Festival launches – Architecture consultation – MSP Newsletter – QMU play is a fundraiser – Police offering bike marking
This is the week of festival launches. Yesterday it was the turn of The Edinburgh International Film Festival, and today it will be the Fringe Festival launch which we will bring you news of later. Later The Traverse will launch their 2012 programme and the tickets for that will be on sale from 10. It is all hotting up already for the summer, but unfortunately the weather today in Edinburgh is slipping back to pre-spring with a maximum temperature of only 13 degrees predicted for today. We have suggested for you 60 things you can get up to this holiday weekend. Please feel free to add in more ideas of your own!
Later today we are meeting with new Transport Convenor, Councillor Lesley Hinds, to talk all things transport related. Do you have any questions for her? Then please send them in by commenting below or by Twitter. We hope to bring you a ‘live’ interview later. Watch out for it!
The other thing we are looking for is people who have been asked to carry the Olympic Torch. If that is you then please get in touch and we will tell everyone else about you!
And finally on Tuesday next week we will have some exciting news to tell you about a live event that we are running on 19 June 2012. It will be of particular interest to those living in the west of the city….but we hope you will all join in! More on Tuesday.
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Marco Biagi has highlighted the problem of some of our buildings in the capital, and has alerted us to the fact that there is a Scottish Government consultation which offers Edinburgh residents a chance to have their say on the shape of architecture and the built environment here for years to come.
He said:-“With renowned architecture and as a World Heritage Site, Edinburgh residents know well how important it is to have well-designed places to live and work. So much of our city’s vital economic appeal in tourism and the arts comes from its unique character and appearance. Unfortunately Edinburgh is also home to a number of outrageous eyesores – like the St James Centre – that should never have been allowed to happen.
“This consultation will inform Scottish Government guidance and policy on these areas. It is open to all and I encourage anyone who has strong views to get involved and have their say on what the future of Scotland’s towns and cities should look like.”
The consultation runs until 7 September 2012.
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Lothians MSP Sarah Boyack’s newsletter has been published and you can read it here.
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Students and pupils have made a drama out of ‘Porty People’. A student community project, based on the history of Portobello, has raised over £500 at the box office.
‘The Day the Aliens Came to Portobello’ the production developed by Community Theatre students from Queen Margaret University in conjunction with Towerbank Primary School, is based on the history of Portobello. The production has been well supported by the local community, raising £530 for a charity in Malawi which was selected by the Primary 5 pupils.
Four performances of the play were staged at the newly refurbished, Portobello Community Centre.
Irvine Alan, Lecturer in Drama at Queen Margaret University, explained: “It has been very rewarding to see the students work so well with the primary 5s. The pupils devised, designed, acted, stage-managed and controlled front of house for the whole production. Both students and pupils really rose to the challenge and there was a great sense of team work and achievement in pulling the project off so successfully.”
Irvine continued: “The feedback from Towerbank Primary’s head teacher and the parents has been excellent. We are immensely proud of the Queen Margaret University students – Gillian Downie and Lindsay Duncan – who delivered the project. They are a credit to the University.”
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A call from Lothian and Borders Police who are offering help to cyclists. When your bike is lost or stolen the chances of ever retrieving it are slim, but you can increase these chances significantly by having it registered, UV marked, and electronically marked.
Bring your bike to be:
- registered and UV marked for £5
- registered, UV marked and electronically tagged for £16
A limited number of bikes will be registered and marked free, so arrive early if you don’t want to miss out.
| Date (all June 2012) | Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Mon 18 | 11am – 2pm | Ocean Terminal (Overflow carpark to the front of the building) |
| Tue 19 | 11am – 2pm | AEGON building (staff entrance – Lochside Crescent), Edinburgh Business Park |
| Wed 20 | 8am -10am | City Chambers, High street, Edinburgh |
| Wed 20 | 11am – 2pm | Festival Square, Lothian Road, Edinburgh |
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
