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Draft Minutes for Merchiston Community Council Meeting.
Public Meeting: Tuesday 23rd February
2010. 7.30 pm at St. Michael’s Church Hall, 1 Slateford
Road. Present: Bridget Stevens MCC
Chair Mairianna Clyde MCC
Vice-Chair Frances Hawarden MCC
Treasurer Robin Morris MCC
Helen Zealley MCC
William Mykura MCC
Ian Doig MCC Ian Clement MCC
Bob Rendall MCC James Geekie MCC Eva Tombs MCC Lucy Turnbull MCC Edward Warwick Resident,
Spylaw Road Gina McCaugnan Resident,
Primrose Terrace Bob Bierley Resident,
Primrose Terrace Helen Brown Resident,
Primrose Terrace Nick Williams Resident,
Myrtle Terrace Rebecca Boyle Changeworks Oliver Musgrave Changeworks Cllr. Paul Godzik CEC
(from 8.05pm onwards) Chairman’s Welcome Chair welcomed everyone and opened the meeting. Presentation on
Recycling by Changeworks Chair welcomed Rebecca Boyle, Waste Prevention Rebecca gave a presentation on recycling and waste, entitled Imagine an Edinburgh without waste.
Edinburgh residents are currently recycling less than 30% of their domestic
waste, well short of the target of 40%. If City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) does
not achieve this target soon, landfill fines will be imposed on CEC by the EU. Oliver gave a presentation on water efficiency. He referred residents to
the Energy Saving Scotland Advice Centre, which provides free and impartial
advice and support for energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency
and sustainable transport. Contact information: www.changeworks.org.uk/content.php?linkid=394 Tel: 0800 512 012. Also: Energy Saving Trust: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk Business Meeting –
Commenced 8.20pm Chair intimated that Jenny MacKenzie had resigned as Note Taker for MCC
meetings. Chair had written to thank Jenny for her service and she asked for the
thanks of MCC to Jenny to be recorded in the minutes. 1. Apologies for Absence: Apologies
received from: Cllr. Gordon Buchan CEC
Councillor Cllr. Jim Lowrie CEC
Councillor Cllr. Alison Johnstone CEC Councillor Cllr Andrew Burns CEC Ann Royden MCC
Secretary Helena Scott MCC Kay Smith MCC John Lennie MCC Gavin Corbett MCC Beccy Brooks MCC PC Alan Hopper Community
Beat Officer, Lothian & Borders Police 2.
Minutes
of Previous Meeting on 26th January 2010 and Matters Arising. Draft minutes had been available on the website and had also been
circulated by email to MCC Members. The following amendments were agreed to the
draft minutes of 26th January: -
Page 3 – Item 3, Bullet point 1 – Ian Clement asked
that the minute be corrected to read ‘- -
the cottage in Greenhill Gardens is to be demolished’. -
Page 5 – EACC Report - Neglected Gardens – Kay
Smith had requested addition to the draft minutes and these were accepted, as
follows: ‘Residents annoyed by their
neighbours’ messy front gardens should register a complaint with the Anti-Social
Behavior Unit as one strategy to remind the local authority about the problem.
A report is being prepared by a CEC internal officer’s group, to be made
available prior to a meeting at SW Partnership offices on March 4th.
Kay is to attend the meeting’. -
Page 6 – Other Reports – Seagulls’ Nests- ‘In Edinburgh, a de-nesting service is
offered to the public but at a cost of around £240 for one property. In densely
built tenement areas, de-nesting one roof would not solve the gull nuisance
problem if they continue to nest on other roofs, hence the need for a comprehensive
approach. In 3 years, only 15 requests have been made for this service’. -
Page 7 – AOB – Helen Zeally pointed out that the meeting
regarding the consultation document Living
and Dying Well had been with NHS Lothian (not CEC as draft minutes stated). -
Page 7 – Special Meeting - Ian Doig requested that
the second last sentence be amended to read: ‘MCC members also agreed that there would be no further email contact
with Lucy Turnbull.’ The amended Minutes, incorporating the above amendments, were approved: Proposer Ian Clements, Seconded by Eva Tombs.
