SLR CONSULTING has appointed experienced transport advisor Iain Lamb to its Edinburgh-based team as the consultancy launches a new service offering for transport planning in Scotland.

Lamb brings almost 30 years of experience to the construction consultancy business and will be responsible for providing comprehensive transport advice to SLR’s portfolio of development clients in Scotland, and elsewhere across the United Kingdom.

“Sustainability and decarbonisation are top of the agenda when it comes to transport planning, combined with people’s changing travel patterns following the pandemic. I’m excited to guide our developer partners through their projects with SLR’s sustainability ethos at the forefront,” Lamb said.

Lamb and the wider Edinburgh-based SLR Consulting team will provide integrated transport and master planning advice along with OPEN colleagues as part of a new service offering.

“There’s a great agility within SLR and a significant number of projects in the transport and infrastructure market that we’re involved with, so it’s a very exciting time to join the company and contribute to its broader growth strategy,” Lamb added.

His previous work in transport planning consultancy includes roles with Mott MacDonald and Steer Davies Gleave. Lamb joins SLR following seven years with Edinburgh-based Transport Planning consultants.

With Lamb’s appointment, SLR Consulting equips itself with a broad experience of transport planning and enhances its ability to provide tailored transport planning advice in its role as trusted advisor to a wide range of clients.

SLR Consulting is a global leader in sustainability solutions. Initially starting out as a UK business 25 years ago, it now operates worldwide with more than 3,000 people delivering client solutions across six regions.

For more information about SLR, visit www.slrconsulting.com.

This time last year, the site of the former Top Club in Newtongrange was a derelict wasteland, overgrown and gathering litter since the Main Street social club was demolished more than a decade ago. 

That is, until February 2023 when the Newtongrange Guerrilla Gardeners were granted permission to put the abandoned land to good use. Just one year on and the area is now completely unrecognisable. It is a beacon of sustainability, a hub of intergenerational activity, an award-winning example of what happens when locals take ownership and take pride in their local community. And it’s all thanks to the vision and sheer hard graft of a team of dedicated local volunteers. 

Volunteers of all ages, backgrounds and abilities have been tirelessly transforming the 1150 metre squared area into a community garden. Within just 12 months, they have dug, landscaped, planted and built a space which features a 20ft greenhouse, two gazebos, an orchard of apple and cherry trees, a willow den, a pond, a children’s play area, beehives and wildlife homes for bats, hedgehogs and frogs. It has also played host to a number of successful events such as the King’s Coronation celebrations and a Halloween pumpkin picking party.

The community garden was the brainchild of the Newtongrange Guerrilla Gardeners – a voluntary group formed in 2021 with a vision of brightening up the village, making it a greener and more welcoming place for all. Their aim is to provide an opportunity for locals to work together to transform public spaces and boost the well-being of all villagers. 

In October 2022, the Newtongrange Guerrilla Gardeners took part in a community showcase organised by the Newtongrange Development Trust to gauge interest in the idea of creating a community garden. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to support from the Newtongrange Development Trust and local councillor, Douglas Bowen, the Newtongrange Guerrilla Gardeners were given the go-ahead to transform the area beside Newtongrange Leisure Centre. Detailed plans for the garden were drawn up, with careful attention paid to ensure all requests submitted at the community showcase and online were incorporated. 

Within days of publishing the proposed garden design, the Newtongrange Guerrilla Gardeners were inundated with people wanting to help – either by donating spare garden tools, furniture, bulbs and plants, or by giving up their time to dig, weed, sow and grow.

Encouraged by the enthusiastic response of locals, the Newtongrange Guerrilla Gardeners applied for grants to fund the bigger aspects of the garden transformation which they envisaged completing within a timeframe of around five years. However, in just 12 short months they have already achieved their goals, and more! 

Today, a team of up to 30 volunteers now tend to the garden on a twice-weekly basis, growing a wide range of fruit and vegetables which are distributed free of charge to the local community via The Pantry. Any waste is returned to the community garden to create compost. This sustainable circular economy is overseen by community garden designer and volunteer co-ordinator, Laura Joyce, whose efforts were recognised last year with a Places for People Community Matters Award.

The community garden was also awarded an RHS School Gardening Award at Level 5 for its engagement with local children. The volunteers are keen to further relationships within the village and are currently in talks with Newtongrange Primary School and St Annes Sheltered Housing to ensure the garden is as inclusive as possible for all within the local community.

The volunteers are also eager to make an impact outwith their local community and are currently taking part in a learning share initiative with Granton community garden. Speaking about this initiative, Laura Joyce said; “By exchanging knowledge and experience with other more established community gardens, it’s opened our eyes as to what is possible with further support and funding. Ideally, we would love to appoint an employed worker that could open the garden more often and coordinate group access so the garden could be utilised to the fullest.”

Speaking ahead of the anniversary, volunteer Rebecca McCosh said; “It’s just one year since we first broke ground here and what has been achieved already is astonishing. It’s not just about the physical transformation of the land, but also the transformation of attitudes. People have been inspired and empowered by the fact they can make a real difference to their local area and to the environment. New relationships have been forged here, new skills have been acquired here, and new life has been breathed into a space that was hitherto abandoned. And this is just the beginning!”

Star Wars actor Denis Lawson told an audience at a charity sci-fi con in Edinburgh how he didn’t know what an X-wing fighter looked like until he watched the movie for the first time.

The Scot, 76, is best known to millions of Sci-Fi fans as fighter pilot Wedge Antilles in the 1977 classic.

The character is seen leading the Rebel Alliance into intergalactic battle against Darth Vader and the Death Star.

He told fans at Capital Sci-Fi Con at the 02 Academy, organised by the charity Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), that because the action was shot in blue screen, his X-Wing was a chair on an elevated raft, rocked around by studio technicians to simulate its movement.

Lawson said he only saw the result at the first screening and was “blown away”.

He said: “When we shot the first film, we had no idea about green screen or blue screen.

“We just sat in the cockpits and did this stuff. We didn’t know what it was we were doing until we sat and watched the first screening and it just blew you away.

“It was shot in Elstree Studios and we used to sit outside the sound stage. 1976 was a hot summer and we would sit out there in our orange jumpsuits having a laugh, messing about and then we were called in and you would climb this ladder up onto a raft and there was a cockpit there and you sat in the cockpit.

“The camera was there and there was a guy in each corner of the raft wobbling you around. That’s how basic it was. It was a case of ‘you’re next’.

“We had no idea what blue screen was. There wasn’t even a notion of that. We were just sitting in front of a camera saying stuff.”

He added: “The battle scenes in the script were really quite long, maybe 20 pages, and I remember sitting there in the cockpit.

“George (Lucas) was by the camera. He would say my line then he’d say ‘ok, look up there and say it’: ‘look at the size of that thing’. Now look down there: ‘what’s that?’

“So you’d say the line each time in a different kind of way and he went through battle sequences like that.

“Actually it was quite a nice fresh way to work, I enjoyed that. Very spontaneous.”

Lawson was among stars who turned out at the O2 Academy in Edinburgh for Sci-Fi Con 2024, organised by the charity CHAS.

Speaking at the event, he revealed he won the role in Star Wars by chance — because he looked and sounded similar to another actor who was originally chosen for the part.

He said: “My involvement with Star Wars was kind of random. That summer I was filming in France a bit and I’d already met George and nothing had happened. I came back and suddenly I got a call to do this Star Wars thing.

“They cast another actor in that role and I think they shot a couple of scenes with him.

“I looked a little bit like him — that’s how random this is — and I don’t know why he didn’t work out but he didn’t work out so they had to bring someone in to keep the voice consistent through two actors.

“I didn’t really think too much about it at the time.”

Lawson, uncle of Obi Wan Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor, later reprised the role of Wedge Antilles in The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.

He said: “It was lovely. My appearance was quite short. I was very very busy. I was in the theatre doing a play and then I was directing a play and I got this email from JJ Abrams direct to me, and that just doesn’t happen. I rang my agent and said ‘is this a wind up, is this real?’

“They checked and said it is him so I replied. They wanted me to do five days on the movie but I said ‘I’m doing this and that’.

“They said there’s no way we can do it. I jumped up and down and said ‘come on we’ve got to do this’, so they managed to just carve one day out the schedule so that I could jump in and do it, and it was just lovely to get back. It was great, I loved it.”

Skippers and charter boat owners around the Firth of Forth and further afield are beginning to receiving bookings for chartered sea angling trips now that the weather appears to be improving.

