Home News Five things you need to know today!

Five things you need to know today!

Phyllis Stephen

August 14, 2015 6:00 am

Tram inquiry

Fringe tip of the Day

Royal Scottish Country Dance Society

Grafton Community Gardeners AGM

Colony of Artists 2015

If you’re not doing anything else next week you could go to the Preliminary Hearing of the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry at Waverleygate. Lord Hardie is conducting the hearing and this procedural hearing will deal with the arrangements to be made over coming months.

The proceedings will be filmed for television, but there is space for some members of the public to get a seat in the hearing room.

The council will be asked at next week’s meeting on Thursday to approve spending about £2m on the inquiry, but it will not revive the dormant company tie Ltd which used to run the tram project. The council was asked by the Inquiry to consider reviving the company so that it could be what is called a ‘core participant’ in the inquiry. But the council has decided not to do this as it would increase the cost significantly.

Councillor Lesley Hinds said : “Lord Hardie could call the former employees of tie to the inquiry anyway.”

Council Leader, Andrew Burns, said: “The Council continues to support the Inquiry, as it has done throughout, and to be fully open and accountable. By applying to be a core participant we have committed to playing our part in the proceedings and co-operating fully with the Inquiry.

“However, we do not believe that the considerable cost of reviving for the sake of the Inquiry is a justifiable expense; one which would ultimately be borne by the Edinburgh tax payer.

“The Council is the ultimate parent body of tie, and we have communicated our willingness to provide information about its role to the Inquiry.”

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We saw The Buzztones as we walked – or struggled – along Potterow on Wednesday afternoon; a group of grown men (as they like to call themselves…) singing a capella. Now Potterow on a sunny afternoon in mid-festival is not exactly a place to be heard; you can hardly move for people thrusting flyers in your face – in fact, you can hardly move at all.

These guys did something impressive; they stopped people in their tracks – I wasn’t the only one who took time to stand and enjoy their brilliant performance. They call themselves ‘London’s premier vocal showmen’ and you know what? They probably are.

Their show is called Buzzology , it involves lots of singing, laughs and ‘a twist of mediocre banter’, and it’s on at The Gilded Balloon, Teviot Square at 4pm every day until 21st August. It’s for ages 14+. Tickets cost £11/£10 and are available from the Fringe website here.

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The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society’s children’s classes starts again on 27 August. Full details here of how to enrol your child.

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Want to get more involved in Granton Community Gardeners? Got ideas for what we could do next? Then come along to a…

Posted by Granton Community Gardeners on Thursday, 13 August 2015

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The 2015 Colony of Artists takes place over the weekend of 12-13 September, long after the Festival madness has come to an end.

This will be the tenth year that the annual exhibition has taken place at Abbeyhill Colonies. There are more than 30 artists in 20 venues who all open their front doors to the public to show off whatever their art is.

Here is the full programme

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