Council meeting today
Planning application for Baileyfield site
Ready for Winter roadshow
School streets consultation
Farmers market moving venue
The full council meeting takes place this morning starting at 10am. There are lots of papers, but probably the most exciting (at least for council employees) is that there is to be a big reshuffle of council departments.
The Chief Executive was asked to mastermind the reorganisation and the Council Leader explained it in his Leader’s Report which he will present to the meeting this morning:
“Very much with the above challenges in mind, 12 months ago councillors instructed our Chief Executive, Sue Bruce, to consider how we can improve performance, productivity and customer satisfaction.
“In short, we don’t have any choice; we must do things differently. Edinburgh is the fastest growing local authority area in Scotland and we are facing an ever increasing demand for our services against a backdrop of rising demand but stand-still or falling budgets.
“Having established an overall approach to change in the council, Sue has now set out her vision for the future. Her report describes how we will plan to change the way we deliver services by focusing on priorities and outcomes in the city’s neighbourhoods. This will allow us to deliver best value services for residents, reflect local needs and work together as efficiently as possible.”
***
Building has begun of Edinburgh’s biggest secondary school with the sod cutting ceremony which took place yesterday. The site that was in the public eye as a potential alternative location for the new school at Baileyfield is set to become a site for 220 new homes alongside a new Aldi store.
Portobello Community Council has a page here for local residents to air their views on the potential development.
***
We told you earlier in the week about the launch of the Government’s Ready for Winter? campaign and now there is a roadshow coming to a shopping centre near you tomorrow.
The campaign will urge people in Edinburgh to get ready for winter as its national tour visits the city this week. The campaign encourages people to prepare now for the possibility of severe weather throughout the winter months.
The roadshow will visit Asda (Jewel) on Friday 24 October where the Ready for Winter advice team will be on hand to advise people on preparing for severe weather conditions, whether they’re at home, on the move, at work or in the community. They will be handing out handy credit card torches, as well as ice scrapers and fleece and foil blankets.
The Scottish Government’s ‘Ready for Winter’ campaign is being delivered in partnership with the British Red Cross and a range of public, private and voluntary sector partners, including SEPA and Scottish Business in the Community. The campaign aims to provide free information and advice on how to prepare and cope with severe weather including snow, ice, heavy rain, flooding and high-winds. It seeks to:
· remind individuals, communities and families of the risks and consequences of being under-prepared for the impact of severe weather
· offer free information and advice on the simple steps that people, businesses and communities can take in advance to reduce those risks
· encourage as many people as possible to be ready for all kinds of severe weather this winter and beyond.
Scottish Government Minister for Transport and Veterans, Keith Brown, said: “This year’s Ready For Winter campaign is out on the road again to ensure that the people of Scotland are prepared to deal with whatever weather is thrown at them as we approach the winter months.
“If there is anything recent winters have shown us it is that Scottish weather is unpredictable. In the last five years, parts of Scotland have been badly affected by severe weather ranging from snow and freezing temperatures to high winds and blizzards, and we also saw the impact of flooding in south-west England. With this in mind, I hope that we can reach as many people as possible with this year’s road show and share the tips from our wide-range of partners.”
For more information please see www.readyscotland.org
***
Consultation is about to get under way in 11 school communities across Edinburgh over the coming months as part of a new pilot ‘school streets’ initiative.
A total of 31 schools expressed an interest in taking part in the pilot, which is designed to improve the environment around schools and encourage safer and healthier ways for pupils to travel to and from school.
The Local Transport Strategy 2014-19 contains a commitment to pilot school streets at up to five schools.
However, given the volume of interest from schools across the city, a list of ten pilot schemes covering 11 schools has now been drawn up following an exhaustive selection process.
This list will go before members of the Transport and Environment Committee for approval at their meeting on Tuesday 28 October 2014, with a view to beginning consultation in the first tranche of schools next month.
The pilot schemes will prohibit traffic on streets outside or around school entrances at specific times of day. Doing this creates a safer, more pleasant environment which promotes travel to school by walking and cycling. Further benefits for the whole community around the school, including residents and local businesses, would include reduced congestion and decreased levels of air and noise pollution.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, Transport Convener, said: “We were really delighted with the level of interest from schools right across Edinburgh so we wanted to make sure we rolled out the pilot scheme to as many school communities as we could. The next stage is to take the proposals out for consultation in each of the school communities, starting with the five sites (six schools) in Phase 1.”
The first schools for the pilot scheme consultation are: Duddingston Primary School and St John’s RC Primary School (which are adjacent to each other), Abbeyhill Primary School, Colinton Primary School, Sciennes Primary School and Cramond Primary School.
Consultation for schools in the second phase is earmarked for early 2015 and will cover: Towerbank Primary School, St Peter’s RC Primary School, Clermiston Primary School, Bonaly Primary School and Buckstone Primary School.
If the Committee agrees to proceed with the pilot following consultation, Phase 1 could be implemented in August/September 2015 and Phase 2 in December 2015. This timetable is provisional, however, as changes may result from any objections received during the required Experimental Traffic Regulation Order process.
***
The Juniper Green Farmers’ Market is moving its location this Saturday when it starts at 9am in the Village Hall Community Garden.
This will place the market at the centre of the village and the organisers hope to attract more people to buy there. There will be a FairTrade Stall selling coffee, tea, chocolate and olive oil.
The community stall will be the RNLI Lifeboats explaining what they do. As well as this Councillor Dominic Heslop will be on hand between 10 and 11 – all to the musical accompaniment of Blue Moon. More details on Yelp.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
