Communal Bin Review

by

NTBCC full agenda Monday 13 November 2023 and convenor reports received so far

This will be an online meeting on Monday 13 November 2023 via Zoom (link) at 7pm. We’ll open the meeting at 6:45 so we can start promptly.

To access the meeting, please use the Zoom link here.

  1. Admin and welcome
  2. Approval of the minutes of the ordinary NTBCC meeting held on 9 October 2023, and matters arising (To approve/discuss)
  3. Police report (if received) (To note/discuss)
  4. Chair’s update
  5. Licensing (convener’s report)
    • Short Term Let Licensing scheme – Home Letting vs Secondary Letting (To discuss)
    • Alcohol Licensing
      • New draft policy statement and consultation (To note)
      • Police annual report 2022-2023 (To note)
    • Street trading and market operators consultation (To note)
    • SEV licensing – CEC regulatory committee evidence session on 27 Oct (To note)
  6. Planning (convener’s report)
    • Concerns over planning (class use/enforcement) and licensing for cafés
    • Update on STL planning applications and licensing register
    • Proposed development in the Canon Court aparthotel car-park (23/06328/FUL)
    • Broughton Market (23/06502/FUL)  Change of use from office accommodation to serviced apartments
    • Edinburgh Council’s conservation and adaption initiative
  7. Transport (convener’s report)
    • George Street and the First New Town project (update on side streets)
    • Travelling Safely update (including Waverley Station masterplan/Waterloo Place bus trial)
    • Response to HES consultation regarding Holyrood Park
    • Report on outcome of Hardie Inquiry
    • Updates: Trams project, East London Street and LEZ
  8. Environment (convener’s report)
  9. Culture and Communities (convener’s report)
    • Presentation/discussion on Edinburgh Council’s community council review
      (There were no relevant items arising from this cycle of CEC committee meetings.)
  10. AOCB, including news from residents’ associations, and points raised by members of the public.

Please note: before or during the meeting, names and email addresses may be recorded. Email addresses are held and used for circulating information about NTBCC but may also be used to seek residents’ views on local issues.

Continue reading →

by

NTBCC ordinary meeting full agenda Monday 9 October 2023 and convenor reports

This will be an in-person meeting on Monday 9 October 2023 (immediately after the 2023 AGM at approximately 7: 30pm).

Location: the Drummond Room at Broughton St Mary’s Church on Bellevue Crescent.

Access via the path at the right hand side of the Church.

  1. Welcome / Introductions / Attendance
  2. Approval of the minutes of the ordinary NTBCC meeting held on 11 September 2023 (To approve)
  3. Matters arising from previous minutes (and not included on agenda below) (To discuss)
  4. Police report (if received) (To note/discuss)
  5. Culture and Communities (convener’s report)
  6. Transport (convener’s report)
  7. Planning (convener’s report)
    • Revised applications for 72-74 Eyre Place (PBSA/7 townhouses) (To note/discuss)
    • Edinburgh Christmas Markets (EPSG/WPSG/George St) (To note)
    • Summary of DPEA (Scottish Reporter) appeals (To note)
  8. Licensing (convener’s report)
    • STL Licensing scheme came into effect on 1 October 2023 (To note)
    • Alcohol Licensing – new draft Policy Statement & consultation (To discuss)
    • Street Trading and Market Operators consultation (To note)
  9. Environment (convener’s report)
    • Communal Bin Roll-out in N1 parking Zone Area (To note)
  10. Engagement / Communications
  11. ‘Community Council Scheme & Boundary Review 2023 – Phase 1‘ consultation  (closes 18 Dec)  (To note)
  12. News from residents’ assocations – GKSA update on Conservation & Adaptation
  13. Councillors’/residents’ open forum
  14. AOCB

Please note: before or during the meeting, names and email addresses may be recorded. Email addresses are held and used for circulating information about NTBCC but may also be used to seek residents’ views on local issues.

Continue reading →

by

ONTE World Heritage Site: Communal Bin Review Heritage Impact Assessment

Adapted from media release on the recently issued Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) by Simpson & Brown (commissioned by the New Town and Broughton Community Council and New Town residents’ associations) which reviews the impact of the decision by Edinburgh Council to replace the existing gull-proof-bag waste collection system in use in parts of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh (ONTE) World Heritage Site with on-street bin hubs. 

A new report shows Edinburgh’s heritage is at risk from the Council’s decision to impose hundreds of permanent bin hubs across the World Heritage Site

The decision by Edinburgh Council to impose hundreds of communal bin hubs across the city centre will have a significant adverse impact on the outstanding universal value (OUV) of the World Heritage Site (WHS), according to a new and independent report.

The Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) by Simpson & Brown was commissioned by the NTBCC and residents’ associations in response to the Council’s decision to place several hundred communal bins in hubs every 100 metres along streets across Edinburgh. Each bin hub is set to be 7 metres long. The assessment examined the potential effects of the Council’s decision across the Old and New Town World Heritage Site.

