Merchiston Community Council (MCC) is one of the original community councils of Edinburgh and has been speaking up for the people of Merchiston since the early 1980s.

MCC consists of 16 individual members – who are each elected for a period of three years – and around eight representatives (’nominated members’) of groups such as neighbourhood associations, traders’ organisations, local churches etc. Any organisation which is active in the local community is welcome to approach MCC with a view to becoming represented. Members of the community council work, or have worked, in fields such as town planning, law, accountancy, education, healthcare and business, and give the community free use of their time and expertise. MCC is particularly active in challenging controversial planning and licensing proposals, often with reference to regulations arising from Merchiston’s status as a Conservation Area. It is also very concerned with ongoing parking debates and other issues affecting the amenity of the area. With the establishment of the new Neighbourhood Partnerships (NPs), members of the community council now have the added responsibility of attending meetings of the two partnerships straddling our area, ie South West NP and South Central NP.

MCC holds regular public meetings which allow local residents to be kept informed of current issues – and to take part in the discussions. The Community Beat Officers’ reports on crime in the area are just two of the regular updates provided at public meetings. Each meeting normally features a presentation on a matter of local interest or concern given by, for example, officials of the City of Edinburgh Council, or from other public bodies such as NHS Scotland, or, in the case of developers, by their architects, engineers etc. In the past year topics have included the introduction of new Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs), houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), the new Tesco store at Holy Corner, the re-development of Fountain Park, the City’s Licensing Policy, South Suburban Railway and arrangements for the new multi-member council wards.

MCC’s public meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month (except for April, July, August and December) at a number of venues within the Merchiston area.

This site has been constructed by Systems Excellence with photographs by Ian Doig, James Thomson and Ann Royden. Any comments on content or forthcoming events should be referred to Ann Royden in the first instance.