SCC CHAIR'S REPORT, for meeting of April 13, 2021

  1. EACC - ten EACC members including myself have been invited to form a Steering Group that met for the first time on 1 April. This first meeting was a wide-ranging discussion of the nature of community engagement by the City Council and what empowerment means in the context of Community Councils. The first objective is to develop a position statement in time for the June meeting of the Edinburgh Partnership Board. The Group will meet again on 29 April.

  2. Spaces for People consultation - on 11 March, I attended a consultation meeting on making the Spaces for People changes permanent. It was attended by a small group of Community Council representatives. Of particular interest to me:
    • there is funding available for additional measures (I mentioned the Holyrood Park Road/Dalkeith Road junction in our response), and

    • a review of litter bins, to remove them from pavements wherever possible, is ongoing, as is the review of communal bins.

    The consultation outcome will be reported to the Transport and Environment Committee on 17 June.

    I submitted our response to the consultation before the extended closing date of 4 April.

  3. Use of Public Spaces Working Group - I have been invited to join a working group to finalise the recommendations around the Use of Public Spaces for Filming and Events consultation. 39 stakeholders have joined the group. I don't know who was invited to join. There are four meetings of the working group scheduled between 21 April and 21 July.

  4. Starbucks - I received an email from the manager of the Starbucks in Nicolson Street upset that a creation of a bins 'hub' at the side of the building was blocking accessibility for wheelchair users, for example, and also facilitating graffiti spraying. I forwarded the email to our ward councillors and it was picked up by Cllr Rose.

  5. Alastair Aird - I gave an interview to a St Andrews student who was preparing his dissertation on issues around the City Council's management of public spaces and communities' views. We had a very interesting discussion particularly about our views on the use of the Meadows. Alastair promised to share his dissertation findings with his interviewees. It could be interesting to hear the views of an independent external observer.
Tim
April, 2021