Matters Arising from
Minutes of 26th January Meeting Page 3, Item 2 Budget Hotel/Hostel in Leamington Terrace. Ed Bewsher had
agreed to represent MCC at the meeting of the Licensing/Regulatory Committee
and would report back to MCC on this issue but, since he was not present, this item
would be continued to the next meeting. Page 3, item 3 – Planning and
Licensing Issues – Robin Morris asked whether a reply had been received from Cllr.
Lowrie on whether David Leslie, CEC Head of Planning, should attend a future
MCC meeting to clarify Mr. Leslie’s recommendations regarding Greendale Terrace
and how these recommendation related to the decision of the Planning Committee.
Chair suggested that MCC Members should discuss at a future Agenda meeting whether
it would be appropriate to invite David Leslie to speak at a future MCC meeting. 3. Reports Chair’s Report – No written
report by the Chair because she had been preoccupied with workload generated by
other MCC matters. Police Report - PC Alan Hopper, Community Beat Officer, was
not able to attend because of other Police business. PC Hopper had reported that
very little crime had taken place over the period of cold weather – only 25
crimes had been reported, considerably down on the usual number. The worst
incident had been a housebreaking in Lochrin Buildings. Chair reported that new arrangements are being introduced for the deployment
of police officers, which will mean more officers on the beat and a different
set of reporting lines. Cllr. Godzik provided further information; responsibility
for Community Beat Officers and Community Safety Teams is being merged, which
will provide more local police patrols and a more community-focused police
service. The meeting noted that there had been very little public consultation
by Lothian and Borders Police about the reorganisation. MCC valued the rapport and
trust which had been built up between PC Hopper, MCC and residents and hoped
this co-operation would not be diluted because of the changes. EACC Report Ian Doig reported that the next EACC Question Time on 6th
March would be on Policing. The Chief Constable, David Strang, plus 4 members
of the Police Board, would discuss policing issues and answer questions from community
councillors from across Edinburgh. MCC might find it useful to invite the local
Police Inspector to attend a future MCC meeting to update residents on the effects
of the policing changes reported in the previous paragraph; alternatively, this
could be done through the Neighbourhood Partnership meetings. Ward Councillor’s
Report – Cllr. Godzik reported on the CEC budget, which had been announced
recently. Cllr. Godzik would like to see CEC’s Budget formulation process
become more transparent and involve greater consultation. At present, the
process does not allow Ward Councillors, Community Councils and other community
groups to have an effective role by way of consultation in deciding what CEC budget
priorities should be and to comment on proposals before the Finance Convener
presents the final Budget. The lack of consultation with community groups under
the present system is disappointing. Main budget discussions and arguments this
year had been about cuts to the education budget and particularly cuts in school-based
budgets to head teachers: Cllr. Godzik was concerned that the cuts will reduce
the quality of education that CEC will deliver in future. Community Grants are
also likely to be cut by CEC and this was likely to reduce funds to community organizations
and cause uncertainty. Parking Report Edward Warwick, a local resident and member of Merchiston Neighbourhood
Watch, updated the meeting about recent developments on the CPZ scheme. Changes
were proposed across Edinburgh to make the various CPZ Schemes more consistent.
The main changes proposed were to increase the number of shared use parking bays
(instead of residents only bays) and, in some areas, to amend parking fees and the
duration of parking time. CEC claimed to have sent out a consultation letter to
residents, allowing only a very short time for comments to be submitted by 4th
March. Many residents in Merchiston had not received that letter and, as a
result, the consultation had been incomplete. Merchiston Neighbourhood Watch had
sent an email message to Cllr. Mark McInnes, local member of CEC Transportation
Committee, to express the concerns of residents that the proposed changes were vague
and not at all clear and also that many residents had not received a consultation
letter. At this stage, the changes were not anticipated to cause problems in
Merchiston. The principle in question was that residents should be properly
consulted in writing about any changes proposed to their specific CPZ area. Neighbourhood
Watch will continue to monitor the situation. MCC would also write to the CEC’s
Head of Parking to complain that distribution of consultation letter had been
patchy, had omitted many residents and that the changes proposed were unclear.
