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Minutes of Meeting held on Tuesday 19 September at 7.00 pm in the Eric Liddell Centre. 1.0 Chairperson's Welcome Bridget Stevens welcomed those present, who included Cllr. Tritton, Frances Hawarden (Treasurer), Robin Morris, Jim Geekie, William Mykura, Colin Young, Derek Ainslie, John Lennie and around 25 members of the public. Cllr. Lorna Shiells was welcomed and introduced to the meeting on her subsequent arrival. 2.0 Apologies for Absence Ian Doig, Ann Royden, Lorna Shiells, George Hunter, Alan Hopper, Alison Elwell-Sutton, Belinda Lennie, Athol Stewart 3.0 Update by Cllr. Sue Tritton 3.1 Tesco, Starbucks Cllr. Tritton explained that the Council had tried to obtain evidence of unloading by suppliers prior to 7am by sending out traffic wardens on overtime on two separate occasions, but that on neither of these was unloading before 7am actually detected. There was a lively response from a few residents nearby, who had witnessed several instances of unloading well before the agreed deadline, particularly by suppliers to Tesco. The issue for the Council was the lack of money available for overtime payments to officials for out-of-hours working. 3.2 John Livingston Tomb Cll.Tritton gave a short summary of the events leading up to the present position. The Council has reached an interim agreement with the legal representatives of the owners of the adjacent property that, until their ongoing dispute with the Land Registrar over exact title has been resolved, the Council will have access to the garden ground and the Tomb in order to restore both to their former condition, and that the garden seat will be returned to its previous position. Of the Leylandii cypresses planted by the adjacent owners, only those which block the entrance will be removed by the Council in the meantime. 3.3 Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) extension A number of issues were discussed. Positions for numerous poles had been marked out in some Merchiston streets, considerably in advance of the prospective date for establishing them - in January next year. Residents considered that no effort had been made to limit the number of poles by e.g. consulting residents over attaching them to boundary walls, and integrating the signs with existing poles. Cllr. Tritton stated that, whatever the local views in the neighbourhood might be, there had been a 77% approval from the City's residents overall for the CPZ extension proposals. More than one attendee said that the effect of the proposal would be that, whatever the number of residents' parking spaces allotted, he or she would in practice require to find a parking space much further away than previously. In the case of those using their premises for business, this would lead to additional difficulties over moving goods and equipment. 4.0 Minutes of Last Meeting held on 20 June 2006 Moved for adoption by William Mykura, and seconded by Cllr. Sue Tritton. 5.0 Matters Arising 5.1 Memorial to Diana Dunthorne The precise location of the memorial has yet to be precisely identified. Desmond Hodges to liaise with Parks Dept re this. The date for its dedication has been provisionally proposed as the 21st. of October at 11.30 am. 6.0 Reports 6.1 Police report In the absence of Alan Hopper, this item has been held over until the next meeting in October. Copies of the latest area Crime Report were circulated. News of a successful police prosecution for double parking had been received. 6.2 Planning Report John Lennie, on behalf of the planning sub-committee, referred to 3 recent applications; 1) the proposal for demolition of a bungalow and construction of a 3 storey block of flats at 6B Merchiston Park had been withdrawn. 2) the proposal for a new two storey villa in the garden grounds of 5 Ettrick Road had been refused. 3) news had been received of a possible proposal to convert the Redholme Hotel in Colinton Road into a form of hostel. The sub-committee will investigate whenever an application appears in the Council's Planning Department Weekly List. Mention was made of the applications to refurbish the Britisl Telecom premises in Pitsligo Road as residential flats, together with new townhouses, and to build a large sheltered accommodation block at the junction of Newbattle Terrace and Whitehouse Loan. The Community Council had written in response of both applcations to the Planning department. 6.3 Treasurer's Report Frances Hawarden gave an overview of the present financial position. At the time of reporting, MCC had a balance of £556.41. This year's grant from the City Council is £883. The main expenses had been: hire of premises for meetings - whenever these were held in the Eric Liddell Centre, and fees for the Minute Secretary. The latter will be reduced on the taking up of this role by Belinda Lennie. A donation of £100 had been received toward the cost of a suitable tree for the Diana Dunthorne Memorial. 6.4 Chair's Report Bridget Stevens referred to the need to exercise continued vigilance over the reporting of noise and other nuisances arising from premises owned by Festival Inns, in order to have evidence to present to the licensing authority. A note of meetings attended by the chair was presented for distribution. 8.0 Canal Preservation Society Derek Ainslie presented a brief update. Bill Purves had resigned. Some changes to the constitution had been approved. The AGM of the society would be held on 11 October in the Water of Leith Centre at Slateford. It was anticipated that British Waterways would be helping to establish more moorings. and perhaps contributing to a new/improved boathouse. 9.0 Conservation of Trees It was suggested that members might make a note of any particularly fine/rare species of tree in the MCC area, with a view to requesting, in writing, to the relevant department of the City Council, that Tree Preservation Orders be issued to safeguard them. 10.0 Eric Liddell Centre The Centre had approached MCC concerning a grant application for cycle racks. It was felt that it would be more appropriate if an application for a grant for these were to be made directly by the Centre to the Edinburgh South Local Development Committee. The MCC would write in support of an application. 11.0 Scottish Water Open Days Robin Morris said he had received notice of proposed Open Days. 12.0 Edinburgh South Local development Committee The next meeting of this committee - at which members of the public are welcome - is to be at St Peter's RC Primary School in Falcon Gardens on Monday 2 October from 7pm to 9pm. The "themed session" for this meeting is to be "Local Community Planning and Links to Neighbourhood Management". 13.0 Possible Topics for future MCC meetings a) Community Planning Partnerships b) Fountain Park (update from Cllr Shiels?) 14.0 Date and Information for Next Meeting Tuesday 17 October To be held, if possible, at either Viewforth Church Hall or Polwarth Church Hall. |
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