilation arrangement. We objected to the original change of use to a restaurant but again were over-ruled on appeal.

6. Deep Clean Event, 27 October

– Sarah Burns, Edinburgh City Council, has proposed council contractors engage in two days of ‘deep clean’ activity along the Nicolson Street/Clerk Street corridor, followed by a community clean-up event on Saturday 27th October in Nicolson Square Gardens. I have provisionally welcomed this proposal.

7. Bernard Terrace crossing

– following some confusion over the summer, the current situation is that the zebra crossing should be installed as soon as possible, as was successful in the Neighbourhood Environment Partnership ballot. This will hopefully be upgraded to a puffin crossing at some point in the future although this will in all likelihood be several years away.

8. Short Term Lets

– On 1 September, I emailed our six List MSP’s, excluding Andy Wightman who we know is supportive, and Ruth Davidson asking them to support any legislation that came before the Scottish Parliament enabling the Council to take action to regulate the proliferation of short term lets. To date (8 September), I have received three replies to the email, which was drafted by Joan.

Gordon Lindhurst appeared supportive, although more in relation to managing the bad behaviour of tenants as opposed to the number and concentration of short terms lets in an area. Jeremy Balfour was non-specific but agreed that ‘we need to protect those that live in the city permanently’. Neil Findlay recognised the issues and promised to keep ‘a very close eye on developments’.

9. 2F1 118 Nicolson Street Change of Use Application

– staying on the topic of short term lets, I submitted an objection to an application to change the use of these premises from long term let to short term/holiday let. I have not seen a decision as yet.

10. 14 June Neighbourhood Partnership

– I attended this meeting at which the main topic of discussion was the longstanding one of how the recently-formed South East Locality Committee engages with community organisations. Cllr Rose who chaired the meeting committed to setting up a further meeting before the end of June involving Council officers, councillors and representatives of community organisations to discuss specifically this issue. To date, I have received no notice of any such meeting.

Tim
September, 2018