Greens announce more Westminster candidates than ever
Waverley Bridge to be one way northbound
Wildlife Walk
More routes from Edinburgh Airport
Watch the Oscars in Edinburgh
The Scottish Greens confirmed today that they will have candidates in 32 of Scotland’s 59 Westminster constituencies – more than ever before – and 40 per cent of the candidates will be women.
It follows a surge in membership to over 8,500 and a steady rise in the polls with a recent TNS Scottish survey putting the Greens on 6 per cent, two points ahead of the Libdems. The same poll revealed that almost of a quarter of 18 to 34 year olds intend to vote for the Scottish Greens.
The Greens explain that Edinburgh East is the top target constituency with former university rector Peter McColl the party’s candidate. A spokesman said: “Edinburgh has a strong Green activist base, and has had MSPs since 1999 and councillors since 2007.”
Patrick Harvie MSP, Co-convener of the Scottish Greens, said:
“Other parties are tying themselves in knots with messages about the sort of tactical voting that represents the politics of old. With our biggest slate of candidates, Scots will have an unrivalled opportunity to vote for the bold and positive politics that only Greens represent.
“Our candidates are already out and about engaging with voters on our ideas for protecting public services, reforming democracy and tackling inequality. With new members joining all the time we are determined to maintain the momentum.”
Peter McColl, Scottish Green candidate for Edinburgh East, said:
“Greens are clearly in the running as we head into an election in which everything is up for grabs. We know from speaking to our local communities that voters are looking for candidates they can believe in.
“Our policies on raising the minimum wage to £10 a hour by 2020, renationalising the railways and ending austerity have huge appeal, and are vital to rebalancing our economy and our society.”
The full list of Scottish Green party candidates for Edinburgh seats are :
Edinburgh North and Leith, Sarah Beattie-Smith
Edinburgh West, Pat Black
Edinburgh East, Peter McColl
Edinburgh South, Phyl Meyer
Edinburgh South West, Richard Doherty
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Vehicles heading south will be diverted away from Waverley Bridge from next week so that further work can begin on improving pedestrian access around Waverley Station.
For four weeks from 6am on Tuesday 24 February 2015, Waverley Bridge will become one way to northbound traffic only.
This is to allow the construction of a setted raised table, or an elevated section of road, on Waverley Bridge between the north and south ramps of Waverley Station.
The works are part of a £1 million programme to improve pedestrian access around Waverley Station.
The first phase of works on Market Street was completed in mid-2014 and included the creation of a temporary taxi rank, new loading areas and a cycle lane.
The second phase, which is ongoing, involves carriageway resurfacing and the widening of footways on Waverley Bridge, as well as the installation of upgraded drainage, kerb realignment, laying of sandstone and Caithness paving and improved pedestrian crossing facilities.
The raised table is designed to act as an informal or uncontrolled pedestrian crossing, encouraging traffic to slow down and making it much easier for pedestrians to cross the Bridge to and from the Station ramps.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, Transport Convener, said: “We appreciate that these works will inevitably cause some inconvenience for traffic heading south and we would ask for the public’s patience while we get this much-needed improvement work completed. The new raised section will create an informal pedestrian crossing so that people leaving or arriving at the Station on foot can feel much safer about crossing Waverley Bridge.”
Diversion routes will come into effect for southbound traffic, namely:
Princes Street – North Bridge – High Street – Jeffrey Street – Market Street
Princes Street – South St David Street – Queen Street – Hanover Street – The Mound – Market Street
Advance warning signs have been installed on site informing the public of the upcoming works and local businesses have been informed.
The Airlink bus service will remain on Waverley Bridge and the tour buses will be relocated to Market Street.
The taxi rank on Waverley Bridge will remain in its current position with access and egress only in a northbound direction.
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Passengers planning their summer getaways this year an now enjoy the addition of almost 70,000 extra seats on 19 easyJet routes to and from Edinburgh Airport.
Between 22 May and 21 July, the airline will offer 68,500 extra seats on routes including Paris Charles De Gaulle, Madrid, Nice, Amsterdam and Naples. This will mean that Scottish passengers now have more direct flights to choose from with prices as low as £26.99 to Hamburg, £34.99 to Berlin, and £28.99 to Nice.
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Well of course you can watch the Oscars in Edinburgh. The ceremony is being shown live on TV so you can watch it in the comfort of your living room. The proceedings begin around midnight UK time on the dedicated UK Sky Oscars channel which if you don’t have Sky you can access through Now TV.
You can follow coverage on Twitter with the hashtag #Oscars by clicking here. Meantime at the Cameo today they are showing several of the contenders which includes Boyhood, a film we watched recently and which is delightful and surely ought to pick up some of the golden awards?
If you haven’t seen it you can watch it today at the Cameo, and you can read Douglas Greenwood’s review here.
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Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
