The character of the New Town should not be needlessly damaged with widespread, inappropriate street clutter.Recycling can and should be increased by improvements to existing services.
Find out more at https://www.ntbcc.org.uk/stop-bins.
Click any representative’s names to start off a new email.
The next meeting will be on Monday 9 August 2021 at 7:00pm ; i.e. there will not be a meeting in July – consistent with the Council’s recess ( & we all need a break!). The meeting in August will in all probability again be a ‘virtual’ meeting using the Zoom platform.
If the meeting is via Zoom, registration will be via Eventbrite, details will be posted 7 days prior.
However, any member of the public who would like to raise an issue in the interim can use the contact form on this website or send us a message via @NTBCC on Twitter and we will respond as soon as we can.
Minutes of New Town & Broughton Community Council’s ordinary meeting, held via Zoom, on Monday 10 May 2020 at 7pm
Actions and decisions are red italic. ND (‘no dissent’) means that no-one spoke or voted against a decision.
Edinburgh Council has stated that ‘CCs can approve minutes, and take other decisions, remotely’, as so long as they ensure that ‘remote meetings are as accessible to members of the public and (as) well-advertised as possible’. Continue reading
Adapted from an email sent to Community Councils by the City of Edinburgh Council
Regular testing for people with no COVID-19 symptoms is one of the ways we can all help keep people safe and stop the spread new variants in Edinburgh. Infection rates are rising across Edinburgh, so we’re urging people to keep testing, even if they’ve been vaccinated.
People with no COVID-19 symptoms can come along for a test at:
We’re open from 9am to 6pm and there’s no need to book. We also have home testing kits people can pick up. Testing is free, fast and safe. It will only take around 15 minutes to take the test and 45 minutes for people to be sent their results.
If you can’t get to the library, you can order free rapid lateral flow test kits online or by phoning the National Testing Centre on 119.
Almost 1 in 3 people infected with Covid-19 don’t have any of the usual symptoms but are potentially passing on the virus unknowingly to family, friends and others in the community. By getting tested people can find out if they are positive and self-isolate at home to stop spreading the virus to others. People who have been vaccinated are also encouraged to take a test as they may still carry the virus.
You can find out more about community testing on our web pages at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/communitytesting
Please can you share this with your contacts in the community and encourage people to come along for testing.
Thank you for your help.
Adapted from email sent to Local Ward Councillors
Councillors,
Attached is a copy of the deputation that NTBCC has submitted to the City of Edinburgh Full Council meeting on 24 June for consideration, focussing on the schemes either within or directly adjacent to NTBCC’s area.
Whilst NTBCC are supportive of retaining some schemes, we consider that others should be removed or significantly revised as soon as possible. In all cases, we believe that further engagement would be helpful in ensuring any retained measures are reviewed/designed to both most effectively support Council objectives as well as the needs of the community.
Having read the report submitted to the Transport and Environment Committee, we did not see any explicit reference to the consultation responses from Community Councils and other Stakeholders. NTBCC was invited to submit their responses to the consultation separately from those being gathered from residents and businesses. However, it is unclear how our response has been taken into account in the overall analysis. You will recall that we had previously raised concerns about the design of the public consultation and in particular the inclusion of the schemes within the NTBCC area for which the design had not yet been completed, let alone implemented. It would appear that the Market Research was also undertaken before the final details of some planned schemes were known. We are concerned that if the consultations conducted by the Council are not credible that it will undermine this important aspect of local democracy.
As you are also undoudtedly aware, NTBCC had submitted detailed proposals for Broughton Street based on feedback and analysis of responses to the Commonplace Mapping exercise and from discussions with local residents and businesses. We were disappointed that so little was implemented on Broughton Street under the Spaces for People process especially with regard to the pavement widening at the southern end of Broughton Street. While we understand the constraints that the Trams project is currently placing on this area, we would welcome discussions with you and Council officials on the longer term options for improving this street.
We look forward to further discussions with you at future meetings of the NTBCC.
This is the text of a flyer NTBCC will soon publish.
Is this the future for New Town Streets?
Edinburgh City Council has decided to stop the gull proof bag and red/ blue box recycling, and replace them with communal bin hubs throughout the New Town.
The Annual Report & Accounts (as a draft) will be presented at the New Town & Broughton AGM on Monday 14 June. – we welcome questions / comments from residents.
If you are interested in attending, please register via Eventbrite here
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NEW TOWN AND BROUGHTON COMMUNITY COUNCIL
The New Town and Broughton Community Council is one of Edinburgh’s 46 Community Councils, established under statute, to represent the views of the community within the New Town and Broughton area, the boundaries of which are set by the Edinburgh Scheme for Community Councils.
Chair’s Annual Report – New Town and Broughton Community Council – June 2021
Last year, I started this report in the third week of the UK’s first lockdown, having held our first ever virtual committee meeting on Zoom. Twelve months later, and three lockdowns later, Zoom meetings are our ‘modus operandi’ and the work of NTBCC has gone on apace. We are all now experts on-screen, using the hand signals and chat functions and very familiar with the phrase ‘you are still on mute’.
Inevitably there was a slight hiatus in work streams across the board as we all found a new way of working but it was not long before it was almost business as usual for NTBCC. In many respects it was even harder to keep up with the level of activity emanating from the Council, as Emergency Measures were very quickly put in place to allow for speedy reactions to help the City deal with the pandemic and the sudden change to our daily lives. These measures often meant that there was very little time to consult or consider the value or relevance of all the proposals brought forward. However, I must commend the community councillors and local interest group representatives on NTBCC for their energy and dedication to the workload this year as we continued to try and represent the views of the community on many fronts and in very different times.
In this past year NTBCC met on Zoom ten times. We were unsure initially if Zoom meetings were valid under the governance protocol for the Council, so although we had held a trial Zoom meeting in April without members of the public being involved; it was June before we officially convened on-line. There is traditionally no meeting in July but there has been a meeting every month since, with both the delayed AGM and a business meeting in October too. Interestingly, we have had good attendance numbers from members of the public, arguably higher than in-person meetings. In many ways the virtual media platform is very suitable for public meetings as it is accessible for most (but we do recognise that not everyone has the ability or necessary equipment to take part), it allows the public to take part in specific sections of the meeting and attendees can be more comfortable (and there is no danger of getting rained on!) There is a downside though – not getting to meet people in the flesh and the connection and relationship building that this allows. It does look like a mix of meeting styles will be the way forward. Using Zoom also made it easier for our local Councillors to be ‘present’, and we must thank Cllrs Mowat and Osler for their very regular attendance.
However we must record our disappointment in the extreme lack of interest shown in NTBCC by the councillors who represent the governing group in CEC. Several times it would have been helpful to our discussions to have heard from them, and, more importantly, for support from them with regard to decisions made.
Councillor input is invaluable in giving us relevant and appropriate background information when we discuss Council proposals, consultations and decisions. Their attendance also gives residents an opportunity to raise important issues directly with their elected representatives, which is much appreciated.