Council elections 2017 – Inverleith Ward

The current councillors for the Inverleith Ward are:

Lesley Hinds – Scottish Labour Party
Nigel Bagshaw – Scottish Green Party
Gavin Barrie – Scottish National Party (SNP)
Iain Whyte – Scottish Conservative and Unionist

 

The ward remains a four member ward and these are the candidates :

BAGSHAW, Nigel (Scottish Green Party)

BARRIE, Gavin (Scottish National Party (SNP))

DALGLEISH, James (Scottish Labour Party)

LAIRD, Tom (Scottish Libertarian Party)

MITCHELL, Max (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)

OSLER, Hal (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

WHYTE, Iain (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)

WOOLNOUGH, Tina (Independent)

Nigel Bagshaw Green Party

Nigel Bagshaw is the Green Councillor for Inverleith and is standing for the second time at this election.

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Nigel Bagshaw Green candidate for Inverleith from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.

 

Gavin Barrie SNP

Gavin Barrie is currently the city’s Economy Convener. He has only been a councillor since 2012, but he says that his former experience of meetings and procedure has stood him in good stead.

He said: “I was made a convener almost immediately on being elected. I did have quite a lot of experience in committee work. I was a long-standing member of the Fire Brigades Union and rose to one of the top posts in Scotland. So, although it was a different subject much of what I was doing was very similar to what I had done before; it was committee work, there were people in the room, there to give advice, people to answer questions so it was a relatively smooth transition perhaps compared to some councillors with less experience in that field.

“I became Regulatory Convener for four years and then Economy Convener for the last year.”

In his previous role Barrie was responsible for taxi licensing, HMOs, public processions and also with sauna licensing. He continued: “That was quite controversial at the time but I think we managed the transition from licensing to non-licensing quite smoothly.”

And now as Economy Convener he finds that he has a lot more on his plate: “It is quite a demanding post, inward  investment, employability and international investment coming in. Lots of different subjects and lots of different people to meet and understand their needs and wants. But there is always an overarching provision that whatever they want to do it has to work for the whole city, not just for them and not just for the council. The whole city has to try and get a little bit of what everybody else is doing.”

Part of the Economy Convener’s role is to bring new jobs to Edinburgh. Asked whether this administration has been successful or not Barrie answered : “Everybody would like to do better. I would like to think that this administration has certainly laid the groundwork for far greater things to come. If you look around our city, we have Edinburgh St James, Haymarket going up, the Bioquarter will be getting built. We are about to build many thousands of houses. Quite frankly I would hope going forward that if you are unemployed in Edinburgh it’s because you are unable to work, or you choose not to work. I think there should be employment for everybody. It might not necessarily mean you get the job you want, but there will be employment if you want it.

“And of course our wonderful festivals! If people want seasonal work they are the place to be as well.”

On his own ward of Inverleith which he has represented this last five years he told us there have been a lot of changes: “The demographics of Inverleith have changed greatly. Look at an area like Blackhall which probably had a more senior population. I suspect that given the time the houses were built, a lot of people have lived there all their lives, but they are now sadly passing on. It’s now more of a family area.

“Similarly Stockbridge. All our primary schools in Inverleith are all under pressure size wise. We’re managing to cope with that – it’s not without its challenges. Stockbridge has been extended, and there are plans to extend it further. Ferryhill Primary wonderfully is filling up. It’s fantastic news that people are making that their local primary of choice. So that’s good news, and of course in Blackhall again we’ve had to do some alterations to open up some outbuildings to make them into classrooms. There’s a brand new school gym in there which is a fantastic addition. And in all of these schools you will find a great bunch of parents to work with as well, because that is really important.”

The boundaries of this ward have changed a little and now Blinkbonny is no longer in the Inverleith Ward.

“So the demographics of Inverleith are changing right across the Ward. There are some new developments again bringing new people into the area. It’s still a lively wonderful place to work and live in. In this ward it is about maintaining the structure of the great parts that we have, but allowing development where it is appropriate. I think the other thing we need to do is this.

If you look at Inverleith most folk would look at any map of it and say leafy, green, no problem there. But to be honest we still have areas of Telford and Drylaw where there is deprivation. One or two other pockets within too. So it is about making sure that they enjoy all the benefits of Edinburgh as well.

“Perhaps going back to the points I made earlier about employment and employability, we need to make sure that resources are targeted. The leafy green places are great, they know how to look after themselves. I hear from them frequently. I hear less from Drylaw and Telford residents which means I think that they are more likely to put up with more and complain less. They shouldn’t have to do that. We should be able to look after everybody in the ward.”

Asked what he might like to focus on in the next administration Barrie is considered : “I think we must do something about the inequalities which affect 20% of our population who live in relative poverty. We have initiatives in the city, in Fort Kinnaird for instance where they have a Skills and Development training centre.

“Within that centre there are many agencies working and nearly all the people who work in Fort Kinnaird are recruited through that centre. This is fantastic news and quite frankly I would like to see it spread across the whole country.

