• Portobello Community Council
  • c/o 14 Rosefield Avenue
  • Portobello
  • EH15 1AU
 

Maureen Child Update 14 December 2018

Posted on: December 14th, 2018

 

Dear All

 

Getting in the Christmas mood more and more now, so I’m looking forward to Willow Wreath making Craigmillar Library Thursday 20 December 12-2pm at the café area, thanks to Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust (ELGT) and Carr Gomm working together. A winter country walk is always part of the festive season, isn’t it? Can you tell which tree is which without leaves on? Well, there is a chance to learn winter tree identification with ELGT at Craigmillar Castle Park on Friday 21 December 2pm-3.30pm, meeting at the adventure playground.

 

Spot a local Portobello resident in this clip about improving how we get around in Edinburgh! Watch here: https://vimeo.com/jacobsworldwide/review/300973524/9534f546df

 

A fab music project of Oi Musica, which started off in the Wash House, Portobello has secured 2-year funding from Creative Scotland. From January, Brass Blast will be based at Edinburgh College, Milton Road where there is space for the project to grow.  Their aim is to have 50 young people involved by December 2020, working in 3 or 4 separate rooms but regularly coming together to form a nice BIG street band! They are also going to be running free Beginners classes at Brunstane Primary School and progress players on to the college group as they improve.

 

We had a fascinating briefing this week from the team in charge of gritting the roads in Edinburgh and saw the new technology and accurate data they can now rely upon. Extensive research from last winter enables the gritting team to use real item information from sensors in the roads, matched up with Met Office data to predict where and when to grit the Priority One roads.  They are just learning, through the coming winter, how to use the information to best effect, and share it more widely.  But, so far, it has meant that one frosty night where 22 gritters and teams would have been out last year, only 4 needed be used this year to target the streets where the roads really did need it.  

 

There have been several requests for secure on-street cycle parking in Edinburgh, Portobello/Craigmillar Ward included.  The potential sites are being assessed individually with the intention to announce 90 sites citywide in the New Year to be implemented in 2019.  There have been several local requests, for example from Eastfield, so I do hope we will get one or two here.

 

Headline news from Towerbank Primary School – a school team won The Boyd Anderson Trophy for skiing this year.  Wow!  Very well done, Towerbank!   More here: https://towerbankprimary.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/Newsletter-14-Dec-18.pdf

 

I had a wonderful couple of hours this morning visiting the fabulous St Francis RC Primary School and experiencing, first hand, the fantastic sector-leading work they are doing, led by Head Teacher Margot McAllister.  She and I chose some children’s artwork for next year’s school calendar and in conversation I got a real sense of the challenges they are rising to meet with parents, partners and the wider community. I am very happy to help the school’s realise their vision.

 

Another highlight of the week was the start of our Full Council Meeting on Thursday where we Councillors enjoyed the professional quality singing of Castleview Primary School pupils; another of our brilliant local Craigmillar schools, showing what their wonderful children can achieve.

 

Sorry if you haven’t yet had a reply to an email from me this week, but do bear with me! I have a lot of catching up to do, but I have picked up some really pressing individual issues for people and taken appropriate action.  This week has been a little bit crazily busy!

 

I do hope you have a good weekend!

 

Best wishes

 

Maureen