Edinburgh councillor blogs – Councillor Maureen Child

July 3, 2017 9:46 am

Councillor Maureen Child is the Labour councillor for Portobello/Craigmillar. Here she sums up her postbag for us!

Dear All

I was delighted to see such a high profile for the community safety partnership campaign to tackle hate crime on transport.

This was identified by a number of groups as a problem. When we four Councillors met with a local Portobello group of adult with learning difficulties, People First at The Wash house this week, they said they were often the butt of jokes and snide remarks as they went about their business and this has to be challenged.

More about the Charter here: http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/edinburgh/new-charter-to-tackle-hate-crime-on-edinburgh-public-transport-1-4488166

A couple of people have asked about the new Treverlen Park planning process. A Proposal of Application Notice (16/05530/PAN) was submitted back in November 2016 for the development of the old Portobello High School site, which includes a new St John’s and a new Park, which was consulted upon widely. A planning application is to be submitted in the next couple of months, with the applicant (City of Edinburgh Council Corporate Property) pulling together the required reports and information prior to submission. Once the application is submitted, there will be the usual three week period for interested parties to comment on the contents of the planning application.

Keeping young people safe is a big priority for the police – and should be for us all. So it is heartening to see initiatives which go to the heart of preventing crimes happening and nipping appalling behaviour in the bud, as far as we possibly can. See the new campaign here as the summer holidays begin. http://www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happening/news/2017/june/campaign-launched-to-tackle-the-viewing-of-indecent-images

Click here to complete Portobello Community Council’s (PCC) Quick Porty Prize survey for a chance to win £100 cash.http://www.portobellocc.org/prizesurvey/. Prize Draw Rules: Open to PCC area residents aged 8+ One entry per person. Winner will be drawn from all valid entries at Portobello Village Show on Sunday 3 September.

It was a joy to be able to get down to the west end of Princes Street Gardens and meet all the fabulous people supporting the Thistle fundraiser I talked about last week. It was the fabulous great Chi in the Park Fundraiser. I managed to get a few pictures and talk to a few people, including giving Margaret and Liz and big hug. They have done just amazingly well and deserve your support, so Thistle can help even more people get their lives back on track or keep on track. https://www.thistle.org.uk/chi-in-the-park

Portobello Community Choir will have two open singing sessions during the summer break on: Weds 19th July 7-9 at Donkeyfield Community Orchard, between Brunstane Road South and Gilberstoun.

http://www.pedal-porty.org.uk/food/orchard/

Weds 9th August 7-9 on Portobello beach by the Cake-Stand (foot of Marlborough St)

£6/£4. All welcome!

This link seems to have sparked a bit of interest on social media, so it seems worth sharing, as we hope for summer cycling days ahead: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2011/jun/17/interactive-map-edinburgh-cycle-paths?CMP=share_btn_tw

(This was written by Guardian Beatblogger Tom Allan six years ago to highlight the Innertube Map which got almost £100,000 of funding from the People’s Postcode Lottery) The Guardian Edinburgh blog is not in existence any longer but the Innertube Map continues its good work.

There has been some local disquiet about Aldi’s notice of their intention to restrict parking at their store to 1.5 hours when the commitment they made at the planning stage was 2.5 hours to encourage linked trips on our High Street. The four of us Councillors were going to write a joint letter complaining that the new store were going back on the promises Aldi made during the planning stage. Portobello Community Council were also taking up the issue with the company. Aldi’s agents have been in touch and confirmed to us that the shorter time of 1.5 hours was an error in the Aldi management’s part and they have relented, allowing customers the full 2.5 hours to park.

All four of us Councillors were delighted to be at the turning of the school’s skiff at Castlebrae Community High School today. The boat will likely be launched at Portobello Beach in the Spring but it has taken shape beautifully and we all helped turn it over so that work can begin on fitting out the inside ready for rowing. Some fantastic learning opportunities for the youngsters involved and a great example of Portobello-Craigmillar partnership working. Portobello is becoming their seaside just as much as it is Porty’s.

Best wishes

Maureen