This week at the council
Tuesday, 4 June, 2024
- 10.00 am Governance, Risk and Best Value Committee04/06 – Dean of Guild Court Room – City Chambers
The committee will hear today about the planned IT outage on 11 April this year – a working day – affecting schools and also corporate networks. Cllr Stephen Jenkinson who has some career experience in this field has asked for an update on this “inappropriate” outage.
Wednesday, 5 June, 2024
- 10.00 am Planning Local Review Body (Panel 2)05/06 – Dean of Guild Court Room – City Chambers
Friday, 7 June, 2024
- 10.00 am Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal Joint Committee07/06 – Edinburgh Futures Institute – 1 Lauriston Pl, Edinburgh EH3 9EF
The City Region Deal committee will meet for the first time in the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) – the repurposed Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh bought by the University of Edinburgh in 2015 from Quartermile. In 2017 a mystery donor pledged £10 million (the single largest donation made to the university) which enabled the university to proceed with the refurbishment. But instead of being completed by 2021, the EFI with some of the new public plazas, and spaces under the ground with light wells drawing daylight into them, has just opened its doors this week.
The City Region Deal committee will discuss an update on the Sheriffhall Roundabout. A Public Local Inquiry was carried out in early 2023 and the report was delivered to the Scottish Government in October 2023, noting the 2,771 objections.
The Scottish Government is now taking time to consider whether or not to proceed with the infrastructure project. The proposed scheme would separate local and through traffic trying to improve traffic flow and journey time reliability and the report says that the “active travel elements in the proposed Scheme will provide high quality facilities
to address severance challenges and deliver a step change in accessibility for
walking and cycling”.
But £120 million was made available in the Deal – the risk of the price having risen lies with Scottish Ministers, and some estimates publicised suggest the cost may have more than doubled since the Deal was ratified in 2021.
General Election key dates
| 7 June 2024 | By 4pm on Friday your name has to be submitted to the Returning Officer at the council if you want to be elected to Westminster. A deposit of £500 is needed along with nomination papers. |
| 18 June 2024 | Everyone must be registered to vote by midnight on 18 June. |
| 19 June 2024 | At 5pm deadline to apply for a postal vote, a postal proxy vote or to change an existing postal, proxy or postal proxy vote |
| 26 June 2024 | At 5pm deadline to apply for a proxy vote or to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate |
| 4 July 2024 | General Election 2024 takes place between 7am and 10pm |
Tidying the garden
Granton Hub need some help this Sunday to tidy up the garden space in a meanwhile development before the land is eventually developed.
From 10.30am on Sunday volunteers are invited to turn up and make the space usable for the community. For information email wildflowers@grantonhub.org
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The Big Help Out
Everyone is encouraged to ‘take the first steps towards a healthier you’ and join a taster session as part of a nationwide volunteering effort.
The Walking for Health programme will be holding taster sessions from 10.30am to 11.30am on Saturday 8 June in Davidson’s Mains, Edinburgh coinciding with The Big Help Out.
Hosted by one of Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s trained Walk Leaders, the taster session will give you the opportunity to learn about the Walking for Health programme, and about how you can become a Walk Leader volunteer in your community.
Organiser Laura Scotland, from Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, said: “This weekend, millions of people are going to be doing extraordinary things in every community in the country and it feels amazing to be a part of that collective effort.
“We’re looking forward to seeing people come together for the benefit of the local area and play their part in a project that’s going to make a difference to the lives of so many local people.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