The report was commissioned after the Council refused to conduct its own Impact Assessment and failed to consult any heritage organisations, resident groups or the public before taking its decision. The study’s key findings are:

  • The introduction of bin hubs would have a significant effect on the New Town and Old Town conservation areas, and on the Edinburgh World Heritage Site.
  • There would be a negative effect on Edinburgh Key Views, which are required to be protected under Council planning policy.
  • The mitigation currently proposed by the Council is not judged to be effective, as it focuses on superficial aspects of the hubs such as bin lid colour.
  • There is a risk both to the character and appearance of the conservation areas, and to the OUV of the World Heritage Site, if communal bin hubs were to be installed.

The report also states that its findings contradicted the decision taken by the Council that an impact assessment was not necessary. According to the guidance produced by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), wherever a significant effect is anticipated, an impact assessment should be carried out.

The review concluded:

“Overall, this report comes to the conclusion that since negative effects on heritage assets which are significant in EIA [Environmental Impact Assessment] terms are anticipated, there should be a presumption against the installation of communal bin hubs within the Old Town Conservation Area, New Town Conservation Area, and Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site.”

Continue reading →

by

NTBCC meeting minutes 14 November 2022

Minutes of New Town & Broughton Community Council’s ordinary meeting, held in Broughton’s St Mary’s Church, on Monday 14 November 2022 at 7pm Continue reading →

by

NTBCC meeting minutes 10 October 2022

Minutes of New Town & Broughton Community Council’s ordinary meeting, held via Zoom, on Monday 10 October 2022 at 7pm

Actions and decisions are red italic. ND (‘no dissent’) means that no-one spoke or voted against a decision. Continue reading →

by

NTBCC minutes Monday 14 March 2022

Minutes of New Town & Broughton Community Council’s ordinary meeting, held via Zoom, on Monday 14 March 2022 at 7pm

Continue reading →

by

“Business Bulletin – Communal Bin Project” – NTBCC deputation to Transport & Environment Committee

The following written deputation was submitted to the Council’s Transport & Environment Committee on 27 January 2022 in response to an item contained within the Committee’s Business Bulletin which covered an update to the Communal Bin (Hub) Project and the £7.7m grant from Zero Waste Scotland’s Recycling Improvement Fund. 

The verbal deputation and discussion along with verbal deputations from Edinburgh World Heritage and the Cockburn Association, who supported the view of the community council, can also be viewed in the webcast of the meeting, starting at 5:45 minutes in.

(A note of caution – the full discussion on this topic runs for over an hour).  

Deputation to the Transport & Environment Committee meeting  : 27 January 2022 on item 6.1 Business Bulletin

Introduction

Since April 2021 when the City of Edinburgh Council (“the Council”) made its original decision to impose Communal Bin Hubs right across the New Town, the Council has refused to consult, engage or listen to the residents, their associations, Community Councils and Heritage Organisations.

The Business Bulletin before the Transport and Environment Committee today (“TEC”) is just another example where the Council has, again, failed to listen to experts or those affected by its decisions. Based on lengthy interactions with Edinburgh World Heritage (“EWH”) and Historic Environment Scotland (“HES”), the Council had an opportunity to re-think its extremely unpopular policy and consider some small mitigating suggestions. But it has failed to do so, ignored the advice of these Heritage Organisations and taken a “we know best” approach.

The Business Bulletin misrepresents facts and has not fully explained the Heritage Organisations’ views. The Committee does not even have the opportunity today to debate the minimal amendments proposed by EWH and HES.

The Council have been made aware of the very strong objections there are to the decision to abandon doorstep collection of Gull-proof bags and recycling boxes. A recent survey carried out by Angus Robertson MSP (and Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture) shows that just over 90% of residents do not support the imposition of Communal Bin Hubs. This is supported by our own NTBCC online survey and a recent door-to-door poll on India Street. In addition, the Council’s ‘Information Events’ also demonstrated how opposed the New Town community is to these changes.

However, the Council continues to ignore those it represents.

Before dealing with the details of the Business Bulletin, it is important to remind the Committee, how it reached this current decision in April 2021.

  • There was no consultation or even engagement with residents, residents’ associations, and community councils.
  • There was no consultation or engagement with Heritage Organisations
  • The Council has not conducted any impact assessments, despite the view of experts that such assessment should be carried out. It continues to refuse to conduct such assessments despite requests from EWH and HES.

New Town residents support the Council’s ambition of greater recycling, cleaner streets and less pollution. However, the way the Committee is taking these decisions is both undemocratic and lacking in transparency. As the Council will know, only too well, effective decision making involves and does not exclude those that are affected by its decisions.

Committee members will have received last week, our ‘Five-Year plan for Waste Management’ (attached to this deputation). This aims to approach the matter of waste and recycling in an imaginative way and looks to best practice nationally and internationally. The NTBCC wish to work with the Council to develop a system that not only carries the support of the community but also looks for a long-term and sustainable solution that will not permanently scar the streetscape of this beautiful City.

As a consequence, we are urging the Committee to just take a step back, pause and consider the lasting impact its decision will have on the unique heritage of Edinburgh. Once imposed, the Council will not be able to reverse its decision or if it did – it would again cost millions of pounds. Millions of pounds of public money.

Continue reading →