- Christmas shopping
- Christmas movies
- Cycle route to proceed
- Walid Salhab’s newest film
- Dancing fun at the airport
Christmas is nearly here. You have 8 shopping days left – and that includes today.
Online shopping is almost at an end as you can barely get the goods in through the letterbox in time. Thankfully there are lots of independent shops in Edinburgh where you can go to find something quite different.
Our Christmas gift suggestions here will help you with some of that. Today there is the Farmers Market on Castle Terrace and tomorrow Stockbridge Market will offer you some treats for stockings, or simply something nice to eat in advance of all that cooking.
Today and tomorrow at The Filmhouse they are showing real classics like Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street and It’s A Wonderful Life. Time to dust off the tinsel and get along to Lothian Road for some ‘reel’ Christmas cheer!
Yesterday the council approved the new East West Cycle route to allow some segregated cycleways through the city centre.
This has followed a fierce campaign in the Roseburn area where traders were adamant a cycle lane would damage their trade. Now detailed designs will be drawn up to encourage active travel and with the hope of reducing congestion.
The scheme will cost £5.5 million and the project will get underway soon to create a family friendly cycle route.
Although the scheme was approved by the council’s Transport committee in August several design features had to be finalised by the Director of Place Paul Lawrence. This followed a period of consultation and discussion with groups interested in the scheme. The Future Transport Working Group held a traffic modelling session to show the real impact of the new road layouts particularly at Roseburn and Haymarket.
The route chosen is the most direct which will take cyclists along a protected cycleway on Roseburn Terrace. But in an effort to placate traders the council has agreed to review the arrangements after they have been in place for 12 months.
Daisy Narayanan, Acting Director, Sustrans Scotland, said: “Sustrans Scotland welcomes the decision by the City of Edinburgh Council to support the direct route from Roseburn to Haymarket as part of Edinburgh’s City Centre West to East Link cycle route. It has come after an extensive consultation and stakeholder engagement which has been exemplary in terms of tackling a sensitive issue and taking account of both the aspirations and concerns of all communities involved.
“We are keen to support the City of Edinburgh Council in a project which, when implemented, should provide major benefits for Edinburgh as a whole, and bring renewed vibrancy to neighbourhoods along the route. We believe this project would be a strong contender for the competitive grant funding round as part of the Community Links funding programme.
“Indeed, we view this project as a step change for the City of Edinburgh – one that acknowledges and emphasises the substantial benefits the scheme can bring to the city via efficient, healthy, active transport.”
Walid Salhab is a lecturer at Queen Margaret University who loves to make films. This is his most recent film shot in 4k and featuring his trademark time lapse footage:
Yesterday at Edinburgh Airport All Bar One invited some young dancers to come and entertain their patrons and those passing through the Departure Lounge. It was a lot of fun!
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
