Dear All
We need YOU to help choose from the 14 community projects seeking a You Decide! Community Grant to enable local community groups to do amazing things in Portobello/Craigmillar Ward. The You Decide! voting stations in places like Craigmillar and Portobello Libraries, and some Community Centres, are open until 9 November. So get voting and You will help Decide! which projects get funded. Anyone over the age of 8 who lives, works or visits in the Craigmillar/Portobello Partnership area is eligible to vote. You do have to vote for 5 projects in order for a vote to be valid. Good luck to all projects!
It will be sad to see the end of the old St John’s Primary School Building, but the community campaign to save it for art spaces or other re-use has been far too little and far too late. All the utility disconnections are underway, with gas and electricity already gone. The demolition will likely begin in a very few weeks and the Council would be very seriously in breach of contract if they halt it at this late stage. There were several points in the process when that outcome could have been changed, had someone spoken up for the retention of the building at a much earlier stage, but not now. A reminder of what the new Treverlen Park will look like: http://www.treverlen.org.uk/home/the-new-park/
McKenzie, the contractor working on Brighton Place say that they are happy to fund the Christmas tree in Portobello this year, as part of their Community Benefits commitment within the Framework contract. The aim is to install it in time for 6 December. More about what is happening over December and into January, when the road reopens here: http://porty.org.uk/shop-porty/
CPR Training in Portobello is on Tuesday 13 November at 7:30pm. Fewer than 1 in 10 people who have a cardiac arrest outside of hospital in the UK survive. Put simply, thousands more mums, dads, grandparents and children could be saved every year if more people had life-saving CPR skills. The Scottish Ambulance Service Paramedics are offering the Timebank adult and paediatric CPR training with a section devoted to Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) or ‘Shock Box’ familiarisation. This equipment is available to use in case of emergency. Would you know how to use it? If you’re interested in taking part, contact info@portobellotimebank.co.uk as soon as possible.
The tragic cardiac arrest victim who died after suffering an attack at the Thistle Centre has prompted his Craigmillar community to learn vital lifesaving skills. Reported in Edinburgh Evening News here: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/health/craigmillar-community-learns-cpr-after-tragic-death-1-4821139
The current Local Development Plan was only just adopted when the planning department start on the next one. The Council has recently published its latest Development Plan Scheme (DPS) – DPS 2018, which sets out the next stages in the project. It can be found online at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cityplan2030 and in Edinburgh Council libraries. Further information including how to contact the project team, is available at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cityplan2030. You can also follow the City Plan 2030 project by subscribing to the Planning blog https://planningedinburgh.com/ or on Twitter https://twitter.com/planningedin. Getting involved at this stage in City Plan 2030 is the best possible way to help shape the places for future generations to enjoy.
Six months ago Edinburgh Leisure (EL) launched Walking Netball as part of Sports Scotland’s Go Live Get Active programme. EL have seen some great success with lots of women getting active and enjoying the fun sport brings. Get involved on Thursday’s at Jack Kane 10:30am -11:30am.
Police Scotland, The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Council and partners’ joint action around Halloween and Bonfire Night is intended to keep everyone as safe as they can, not to stop innocent fun! A couple of Portobello people have thought it all sounds very heavy-handed, but PC McPherson and Love reassured Portobello Community Council that they absolutely do not intend to stop people gathering peacefully to do what they normally do on Bonfire Night on Portobello Beach. There were some worrying incidents and anti-social behaviours last year and they want to make sure they have the powers and the resources to nip any trouble in the bud. Enjoy – and be safe!
New energy efficient street lights are set to be rolled out across the Capital from next month, generating savings of £54 million for the city over 20 years. More here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSft7Zbl-4Z5-gszn9BReuPcxxTl2NQCDkoNU5UjvCxRzupaA/viewform
We Portobello/Craigmillar Councillors had a walkabout in Craigmillar ‘town centre’ this morning with the Chief Executive Andrew Kerr and a chat about how things are going in general. We only seem to meet together on Full Council Meeting days and across formal Committee rooms and in the corridors. Among many other things, Andrew heard about was the work being done at Cairntows travelling people’s site, Magdalene Matters and a bit about Action Westbank. He saw the site of Castlebrae Community High School and other potential developments off Niddrie Mains Road.
The Edinburgh Coastline Project are looking for participants to help us create a new coastal map: your opinions on what the shoreline means to you and your wishes for the future. Book your place on Wednesday 7 November 7 pm at RGBE through Eventbrite : more here: http://edinburghshoreline.org.uk/events/
Portobello and Joppa Parish Church will be displaying thousands of knitted poppies created by the church and community to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1. The church will be open 11am-5pm on Saturday 10 November, 1pm-5pm on Sunday 11 November and 9am-5pm on Monday 12 November. There will also be a Remembrance Service beginning at 10.50am on Sunday 11 November. It will include excerpts from letters written from the trenches and names taken from local war memorials of nearly 100 men who did not return. Please contact stewartweaver@btinternet.com for further information or visit portyjoppachurch.org.
Have a good weekend!
Maureen
Councillor Maureen Child
Labour Councillor Portobello/Craigmillar Ward
Office: 0131 529 3268
Mobile: 07718 666 481
Facebook Page: Maureen Child Standing Up for Portobello/Craigmillar
Twitter: @MaureenChild1
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