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Next NTBCC meeting, contacting NTBCC, coronavirus information

Next NTBCC meeting

The next meeting will be on Monday 14 December  2020 at 7:00pm. Following Edinburgh Council guidance, this will again be a 'virtual' meeting using the Zoom platform.

The agenda for this meeting will be posted on the website at least 7 days in advance.

Members of the public are very welcome to sign up for this meeting - an Eventbrite link will appear here soon.

We continue to take account of current Covid-19  guidance and  the logistics / availability of a suitable venue to resume in-person meetings at some point in the future - but probably not until 2021 at the earliest. These may be held either in the Drummond Room, Broughton St Mary’s Church, Bellevue Crescent or at another nearby location that would ensure that all participants could adhere to the physical distancing requirements at that time.

The Drummond Room at Broughton St Mary's is a DDA-compliant venue - enter by ramp at right side of church, which is suitable for wheelchairs.

At meetings, email addresses are only collected for circulating information about NTBCC and seeking residents’ views on local issues. If you wish to be removed from this circulation list, please email minsec@ntbcc.org.uk.

Contacting NTBCC

Any member of the public who would like to raise an issue for any meeting can use the contact form on this website or send us a message via @NTBCC on Twitter.

General coronavirus information

 

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High Street Broughton

Cities are moulded by intricate networks of historic, social, economic and technological inter-relationships. Successful places are those which adapt positively and effectively to meet new challenges. So proposed interventions, however well intentioned, must fully examine, analyse, understand and build positively on this complexity, rather than being isolated responses to pressure from one particular interest group or issue. Edinburgh has a very distinctive character and it is rare that undigested schemes, uncritically imposed from elsewhere, can produce satisfactory results.

Broughton Street is a typical example of a historic highway. Originally the main street of Broughton village outside Edinburgh’s walls, from the 12th century it was also part of the ‘Wester Road’, until Leith Walk was built in 1650, through Bonnington to Leith.

As Edinburgh spread the street was absorbed into the expanding city, reinforcing its role as a community hub for the surrounding area with housing, retailing, pubs and cafés, and at one time also with sixteen religious institutions directly on the street or close by. Later public transport, first as trams and then buses, was routed through it. Many of the shops were of a quality which draw customers from beyond the immediate vicinity. As with most inner-city residential areas, it had experienced a period of decay but has now come back strongly.

Today, it plays multiple roles – as a highway, as a public transport corridor, as a pedestrian place for shopping and leisure, as a residential street, and above all as a high-quality community high street for local residents and those beyond, which contrasted with and complemented the chain stores and larger-scale retail offering of the adjacent city centre, in the same manner as Stockbridge or William Street catered for their localities. Continue reading →

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Community Councils Together on Trams/Trams Team meeting, 29 October 2020

Minutes of the Community Councils Together on Trams/Trams Team meeting (Construction Phase) via Google Meet on Thursday 29 October 2020 at 5:30pm Continue reading →

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‘Take-aways’ from NTBCC’s November meeting

Another bumper turnout for the November meeting – peaking at over 40 attendees including yet another excellent turn-out (over 75%) of NTBCC members . Also very pleased to yet again register the attendance of Cllrs. Mowat & Osler – their frequent presence at NTBCC meetings being both welcome and very helpful. A quick mention also from our local ‘stirrer’ – the editor from the Broughton Spurtle who has recently returned from a long sojourn south of the border – seemingly none the worse for it….but sometimes appearances can be deceptive….time will tell.

Perhaps also worth a mention  – despite having held 4 previous ‘virtual’ meetings using Zoom without any problems – our Chair (who  describes herself as a computer ‘non-geek’ or neophyte in respect of computer systems) stated at the start of the meeting that her screen kept freezing. Much consternation resulted & frantic searching for the agenda by the Vice Chair but fortunately this freezing seemed to be a temporary issue & the Zoom platform returned to its normal performance….thankfully.

Of most interest to the many members of the public that tuned in were the plans (Pre-application consultation) for the demolition & redevelopment of Centrum House on the western edge of Dundas Street (specifically 108-114 & 116 Dundas Street). We were very happy to welcome representatives from Morgan McDonnell Architecture & Scott Hobbs Planning to make a short presentation on their proposal and take Q&A’s. The lower stretches of Dundas Street & Fettes Row are undergoing much change with this Pre-consultation following on the heels of the various applications for the former RBS site.

First though, there was some outstanding business to take care of from the recent NTBCC AGM (in terms of agreed changes to NTBCC office bearers) - as well as the gratefully-received summary from Police Scotland.

The Police Scotland report highlighted several significant burglaries (involving jewellery & bikes) in the New Town as well as some mindless vandalism to parked cars (in Moray Place / Doune Terrace) – unfortunately all reported as ‘unsolved’. Also – mention of ‘Operation Crackle’ (where do they get these names from ?) – being the dedicated police response to” Fireworks” night (covering inappropriate setting off of fireworks and uncontrolled bonfires requiring attention from the Fire Service). Thank goodness it is over for another year!

The agenda item on the proposed redevelopment on Dundas Street followed covering the demolition & redevelopment of the ‘civically poor’ building (as described by the presenter & apparently also reported as being acknowledged by Historic Environment Scotland as a ‘negative contributor to the Conservation Area’) on the site adjacent to the new development at 120 Dundas Street. The presentation was helpful in providing detail on what was envisaged but the main point of contention for residents attending was the proposal for the new building on Dundas Street to be brought forwards significantly to match that of the adjacent 120 Dundas Street (with the resultant removal of the existing railings and trees framing the entrance to the World Heritage site). A further impact of this would be to obscure views / daylight from the set-back windows from 120 Dundas Street. A slightly heated discussion ensued.

Continue reading →

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Update to Redevelopment Proposal at 108 – 116 Dundas Street

We were happy to host a presentation by Morgan McDonnell Architecture & Scott Hobbs Planning on the Pre-Application consultation covering proposed demolition and redevelopment at 108 – 114 & 116 Dundas Street (on the north-west corner of Fettes Row and Dundas Street, including Centrum House etc.).

Currently, the consultation (as covered by 20/03923/PAN) is open for comments which will be considered by the development team prior to submission of a full planning application later in 2020.

Scott Hobbs Planning have informed NTBCC that following several requests  to extend the time available for the submission of feedback, the consultation period has been extended until Friday 20 November.

Their website has been updated accordingly and comments can be submitted via the Feedback page on their website here or by email to consultation@scotthobbsplanning.com

Further details on the proposal can be seen here covering topics such as ‘Site Analysis’ & ‘Design Proposals’ under the Proposal tab.

Continue reading →

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NTBCC ordinary meeting minutes – Monday 12 October 2020

Minutes of New Town & Broughton Community Council’s ordinary meeting, held via Zoom, on Monday 12 October 2020 at 7pm

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 →

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NTBCC AGM minutes – Monday 12 October 2020

Minutes of New Town & Broughton Community Council’s AGM, held via Zoom, on Monday 12 October 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 clearly stated that online AGMs are acceptable under the current coronavirus restrictions. Continue reading →