Council meeting today
Candidates on video
Mary King’s Close
Skating on Saturday
Vegan Thursday
The full council meets this morning at 10 am. The meeting is shown on the council’s webcast channel which you can watch here.
The Lord Provost has tabled an emergency motion regarding the Nepal Earthquake Disaster. He said: “Edinburgh residents are known for their generosity of spirit and together we can make a difference to people in Nepal by providing urgent donations. Even a gesture of solidarity like the red lights in St Andrew Square or a candle at Edinburgh’s vigil demonstrates support and raises awareness of the appeal. There is no time to lose.”
There will be a candlelit vigil on Saturday afternoon at 4pm at the City Chambers.
The council will hear a report about the increased pay for councillors. The pay level is approved by The Scottish Parliament and this year will amount to 1% from 1 April 2015. The Council Leader will now receive £50,180 and other senior councillors including the Lord Provost will be paid £37,635. In total the bill for all senior councillors is £652,340 although this will rise in 2017 if the Boundary Commission proposals to increase the number of councillors in Edinburgh to 63 are approved.
The Commission has decided that the population growth in the city council Wards means that some wards are now under represented. There is a proposal that Edinburgh will have 5 three councillor wards and 12 four councillor wards in future.
There will also be some changes to boundaries and names which may be approved by 2017.
The council is aiming to replace stair lighting in 14,000 tenements across the city with LED replacements. This is one of the council’s ‘spend to save’ initiatives and they are seeking approval of the full council to borrow £2.13m over 10 years to pay for the upgrade of the fittings.
Stair lighting costs the council over £2m a year, and it is suggested that £0.341m savings will be made by introducing the new LED fittings.
You can watch all the proceedings online.
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We have interviewed all of the candidates for Edinburgh North & Leith and you can watch all of the profiles by clicking here.
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The Real Mary King’s Close is right beside the City Chambers so it was not a big deal for the Lord Provost to drop in and have a look at the plans for expansion there (even though he has just run his first marathon!)
He met with the contractors to see what is going on right next to the Lord Provost’s Rooms. Read more here.
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We say skating, but this is roller skating with attitude! The Auld Reekie Roller Girls are hosting the second leg of the first ever Roller Derby British Championships at Meadowbank this weekend and they could do with your support.
The British Championships is the first British roller derby tournament to feature a fluid structure for progression and development, featuring promotion and relegation at the end of end of the year.
Thirteen divisions have been created in 4 categories – local, regional, national and premier. ARRG are delighted to have been invited to play in the Premier league.
Come and watch the best 6 teams in the UK battle it out in one day. This is an incredible opportunity to see the best of UK roller derby, and because we really want to ensure the day is accessible for everyone, we have decided to cap our tickets at £12. They are also offering the chance to watch the ‘Derby Derby’ only when Auld Reekie take on Glasgow in the closing game of the day, for just £5!
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The Bread Street Brasserie is putting on a Vegan evening tonight, so for those of you with that dietary requirement here is the menu.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
