In consultation with the Council’s local neighbourhood roads team, the house builder at Newcraighall North site between Gilberstoun and Newcraighall, Barratt’s, have now confirmed the date for the closure of the A6095 to Musselburgh, to allow for the dismantling of the Newcraighall disused rail bridge. The road will be totally closed for one week, starting Monday 17 November. In addition, there will be some preparatory works prior to the 17th and some additional works for a couple of weeks after.

I am advised that Duddingston Road West, which has been closed for some weeks to allow renewal of the railway bridge, will re-open on Monday – so the No 42 bus should be back to its normal route.

The Sir Harry Lauder Road is also down for resurfacing, starting next week, with a squad working through the night.  Peffermill Road will be closed for a few days in January for vital Scottish Water works. 

So – lots of road chaos in store for us!

The new pedestrian crossing at Abercorn Terrace which was agreed as a Portobello/Craigmillar Neighbourhood Partnership (NP) project this year is further delayed.  We hoped it would be in place by late summer, but has to be a road safety audit.  The in-house team were snowed under with other work, so the audit went out to tender which is a tortuous lengthy process, but the contract is now let.  The new estimated time of arrival for the crossing is February.

Another NP project that has taken ages is the continuation of the path up to Craigmillar Castle though the country park from Craigmillar. That is almost complete and the surface should go down on Monday.

Gica Loening is hosting a St Andrews Day Porty Ceilidh for all the family at The Wash House Community Centre.  Tickets £6 Adults, £4 Children (under fives free) – for sale at The Wild Flower Shop. 90 Portobello High Street or at the door on the afternoon of Sunday 30^th November from 3.30pm to 5.30pm.

Making simple changes will help to keep your home warm this winter, improve your health, and may also save you money. The increasing cost of energy is a concern to us all, and the Warm Your Home awareness campaign has been launched by the City of Edinburgh Council to help people heat their homes as effectively and cheaply as possible. The campaign helps people living in Council homes to get energy saving advice from Home Energy Scotland before the cold winter weather arrives. A person is defined as living in fuel poverty if they need to spend more than 10% of their household income on heating. In Edinburgh, it is believed that around 22% are fuel poor, with pensioners often being at the most risk. The Warm Homes discount is offered by most of the big energy companies, and can save up to £140 off your winter energy bill. For advice about this discount and saving energy, contact Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282, free from mobile phones and landlines.

Do you know an older person living in Edinburgh who needs some practical DIY help around the home? Care and Repair can help:  Care and Repair Service

How can we improve life for people with dementia in Portobello? See our new leaflet here: fb.me/2s1RR5J5R

Coming out of hibernation for Winter?! Well – they like to do things differently at The 26 Present: 26 Present at the Dalraida

The Porty Panto, Sinbad is coming to the Wash House on 12th and 13th December. More at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152593673273705

Portobello and Craigmillar Neighbourhood Plan published.  See here:  Neighbourhood Plan Portobello and Craigmillar

Need the police? Dial 101 any time it isn’t a 999 emergency. More info about the police 101 service available at: Phone 101 or 999?

It’s a big milestone finally passed, and I am delighted that planning has been granted for 10 affordable rent passivhaus homes for Craigmillar Housing Co-op.  It has taken 15 years, but they have almost got there!

Portobello High School pupils they discover the realities of life on the home front in WW1.  Listen here: bbc.in/1t9mUmI pic.twitter.com/7WEoXQtzOC

Many of Castlebrae Community High School’s achievements and activities can be found here: http://www.castlebrae.org.uk/cb/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Castlebrae-Newsletter.pdf

You can now try Tai Chi Thursdays 12—12:40pm at the East Neighbourhood Centre, 77 Niddrie Mains Road. Tai Chi is a slow and gentle form of exercise with lots of health benefits. Why not take 40 minutes out of your day to try out one of the free classes, run through by the health and wellbeing team at the Thistle Foundation.

An exhibition ‘From Steam to Diesel’ is currently on at the Portobello Library. See here:  wp.me/pn2J2-6er

An exhibition is coming to Craigmillar Library from Monday 24th November- Sat 13th Dec.  As this is the United Nations Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, this is a documentary exhibition entitled The Nakba (The Catastrophe), which tells the story of the dispersal of the Palestinian people in 1948 during the period of the  formation of the Israeli State. The exhibition was created by the German charity "Refugee Children of the Lebanon".  It  =toured extensively in Germany, but this is the first time the English language version will have been shown in the UK.  As the authors write "…….we are convinced that, without the knowledge and appropriate recognition of (the Palestinian ) side of the conflict, there will be no chance of reconciliation, justice and peace in the Near East. We hope to make a contribution to this with our exhibition."

Tickets available now for Kid Canaveral’s Annual Xmas Event at Portobello Town Hall on Saturday 13 December. See here: fb.me/6Z3lB1A5l

A redesigned recycling service in Edinburgh is already reducing the volume of rubbish being sent to landfill, figures show. Those using the new kerbside service have seen a 30% reduction in landfill waste, with homes binning an average of 5kg a week compared to 7kg before the change. Recycling has also increased in areas with the new service, and has risen from approximately 2kg to 3kg per week, which is a 50% increase. Almost 20,000 households switched to updated collections in September, which aim to simplify recycling, expanding capacity for different materials. Now 17,000 more homes are set to receive the service, which will be rolled out in phases to 140,000 properties in total over the next year. New grey bins will begin being delivered to phase two homes this week. On householders’ start date, their existing green wheelie bin will be emptied of general waste for the last time before being used for recycling. Blue boxes will still to be used for glass as well as small electrical items and food and garden recycling will continue as normal. It is hoped increasing space and capacity for mixed recycling will support the Council’s pledge to recycle 70% of the city’s waste by 2025. In Portobello/Craigmillar Routes 9 and 13 have already had the new service introduced, covering streets in the east of the Ward – Joppa and Eastfield, Newcraighall and Niddrie.

There’s still time to get involved in the consultation on a new cycling facility at Hunter’s Hall, mainly to the south of the Jack Kane Centre and Community Wing. Would you like to see a Cycling Hub in Hunter’s Hall Park, or not? Complete the online survey monkey and let the Council know your views:  www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cyclinghuntershall

A recruitment drive is now under way for members of two groups involved in developing active travel policy for Edinburgh. Applications are now being sought from four members of the public to join the Cycling and Walking Forum (i.e. eight in total), alongside one lobby group representative for each group.  The Council is also looking for a business representative to join the Active Travel Forum, to give a perspective on active travel and staff commuting.  This is a great opportunity for anyone who’s interested in active travel in Edinburgh. We want these forums to reflect a broad range of viewpoints to help us develop new policies and design principles for future walking and cycling initiatives. If you’ve got ideas on how we can do things differently or if you just want to play a bigger role in the City’s active travel plans, we’d love to hear from you.” The full membership of the Cycling and Walking Forums will be made up of existing Transport Forum members, elected members and officers from the Council’s Transport division.  The first meetings of the Active Travel Forum, Cycling Forum and Walking Forum will take place on Wednesday 26 November 2014.  To apply, complete the online application form by Friday 14 November. 

“Volunteering Changes Lives” is a short film celebrating 30 years’ work by VCE’s Health & Wellbeing Team. This is an inspiring and powerful account of how volunteering has assisted a number of people to overcome the barriers & discrimination which accompany mental illness and disability. All are volunteers with local charities, supporting the delivery of services – being a helper rather than always being helped. 

http://www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk/volunteer/Blog_Article_Depository/New_Film

Have a good weekend!

Best wishes

Maureen