Firms operate on both sides of the Firth with several in Fife and others on the Edinburgh side of the water.

Aspire skipper Iain Gatherum is one of the most experienced and he runs Sea Angling Trips East Neuk. Iain and has been taking charters fishing for 40 years off the Fife coast. 

The days when he was fully booked by clubs are gone, he said, but he still takes up to eight anglers on two, four and six-hour trips.

His home port is Anstruther and trips run from May to October but the skipper stressed that his trips and where he fishes are weather dependent.

Codling is one of his main target species and the most popular time of the season for anglers is when mackerel make an appearance in the Forth.

He confirmed that an angler hooked into a porbeagle shark last year, the first time in four decades that has happened.

Iain stressed that anglers should bring their own ice if they intend to keep their catch fresh and added that there is no catering on-board.
He does not have a toilet.

Fishermen board the catamaran via a pontoon in Arnstruther Harbour and his normal are of operations are to the fishing grounds from Elie to Kingsbarns, including the Isle of May, around 8km off the coast.

Lugworm is, he suggested, the best bait and it is preferable to have it fresh, not frozen. He has rods and reels available for rent but he encourages anglers to bring their own gear and lead sinkers. 

Iain added: “The length of the trip and wind direction have an input on where we would be fishing on the day.” The cost of a charter is £150 for two hours, £200 for three hours and £320 for six hours.

Still in Fife, Forth Sea Safaris ran mackerel fishing trips from East Dock, Burnisland, last year and can carry up to 12 passengers. They are equipped with the latest navigation and safety systems and they can supply waterproofs if needed. Last year it was from £25 per person.

Over the Forth to Dunbar and Andara II has been based in the East Lothian harbour since 2010 and is licensed for six anglers. Skipper Trevor Springford operates within a 20-mile radius from May to October and he is equipped with all the necessary safety equipment. 

Further south, Eyemouth-based skipper Derek Anderson operates, weather permitting, throughout the year and coalfish and ling are among the main species he targets with mackerel and bass the focus during the summer. Prices last weekend were £50 per person.

He operates MV Sagittarius, a catamaran with a roomy deck almost five meters wide with an island wheelhouse. It is ten metres long and trips can be booked by groups and individuals.

They can last up to six hours. The boat has a toilet and tea and coffee facilities. Equipment can be hired and the skipper has a small selection of hooks, weights and lures onboard and cod have been recent targets. Squid has proved the best bait. 

PICTURE: Anglers on board Aspire show off their catch. Picture courtesy of Iain Gatherum, skipper of Aspire.

It has been announced that the Sean Connery Foundation set up by the family of the late 007 star is to sponsor a new £50,000 prize at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this summer.

The Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence will be awarded to a single filmmaker at the Festival, which will run this year from August 15-21.

Ten world-premiere feature films will compete for the £50,000 cash prize, with the winner determined by audience vote.

Festival chiefs said the prize would create “an exciting platform to showcase today’s most talented filmmakers by linking their success to the legacy of Scotland’s most famous global star”.

Paul Ridd, Festival Director, said: “Sean Connery was a vital patron of EIFF, consistently showing up to support new talent and gracing countless red carpets.

“He loved Edinburgh and he loved the festival. We are thrilled to establish the prize to honour this iconic Scottish star and we are immensely moved by the generosity of The Sean Connery Foundation, an organisation which shares our respect for cinema history and excitement for its future.”

The Sean Connery Foundation was established in 2022 by a provision of the actor’s estate.

It aims to honour his legacy through strategic grant-making to deserving institutions and organisations in Scotland and The Bahamas — the two countries the late actor called home.

The goal of the fund is to accelerate positive change in areas of interest and importance to Connery and his family, including screen education, sports achievement and ocean health.

Stephane Connery, chair of the foundation, said: “From the moment we launched the Sean Connery Foundation, we have been focused on expanding opportunities for talented young people from Scotland to access rewarding careers in the film industry, particularly those who face disadvantage.

“Investing in a revitalised Edinburgh International Film Festival is another piece of that puzzle, providing a local showcase for global talent, where young Scots can find inspiration, mentors, and role-models to fuel their own film-education journey.

“My only wish is that Sean could join us to award the prize himself — he would have loved it.”

Jason Connery, Sean Connery Foundation Ambassador, added: “Dad made it a priority to attend the Edinburgh Film Festival. He knew first-hand what it meant to work hard and struggle for opportunity. He also knew how hard it is to make an extraordinary film.

“With this prize, we link his legacy as a talent who rose from humble means to achieve global success with the next generation of artists forging that same path, and we do it by supporting the film festival he so loved, in the hometown he cherished.”

EIFF will also inaugurate a short film competition with a cash prize of £15,000.

Friends of Montgomery Park – official park opening

Later today Cllr Val Walker will open the new play park at Montgomery Street, refurbished and ready for use.

There will be an official ribbon cutting at 3.30pm.

Last year the Friends tried hard to save the helter skelter from demolition, but sadly it was just not possible as the structure did not comply with present day safety regulations.

There is a possibility that a part of the helter skelter will be retained in the park in some form as many people have fond memories of it.

At Modern One – Do Ho Suh : Tracing Time

There are two free exhibitions on now at the National Galleries of Scotland: Modern One and Modern Two. One is dedicated to Sir Eduardo Paolozzi in this the centenary year of his birth, and the other is the first time that the intricate art of Korean artist Do Ho Sun has been exhibited in Scotland. Immerse yourself in the imagination of one of the world’s leading contemporary artists. A lot of room has been dedicated to showing the art with an installation in the middle of one of the rooms which is so fragile that you have to remove all outer clothing and any bags before entering.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to marvel at Do Ho Suh’s larger-than-life thread drawings, take in his never-before-seen sketchbooks and wander through the artist’s iconic architectural hubs, experiencing Suh’s colourful, interconnected, life-size ‘homes’. 

Do Ho Suh: Tracing Time is free to visit, taking over the entire ground floor of Modern One in Edinburgh until 1 September 2024. This major solo exhibition by the South Korean-born, London-based artist will be the largest European exhibition to date of his work on paper, with artworks spanning 25 years of Suh’s career. With over 100 works on display, many never seen before, the artist poses questions such as ‘Where and when does home exist?’ and ‘What defines our sense of place?’. 

Do Ho Suh: Tracing Time explores the important role that drawing and paper play in Suh’s work, focusing on his collaborative methods, experimental techniques, and ingenious use of materials. The exhibition will travel forwards and backwards in time, organised according to the artist’s transformative approaches to drawing as a toolkit with endless possibilities.

And read Linsay Given Black’s account of the exhibit here.

Development at Western Harbour Ponds

There is a Proposal of Application Notice (PAN) for development of all the Ponds plots which the Friends of Western Harbour Ponds are trying to protect. These areas were left deserted for a time after the crash of 2008 and it is only now that the owner and developer are able to consider progressing their plans. There are two drop-in public consultation events, one on 27 February and one on 2 May at Heart of Newhaven when members of the public can view the plans and ask questions of the developers.

The details of the PAN are here.

Job Fair next week

Our February issue

Our February issue is out now and we will be working on our March issue very soon. The February edition has more on Stephen Rafferty’s exclusive story about Chief Constable Jo Farrell revealed in our centre spread and our new columnist Liam Rudden will entertain you with news of all the theatre you must see.

We are pleased with this month’s issue, and really pleased to be nominated for an award which will be announced in March.

If you would like to make sure that you don’t miss any of our monthly newspapers then sign up here. 

Otto Nieminen slotted 33 seconds into overtime for Nottingham Panthers to deny Fife Flyers in a basement battle in the Midlands.

The Scots, who were outshot 40-20, were always behind in the game and the Fifers had the worst possible start, going 1-0 down after only 2min 54sec.

Panthers kept Fife scoreless until the 46th minute. The home side edged ahead for a second time less than four minutes later but back came Flyers and they equalised with less than eight minutes remaining. 

The point earned by Fife after being level at the end of regulation time takes them on to 35 from 41 fixtures. They are ninth and Panthers still prop up the ten-strong table with 31 points but from only 36 games.

It was the second time in 24-hours that Fife suffered disappointment. Cardiff Devils were 3-0 down to coach Tom Coolen’s men after 33 minutes at Kirkcaldy on Saturday.

But Devils, who are second in the standings, powered back with goals after 35, 38 and 44 minutes to level at 3-3.

