Edinburgh Council

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The Big Wheel in East Princes Street Gardens – NTBCC Issues Comments

The New Town and Broughton Community Council has submitted its comments regarding the planned installation of ‘The Big Wheel’ in East Princes Street Gardens from this summer until January next year. Our comments have focussed on the loss of important public green space, potential damage to the environment as well as the adverse impact on the City’s heritage and UNESCO World Heritage Site. A copy of the full comments can be found below.

NTBCC Comments – The Big Wheel

There is still time if you wish to submit your own comments to the Public Spaces Team at  publicspaces@edinburgh.gov.uk . The closing date for comments is Thursday 20 March.

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The Big Wheel – Prince Street Gardens

As you may have seen in local media, there has been a lot of discussion about the plans to install a Big Wheel in East Princes Street Gardens this summer. According to the notification that we have received from the City of Edinburgh Council, it would operate from the start of July 2025 through to early January 2026 with only a brief suspension during part of October and November. The recent media interest has been sparked by discussion of this topic at our meeting on Monday which highlighted concerns about the impact on the city centre in summer of a further tourist attraction.

Further details can be found in the attached notification.

The Council has requested comments from stakeholders about the plans. The closing date for comments is Thursday 20 March 2025. Comments should be submitted to publicspaces@edinburgh.gov.uk

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Community Council Elections 2025 – Notice of Results

I am pleased to report that the results of the election of Community Councillors for the New Town and Broughton Community Council have been announced. The City of Edinburgh Council received 15 valid nominations for election to the NTBCC and so all of those nominees have been duly elected. There were also 6 valid nominations of representatives from local interest groups who will serve on the NTBCC. Congratulations to all of the successful nominees.

As well as some of the existing Community Councillors returning for a further term, there are six new Community Councillors. We look forward to them formally joining the NTBCC at our 14 April meeting at Broughton St Marys Church.

The new Councillors are: Boyan Karabaliev, Emma Swift,  Gerry Wells, Masudun Nessa Mitu, Pierre Forissier and Shaun Hodge.

Further information on the results of our election and those across the City can be found in the following email from the City of Edinburgh Council. Community Council Elections 2025 Notice of Results

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Communal Bin Review – Phase 6 Consultation

The City of Edinburgh Council is currently undertaking a consultation exercise as part of their plans to introduce new waste and recycling arrangements within the New Town and some adjacent areas. This is described as being Phase 6 of the Communal Bin Review that started in 2021.

As part of their communications, the Council has written to all residents on the streets included in the current Phase. They have also held three drop-in sessions to allow residents to ask questions about the new arrangements. There is another drop in session underway this afternoon at Palmerston Place Church and two further ones planned at Stockbridge Library and The Dean Church on 7 and 10 March, respectively.

Further information about the consultation can be found in the attached email. You can also find more information on the Council’s website. 

We will be discussing this topic at our next monthly meeting on Monday 10 March which will be held online using Zoom. The agenda and link to the Zoom meeting can be found on our website.

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Agenda for March NTBCC Meeting

The next meeting of the New Town and Broughton Community Council will be held online on Monday 10 March starting at 7.00pm using Zoom. The Zoom meeting can be accessed using the following link.

The agenda for the meeting is shown below.

  1. Welcome and Apologies ­­
  2. Approval of Minutes of February 2025 Meeting and Matters Arising
  3. Chair’s Report
    • Princes Street and Wa­­verley Valley Strategy Consultation Response
    • Edinburgh World Heritage Trust Follow Up
    • Napier University Communications Project
  4. Planning Matters
    • Planning Guidance Consultation (closes 03.04.25)
    • Current Applications to Note
      • 25/00469/FULSTL – 7/8 Baxter’s Place
  5. Transport and Environment Matters (see report below)
    • Transport and Environment Committee (06.03.25)
      • Tables and Chairs Permits
      • East London Street
    • Communal Bin Review – Phase 6 Consultation
    • Trams to Newhaven Project Update
  6. Licencing Matters
    • Licensing Board Applications to Note
    • Civic Licensing Applications to Note
  7. Culture and Communities Matters (see report below)
    • Drummond Community High School Playground Access
    • Report on Culture & Communities Committee meeting (27.02.25)
      • Firework Control Zones
      • Use of the Ross Bandstand
    • Consultation on Management Rules for Public Parks, Beaches and Green Space (closes 11.04.25)
    • Installation of Big Wheel in Princes Street Gardens
  8. Any Other Business

NTBCC Transport & Environment Committee Update – March 2025

NTBCC Culture & Communities Committee Update  – March 2025

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NTBCC submits detailed objection to Experimental Traffic Order

The New Town and Broughton Community Council has submitted a detailed objection to an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (TRO/21/27B) seeking the retention of many of the measures introduced in 2021 under the Spaces for People initiative along the route from Canonmills to Broughton Street.  These were intended to be a temporary response to the pandemic. We believe that there is no longer a justification to retain many of these measures or continue to evaluate them using an ETRO. Instead, those that are no longer serving a useful purpose should be removed immediately and those that have proven their value should be made permanent.  The temporary measures do not properly support increased active travel and have created additional hazards for pedestrians, cyclists and other road users as well as increasing congestion on a busy arterial route leading to more air pollution in a residential and local neighbourhood area.

We also highlighted that the plans provided with the ETRO only provide information on the waiting and loading restrictions. Very limited information is provided on the actual measures which were the reason for introducing the revised waiting and loading restrictions. This makes it very difficult for members of the public to provide meaningful feedback on the ETRO.

No evidence has been provided of any monitoring that has been undertaken while this ETRO has been in effect nor does the ETRO set out any plans for such monitoring which is one of the stated reasons for continuing to have these temporary measures in place.

The original Spaces for People measures and their subsequent retention using the ETRO has been a missed opportunity to address the concerns raised by local residents and businesses.  We have urged the Council to look again at the active travel needs of this neighbourhood area with a new perspective that properly responds to the needs of the community.

If you are interested in reading the full objection, please click on the link below

Broughton Street to Canonmills ETRO – NTBCC Objection

If you wish to make your own objection or add other comments, you can do so by email to TRO.Consultations@edinburgh.gov.uk. The deadline for comments is this Saturday, 15 February 2025.

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Community Council Elections – Latest Information

The following is an extract from an email received from City of Edinburgh Council regarding the Community Council elections that will be taking place this month. The important deadline for individuals who want to stand as Elected Community Councillors or as Nominees from Local Interest Groups is 4.00pm on Thursday , 27 February. You must have submitted your properly signed Nomination Forms to the Council by that date. Links to the nomination forms are provided below.

If you are interested in joining the New Town and Broughton Community Council, we would be pleased to hear from you. Please use the Contact Form on our website and we will be back in contact to help you progress your nomination. 

Good afternoon Community Council Office Bearers, Local Interest Groups and EACC,

Update : Community Council Elections 2025

Please read the information below about Community Council Elections 2025 and share with your networks.

    1. Community Council Nominations open 6 February 2025

Nominations open on 6 February 2025 and our public webpages have been updated.  You will be able to download a nomination form and return by

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    • hand in to or post to the Governance Team at City Chambers, High Street, EDINBURGH, EH1 1YJ or Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, EDINBURGH, EH8 8BG.The nomination form is a 2 page document.

Page 1 contains the information that needs completed, in full, to nominate a candidate.

Page 2 contains guidance on how to complete the nomination form including how and where to submit and how to request an accessible version, if needed.

Further tips for completion of nomination forms are also available on our webpages.

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