Councillor Norma Austin Hart at Brighton – Edinburgh’s Christmas – Edinburgh Greens holding planning meeting – Green Awards at the Botanics – Leith Waterworld
Councillor Norma Austin Hart has been in Brighton for the last few days at the Labour Party Conference. She has blogged for us tirelessly amid mixing with the Labour VIPs and getting her photo taken with them!
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Yes even we are a bit scared that it is now less than 100 sleeps till Christmas, but it was good to hear from Charlie and Ed at Underbelly about what they are planning for our delight this Christmas. Our photo shows Heather the fire eater, sword swallower and a member of the Limbo cast. They are performing at the new Spiegeltent in St Andrew Square.
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At a meeting open to the public tomorrow evening 26 September 2013 the Greens will examine the draft Local Development Plan for the city, which is due to go live in 2015.
The Plan sets out the big picture for land use in the city in light of a projected growth of 68,000 households through to 2031. To date there has been controversy about the potential loss of greenbelt land to the south and west of the city. The Plan also nestles within the so-called “SESPlan” which sets the context for the wider city region and has increased the land allocation for housing to over 100,000. SESPlan is due to be discussed between all councils in the south east of Scotland next Monday 30 September 2013 .
Green councillor Nigel Bagshaw said:-“The Local Development Plan is central to how Edinburgh will be shaped over the next 20 years. There’s a fundamental question to be addressed as to how big we want Edinburgh to be and what the consequences are for greenbelt, agriculture, transport links and the future design of neighbourhoods.
“Beyond those questions, the city needs to do more to make better use of existing sites and existing empty properties; and to make sure that new homes are affordable and in sufficient density to support local services like shops, healthcare and public transport.
“Future generations won’t thank us for making the wrong choices now.”
The meeting is at 7.30pm on Thursday 26 September at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace. All members of the public are very welcome.
You can read more about the LDP and SESplan here on the council website, and you can watch this informative video.
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The Scottish Green Awards take place tonight at the Botanics. “Scotland is leading the way in sustainable development and environmental improvement. Many Scottish businesses and communities are taking significant steps to support this. Now in their 5th year, the Scottish Green Awards are set up to celebrate those businesses, schools, people and communities who initiate practice which meets the current needs of their organisation/project without negatively impacting on the needs of future generations.”
We believe Lothian Buses are on the shortlist along with Vegware.
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Greener Leith introduced us to this video of skateboarders in Leith Waterworld. We are not sure how they got in or who filmed it… but it is a good film! Leith Waterworld has now been sold to a developer, following efforts to save it as a splash pool facility.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