Flyers scored through Drake Pilon for 4-3 with less than ten minutes left but they were pegged back by Devils after 54min 53sec.

The sides could not be separated by the end of normal time and even after a period of sudden death overtime, but Cole Sanford scored the game-winner in a shootout leaving Fife with one point from a game in which they were outshot 52-41.

Scores: Sunday: Elite League: Nottingham 3, Fife 2 (after overtime); Belfast 3, Manchester 0; Dundee 3, Cardiff 6; Guildford 2, Sheffield, the league leaders, 4.

PICTURE: Action by Jillian MacFarlane as Fife home in on the Cardiff net at Kirkcaldy. Courtesy of the Elite League

Hearts travel to pace-setting Rangers on Saturday with both teams fresh from weekend wins in the cinch Premiership, Rangers collecting full points from a 3-0 road win at St Johnstone while Hearts eventually overcame dogged Motherwell 2-0 at Tynecastle.

Rangers now slip into top spot in the cinch Premiership with 64 points from 26 starts. They have won their last five and have logged 56 goals and let in 13.

Hearts have 51 points from their 26 starts and sit in third position. They have scored 35 league goals and conceded 22 and they have also won their last five.

So far, the Jambos have recorded 12 away wins this season, the most recorded in a top-flight season since 1991/92 when Joe Jordan’s men accumulated 17 road wins on their way to second place in the table. Can they make it 13 on Saturday at Ibrox (kick-off 15.00)?

We look back at the Motherwell match through the lens of photographer David Mollison.

Lawrence Shankland stressed that Hearts are desperate to return to Hampden following their disappointing 3-1 defeat to Rangers in the Viaplay Cup semi-final on November 5.

That’s why the club’s Scottish Gas, Scottish Cup, quarter-final tie with Greenock Morton scheduled for Monday, March 11 (19.45) is so important.

The prolific marksman, who scored in that defeat, netting a penalty after 81 minutes, told Hearts official programme that Morton are the only lower league team remaining in the competition.

The Glasgow-born forward admitted: “We would have liked to have had them at home (Tynecastle).

“Morton will be happy with the draw. They’ll have all the confidence after beating Motherwell in the previous round.”

He stressed: “It will be a tough tie but, hopefully, we can go down there, put on a good performance like we did against Airdrie and get through to the next round.”

Shankland, who has taken is tally to 25 goals for the season so far following his opener against Motherwell on Saturday in the 2-0 win, said that playing a cup tie at Hampden is special and added: “That’s what was so disappointing for us when we were last there.

“We never really put a stamp on the game and it was a comfortable win for Rangers.

“So, if we get that opportunity to go back, we’ll definitely be looking to perform better than we did that day.”

For those who can’t make the trip to Cappielow, the match will be shown live on BBC Scotland.

PICTURE: Shankland celebrates his goal against Motherwell on Saturday. Picture David Mollison

Grange have lost their perfect record in the men’s Premiership after being held to a 1-1 scoreline at Hillhead as the season re-opened after the winter break.

The Edinburgh side remain top but suffered an early jolt when Matt Carder scored for the home side and it took until the second-half for Dylan Bean to level for the Capital combine.

Grange had most of the pressure but failed to convert that into goals. Yan Adam’s men defended well.

The University of Edinburgh closed the gap between them and Grange with a comfortable 7-2 success over bottom-markers Kelburne with Keir Robb securing a treble.

Alex Wilson scored twice with Declan Bradley and Calum Munro completing the scoring.

Watsonians shutout Inverleith 4-0 while Clydesdale were edged 3-2 at Dundee Wanderers, a goal in the dying minutes from Kennedy Gibb did the damage.

Uddingston beat Erskine Stewart’s Melville 1-0 thanks to a strike from Jedd Campbell.

Grange Edinburgh Ladies earned a 2-1 win over second-placed Western Wildcats, Hannah McKie and Heather Croll scoring for the home side, and GHK cruised to a 4-0 win over Hillhead while Glasgow University beat Gordonians 5-1.

The Lib Dem budget focuses on schools, roads and the climate.

On Thursday councillors will vote for the Council’s 2024/25 budget. Our proposals are based on what residents tell us and that’s why we have focused on schools, roads and greening our city.  

For us, it’s not enough to just stop cuts to education, we want to increase school budgets by £2 million so that every school in the city has more money to spend on their priorities. After a series of cuts to school budgets during the last council term, we recognise the extra pressures on teachers and want to support them in the classroom to deliver the education our children need.

We would also invest an additional £12.5 million on repairs to paths, pavements and roads, to build on the record amount spent thanks to last year’s Lib Dem budget.  After years of underfunding, the Council needs to continue to improve the desperate state of some of our potholed roads, broken pavements and damaged paths. We also want to accelerate the implementation of long-awaited road safety projects, like pedestrian crossings, and fund extra police resources to enforce speed limits. All these measures will improve travel safety.

Liberal Democrats also propose a suite of measures to tackle the climate and nature emergencies with an extra £200,000 to fund more staff and resources to deliver clean heat and energy efficiency projects across the city and £300,000 to encourage bus travel.

We want the Council to plant more trees, so there’s £500,000 for tree planting and another £500,000 to recruit more staff for the Forestry team plus £500,000 to expand allotments and support community gardens. We also want to achieve best value from the Council’s energy efficiency projects and investigate the potential to fund an ambitious programme of energy efficiency measures across the Council’s schools, libraries and offices to reduce energy costs and the associated carbon emissions.

Our budget would also fund additional support for families to maximise their income from benefits to reduce child poverty and plug the funding gap at Edinburgh Leisure to keep swimming pools and sports facilities open.  Liberal Democrats believe the Council should be supporting people to improve their financial, mental and physical health and we believe, with council services, it’s important to get the basics right.

Hopefully other parties will agree on Thursday!

Police officers in Edinburgh have issued an appeal for information after a pedestrian was seriously injured in a crash in Oxgangs.

A bus driver and pedestrian were involved in the collision on Oxgangs Road North, near the junction with Oxgangs Avenue, around 8.50pm on Friday, 16 February.

The 74-year-old male pedestrian was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for treatment to serious injuries.

No one on the bus was injured.

The road was closed until around 3.25am on Saturday, 17 February to allow for an investigation at the scene.

Sergeant Grant Hastie, of the Road Policing Unit in Edinburgh, said: “Our enquiries are ongoing and I would urge anyone who may have information to get in touch.

“We would be keen to speak to anyone who was on the bus who hasn’t yet spoken to an officer, or anyone who may have dashcam footage from the area around the time of the collision.

“Anyone who can help is asked to call 101, quoting reference 3657 of 16 February.”

One of the most important albums of the 1970s Paul McCartney’s Band On The Run remains his most definitive and popular post-Beatles long-player on both sides of the Atlantic.

A new 50th anniversary edition on Dolby Atmos comes in a variety of formats for collectors including the two album 180 vinyl gram edition. It features the original US album track-list and a second record of “Underdubbed” mixes. The most arresting track of the latter is Jet, free from Tony Visconti’s orchestration. In some ways, it’s reminiscent of The Beatles release Let It Be …Naked which similarly delivered alternative mixes stripped of Phil Spector’s strings.

The instrumental mix of Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five is one of the unreleased highlights and fleshes out the most Beatles-sounding cut on the record. The harmonies provided by McCartney’s right-hand man Denny Laine and Paul’s wife Linda on Mamunia are another stand-out on the two versions, both musicians are no longer with us as Laine passed away just over two months ago at the age of 79. Travel and drama seemed to fuel the record, two band members left just before recording which began in Lagos, Nigeria.

It was left to McCartney, his wife and Laine to get to work. After being mugged early lyrics and demos were stolen. It had been a rough few years in the press post-Beatles for McCartney. In many ways, he was up against it.

Despite poor studio conditions all these factors helped produce his greatest solo effort. The finished version of Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five sounds like an artist on the ropes throwing everything he can at a track in the studio and it works. The 50th-anniversary edition comes with two Linda McCartney Polaroid posters and is housed in a special edition slipcase.

Most Beatles fans would agree that Band On The Run sits comfortably alongside John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band and George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass as the finest Beatles solo albums. Just what order they come in is another matter. 

The monthly networking event is back at the Black Ivy in Bruntsfield on Thursday Feb 29th

‘Love Your Business‘ is a relaxed, informal networking event, held in Bruntsfield on the last Thursday of every month, hosted by Michelle Brown, a marketing, PR and communications consultant.

