Edinburgh councillor blogs – Councillor Maureen Child

August 10, 2017 1:01 pm

Labour Councillor Child represents the Portobello/Craigmillar ward and writes a column for us made up from her massive inbox!

Dear All

I am delighted that work is starting next week on the long-awaited new play area in Newcraighall Park. If all goes to plan, it will be finished and ready for serious play time by 15 September. Access to the site will be by the vehicle barrier and up the old path between the trees.

The welfare unit will be down to the left of the gate inside the park. The Council’s contractor, James Moffat Construction Ltd needs to fence off a space in the car park for 2 or 3 days at the start of the week with the intention of being clear by the weekend. The contractor needs a holding area for excavated material for loading on to the lorries.

This will affect parking for the local team’s football games, residents and visitors. But the aim is to minimise disruption to Newcraighall life – and provide a fab new children’s play area. This park is being funded partly by Barratt’s as ‘planning gain’ from the development to the north of the village and partly through a grant from the Scottish Landfill Community Fund.

There’s a new Boccia group starting up at Thistle. Boccia is like bowls where the rules and equipment have been specially adapted so that everyone can play. The idea for the new group came from a local lady, a keen player at competition level. She is keen to help bring people together from different backgrounds and abilities. You’d be welcome to come along on Monday 14 August 6-8.30pm and is suitable for all ages, 12 and over. For more information, contact Dani Waddell, Tel: 0131 661 3366, Thistle Foundation Edinburgh, Centre of Wellbeing, 13 Queen’s Walk, Edinburgh, EH16 4EA. See the impact of Thistle’s work atwww.thistle.org.uk

I hope last night’s new Music Night at the Thistle was a success and willt become a regular monthly thing. For more information, contact Dani Waddell 07909 237 415 or email Dani.Waddell@thistle.org.uk

A great family day out is in store for us again – Portobello Open Door’s Annual Portobello Village Show is on again for its 10th year on Sunday 3 September 2pm- 5pm in Rosefield Park. All the traditional favourites will be there – baking, handcrafts, music and races plus many competitions, stalls and tea tents. Great local food, live music, dog show, tug-of-war, duck racing and the train tent. Email: info@the-pod.org. Website :www.the-pod.org

If you have ever fancied making your own garden furniture but didn’t know where to start, you can find out by dropping in to Tribe Party, 19 Windsor Place on Saturday 12 August between 10am and 4pm. Just turn up, no need to book.

This is a joint venture with Edinburgh Tool Library and they will be building a picnic table and planters for Tribe Porty. Families are welcome and snacks will be provided and woodworking skills imparted.

It’s very exciting that Bellfield will be in community ownership on 6 September! Then 9 September is pencilled in as the day we can see around the old listed church and its hall buildings that the community will then own through the first urban Community Right To Buy.

Emma Griffiths and Angela Thomas have been appointed as the new development managers whose first task is to help us bring Bellfield into actual community use. This means we need improvements to the fabric of the building, fundraising, setting up booking and management systems and much more! Emma and Angela bring a wealth of experience to these challenging tasks.

Back by popular demand – possibly thanks to Harry Potter – Owl Magic’s display team will return to Craigmillar Castle Park on 13 August. Booking is required.

More information and booking:http://www.elgt.org.uk/projects/communities/craigmillar-woodland and find out what more is going on, thanks to Ben McCallum, the Craigmillar Woodland Engagement Officer who has been funded through the Forestry Commission Scotland and EDI Parc Craigmillar. Ben has done really great work here, helping manage the woodland and engaging the community in Craigmillar and beyond, through a range of activities and volunteering opportunities.

Twice this week, I have referred people to this fantastic vital service, Care and Repair, which helps elderly or disabled people to get tasks done in their homes which they can’t manage by themselves. More here: https://www.careandrepairedinburgh.org.uk/

As you may well know, the charitable trust and social enterprise Edinburgh Leisure (EL) now run the sports facilities out of school hours at two of our local schools Holyrood RC and Portobello High Schools, which allows very welcome community club use of the facilities there, benefiting so many people and helping involve them in club sport and activities outside school.

Edinburgh Leisure has also created a film about their Positive Destinations project which they run for young people not in education, employment or training (NEETS). You can watch the film below. It shows the transformational impact that Edinburgh Leisure’s work can have on the lives of our young people. Feel free to share as widely as possible.

Thanks for continuing to report any issues with refuse and recycling collection. Do keep them coming, if you are having difficulties reporting or the service is no up to scratch. We do want to get it right.

A record team of over 23 people had a great morning last Sunday cleaning up and doing a bit of weeding at Figgate Burn Park for a couple of hours. My stamina didn’t last to help out at the Kings Road community clean up but was glad to hear that my colleague Councillor Mary Campbell joined in there. Great community spirit, good chat and a fab way of neighbours getting to know each other while giving the area we live in some love and care.

The Council’s greenspace and cleansing teams are very hard pressed to keep up on top of the growth in grass and other vegetation locally, but the encroaching bushes and triffid- like tendrils on Christians Path will be tackled next week and Brunstane Burn Walkway a bit later. The grass is growing at a rate of knots, given the weather we have had, the number of cuts required have delayed their tackling the hedge trimming.

I had fully expected Brighton Place setts to be on the agenda for the Transport and Environment Committee which is today. However, the papers show that the planning and transport officers’ report on Edinburgh’s policy on setted streets has been put on the agenda for December’s Committee in their published forward plan. So, it looks like there will be no work on re-building Brighton Place carriageway until well into 2018.

I have also been chasing up on the double yellow lines proposed a long. long time ago for Brunstane Road South. There is no sign yet of the traffic regulation order being agreed. We can paint yellow lines, but parking restrictions will not be enforceable until the legal order is in place. This is very frustrating, as I believe there is one or two objections – at most – holding the whole thing up. If those individual objections were withdrawn, we could go ahead and make this a safer area around Brunstane Station.

Enjoy the sunshine – and hope it lasts! Particularly for Jack Kane Centre’s Fun Event tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed….

Best wishes

Maureen