Five things you need to know today

New Town Quarter – proposal recommended for approval despite hundreds of objections

The City of Edinburgh Council ‘s Development Management Committee meets today and one of the matters they will discuss is the New Town Quarter. If that name does not mean anything to you then think of the RBS on Dundas Street which was demolished a few years back and which has become an empty site.

Developers want to use part of the site (for which they already have planning permission) as the largest single site purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) developments in the capiatal. There are 593 units proposed in the heart of an established residential community. During the consultation 477 objections were submitted and one comment in support. There was some confusion over the consultation period opening and then reopening.

Read more about New Town Quarter here.

There are several other developments to be considered by the councillors on the planning committee today. All the papers are here and you can watch online live or as a recording after the meeting.

• A further new application has been made for the site at Salamander Street in Leith where Daltons would like to sell off the land for development as student accommodation.
• There are also plans to be considered for student accommodation on New Market Road.
• Several applications for retrospective consent as short term let accommodation have been made – and these are recommended for refusal.

Lansdowne House development

The former school building in Murrayfield was sold to a developer who plans to convert the building into something more than a care home. This will be an Extra Care facility and the public has until the end of December to comment.

The plans and the place to have your say are at this link on the council website. The proposals were laid out at a local information event and are copied below or at this link.

St Mark’s Path – festive reopening

The New Town and Broughton Community Council called for St Mark’s Path to be reopened following their meeting last week. This is the path down the side of the Powderhall development which is taking much longer to complete than originally planned.

Now that construction has begun, the section from Broughton Road which then goes over the Water of Leith has been closed to walkers and cyclists. The current diversion is considered wholly unsuitable.

NTBCC issued an email (read the full text below) to local councillors demanding that the path is reopened urgently – and that a better alternative is found if the path is to be closed at any time in the future.

It is understood that the path will at least reopen from 19 December to 4 January. Cllr Jack Caldwell pointed out that no work would be done then anyway but locals would continue to be inconvenienced.

Cycling campaign group, SPOKES, also called for alternatives to be explored. They said last month there was no signage and that an 8 week closure was unacceptable.

The reopening is welcome news for Yossi Mazon who runs the coffee shop next to the path on Broughton Road. If you are in the area, do stop and buy a coffee from him to help him out.

The email reads: “The closure of the St Mark’s Path was discussed at the meeting of the New Town and Broughton Community Council on Monday. We had been alerted to a number of issues regarding this closure by local residents and have had some communication with Councillor Caldwell on this matter. 

“Based on our review of the arrangements currently in place, we have a number of observations and concerns, as outlined below:

• • This closure was introduced with very little notice and no engagement with the local community or consideration of the needs of the users of this path which is a very well used part of the active travel network in this part of Edinburgh. 
  • This was not a closure in response to an emergency as the development on this site has been on hold for several years. The planning for the work should have included a proper assessment of the needs of walkers, wheelers and cyclists using this path. 
  • The posted notice states that the closure would be in place only until Sunday 7 December, but it is still closed, and we understand will be reinstated in January following a temporary reopening over the Christmas/New Year period when the site is closed. The notice also states that pedestrian flow shall be maintained. Clearly that is not correct.  
  • The current diversion is totally unsuitable especially for anyone with limited mobility due to the surfaces and inclines that they would be required to negotiate to allow them to rejoin the path beyond its closure.   The route of the diversion is through a private housing development with very inadequate signage. 
  • There has already been significant damage done to the path by construction traffic crossing the path which would need to be repaired before it can be reopened. 
  • There is no other suitable diversion currently available, but we understand that the Contractor has plans to build a path to the east of the current path to rejoin the main path before the bridge over the Water of Leith. Clearly until this diversion is available, the St Mark’s Path needs to remain open to pedestrians and cyclists. 

We are therefore seeking your urgent assistance with raising these matters with the relevant Council officers and ensuring that the following actions are progressed promptly:

• • Given the importance of this path to the active travel network and the lack of a suitable diversion, it needs to be repaired and reopened as soon as possible. 
  • If vehicular movement across the path is still required, then a suitable crossing should be installed with proper control of vehicular movements while the site is operational.
  • If the Contractor is going to be building a temporary path to be used as a diversion, the timing, location, surface finish, gradient and lighting of this path needs to be available for public review to ensure that it does provide a safe alternative route. 
  • Any future closures of the path that are required need to be better planned, communicated and implemented with full engagement with the community council and other stakeholders.
• We look forward to hearing from you on this matter. If it would be helpful to do so, we would be prepared to facilitate a meeting with Council staff, local residents, active travel groups and you.“

Christmas trees

The Cycling Gardeners have a yard on Tarvit Street where they are selling Christmas trees.

And you can have yours delivered by bike. If you fancy doing the delivery yourself then you can borrow a trailer from Porty Community Energy. Read more about their bikes and the trailer which they have for hire on their website.

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Crowdfunder for Aeneas

Aeneas Wilder, a professional visual artist based in Edinburgh, was involved in a serious cycling accident on Queen’s Drive when a pedestrian stepped into his path. Thrown from his bike, he landed on his head. His helmet saved his life, but he sustained a severe spinal injury resulting in tetraplegia.

Aeneas now needs a hoist to move from bed to wheelchair. He can steer his chair with his chin or mouth, but needs two carers for dressing and bathing, cannot feed himself, and requires ongoing support and pain management. He is unable to live at home, work and have the independent active life he once did.

Despite this, Aeneas has remained remarkably determined and hopeful. His physiotherapist believes that with regular, specialist therapy, real improvements are still possible. This treatment, however, must be privately funded; the intensity and frequency he needs are not available through the NHS.

There is a crowdfunder here which is getting close to the £20,000 needed to help him out.