Each Love Your Business event features a different inspirational speaker sharing their entrepreneurial stories and business tips. This month’s speaker is Rebecca McIntyre-Smith – a journalist, founder of the ‘About This Storm’ podcast and one of the Managing Partners at Primate, an Edinburgh based digital agency founded 12 years ago which specialises in developing websites.

Rebecca is a champion for health and wellbeing, calm and caring workplaces and mental resilience. Over the past 5 years, Rebecca and her husband have faced three cancer diagnoses between them, which impacted sales, profitability and clients, before Rebecca and her co-directors used it to reshape the business. She will be talking about her career journey, with lots of adjustments along the way, how you prepare your business for a major challenge and what ‘good business’ looks like for Primate now.

She’ll also be sharing insights into the importance of getting your target audience right when it comes to developing good digital products, measuring results and digital sustainability.

The Love Your Business event takes place at the Black Ivy  in Bruntsfield on Thursday 29th February at 11am. Tickets are £20 plus booking fee, with 10% of all tickets going to the Love Your Business charity partner, Carers of East Lothian.

More information at lybnetworking.com

The 18.9 million affordable housing development, forms part of the wider masterplan for the growing East Lothian town, which will see 1450 homes built, up to 500 of which will be for affordable rent.

Work has started on an affordable housing development in East Lothian which will bring 90 new affordable homes to Wallyford.  McTaggart Construction is building the one, two and three-bedroom flats, which should be ready in 2026. 

The homes at Wallyford are being built for Wheatley, the housing, care and property-management group. It will include 61 for mid-market rent – for people whose household income is less than £40,000 a year, but who may not qualify for social housing.  

The other 29 flats will be Livingwell homes – a service provided by Wheatley Care for tenants over the age of 55.

This new development forms part of the wider masterplan for the area which will see a community of 1450 homes, up to 500 of which will be for affordable rent, a public park, two new schools and a sports facility.    

Wheatley Group Director of Development and Regeneration, Lindsay Lauder, said: “We’re excited to start work on these new high-quality homes in East Lothian.   

“We want to increase the supply of affordable housing and these fantastic new mid-market rent homes will help those who don’t qualify for social rent but can’t afford to buy or rent privately.   

“These homes will also provide security for older people who have additional support needs, but still want to live independently in their community.   

“Thank you to our partners at the Scottish Government, East Lothian Council, McTaggart Construction and Allia C&C for their support in bringing this development to life.”   

The development is being funded by grants of £6.4 million from Scottish Government and £3 million from the Scottish Charitable Bond programme. Wheatley Group is funding the remaining £9.5 million.   

Janice Russell, Managing Director at McTaggart, said: “We’re delighted to be delivering much needed quality affordable homes in East Lothian.    

“We look forward to working closely with Wheatley Group and the community to build an important development that will make a positive difference to many lives, from providing wonderful homes to creating local employment opportunities, including apprenticeships and additional work for local suppliers.”  

Housing Minister Paul McLennan said: “Wheatley play a valuable role in increasing the range of housing available to rent throughout Scotland, and I am delighted to see this development progressing.  

“The Scottish Government has supported these homes with £6.4 million of funding from the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and also through a further £3.1 million that we have generated from the Scottish Charitable Bonds programme. This Scottish Government funding support will enable Wheatley to provide 90 high quality, energy efficient homes in Wallyford. 

“High quality housing is a key pillar of Housing to 2040, whilst also eradicating fuel poverty and homelessness and ensuring everyone has access to green space and essential services. Wheatley play a key role in building high-quality homes and I welcome these new affordable houses in Wallyford.” 

Peter Freer, Head of Scottish Office for Allia C&C, said “This development is a great example of how the Charitable Bond programme is helping to boost the creation of new affordable homes across Scotland.   

“We were pleased to arrange an unsecured loan for Wheatley through a bond issue earlier this year, and subsequently to release a grant through the programme to complete the funding for the development.”  

Transforming the transition to independence for autistic and additional support needs (ASN) school leavers, Edge Group Scotland Ltd is starting two new supported day services.

Edge Group Scotland has been working hard to find ways to offer the same Edge quality but at better prices. Increasingly aware of the financial pressures on local authorities, partners in the NHS and, most importantly, clients and their families, multiple changes have been made to the business and its offering.

Edge found an increasing number of young people being forced down post-school pathways that are not the best fit for them, often setting them up for failure so introducing a holistic, vocational, supported day service for ASN school leavers was the next logical step in the provision of high-quality but cost-effective support services.

A full-time service for ASN school leavers was piloted in August 2023 and Edge say the Transitions programme has been truly transformative in building confidence, gaining essential life skills, getting outdoors, staying active and most importantly gaining independence.

In conjunction with streamlining business operations and introducing more cost-effective support and respite services, the acquisition of new premises in Musselburgh facilitated the introduction of a new additional supported day service, the Edge Life Programme, for young adults with ASN who have exhausted educational options and who need routine and direction for their transition to independence.

Both the Transitions Programme and the Life Programme are centred on sport, outdoor activities and learning, bespoke and person-centered planning, cooking for independence, employability, volunteering and travel training. Each young person gains essential life and independent living skills; increasing independence and resilience, further reducing the long-term costs associated with the provision of support without compromising on quality of service.

2024 Intake Open Day

Edge Group Scotland Ltd is opening the doors of their new dedicated day services building to professionals and parents of school leavers and/or young adults with ASN on Friday 23 February from 2pm to 6pm for their 2024 Intake Open Day.

This is a chance to chat all about supported day services for Autistic and ASN school leavers and young adults, as well as a chance to see their new facilities at Eskmillls, Musselburgh. Tour the dedicated day services building, including a specialised purpose-built teaching kitchen, and find out more about the transformative supported day service programmes.

To find out more about the 2024 Intake Open Day and register attendance, please visit – https://www.edgeautism.com/2024-intake-open-day

Samantha Roberts, Edge Group Scotland Ltd Managing Director (BHSc, RMN, PG Forensic Med & Science) said: “It is about autistic and ASN young adults, improving social success, meeting new friends, having fun and learning essential life skills. 

Taking part in outdoor sports and activities in supported, safe, environments lets our young people achieve greatness and builds the confidence needed to continue their path to independence.”

Edge Group Scotland Ltd, based at Eskmills in Musselburgh, is a specialist support service for young autistic and ASN adults aged 18 to 35 in Musselburgh, Edinburgh and surrounding areas. Their mission is to inspire young people in Scotland with additional support needs, to develop and maximise their potential through holistic, person-centred support, to motivate change, celebrate independence and inform the transition to adulthood.

Isn’t it interesting how an artist can be world famous and yet you have never heard of them?  Call me a philistine but I have never come across Do Ho Suh before (and I studied architecture).  I am very glad that he has come into my consciousness now.

Tracing Time, Do Ho Suh’s first solo exhibition in Scotland opens this weekend and is a must-see exhibition.

Covering several rooms on the ground floor of Modern One on Belford Road, it flows through drawings, lithographic prints, paper sculptures and much more, covering many aspects of his creative life. 

Born in Seoul, South Korea in 1962, he gained a Bachelor and then Master of Fine Arts degree in Korea before moving to the United States, practising in New York before moving to London in 2010.  His work is shown around the world, including at the 49^th Venice Biennale.

Do Ho Suh is one of the world’s leading contemporary artists. His focus is the ways architecture mediates the experience of space and he creates engaging and imaginative artworks that ask questions about home, family and identity. ‘Home’ is so much more than the place you live. Your own version of home is a fundamental part of who you are, influenced by your day-to-day life and your deepest memories.

Do Ho Suh explores some of these fascinating ideas in this exhibition. It presents the artist’s complex and compelling thread drawings, alongside architectural rubbings, paper sculptures, cyanotypes, prints and watercolours.

There is also an immersive installation of Suh’s famed ‘hubs’, life-size sculptures that recreate physical spaces in colourful, translucent fabric. Visitors to the exhibition can enter and move through this innovative reimagining of places meaningful to the artist and his life.  This to me was the highlight of the exhibition and I encourage you to walk through the hub – it is an almost other worldly experience.

Shown publicly for the first time are a selection of the artist’s sketchbooks: personal, unconstrained spaces for speculative thinking, in which Suh explores his past, present and future. In this inspiring and timely exhibition, drawing is the connective thread that binds together Do Ho Suh’s creative energies. 

