Nicola Benedetti to receive the Edinburgh Award
Later today Nicola Benedetti, CBE, will receive the Edinburgh Award at a reception at the City Chambers. Nicola Benedetti will be presented with an engraved Loving Cup from the Lord Provost and have her handprints set in stone at the City Chambers.
These are the recipients of the award in the last ten years:
- 2022 Sir Geoff Palmer
- 2021 Fergus Linehan
- 2020 Alexander McCall Smith
- 2019 Ann Budge
- 2018 Doddie Weir
- 2017 Sir Timothy O’Shea
- 2016 Ken Buchanan MBE
- 2015 Sir Tom Farmer
- 2014 Thomas Gilzean
- 2013 Richard Demarco
Housing Committee meets today
The City of Edinburgh Council has published a draft action plan to help it tackle growing homelessness in the capital and this will be discussed at today’s Housing Committee.
After officially declaring a housing emergency earlier this month – as nearly 5,000 households now seek temporary accommodation while the shortage of affordable housing grows – the start of a 25-point Housing Emergency Action Plan will be considered by councillors
The plan proposes the council turns void homes around more quickly and spot purchases ‘off the shelf’ homes, to increase affordable housing supply at pace at a time when construction costs have risen exponentially. If agreed, a more detailed strategy featuring costings and specific targets will be created and brought to a full council meeting in February, with input from industry and voluntary organisations from across the city.
Ahead of the meeting Cllr David Key, SNP housing spokeperson said: “We’ve seen a year and a half of disastrous failure under this council administration. In that time they’ve almost halved the pipeline of new affordable homes, slashed new council house building by £1.3bn and left 1,500 council houses sit empty while thousands of families experience homelessness and wait on lists for more suitable accommodation.
“Labour and their allies have failed by every possible measure. We’ll offer constructive input as opposition councillors but for many this will simply be too little too late from an administration asleep at the wheel.”
Watch the meeting online here or attend in person from 10am at the City Chambers.
Bake at home with the Bearded Baker
The Bearded Baker on Rodney Street will close for Christmas from 23 December until 6 January. While they are gone you can buy ahead some bake at home cinnamon rolls to cook fresh each day of the holidays.
Pandas adieu
The two giant pandas which lived at Edinburgh Zoo for the last twelve years have left on a cargo plane to go back to China. The most fun fact that we ever read (and published here in black and white) was that Tian Tian liked to go up to the top of her enclosure at night – after the public had left – and watch the zebras….
And Read our coverage of the departure here.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
