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Southside Community Council




SOUTHSIDE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MINUTES

Minutes of 104th meeting held on Wednesday 9th February 2011, from 7.00pm until 9.00pm, in the Nelson Hall, 5 Spittalfield Crescent, Edinburgh.

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.

PRESENT:
Chairperson: Hilary McDowell (HM);
Elected and co-opted Members: John Largue (Treasure, JL), Caroline Barr (CB), Susan Brown (SB), Bob Hodgart (RH), Deborah Charlesworth (secretary, DC), May Linton (ML), Lisa Sibbald (LS, representative for the South Side Association), and Michael Strain (MS, representing City of Edinburgh Methodist Church),

City of Edinburgh Council: Councillor Steve Burgess, Shaun McGrath (City of Edinburgh Council liason officer and Local Environment Manager).
8 members of the Public were also present.

1. Welcome and apologies for absence.
HM welcomed those present to the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from Keith Smith, Colin Symes and Nikki Thomson.
NOTE that, due to the need for certain people to leave early (due to illness) or arrive late (because of clashing meetings), the order differs from that in the Agenda that was circulated.

2. Roads report from Local Environment Manager. Shaun McGrath reported about the council’s efforts to maintain clear roads and pavements as far as possible during the winter’s severe weather, and supplied copies of a printed report. More equipment has been bought, and staff trained to drive the new snow-clearing vehicles. The good effects in Dumbiedykes were appreciated, and, although CC members understand the difficulties, they were dismayed at cars being parked where they impede snow clearance efforts, and also hope for better rubbish bin emptying and snow clearing at bus-stops in future. A list of priorities for the future is being developed, and suggestions for this can be sent to Mr. McGrath (phone number 0131 529 3711), and new grit bins can be requested from 0800 232323.

3. Police Report: Jeanette McCulloch described the 3 priorities for the next 3 months:
I. Antisocial behaviour, drinking and violence in the street.
II. Bicycle thefts, inconsiderate cyclists
III. Inconsiderate motorists
She asked for suggestions for future initiatives.
The fire in Rankeillor St is still being investigated, and more information will be available when the cause is known. The other 2 fires on the same night were accidents, and there is no evidence that an arsonist is at loose.
There was some discussion about drug misuse in the area.

4. Update on Bernard Terrace crossing. The discussions promised last September did not occur, and a letter was recently received (see correspondence listed below) stating that a different option would very shortly be built, not the one chosen by the CC. HM and DC wrote to the Road Safety, City Development to request that this work should be halted, the funds given back to be re-considered by the NP for other uses. This has occurred, and Mr. McGrath understood that Caroline Burwell from Road Safety intended to discuss the proposal for Bernard Terrace crossing further with the CC.

5. The Minutes of the January 12th meeting were discussed, but after discussion of some revisions and of the request to hold an extended discussion of our procedures, were (through an oversight) not approved.

6. Matters arising: DC reported that only one CC member responded to the email request for specific suggestions of other procedures to discuss. The issues raised were the order of agenda items, the number of items on the agenda, and voting procedures. A vote was taken on the issue of whether to add an open-ended discussion of procedures, and the result was 3 for and 6 against doing so.

7. The Odeon building. HM read a statement from one bidder, and a draft of a letter to the newspapers that we hope will be signed by many MSPs, and she reported that the council will not allow use as a large pub/club, but that there are 3 bids proposing acceptable uses of the building. RB has examined the papers relevant to requesting A-listing, but thinks that the procedure is complex. The Community Council’s campaign objecting to demolition and asking for repairs to be done, and that the compulsory purchase procedure should be started (see minutes of January 12 meeting) is now running, and large numbers of signatures of our petition have been collected, as well as many emails sent via the web site to the Planning Department of the council. [A further brief presentation occurred at the end of the meeting.]

8. Secretary’s Report
a) A request for funding for part of the costs of printing and distribution the Newsletter has been prepared and submitted to the council
b) In response to a request, DC will bring correspondence to be available 6.45. Starting our meetings at 6.30 will therefore not be advisable.
c) The CC’s laptop is not being used by DC, and will be made available to LM as the CC’s representative to the NP. She will be responsible for insuring it. Anti-virus protection is being organised.

9. Correspondence
i) A letter to the Education Department suggesting use of the Summerhall site as a 6th form college received the reply that the city has a policy of not having such schools. The Summerhall questionnaire was completed and returned.
ii) Letters about the Odeon were sent to the Planning Department.
iii) Letters complaining about poor service from Scottish Water were sent to Scottish Water’s chief Executive via Sarah Boyack MSP. No reply has been received.

10. Treasurer’s Report
• There is £1648 in the bank, and £11.09 petty cash.
• The bank have lost some paperwork and new mandate forms have been signed so that we can operate our account.

11. Reports from meetings attended
1) LM attended a Fairer Scotland meeting, which discussed cuts to city organisations, including the CYP. She told us that the council’s focus on getting people back into work is liable to harm old people, for whom support is decreased.
2) HM attended an Environmental Forum on 26 January. Kathy Evans told the meeting that it has been discovered that some ostensible Big Issue sellers are not genuine, but are being organised by ‘gangmasters’. It is hoped that better police monitoring of these sellers can be arranged (they should be wearing identifying jackets and badges).
3) RH went to the EACC meeting. The main points to report are the following.
• The new liason office, M. Driscoll, was present.
• The Merchiston CC have developed a code of conduct for situations when difficulties arise.
• The EACC discussed inviting an ASCC representative to a meeting, hoping to resolve the problems that have arisen (see minutes of January 12th meeting).
• Indemnity insurance for CCs is being investigated.
4) KS attended the Community Tea (Feb. 9).
5) LS and Steve Burgess attended a meeting of the South Side Centre management committee that discussed the Crags sports centre. The city wish to ensure that the new operators will allow continued community use (currently including some local schools and the CYP), and are inviting bids which will be judged by criteria that will include availability to the community. It was agreed that our March meeting should hear a report about this.
6) CB and RH attended a meeting of the Causey Development Trust. An event (Pop-Up Lighting) will be held on Wednesday March 9th, from 6.30 to 9pm at the South Side Community Centre.

12. Forthcoming meetings
1. Attendance at the ASCC meeting on March 26 was discussed. JL proposed that, with the threat of legal action from the ASCC still hanging over us, nobody should attend this in any capacity. A vote was held. 1 voted for attendance, 7 against attendance, 2 abstentions. SB said that she intended to attend as an observer. It was made clear that should she attend, she was not in any way representing the Southside Community Council, nor would we be liable for any expenses. No comments made by her should reflect on the position of the SCC.
2. CB’s request for £60 to attend the SURF meeting was not approved, as this appears to be aimed at academics.
3. A meeting with the CEC will be held about indemnity insurance for Edinburgh CCs. (JL)

13. Public Question Time: A question was asked about the change-over to digital television. JL explained the hardware requirements.

14. Any other business: None

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

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