Highly recommended.

Do Ho Suh | Tracing Time is supported by National Galleries of Scotland Foundation, Victoria Miro Gallery, London and Venice, Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London, Baillie Gifford who have supported the exhibition’s audience development and engagement programme, and STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore. Technical support by LG OLED evo.

• Do Ho Suh Tracing Time
• National Galleries of Scotland
• Modern One
• February until Sunday 1 September 2024.
• Admission: free

Hibs drew 2-2 with Aberdeen in an entertaining game in the North East, goals from Martin Boyle and Emiliano Marcondes were enough to send the Leith home with a point.

Both sides started the match brightly, and Hibs took the lead early on, Myziane Maolida did well to control a high ball, he nutmegged his defender and played in Martin Boyle. 

Boyle skipped past the onrushing Kelle Roos and dispatched into the net, VAR did check for offside, but the goal was given and Hibs’ bright start was rewarded.

Just minutes later though, the home side had equalised, Hibs failed to deal with a long punt over the defence, Bojan Miovski’s volley was well saved by David Marshall, but there was nothing he could do as Nicky Devlin tapped the rebound into an empty net.

Both sides continued to threaten, and Hibs perhaps should have had a penalty midway through the half.

A cross by Jordan Obita looked like it had been handballed by Devlin, but VAR upheld the referee’s on field decision and nothing was given. 

Aberdeen could have taken the lead in the closing stages of opening 45 minutes, but Jamie McGrath’s sliding effort hit the crossbar and the sides went in level.

Not long after half time, Aberdeen scored their second, Hibs failed to properly clear a cross and McGrath was given far too much time in the box, this time he made no mistake, finishing past Marshall.

In a wide open game, and with both sides looking shaky defensively, Hibs created several chances, and after 67 minutes they had drawn level.

A great move down the left saw Newell cut the ball back neatly to Emiliano Marcondes and the Dane finished well first time. 

The linesman immediately put his flag up, however, ruling the goal offside, but after a lengthy VAR check, the decision was overturned and the goal was given.

In an end-to-end finish to the game, there was a moment of concern for Hibs when goalkeeper Marshall went down injured, he was replaced by Jojo Wollacott. 

The match finished 2-2 and despite some positives, another poor defensive performance meant Hibs failed to win their eighth league game in a row. 

Speaking to BBC Scotland, head coach Nick Montgomery said: “There is definitely a handball in the first half, in the box, that we don’t get given, which is unfortunate.

“Real disappointed with the two goals we conceded, especially the first one…disappointed to concede that one just after going in front.

“But all credit to the boys, I thought we kept going, we got back into the game and had a couple of chances at the end to win the game as well.”

Hibernian’s next outing is against Dundee at home, a game which may prove crucial in their ambitions to finish in the top six, kick off is next Saturday at 3 o’clock.

Edinburgh South MP, Ian Murray, made his keynote speech on Saturday to the Scottish Labour Party conference in Glasgow while protesters gathered in the city centre putting pressure on the Labour party to make a clear call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Earlier conference voted in favour of a motion supporting a call for a ceasefire, putting pressure on Murray and his fellow MP, Michael Shanks at a potential vote in Westminster this week.

Making his keynote speech as conference reconvened for the afternoon session, Murray opened by referring to the political instability across the globe.

He said: “The situation in Palestine is heart-breaking and intolerable. We all want the same thing. For fighting to stop now and for all hostages to be released.

“And we need that ceasefire to sustain so there can be a proper process towards permanent peace within a 2-state solution and recognition for Palestine.”

Also in his address he said the SNP could no longer shout “lonely Murray” after the Rutherglen and West Hamilton by-election last October, which resulted in Michael Shanks being elected bringing the number of Scottish Labour MPs at Westminster to two.

Labour’s Scottish shadow secretary also criticised the Tories for “[privatising] the NHS by the backdoor [and] the SNP […] doing it through the front door” claiming the SNP thought nurses should pay higher taxes while multinational energy giants should pay lower taxes.

Murray also said the Tories had crashed the economy “infliacting indescribable damage”. He pointed to Keir for Starmer’s “primary mission in government to grow the economy”, adding that under Labour, “every family in Scotland will benefit from that growth”.

Murray demanded that Rishi Sunak call the general election, and ended his address referring to the “two more seismic Labour by-election victories” in Kingswood and Wellingborough in England on Friday, saying that in Glasgow, they would turn the city red and Edinburgh could deliver Labour MPs again.

Sir Keir Starmer is to address the conference tomorrow – but the growing Scottish-UK rift on the party’s ceasefire position will be closely watched.

Seldom is there any justification for a play to have a running time of more than two hours 40 minutes, including an interval.

There are exceptions, of course.

At two hours 40 minutes, plus an interval, Two Sisters, the first original work from David Greig to be staged at the Lyceum since he took the reins as Artistic Director in 2015, is not one of those exceptions, although it really should be.

Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

Read the full review here

Lawrence Shankland took advantage of a split-second lack of concentration and then a slick finish by lively Kenneth Vargas punished determined Motherwell at Tynecastle and moved third-placed Jam Tarts 14 points clear of the chasing pack led by Kilmarnock.

Credit Alan Forrest with a pin-point, free-kick to feed Shankland for the opening goal after 67 minutes and it was not until the second minute of injury time that substitute Vargas scored his sixth of the season, thanks to the determination of another second-half substitute, Nathaniel Atkinson.

The fresh blood put added zip into a Hearts side which dominated possession during the first half but their approach play lacked pace and sufficient punch and it was Motherwell who came closest before the break.

Dan Casey took advantage of a slack clearance to lob Hearts’ goalkeeper, Zander Clark. The Scottish international had to fingertip the ball over the bar and Lennon Miller shot wide from a Harry Paton pass.

Motherwell parked the bus, relying on breakaways. Hearts certainly move the ball patiently from side to side, sometimes firing long balls across the turf to unsettle The Steelmen by exploting the flanks, but the Lanarkshire side stayed compact and some of Hearts approach play was sloppy.

It was no surprise when Jambos boss Steven Naismith rang the changes, two at the start of the second period. A knock to Beni Baningime near the end of the first half forced him off and Dexter Lembikisa, who had not enjoyed the best game, were replaced.

Motherwell started the second period well, but Hearts made two more changes, Yutaro Oda and Macaulay Tait, with the scoreline deadlocked and Cammy Devlin came on after the opening goal. The changes made a difference.

The new blood helped up the tempo and piled the pressure on The Steelmen. They refused to crack until Forrest, who had been busy all afternoon, placed the ball for a free-kick around 30 yards out. He spotted Shankland and floated the ball towards the marksman. Shankland rose to nod home. It all happened in a flash but the Gorgie Ultras behind the goal loved it.

They burst into song, as did most of the rest of the stadium. “We’ve got Lawrence Shankland,” they belted out. Yup, and the skipper has been inspirational this season.

The Jambos then attacked en masse. Well were pinned back and Vargas had a chance, hitting the post, as did Forrest who broke through after a neat square ball from Vargas but fired the ball straight at the Motherwell goalkeeper.

It only seemed like a matter of time before goal No 2 would arrive. Atkinson won the ball inside the box and ballooned up the the air. Vargas latched onto it, bringing the ball down deftly with his back to goal. The Costa Rican turned and lashed home. Clinical. Points secured.

Overall, the home side enjoyed 71 per cent of possession against 29 per cent from Well and Hearts had 22 shots – seven on target – against ten – three on target. The home side also had nine corners, seven of them in the second session, a mark or their dominance.

It would, however, be unfair not to mention the contribution of Aussie defender Kye Rowles. He goes about his work with calm authority and he was aided by big Frankie Kent.

Naismith said: “I thought we showed our quality in both boxes. We had loads of control.”

His counterpart, Stuart Kettlewell, who was involved in a pitch side skirmish late on with one of Hearts’ coaching staff, both were booked, told BBC Sport Scotland: “I’m absolutely fizzing. The first goal we conceded, the top striker in the league, gets the freedom of our penalty box and that’s unacceptable.”

Hearts now have 51 points from 26 games and travel to second-placed Rangers next Saturday. Rangers have 61 points from their 25 starts but they visit St Johnstone on Sunday (noon).

