Petitions Committee
Chronicle Online
TV Licensing rules for students
Leith Walk By-Election
Road closures for Pedal for Scotland
The council’s Petitions Committee meets this afternoon at 2:00pm and you can watch online or attend in person.
There are a couple of petitions which are being considered today, the first is to Save the Adult Learning Project and the second to resolve fly-tipping at Caroline Park Avenue.
In addition there is one valid ongoing petition on the Council’s website to Save Edinburgh’s trees and one invalid petition to stop any further building of student accommodation in the city.
You can read the details of all petitions on the council papers online. Click here. Some petitions result in action being taken and the most recent example of this is that local action through the Petitions Committee resulted in the play park at Craig Park in Ratho being saved.
To be valid a petition needs to have support from signatories and it also needs to be about something within the remit of the Petitions committee. The invalid petition about stopping more student accommodation is one such example. The council will not accept petitions on planning or licensing matters as there is a valid appeals process for these.
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The City of Edinburgh Council awarded £50,000 to various bodies in the city to fund local news in November 2013. The council previously funded local newspapers but due to budget cuts that all stopped when the current administration took over. The council also ceased publishing its own paper Outlook, but undertook to spend some money on local digital news.
The reasoning behind the funding was to base community based news channels in areas, particularly those where there is regeneration, to enhance community cohesion and improve engagement with local people while also offering skills development opportunities.
The latest to get going is The Chronicle Online which is aimed at the east of the city. The site is brand new and a work in progress!
Chronicle Calling is an event being held on 2 October when you can find out how you might get involved. You might be a budding writer, photographer, videographer or storyteller. It is understood that not everyone will wish to contribute to the new site, but if you have any old photos, stories or tales of the area then you would be very welcome to come along!
Castlebrae Community High School will also be involved in the new site.
There will then be a series of workshops to encourage contributions and show how it is done. The Edinburgh Reporter is one of the ‘trainers’ so would love to see you at any of these events. Details are on The Chronicle Online, but all are being held at The White House on Niddrie Mains Road.
The Council awarded £25,000 to North Edinburgh News, £13,500 to the East Neighbourhood Partnership for Chronicle Online and The Digital Sentinel received £12,000.
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TV Licensing will roll into Edinburgh this weekend as part of an information roadshow targeting thousands of students about to start their new academic year.
TV Licensing advisors will be on hand to give out information at Napier University from today until Saturday 5thSeptember about TV Licensing requirements in student accommodation to arriving students and their parents.
The TV Licensing team will be available to answer questions about the law, new technology, or ways to spread the cost of a TV Licence. Students, their parents, or carers will also be able to buy a TV Licence if one is needed.
Recent research from TV Licensing shows tablet ownership amongst students has risen again in the past year with almost half of students now owning a tablet.
Kim Hayman, spokesperson for TV Licensing Scotland, said students would need a licence if they are planning to watch or record programmes at the same time as they are broadcast, regardless of the device they are taking to university.
“The short time between achieving your A-Level results and moving to university can be hectic and buying a TV Licence may fall by the wayside. We’re encouraging students and their parents to chat to the TV Licensing team at Napier University to understand the rules around watching live TV in your new halls accommodation, added Kim Hayman.”
If students find they need to be covered by a licence, the team will be equipped to take credit and debit card payments on the day, arrange a monthly or quarterly direct debit plan, or set up a payment card which spreads the cost of a licence with smaller regular cash payments. A TV Licence will cost £145.50 for the year, which covers a student to watch live TV on any device, including a phone, tablet or games console.
Students who buy a TV Licence at the start of the academic year and return to a licensed property over summer may be eligible for a refund of almost £37, providing there are three full months remaining on the licence.
TV Licensing enquiry officers will also be visiting universities across the UK from October to ensure new students living in halls of residence are correctly licensed for the academic year ahead.
For further information, or to buy a licence online, visit: www.tvlicensing.co.uk/studentinfo, or call TV Licensing on 0300 790 6113.
TV Licensing advisors will be at Edinburgh Napier University throughout the day on Thursday 3rd to Saturday 5th September at Room 1/10, Craiglockhart Campus, Glenlockhart Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1DJ.
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The Edinburgh Reporter interviewed another candidate for the Leith Walk By-Election earlier this week and you can watch our short interview with John Lewis Ritchie here.
The Edinburgh Reporter News from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.
If you are a candidate and we have not met you yet then please get in touch!
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Pedal for Scotland is the cycling challenge event which takes place on Sunday 6 September 2015. The idea is that you get on your bike and cross the start line in Glasgow and then cycle to Edinburgh raising funds for charity on the way. If you are really fit then you can cycle back, but otherwise there are buses and trucks to take you and your bike back to Glasgow if that is where you started from.
This year the roads will be closed to traffic during the event. The Edinburgh Reporter has cycled the route twice and I have to say this will be a major safety improvement. A few times I have seen near misses on the route.
The organisers expect about 7,000 cyclists taking part in the 50 mile cycle. Keith Irving Chief Executive of the organiser Cycling Scotland said: ” Having a traffic free route for the first time creates a safer and even more enjoyable event for 7,000 people. There is still space for more people to register and to help raise funds to tackle the impact of child poverty.
“Even with this new traffic free route participants must still follow the rules of the road and be aware of other traffic around them, especially in those areas where the other carriageway is still open, or where some limited residents’ access and essential bus services are still in place.”
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
