Minutes of New Town & Broughton Community Council’s ordinary meeting, at Drummond Room, Broughton St Mary’s church, on Monday 10 June 2024 at 7pm
Actions and decisions are red italic. ND (‘no dissent’) means that no-one spoke or voted against a decision.
URLs have been added by the minutes secretary.
The minutes of the 2024 AGM are still in draft status, so are only available as a PDF.
Actions (to be omitted from online version)
| Item | Actor | Action |
| 2 | M Birch | Ask ward councilors to provide clarity on how public comments on TROs will be handled |
| 5 | Cllr Mowat | Pursue holding back of Charlotte Square work, and related issues |
| 8.a.i | P Williamson | Follow up bin issues with councillors |
1 Administration and welcome
1.a Attendance
| Fiona Banatvala | NTBCC | Ken Lochrie | NTBCC | Cllr Jack Caldwell | Leith Walk ward |
| Mike Birch | NTBCC | Susan Macinnes | NTBCC | Cllr Joanna Mowat | City Centre ward |
| Annick Gaillard | NTBCC | Stewart Mills | NTBCC | Alan McIntosh | Broughton Spurtle |
| Laura Graham | NTBCC | Richard Price | NTBCC | PC Grant | Police Scotland |
| Stephen Hajducki | NTBCC | Nick Reid | NTBCC | PC Ross | Police Scotland |
| Deirdre Henderson | NTBCC | Peter Williamson | NTBCC | ~5 residents/visitors | |
| Simon Holledge | NTBCC | Bruce Ryan | minutes secretary |
1.b Apologies
| Carol Nimmo | NTBCC | Cllr Claire Miller | City Centre ward |
| David Renton | NTBCC | Cllr Max Mitchell | Inverleith ward |
| Alan Welsh | NTBCC | Cllr Hal Osler | Inverleith ward |
| Cllr Jule Bandel | Inverleith ward | Ben Macpherson MSP | Edinburgh Northern and Leith |
| Cllr Finlay McFarlane | City Centre ward | Angus Robertson MSP | Edinburgh Central |
2 Minutes of 13th May 2024 meeting and matters arising
Approved as-is ND.
- It was agreed that actions recorded in the previous meeting are checked. Hence the table in item 2.a below. (There will be similar tables in future agendas and minutes.)
- A resident asked for an extra point to be added to a note of his statements in the May meeting. However, on checking the recording, the minutes secretary found that the resident had stated this point, so the minute was not changed.
- There was also discussion of whether public comments on TROs would be taken into account by CEC.
- Action: M Birch to ask ward councillors to provide clarity.
- P Williamson: little has happened re the CORA issue. NTBCC is happy to give assistance.
2.a Actions from May meeting
| Item | Actor | Action | Status |
| 4.a | M Birch | submit NTBCC’s Meadows to George St response by 17 May | Closed response submitted |
| 4.a | Others | submit their own Meadows to George St response by 17 May | Closed |
| 7.a | R Price | Submit support for 37 Broughton Pl application, if he has time | Closed – application approved |
| 7.b | R Price | submit a comment supporting the application but also noting some potential issues | Closed – comment submitted |
| 9.a | NTBCC members | help S Holledge cover the webcast of the C&C meeting | Closed |
3 Police report
See also report on NTBCC website. PCs Grant and Ross reported:
- Concerning speeding bicycles (page 2), Zoomo has been co-operative, creating a package for hirers. Police are encouraging them to include a link to the highway code. Police Scotland’s approach is education and awareness, engagement, then enforcement (with repeat offenders) so they know what is expected.
- There will be a day of action with CEC and cycle-trained officers on 19 July, and possibly another in June, resources permitting. This may also cover the Leith and Gayfield areas. There are problems with pavement-cycling and speed of cyclists. If e-bikes have been modified into ‘vehicles’, riders can be charged under the road traffic act.