PICTURE: Shankland heads home to break the deadlock v Motherwell at Tynecastle. Picture David Mollison

SHANKLAND: shooting for goal v Motherwell. Picture by David Mollison

FORREST ON FIRE: Alan Forrest makes another drive deep into Motherwell territory. Picture David Mollison

MIDFIELD BATTLE: Scott Fraser tried to go between two Motherwell players. Picture David Mollison

WELL DONE: Lawrence Shankland celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Motherwell. Picture David Mollison

Phil MacHugh, the Edinburgh-based businessman and TV star has had a fabulous few days leading up to this weekend “doing” the media rounds with his friend and colleague, Scottish actor, Martin Compston.

The duo have sat on several sofas promoting their new show – Martin Compston’s Norwegian Fling.

In the new series the two friends are off on their travels, this time driving from Oslo west to Bergen where they joined in the National Day parade celebrating with the Bergen Scottish Society, all with a film crew in tow.

Phil and Martin appeared together on the BBC The One Show on Thursday evening, Lorraine on ITV, Talk Today on Talk TV on Friday morning, but Phil was most excited about sitting on the high chairs on Saturday Kitchen, declaring it “the BEST Saturday of my life!”. The Saturday Kitchen vote was for either Martin’s Indian Spiced Chicken Wings with a Tamarind Dipping Sauce which won over Phil’s Porcini Bolognaise with Port and Truffle Butter.

Phil told The Edinburgh Reporter: “It was such a dream to be a guest on Saturday Kitchen this morning.

“I’m a big foodie and been a fan of the show for years and even though Martin won the battle for his food heaven, it’s now up to me to take the nation cod hunting!

“We’re so excited for audiences to experience Norway just like we did with the new series Norwegian Fling and been and hopefully the clips people have seen from our appearances on The One Show, ITV Lorraine, Talk TV and Saturday Kitchen over the past few days get audiences as excited as we are”

The second BBC series follows the success of the first, Martin Compston’s Scottish Fling which began in Compston’s hometown of Greenock, and was a riot of fun and giggles all over Scotland, including a trip to Phil’s family home on Uist. One of the funniest moments was when the Line of Duty star realised he would be doing all the driving – as the It Boy Phil does not drive. The actor was incredulous that he did not know this about his friend – and what it meant for the next six episodes…

Compston has spent quite a lot of time in Edinburgh recently making The Rig which was written by David Macpherson, and filmed and produced for Amazon Prime Video at FirstStage Studios in Leith, but the Scottish actor and his American wife live in Las Vegas.

The six episodes of Martin Compston’s Norwegian Fling will air on BBC Scotland from 22 February at 10pm and BBC Two UK wide on 23 February at 9pm and will also be available on iPlayer.

It is only three weeks since residents were evacuated from their homes at number 4 Anchorfield, and The Prom Bar had to close temporarily as the building was deemed unsafe.

Now after work to make the building safe for now, residents can move back in.

Cammy Day, Council Leader, said: “After what has clearly been a very difficult and stressful three weeks for the Anchorfield residents, I’m pleased to see most have been able to start moving back in today, and the others able to retrieve their belongings. 

“I want to pay tribute to our teams who acted so swiftly and decisively to make the tenement secure and for continuing to do all they can to support all residents affected. I’d also like to pass on our thanks to property owners for their cooperation throughout this challenging time.

“Our priority was quite rightly to keep the local community safe and, thanks to this work, we’ve stabilised the building, provided recommendations for its permanent repair and re-opened Lindsay Road and the surrounding area to traffic and pedestrians.

“Our teams have issued a daily update to all residents on the progress of works, which I know has been much appreciated.

“It’s clear from the independent structural engineers investigations that the issues with the bay windows are long-standing and, unfortunately, the result of the original design dating back to the late 1800s. I fully appreciate this will come as little consolation to the residents are hope they are able to find a collective way forward as soon as possible.”

Virtual LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week Information Event
St Andrew’s Children’s Society are holding a Virtual LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week Information Event on Wednesday 6 March from 7pm to 8.30pm as part of LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week and would love it if you could join them if you’re thinking about adopting or fostering.

New Family Social
A spokesperson for the charity explained: “LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week is a nationwide campaign which is organised by New Family Social. We have been a Member of New Family Social for many years now and we are proud to be taking part in this excellent annual campaign again. This year’s theme is #DifferentTogether.

“What we can tell you about adoption and fostering at the Virtual LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week Information Event
1. What it’s like to adopt or foster a child
2. Who can adopt
3. Who can foster
4. About the adoption process
5. About the fostering process
6. About the support available to you if you adopt or foster through us

“You can ask any questions you like. Whatever stage you are at in your adoption or fostering journey, we can help you.

“We are a voluntary adoption agency
As we are a voluntary adoption agency we can look across the whole of the UK to find the right child for you – we are not limited to looking in just one local authority area.

“We are the oldest adoption agency still in operation in Scotland and we celebrated our Centenary last year. We have helped many families in Scotland to adopt and foster.

“We help families to adopt and foster who live within a 60 mile radius of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Elgin.”

Do I need to book a space?
Yes that way St Andrew’s will be able to send you a link to the Zoom meeting. You can register for the Virtual LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week Information Event on Eventbrite here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/virtual-lgbtq-adoption-and-fostering-week-information-event-tickets-837345501937?aff=oddtdtcreator

We will send you the Zoom link via Eventbrite one day before the event.

If you would like to speak to someone before the event or if you don’t receive the Zoom link, please call 0131 454 3370. Our offices are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Or you can email info@standrews-children.org.uk and the charity will get back to you.

The Bike Station knows that children very quickly grow out of their bikes.

The charity that believes cycling should be accessible to everyone, and they deliver a whole range of projects to break down barriers to cycling. One of these projects is the Wee Bike Library which is a Transport Scotland funded programme through which families can access kids bikes for free and then exchange their bike for the next size up as their children grow.

Sasha Taylor, CEO of The Bike Station said: “Our communities will be better places for everyone when our youngest citizens are able to ride their bikes with the carefree freedom they deserve”.

Sign up for a Wee Bike Library account and reserve a bike here. You can then browse the wide range of kids bikes across all three of The Bike Station’s branches and when you’ve found a bike simply select it and then choose a collection and return date. 

The Wee Bike Library champions article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child, the right to play and rest.

One Wee Bike Library User said: “The charity helped us to get a next stage bike for our child that we wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.”

Website www.TheBikestation.org.uk or contact the Wee Bike Library team on weebikelibrary@thebikestation.org.uk​

Branches at 250 Causewayside, Edinburgh, EH9 1UU and 473 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh, EH11 3AD

Edinburgh Judo players help open Lidl’s 14th Edinburgh store

Local Judo players ‘pinned down’ the ribbon on Lidl’s newest Scottish store this morning in Meadowbank Retail Park.

As the ‘groundwork’ was completed for the Lidl at Meadowbank, the youngsters from nearby Edinburgh Judo took a break from their mid-term club to ‘throw down’ some Middle of Lidl deals and open the doors of the new store along with coach, double Commonwealth champ and Toyko 2020 Olympian, Sarah Adlington.

Creating 40 local jobs, Meadowbank further cements Lidl’s footprint in the capital. Situated on Meadowbank Retail Park at 8 Moray Park Terrace, Edinburgh, the new store will be open from 8am-10pm from Monday to Sunday. The new store will have a 1,280m² sales area and include an in-store bakery and customer toilets with baby changing.

To mark the opening, and as part of Lidl’s stated commitment to support healthy lifestyles through exercise, the new Meadowbank store made donations of fruit and healthy snacks to Edinburgh Judo and nearby Meadowbank Sports Centre.

Lidl GB’s Regional Head of Property, Ross Jackson, commented: “We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped make Lidl’s 14th store in Edinburgh a reality. The new store will continue to bring great products and fantastic offers to the local community, along with high quality, fresh Scottish produce throughout the year.” 

From Kirkwall in the north and Stranraer in the south, the retailer’s ever-growing estate of over 100 stores spans Scotland, with products from over 80 Scottish suppliers. 

Ahead of next week’s council budget meeting, the SNP group set out their plans including safer pavements and free after school clubs for primary school children on Friday afternoons.

The SNP proposals include an extra £3.5m on getting empty homes back into use, £5.11m to make after school clubs free for all primary pupils on a Friday, and diverting more than £1million in funds for roads to improving accessibility and safety of pavements.

However with less than a week to go until budget day SNP members have had “virtually no dialogue” with the authority’s minority Labour administration, according to the group’s finance spokesperson Lesley Macinnes.

