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SOUTHSIDE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MINUTES


Meetings are held from 7pm until 9pm on the second Wednesday of the month, from September until June, in the Nelson Hall, 5 Spittalfield Crescent, Edinburgh, EH8 9QZ Telephone: 0131-667 8838

*Further information on any of the items below is available from the Secretary, by using the above postal address or web site: www.edinscc.org

Abbreviations used as required:
ASCC = Association of Scottish Community Councils; CEC = The City of Edinburgh Council; CYP = Canongate Youth Project; DEG = Dumbiedykes Environmental Group; EACC = Edinburgh Association of Community Councils; EUSA = Edinburgh University Students’ Association; HMO = House(s) in Multiple Occupancy; LA = Licence Application; L&BP = Lothian & Borders Police; LHC = Late Hours Catering; NP = Neighbourhood Partnership; PA = Planning Application; SCC = Southside Community Council; SCNP = South Central Neighbourhood Partnership; SG = Scottish Government; SP = Scottish Parliament; TRO = Traffic Regulation Order; UoE = University of Edinburgh; and other initials = members of the SCC.

Minutes of 103rd meeting held on Wednesday 12th January 2011, from 7.00pm until 9.00pm, in the Nelson Hall, 5 Spittalfield Crescent, Edinburgh.

PRESENT:
Chairperson: Hilary McDowell (HM);
Elected Members: John Largue (Treasure, JL), Caroline Barr (CB), Susan Brown, Bob Hodgart (RH), Deborah Charlesworth (secretary, DC), May Linton, Nikki Thomson, Lisa Sibbald (LS, representative for the South Side Association), and Colin Symes (Community Church Edinburgh, South Clerk S), Keith Smith (KS, Southside Community Education Centre).

City of Edinburgh Council: Councillor Cameron Rose
Three members of the Public were also present.

1. Welcome and apologies for absence.
HM welcomed those present to the meeting, including a Spokes member. Apologies for absence were received from Colin Symes, Amy Williamson, and Michael Strain.

2. Police Report: Jeanette McCulloch informed us that street drinkers moved from Nicolson Square continue to be a problem, and that people should phone the police about them. A fire in Rankeillor St is being investigated, and more information will be available when the cause is known. Arrests were made after a robbery in S. Clerk St, and an attempted bicycle theft in a tenement stair.


3. The Odeon building. HM told us that bids have now been received, but it is not yet known whether any of them will be accepted, and, if not, what will happen next. The Community Council agreed to mount a campaign objecting to demolition and asking for repairs to be done, and that the compulsory purchase procedure should be started, using postcards to be sent to the city planning department, and also posters and an information sheet with further contact details if people wish to write to MSPs, councillors and others who may be helpful in supporting such a campaign. The text and design of the materials have been developed by HM, with advice from others, and the postcards will be made available at as many locations as possible, and the locations will be provided with boxes to collect the postcards, so that people have only to add their name and reasons for objecting to the possibility of demolition. It was agreed that, in the first instance, £250 can be made available for the printing costs (but HM expects the costs to be lower than this, based on a printer’s quotation). NT suggested that it would be good if a web site existed that could email the city planning department, without the need for the objector to obtain the email themself. HM will investigate the existing web sites supporting the Odeon as an arts venue. Two such sites have existed for some time, and may include this facility. If not, we might be able to arrange this. In addition it was agreed that HM and DC should write to the head of the city planning department, requesting that urgent repairs should be done, and emphasising the widespread objections to demolition. Sir Tom Farmer replied to our letter (see December minutes), but he appears to favour demolition, and a hotel on the site, retaining only the facade.

4. The Minutes of the 10th December 2010 meeting were approved, subject to 2 revisions (Proposed LS, seconded JL).

5. Matters arising
• HM reported the resignation of our ASCC area representative, Norman Bonney. Another area representative has offered to represent our community council and to help us in any difficulties. A vote was held to decide whether to make the letter from the ASCC in which they threatened us with litigation available to our councillors, MSPs, the EACC (which has a meeting on Jan. 13th), and this representative (of those eligible to vote 8 supported this action, and one voted against this). Attendance at the meeting in Glasgow on 26th March was discussed, and several CC members expressed an interest.
• The meeting discussed procedures briefly and it was agreed that specific issues to be discussed at greater length should first be decided (CC members with such issues to email DC). It was agreed to hold this discussion at a meeting in the near future, or (at worst) at the AGM in May.

6. Reports from meetings attended.
• LS, RH and ML attended a meeting at the Southside Community Center, which heard from Atif Ahmed, the “community champion” from Tesco, who asked for ideas for what Tesco staff might do in the area.
• RH and CB attended a meeting of the Causey Development Trust.
• RH will attend a meeting of the Edinburgh Association of Community Councils.
• There will be a Community Tea at the Southside Community Center from 5-6.30pm on February 9.
LM will attend a meeting of the Fairer Scotland transitional funding meeting on 25th January.

7. Treasurer’s Report (JL): There is £1,673.38 in the bank, and £2.09 petty cash.

8. Secretary’s Report. There were 16 emails, and 4 paper items. We received bulletins about snow and ice problems in many streets, and poor clearance of rubbish bins and recycling bins. It was agreed that these topics should be discussed at a future meeting.

9. Correspondence: See item 3 above.

10. Publicity group. The revised newsletter was approved, subject to some minor changes, and it was agreed to request funding to distribute it.

11. Environmental report (HM)
1. Burst Water main near the junctions of East and West Crosscauseway reported to Scottish Water on 19th December. Engineers dug up the road within a couple of hours but then went away leaving a large hole and the water still flowing. At the time of writing it is still not fixed. I have been promised that the priority for this will be raised as it is blocking use of the bus lane. A small manhole cover is also missing at this junction making it particularly dangerous for cyclists. I do not know which utility is responsible for this.
2. A letter has been sent to the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to express our frustration with the lack of action on all the defects pointed out over the last few years, especially after the promises made following the ‘Walkabout’ in September.
3. The Roads department were hoping to start repairs on Monday 10th but then the snow came back so things will probably be delayed but there is a plan ready to be implemented.
4. The Environmental Manager expects that it will take about a month to get the area back up to a standard of cleanliness that he is satisfied with. He will not aim to get the grit off the pavements before the end of February. This is what was done last year.
5. We have been reporting particularly bad piles of rubbish beside overflowing bins when vehicles were able to move safely again and in the main they were attended to. The notable exception has been in the entrance to the University residences on Blackwood Crescent.
6. NOTE that this part was not read ad the meeting, but was sent to the CC the next day. The Meadows continues to be of concern. Large areas flooded and a pile of soil and rubble has appeared on top of a big heap of snow. The snow will melt but someone will have to remove the dumped material. An email copied to me says that there is no budget to replace any trees on the Meadows despite the fact that quite a few trees have been felled this year. There are considerable gaps appearing in several of the avenues. I would suggest that we, as a CC, apply for a NP grant or from another grant funding body to start filling in some of these spaces.

12. Bike Project for the disabled. CB outlined the project for a scheme to offer cycling tuition using volunteers, and provide adapted bicycles (funding sources have been identified). Possible venues were discussed, and initial sites that are off-road and flat are The Meadows and Inverleith Park, however the problem of secure storage space is not yet solved.

13. Public Question Time: There were no questions

14. Any other business: None

15. Date of next meeting – February 9th 2011.

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