“But first we would like one at the airport because there are lots of people who work out there in all the different facets of airport life. It’s not just about recruitment it’s a skills and training centre, so if you’ve been far from work or perhaps are returning to work, perhaps after having children, there are opportunities to go there and get trained on how to present yourself again, how to write a CV and prepare yourself for jobs and then they will try and match you up with jobs that suit your needs and the employer’s needs.

“It has been a fantastic success.

“The numbers that it crunches are wonderful and I would encourage The Scottish Government and other local authorities to have a long hard look at this. I think by replicating that around the city we can probably get more people back into employment, not living in poverty. We will even go as far as advising them out there whether they will be better off in work or out of work.

“We will be dead honest with them. We won’t try and con them. They will get the numbers at the end of the day and they will know the best way to get back into work. And we will also keep going with them after that, some three, six, nine months later to make sure everything is all right. We are also there as a sounding board for them if they’re having problems at work they can come back to the Skills and Training Centre and seek some advice.”

“On his own patch he thinks that as an individual and as the SNP Group they will look at the transport issues in the area.

“We have had some successes. In Stockbridge for example where we have a large population of elderly people in sheltered accommodation at one point they took the bus service that went into Craigleith Retail Park away. That was a tragedy for these people because they did not just go to the shops, they made a day out of it.

“They went in groups, they met up for a cup of tea. We have managed to restore that but that restoration is not just about making sure it stays that way it is perhaps also about trying to enhance it. We’ve also been in contact with the bus companies that serve the airport to get them to introduce a service along Queensferry Road. We explained that even if it was every third bus, people would time their journey and it would save them coming all the way into town to get an airport bus to head back in the same direction.

“Traffic congestion in Stockbridge is a problem. I think you will find that when the SNP manifesto comes out we have said that we will take a long hard look at this. We don’t know what the answer is and we would always do this through full consultation but it is certainly something we need to address.

“Congestion, air pollution has to be addressed and we have to encourage more and more people to do active travel. Stockbridge is not that far from the city centre. If you’re coming to the city you really probably should not bring your car with you. If you’re heading out of the city well it’s a different story but it is not an area in the middle of Inverleith where we can have multiple car ownership. Our streets can’t take it. So parking will be an ongoing problem.

“The Water of Leith also needs some attention. There are some plans to reestablish the original Water of Leith. walkway between Stockbridge and the New Town. I’m not convinced that is necessary. I think it needs a tidy up perhaps, but to reestablish the walkway appears to mean taking down all the greenery there and reducing it to its original splendour.

“I think that most people in my Ward would like it to stay the way it is. People find it to be a bit of a haven and all that shrubbery and trees allows you to get away from the noise of the city.

“We have Inverleith Park. where I think we should have events but I think there is a balance to be found.”

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Gavin Barrie is SNP candidate for Inverleith from Phyllis Stephen on Vimeo.

James DALGLEISH  (Scottish Labour Party)

James Dalgleish was educated locally at Broughton High School and lives in North Edinburgh. He has worked for MPs as a case-worker, one of Scotland’s leading elderly-care charities and currently works in finance. “I have gained invaluable experience in helping others. I believe I have the skills, background and determination to serve Inverleith Ward.”

Tom LAIRD (Scottish Libertarian Party)

There is information about the party here.

Max MITCHELL (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)

Local resident Max Mitchell has been selected as one of the Scottish Conservative candidates for Inverleith in the Local Government elections in May, alongside local councillor Iain Whyte.

Max lives in Orchard Brae Avenue and went to the University of Aberdeen. He has worked for a local property company, a popular Fringe venue and taught English in a French high school. Currently, he works in a cafe in the Edinburgh city centre.

Max said, “I am delighted to have been selected as one of your candidates and look forward to working closely with Cllr Iain Whyte over the next few months when I’ll be out on the doorsteps finding out what is most important to residents.”

Hal OSLER (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

Hal is a community campaigner who will put the interests of Inverleith first as its next local councillor.

Too often, residents tell Hal that they feel the Council is out of touch with what local people think and that they do not listen to these concerns.

Hal’s priorities for Inverleith are:

• A review of community policing so that there is more presence at a local level to address residents’ concerns.
• Supporting 20mph speed limits and a reduction of traffic on residential streets to reduce noise and increase safety
• More repairs and upgrades of recycling bins
• Getting roads and pavements fixed properly the first time and ensure that there is proper investment in improving the poor state of road surfaces.
• Reviewing the present parking tariff structure, so that more residents who pay for their parking permits can actually access a parking space while ensuring adequate pay and display provision.

Iain WHYTE  (Scottish Conservative and Unionist)

Iain Whyte is the Conservative Councillor for the Inverleith ward on the City Council. Iain has been re-selected to stand for Inverleith along with Max Mitchell in 2017.

Tina WOOLNOUGH  (Independent)

You can follow her on Twitter here.