Councillor Macinnes said. “They keep talking to us about building consensus and all the rest of it, but we haven’t had a proper approach from them about anything,” she added. 

The council has paid out over £26,000 in pothole compensation in last 3 years, and faces a £77 million backlog of road repairs. Despite this a key part of the SNP’s budget is to re-direct £1.2m currently earmarked for filling potholes and fixing roads to “ramp-up” the number of dropped kerbs and pedestrian crossings. 

“We’ve said let’s take a chunk of the roads budget and put it in road safety issues,” Cllr Macinnes said.  “It falls into three areas, one of them is really important from the view of accessibility. So for wheelchair users, mobility scooters and pushchair pushers there’s a great need for dropped kerbs.

“The same thing around pedestrian crossings – we’ve got a list as long as our arm of community asks for pedestrian crossings and what we’re suggesting is putting in an extra big chunk of cash into that to accelerate that.

“And then in terms of school streets we want to make the routes to school a lot safer and the streets themselves around schools safer so we’re putting £1m into that.”

By cutting spending on the Lord Provost’s office, communications staff, agency workers and contracts, borrowing and drawing from reserves, the group would also look to fund 10 more bus lane cameras, electric cargo bikes, new public toilets and also speed-up the insulation of school buildings, among other projects.

The flagship policy contained in the proposal is to “help hard-pressed households” through universal free after school clubs on Friday afternoons

Cllr Macinnes described the move as “fixing the Friday afternoon fankle”. 

She said: “It’s that whole question for working parents or parents who want to work, that lack of flexibility because they get the half day in school on a Friday.

“We’re opting to extend that and make that universal free childcare in that environment. It just buys people some flexibility, both financially and in terms of how they’re running their lives.”

The group – the largest in the council, but out of power since 2022 – is proposing to direct £465k to youth groups only part-funded through the recent Connected Communities grant scheme, increase headteachers’ budgets by £2.2m and spend £1m to improve road safety around schools.

They would also accept the £16m being offered by the Scottish Government to freeze council tax at 5 per cent – a move Cllr Macinnes argued would “undoubtedly benefit every household in Edinburgh” – and increase council tenants’ rent by 8.4 per cent in line with officers’ recommendation. 

“The absolutely clear reason for that is because we believe the house building programme is absolutely paramount,” she said. “Any option below 8.4 means we don’t deliver.”

Also proposed is an additional £3.5m for renovating derelict council homes. It’s estimated this could save nearly £1.6m from temporary accommodation expenditure over the next two years. 

Cllr Macinnes said: “That clearly has a big benefit as far as the homelessness issue is concerned. We might find that all of our ideas are sidelined, but we’ve demonstrated a way forward on this.” 

Other commitments are: £750k on flood prevention; £590k to accelerate the planting of a million trees across the capital; £1m to replace “heavy polluting” council vehicles with electric and low-carbon alternatives; £100k to halt the use of toxic weed killer in parks; £60k for additional planning staff to process short-term let applications; £770k to improve community centres, and £120k to restore bus services to Dumbiedykes and Lady Nairne.

by Donald Turvill Local Democracy Reporter

Ben Parker is the Co-Convener of the Green group of Councillors in City of Edinburgh Council. He is the group spokesperson for Climate and Environment.

Given the key role Greens played in last year’s budget shenanigans, it’s no surprise that political groups are making the right noises when it comes to spending on climate and nature this budget round. But don’t be taken in by the headlines — whilst overtures to climate and nature spending are welcome, do the numbers behind the group proposals really add up?

Labour
To their downfall, last year Labour forewent all spending on climate and nature in their budget, abandoning manifesto commitments and ignoring warnings from officers about the devastating impact this would have on progress the Council is making to tackling the climate and nature emergencies. Having learned their lesson the hard way, this year is better – and it’s fair to say that Greens have had much better engagement with the Council administration throughout the budget process too (not least because of the existence of the very climate team that we secured last year being able to support with this).

As a headline, the Labour budget contains funding to retain key posts working on projects in nature and biodiversity, and investment to create some new ones too. Labour is the only group (as well as the Greens) to retain posts which are coming to an end due to grant funding finishing. Labour also proposes investment to create a new Service Engineer post to reflect changes to Council practices in the Parks service to improve biodiversity, and a specialist officer working on sustainable urban drainage projects in schools. From Year two of their budget, Labour includes funding for an additional Planning officer whose remit would be to focus on biodiversity.

In the climate space more broadly, the Labour budget also contains funding to retain the Community Climate Forum Coordinator and Colleague Travel Worker posts – again, the only group to do this (alongside the Greens). These are two key roles working on climate projects within the Council which would be lost without money set aside in the budget for them.

Outwith investment in staffing, the Labour budget contains funding for general nature projects, specialist equipment for biodiversity and multi-year funding for flood prevention work. Although it’s good to see this in the budget, it’s also fair to say that the level of investment here is smaller than in some of the other budgets put forward.

What’s more, whilst all of this investment is welcome, there is a clear gap in Labour’s budget around resources for tree-planting and maintenance – which is chronically underfunded and under-supported in the Council – and any investment in active travel or retrofitting/clean energy, despite these being the two biggest contributors to climate emissions in the city. Disappointingly, for the second year in a row, the Labour proposal also fails to include a climate impact statement outlining how their spending proposals impact on the city’s climate ambitions.

Read the Labour budget proposal here

SNP
The SNP budget has a large amount of capital investment in climate related projects. They propose £1m to transition the Council’s heavy vehicle fleet to low carbon alternatives and £250,000 for electric vehicle chargers to support this transition too. The SNP also include £2.5m for the retrofitting of school buildings, bringing energy bills down and improving the quality of the estate for pupils and staff. The level of funding committed to these projects alone is significantly greater than commitments made by Labour. Given that the way we heat our buildings and the way we get around are the two biggest contributors to carbon emissions in the city, all of this spending is welcome.

The SNP also propose investment in the Million Tree City project which is lacking in Labour’s budget, and they match Labour on funding for flood prevention and intervention. Like Labour, the SNP proposal also includes a number of smaller spends to reduce emissions in Parks and Greenspace by funding low carbon park maintenance equipment, low carbon power outlets in parks (removing the need for diesel generators), mechanical weeding equipment (to phase out the use of the pesticide glyphosate) and cargo bikes for Parks staff to shuttle equipment round. Whilst this is all impressive, it is worth noting that these smaller spends are for projects which are already earmarked for external funding which the Council has secured. These will (hopefully!) be agreed at the next Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work committee at the end of the month, so there is some “creative” accounting going on here.

Outwith spending, the SNP budget proposes a series of charges/measures to raise income and incentivise “greener” behaviours – for example, increased parking charges, an on-street levy for SUVs and an increased charge for cruise ships docking in the city. Again, this is welcome.

However, despite the heavy investment in capital spending, the SNP proposal has no revenue spending, or investment in staffing to support these projects. This means that a number of key roles in the Council on climate and biodiversity would be lost, and there would be no additional capacity built into these key areas of the Council going forward. This is a significant concern as failure to build additional capacity in Council staffing now will severely limit the ability of officers to bring forward future projects on climate and nature at the scale and pace which is needed. Finally, whilst the SNP proposal does include a nod towards a climate impact statement at the end of their budget proposal, this is one small sentence and not a worked through analysis of the budget proposal at large.

Read the SNP budget proposal here

Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrat budget approaches spending on climate and nature differently again, with a slightly different overlap with Green proposals compared to the other groups. The Lib Dems propose significant investment in the forestry team and tree planting which is very welcome, as well as investment in food growing and allotments – the only other group to do this alongside the Greens. None of this is surprising as they have been advocates for the benefits of nature for people and the environment over recent years.

The Lib Dems also propose specific investment in the Council’s Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) project office, increasing staffing capacity in order to deliver more retrofitting and energy efficiency projects for domestic and commercial properties, as well as the development of heat networks. This is a serious oversight of other group proposals (with the exception of the Greens), so it is good to see this come forward. Like others, the Lib Dems also propose specific investment in flood prevention and mechanical equipment to phase out the use of the glyphosate in the city.

Despite these investments, like the SNP (and unlike Labour), the Lib Dems fail to retain investment in staff support for Community Climate Action, in active travel and in broad work on biodiversity. Again, failure to invest in these posts means a loss in capacity in the Council to deliver projects for climate and nature which is an alarming oversight in the context of a climate and nature emergency.