- S Mills: police should engage ask to delivery companies to put identifiers on their bikes and/or bags, and follow a London precedent of confiscating non-compliant bikes.
- The PCs: the speed limit for cycling is whatever the road’s ‘normal’ limit is.
- Cllr Mowat: people don’t report incidents because they cannot identify the offenders.
- Police are acting on dog-fowling, including foot patrols.
- Police are building good relationships with youths, vulnerable females etc.
- Police are also working on antisocial behaviour and shoplifting in the central business district, and targeting drugs supplies
- L Graham: how should the Gayfield community react to tire-slashing?
- The PCs: report these to the police. Such actions seem to come and go.
4 Chair’s update
No points raised
5 Transport
- F Banatvala: I attended a meeting about Charlotte Square (CS). Grounds for criticism include lack of thinking through, costliness, over-reach for little benefit. The plans seem to be in isolation, with prioritisation of cycling and no mention of disabled people. Lothian Road would become a boulevard, and CS would have much traffic.
- P Williamson: I attended the information event, which was poorly attended. Mention was made of disability, and it was stated that these comments would receive attention. A representative of CS businesses stated that they did not want bus-stops. This meeting was connected with work on the CS carriageway. The next stage is a trial reduction from 4 traffic lanes to 3, along with removal of 2 traffic islands. Thereafter, safe walking, wheeling and cycling links to CCWEL would be made. Detail provided, which was vague, including levelling CS’s current cambers.
- Cllr Mowat: There was an old plan to improve CS’s public realm and access to the gardens: CS would become less of a roundabout and more of a public space. Resurfacing was done in response to a TRO being about to expire, and the surface being very poor. However, the current plans appeared from nowhere, and have no consultation. I have complained about this lack.
- F Banatvala: notices were only sent to CS residents.
- S Holledge: NTBCC has invited the relevant CEC officer twice but she has cancelled both times.
- P Williamson: can ward councillors intervene? There is no understanding of how future engagement will happen, and no appreciation of tensions between heritage and transport.
- Action: Cllr Mowat to pursue this.
- There was discussion of lack of representation of transport-issue affected wards on TEC. (For example, there are no City Centre councillors on TEC.
- Cllr Mowat: councillors can attend and present to CEC committees of which they are not members. They are notified if agenda items are relevant to their wards.
6 Licensing
7 Planning
See report on NTBCC website, and links therein.
7.a Broughton Hotel at 37 Broughton Place; 7.b Former Royal High School; 7.c Greenside Parish Church and No. 12 Blenheim Place; 7.d Other items
- All noted
7.e Other decisions
- R Price: there is another application for Northumberland St but there is confusion over which class uses are wanted and required. There are two objections from neighbours but other comments are very supportive.
- R Price: there has been an interesting discussion on use of air-source heat-pumps, where these do not fit into attics and so are external. DPEA has refused such an application, so the owner has planning permission but does not have listed building consent, but another property with such a pump has been nominated for Scottish House of the Year.
- There was discussion of solar panels being refused permission due to impacts on views.
- Cllr Caldwell: there is a proposal to replace the outgoing Leith Walk planters with actual trees.
8 Environment
8.a Overflowing bins
8.a.i NTBCC’s comments to CEC on the Phase 5A communal bin roll out in our area.
- P Williamson: there are overflowing bins in the city centre. I have received complaints that people from the New Town are dumping their waste in communal bins. However, my observation this evening is that the bin-hubs look OK. I will follow this up with councillors.
8.b Charlotte Square
- See item 5 above.
9 Culture and Communities
- No discussion
10 Councillors’ reports
- No reports made – time did not permit.
11 Any other business, including news from local Residents’ Associations and points raised by members of public
- M Birch: S Holledge and I are on the local community grants panel, which will consider applications on 24 June.
- A McIntosh: the Spurtle’s election hustings will be on 24 June (7:30 to 9:30). Email questions to spurtle@hotmail.co.uk.