Ian Doig stated that Neighbourhood Watch was concerned that there had been
several attempts by City Council officials to introduce changes to the
Merchiston S3 CPZ Scheme without proper consultation with Merchiston residents. Cllr. Godzik reported that CEC’s Transport Convener intended to proceed
with a city-wide review of all CPZ Schemes. Cllr. Godzik also reported that
there was a growing pressure on parking in the Tollcross side of the boundary
with S3 CPZ Zone; CEC had sold more residents’ parking permits in the Tollcross
area than there were parking spaces. Other Reports Slateford
Road/Flower Colonies – Nick Williams gave an update on the proposed
development. Current proposal by the developer, AMA, for would be 5 storey
flats, which would be a mixture of HMO, student flats and family dwellings.
Residents are concerned about the massive scale of the proposed development,
which would be out of proportion to existing houses in the Colonies. Residents
also have concerns about the high density of the proposed flats, pressure on parking,
access, safety for children and green spaces. Many residents in the Colonies
had objected to the original AMA proposals. Residents had put forward a contra
plan, stressing features that residents want and issues that would be positive
– for example good access, good parking for both existing residents and new
residents who will be there in the future. Residents consider that AMA, the developer,
along with the City Council, should involve the community to help make this area
a better place. Colonies residents recognise that three aims exist: Edinburgh City
Council needs to have houses there; the developer wants to make money from the
development opportunity; and development should be good for existing residents.
Residents have hired an architect and two urban designers and these experts are
helping residents to create a positive contra plan that they hope the developer
and City of Edinburgh Council will buy into, based on guidelines devised by
residents. Residents in the Colonies are grateful for the support of MCC. A
consultative meeting would take place on 4th March and MCC members
were invited to attend. Chair thanked Nick Williams and observed that this was
a good example of citizens’ action. Licensing Report Vice Chair reported that an application for a HMO license for 41-45
Leamington Terrace was to be considered in respect of the refused planning
application. Cllr. Godzik stated that an
appeal was going to the Scottish Government. 4, 6 and 8 Mardale Crescent – The entire stair of 6 flats now comprised
of HMOs. Noise, density of occupation and pressure on the environment were
problems. Ed Bewsher was invited to report on the situation at the next MCC
meeting. Merchiston Avenue –
Traffic Calming Eva Tombs reported that residents in Merchiston Avenue were experiencing
increasing problems with speeding vehicles in Merchiston Avenue. She reported
that residents were fighting to save deteriorating quality, safety and amenity
of Merchiston Avenue, which is increasingly being used by cars and lorries as a
short cut to avoid traffic lights and delays on other more appropriate
thoroughfares. Many drivers were driving too fast and without due care and
attention. Traffic safety risks were being generated to the elderly and frail,
to children going to schools in the area, students going to Napier University,
mothers with prams and people going to the Links and to Harrison Park and to shops
at Bruntsfield and Holy Corner. Residents in Merchiston Avenue would like signs
to indicate that this road is a residential zone and the implementation of a
20mph zone to slow down through traffic. Chair stated that the Police can carry
out a speed check but traffic calming measures had been low on the list of
priorities. Opinions varied about the best way to reduce the speed of traffic..
Eva to report back to the next MCC meeting. Communications Group The Vice Chair reported that a first meeting of the new group had taken
place. Helena Scott will produce a progress report for the next meeting. Planning The Orwell Lodge was the subject of an amended planning application. Transport Nothing to report. Treasurer’s Report Funds were currently £477 and a small surplus was anticipated at the
year end. Recent costs included nominal fee for hosting the website, fees paid
to the previous minute taker and ex-gratia payments to premises used for public
meetings, towards the cost of heat and light. 6. AOB
7.
Next MCC Meeting
The next MCC public meeting will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 23rd March 2010 in Polwarth Parish Church Hall. |
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