Pleasingly, the Liberal Democrat budget does include a comprehensive climate impact statement.

Read the Liberal Democrat budget proposal here

Conservatives
Unsurprisingly, the Conservative budget proposes no spending for climate or nature.

Read the Conservative budget proposal here

And finally, the Greens
In short, take the good bits from everyone else’s proposals, include them all and add even more investment on top! Of course, my opinion is a biased one, but the Green proposal includes significantly more investment than other groups on climate and nature.

Our proposals contain funding to secure all existing key posts in climate and nature in the Council, as well as additional budget to create new posts in biodiversity, above and beyond even those extra posts proposed in the Labour budget. We also invest £2.9m of funding in nature projects for just this year (nearly three times as much as Labour’s equivalent investment) and an additional £1.3m on trees and the forestry service alone – that’s almost as much investment as the SNP and Liberal Democrat proposals put together.

Like the Liberal Democrats, we propose investment in sustainable food and community growing, and we include two and a half times their proposed level of investment in the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency strategy, putting £500k in for retrofitting, heat networks and clean energy projects across the city.

We include additional funding for Community Climate Action, reinstating the Community Climate Forum Co-ordinator post like Labour, but also adding more than £400,000 of funding to reinstate and expand the Community Climate Fund to support community groups with climate and nature projects on top of this.

On transport and sustainable travel, we include £1.85m to expedite delivery of the City Mobility Plan, including significant investment in active travel initiatives. Our budget commits to implementing the major junctions review to prioritise safety for walking, wheeling, and cycling and we also allocate £450,000 for a dropped kerb programme to make our roads and pavements safer for all. We are the only budget to prioritise £500,000 to continue provision of free tram travel for under 22-year-olds, and £1m for an additional phase of bike hangar roll out across the city to go some way to meet this unmet demand.

While not the only priority in our budget – increasing financial support for people struggling with the cost of living and investing in initiative to help make the city more accessible are also key pledges – the Green budget’s inclusion of close to £11m to tackle the climate and nature emergencies sets out the scale of ambition the council needs to take our responsibilities to people and planet seriously.

Read the Green budget proposal here

What happens next?

Political groups will have a second bite of the cherry on Tuesday with the option to revise their own budget motions before the big day on Thursday. It will be interesting to see how other groups revise their proposals now they’ve seen what others have to offer, and Greens are engaging constructively with every group who are open to listening.

We are confident that this year’s budget will, once again, have Green fingerprints all over it – we’re just hoping this won’t happen in the same dramatic fashion as last year (and we’re pretty sure that at least one other group in the Council is feeling the same way too…).

When Keir Hardie founded the Scottish Labour Party in 1888, I don’t suppose he could have imagined how things would look this weekend when his party gathers in Glasgow for its annual conference.

It will be in buoyant mood after Labour’s victory in the two by-elections in England on Thursday.

There won’t be many cloth caps or battered deer-stalker hats in the hall. The present leader did not begin life working in a Lanarkshire coal mine from the age of 10. Anas Sarwar is the son of a prosperous Glasgow businessman Mohammad Sarwar, Britain’s first Muslim MP and now Governor of the Punjab.

The ups and downs of Labour’s story over the past 136 years has brought us to the point where the Scottish Labour Party is expecting a revival after its collapse in 2015. It lost 40 of its 41 MPs in Scotland. It still only has 2 MPs and 22 seats in the Scottish Parliament, behind the Conservatives (31) and the SNP (63). The latest opinion polls put Labour and the SNP level-pegging at about 35 per cent support each, with the Conservatives a long way behind.

The rise in Labour support in Scotland has got little to do with what the Scottish party itself has done, except not committed any major blunders. It’s got everything to do with the misdeeds of the Conservatives at Westminster and the mistakes of the SNP at Holyrood.

Which is disappointing to those of us who would like to see positive politics. But Labour doesn’t seem to have the courage of Keir Hardie in saying what it actually stands for. And the confusion has led to subtle differences between Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour and Scottish Labour.

On Gaza, for example, Labour MSPs joined the majority of the Scottish Parliament in calling for an immediate case-fire, while Sir Keir backs the UK and American call for temporary pauses in the fighting. There is a Scottish rebellion over limits to welfare benefits for families with more than two children. Then there is Sir Keir’s retreat from his promise to spend £28bn a year on environmental projects. Anas Sarwar was left vaguely suggesting that some projects could do ahead, like a public energy company based in Scotland.

But where Scottish Labour most lacks courage is in its attacks on the SNP government. They usually involve calling for more public spending but without saying where that should come from. You get the feeling that Scottish Labour would like to end “austerity” by borrowing more or taxing more, but they daren’t say it out loud.

Instead we got this week a promise of a “reset” of the relationship between government and business, whatever that may mean. And a suggestion from Gordon Brown’s “Future Scotland” think tank that we need an alternative to the council tax after the next election. But of course it’s not disclosed what that might be.

It leaves Labour unable to take a clear stand on the clash been Scotland’s 32 local councils and the SNP/Green government. It came to a head this week with the councils saying they cannot implement the government’s foolhardy promise of a council tax freeze without more than the £144m compensation on offer.

As to the issue of Scottish independence, that has not gone away. It’s still a potent force for the SNP with a steady 48 per cent support for the idea in the opinion polls. The problem for Scottish Labour is that for all its efforts to promise more powers for The Scottish Parliament and a “federal style” Britain, it has not managed to defuse the issue.

No doubt this weekend’s conference will be a triumph of hope – hope that Labour will win the general election later this year. But I cannot see Anas Sarwar’s foreword to the conference agenda coming true: “The age of the politics of division is coming to a close.”

Chris Duncan believes that Scotland’s senior women can do “real damage” to teams higher in the world rankings if they can continue the form they displayed in the final game of a three Test series against Spain who recently qualified for the Olympic Games.  

The new-look Tartan Hearts, with a number of young players experiencing playing against a top ten nation for the first time and minus their Great Britain players, lost 2-1 in Benalmadena in the final game.

Edinburgh-based Duncan, Scotland’s head coach, said: “We were so close, we played brilliantly.”

Spain, ranked No 7 in the world, only place below England, and a side who beat the full Great Britain side recently in the Olympic qualifiers, won 5-0 in the opening game against the Scots, ranked No 17, on Wednesday and 3-1 in the second clash on Thursday, but Duncan said: “This (on Friday) was a real contest and it had that competitive buzz to it.

“Although it is frustrating to lose, the improvement we made over the three games was fantastic.”

Goalkeeper Jess Buchanan (Exeter University) was outstanding in the triple-header and, overall, Duncan added: “We’ve seen a big jump up in our play. These performances have not only been good for the new players in the squad, but also for those taking on leadership positions.

“We’ve played a top side who beat GB three weeks ago and, if we bring this tempo to the games against teams around us in the rankings, we’ll do a lot of damage. This has definitely been a worthwhile trip.”

In the final game, the Scots were undone by a late goal and it was the hosts who broke the deadlock from a penalty corner early on as Scotland struggled to find a rhythm after two hard matches in two days. 

Scotland, however, upped their game and bagged a well-deserved equaliser. Ellie Mackenzie (Loughborough University) won the ball in the press and carried it forward before picking out Sophie Hinds (The University of Edinburgh) who eased into the circle and calmly flicked the ball into the back of the net for 1-1.

The Scots continued to cause problems and were electric on the break but they could not find a way through and the sides were deadlocked at 1-1 at the half-time break.

Duncan’s squad continued their controlled possession in the early stages of the second-half and had the ball in the back of the net for a second time, Heather McEwan, who plays club hockey in Belgium with Royal Victory, finishing off a move, but it was ruled out for hitting a foot in the build-up.

However, Scotland continued to press and Lunjika Nyirenda (The University of Edinburgh) attacked down the right, but the Spanish goalkeeper blocked her shot.

Scotland remained in determined mood and continued to drive forward. Watsonians striker Sarah Jamieson picked out Ruth Blaikie (The University of Edinburgh) and the Perth-born player fired a shot across goal which narrowly missed the target.

Then, Eve Pearson (Grossflottbeker, Germany) found Zara Kennedy (The University of Edinburgh) who deflected the ball inches wide.

However, with three minutes left, Scotland were caught out as Spain scored on a counter-attack despite two tremendous saves by Buchanan.

PICTURE: A focused Sophie Hinds warming-up for Scotland in Glasgow. Ruth Blakie is behind her. Picture by Nigel Duncan