Leith Market
St Cuthberts Colinton to get a new stained glass window
Council closing public toilets in Joppa
Best independent businesses in Edinburgh
Calling all volunteers
A new market has emerged and will take place today at Dock Place Leith from 10am till 4pm. The people who organise Stockbridge Market are branching out and we wish them well with their new endeavour!
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St Cuthberts Church in Colinton have commissioned a new stained glass window following a donation made by the late Robert Elliot in his will. The idea behind the design is that it will be a celebration of peace and you can see lovely photos and illustrations, as well as photos of the artist Emma Butler-Cole Aiken who is making the dream a reality over here on the St Cuthbert’s website.
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The council explained in its budget set earlier this year that it could save around £300,000 by closing public toilets outwith the city centre. While that initial proposal was not agreed in full, there are ten facilities which will be closed. The council is also to work with some partners to arrange for other toilet facilities to be opened to the public. Those situated at Joppa are to be closed at the end of August.
The council explain on their website what their survey on the proposed closures revealed:
- The results of the survey and feedback provided by members of the public, community groups and businesses have been considered. In order to achieve the £300,000 saving that was agreed in 2011, a decision has been taken to close the following toilets: Ardmillan; Canaan Lane; Canonmills; Currie; Granton Square; Joppa; Juniper Green; London Road; St John’s Road and Tollcross.
- The toilets at Hawes Pier and Middle Meadow Walk will not be closed at this time, while the options for these sites are reviewed.
- To lessen the impact of the closures, the Council is establishing a Community Toilet Scheme with interested businesses across the city. This would result in participating businesses allowing members of the public to use their toilet facilities without expecting them to make a purchase, in exchange for an annual payment from the Council. A number of businesses have already expressed an interest in participating through the public toilets survey and some businesses in identified areas have also been approached with information about the Scheme. The decision to close these toilets has been a difficult one and it is appreciated that there will be some impact following these closures. To help mitigate this, there have been over 60 additional toilet facilities identified in Council buildings around the city that are available for the public to use. These are located in various Libraries, Community Centres, Edinburgh Leisure facilities and Neighbourhood Offices, and information about these toilet facilities is available here . Nearly 20 public toilets will remain open.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
