Five things you need to know today

This week at the City Chambers

• Monday 18 March 2024 at 10.00 am Edinburgh Integration Joint Board
• Tuesday 19 March 2024 at 10.00 am Governance, Risk and Best Value Committee19/03
• Tuesday 19 March 2024 at 2.00 pm Pensions Audit Sub-Committee
• Wednesday 20 March 2024 at 10.00 am Planning Local Review Body (Panel 2)20/03
• Wednesday 20 March 2024 at 2.00 pm Pensions Committee
• Thursday 21 March 2024 at 10.00 am City of Edinburgh Council

As part of the papers for the full council meeting on Thursday the Council Leader, Cammy Day has produced a report which you can read below. He highlights some of the awards in the offing for the council in its various guises – like Trams to Newhaven.

The leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Kevin Lang has proposed banning any council vehicles from travelling near schools at key start and finish times as well as making inquiries into using speed limitation on council Heavy Goods Vehicles to avoid collisions with other road users.

Community Council meeting

Click here for the agenda for *LCCC’s ordinary monthly meeting at Nelson
Hall, McDonald Road Library, on Monday, 18 March, at 7pm.
In due course the meeting papers will also be on LCCC’s website on the
meetings page here.

Chair Harald Tobermann has written to the council asking for information about the Powderhall Railway Line, asking if a dedicated project manager “remains allocated” to the project and if so how much time they are spending on it. He has also asked the council how many people live within five minutes walk and ten minutes cycling of the route between St Mark’s Park and Meadowbank.

Hidden Door

The ten-year-old festival of music, art and spoken word is holding a 10th birthday event at a secret venue on 10 and 11 May. It is in the heart of the city convenient for public transport and fully accessible. There will be pop up bars and much to see and listen to. The festival began in Waverley Arches a decade ago with a week of installations and music as Edinburgh had never quite experienced before.

Hazel Johnson, Festival Director of Hidden Door, said: “Hidden Door’s 10th birthday event is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the past decade of festivals, collaborations, community and creative innovation – and what better way to do that than by opening up another of Edinburgh’s fascinating spaces and filling it with art, music and performance! 

“We can’t wait to welcome you to our birthday bash, to celebrate what has been – and what is yet still to come!”

synth-pop duo Maranta to help curate both evenings, with unique collaborations built around their multisensory live show Microsteria. Over two nights, they will be joined by record label Paradise Palms (Friday 10th May) and radio station EHFM (Saturday 11th May) to bring an uplifting roster of music acts and DJs, accompanied by live performances and stunning visuals.

Jill M Boualaxai, visual art curator at Hidden Door, said:  “It’s been really fun digging through the visual art archives of past festivals and considering what might still exist and what could work well in our venue. I am thrilled to be collaborating with the selected artists, many of whom are bringing their previous Hidden Door projects to life in a new space.

“Some artists are working on new projects for the event. James Sinfield will be creating paintings that are directly related to the venue, while Evie Rose Thornton and Silas Parry will be installing larger art pieces that will complement the Microsteria atmosphere and will merge with the performances.”

More information will follow next month.

Talking about archaeology

On Thursday 21 March 2024 at: Riddle’s Court 322 Lawnmarket, EH1 2PG

Have you ever wondered what lies below the streets of Edinburgh?  In the Old Town the below street level is well known, with Mary King’s Close and The Vaults being popular tourist destinations. But what about the New Town?  What history hides under the ground in the Georgian streets of North Edinburgh and the harbour of Newhaven?  

Join Edinburgh City Council Archaeology Officer John A Lawson as he takes you through the process and finds, resulting from the 4 year excavation works to deliver the tram extension to Newhaven.  He will give an idea of the difficulties in extracting and preserving the items found, the cataloguing and the surprises that resurfaced during their digging. Edinburgh World Heritage are hosting the talk.

Book a ticket here.

Sign up to our monthly newspaper 

Our March newspaper has been published for a while. Please pick up a copy from any of our stockists or subscribe here to have your own copy delivered to your door. 

This month’s paper celebrates the 100th anniversary of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi’s birth in 1924. We are already working on the next paper so do get in touch if you have a story for us.