public events

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On the Road to Nowhere? Edinburgh’s Streetscape and Heritage Places

We have recently been advised that the Cockburn Association has organised a public meeting to explore the current issues and challenges in managing streetscapes and civic spaces in a heritage city. This is a topic that is close to the heart of the New Town and Broughton Community Council with several examples in our area where concerns have been raised about the impact on the streetscape of Council decisions. The following is an extract from their notice about the meeting.

Not only is the centre of Edinburgh inscribed as a World Heritage Site, but many areas of the city are designed as a Conservation Area, defined as a place of special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance which is desirable to preserve or enhance.

Street space in Edinburgh is a finite resource. City of Edinburgh Council policies such as the City Mobility Plan and Future Streets/City Centre Transformation have generally been welcomed, attempting to address the variety of purposes and traffic modes which creates these major tensions and challenges on Edinburgh’s streets.

However, streetscape management is an increasing concern. From the lack of basic maintenance to interventions like the concrete ramp in the internationally significant Charlotte Square, tarmacking over historic setts in Frederick Street and unsightly pedestrian control infrastructure on the High Street are just a few recent examples.

Join us to hear from the Association and other organisations on the challenges of streetscape and civic space management in Edinburgh. Share with us your concerns about what is happening on your street.”

It’s a free event being held on Thursday 3rd April, between 5:30 – 7:30pm in the Augustine United Church on George IV Bridge. You can register via Eventbrite using the following link :

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/on-the-road-to-nowhere-edinburghs-streetscape-and-heritage-places-tickets-1273752029609?aff=oddtdtcreator

 

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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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Edinburgh Oktoberfest – West Princes Street Gardens

We have been reminded by  City of Edinburgh Council that the annual Oktoberfest event will be taking place on the hard standing area in West Princes Street Gardens next week.

It will be on site from the 30th September, opening on 3rd October until the 6th and offsite on 7th October.

Should you have any questions, please contact park.events@edinburgh.gov.uk

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Community Grants Funding

Post adapted from email received from City of Edinburgh Council.

Two weeks to apply for this round of Community Grants Funding

The Community Grants Funds across the city have a deadline for applications coming up. Get your applications to communitygrantsfund@edinburgh.gov.uk by 20th May to be in with a chance of securing up to £5000 for your project.

We cannot support core, ongoing costs but can consider applications from not for profit constituted groups for equipment, new activities and more. You can get all the info here.(simply choose the area where the majority benefit of your proposed activity will be).

Projects can take place from 12 months from award, so this gives you time to plan for festival activity, October or Easter breaks or an event you have coming up during this time.

Please email communitygrantsfund@edinburgh.gov.uk if you have any queries.

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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.

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Final Draft submission to the ‘Use of Public Spaces in Edinburgh for Events and Filming’ Consultation

The Council’s ‘Use of Public Spaces in Edinburgh for Events and Filming’  Public Consultation ends 15 December – final draft for discussion (by exception) at 13 December NTBCC meeting 

Many public events happen within, and around, the area of the New Town and Broughton Community Council (NTBCC).

Members of the community council contributed many texts and comments, written during the ‘collaborative engagement’ stage of what was then the ‘Public Spaces Management Plan’ (October 2020 to January 2021).

These included NTBCC’s contributions to the key principles: area conditions, carbon neutrality 2030, heritage, noise, and residential-area public spaces.

Moreover NTBCC contributed the following guidelines: access to parks and greenspaces, carbon footprint, certification, complaints hotline service, fireworks, greenspaces environmental impact assessment, heavy equipment and temporary buildings, impact on the surroundings, onsite generators, overcapacity events, pesticides in public spaces, public art installations, reflecting Edinburgh, rest periods from events and activities, sound levels at music events, statistics, and use of space for different users.

We published an NTBCC Statement for the City of Edinburgh Council Public Spaces Management Plan ‘Collaborative Engagement’ January 2021 (Stephen Hajducki for NTBCC) as a summary of our position at that time (Appendix 1).

Members representing NTBCC attended each workshop stage workgroup (April 2021 to July 2021). At the end of that process we wrote a New Town and Broughton Community Council (NTBCC) PSMP Group submission of 21 July 2021 (Appendix 2).

The NTBCC ‘team’ have held frequent meetings to exchange opinions. NTBCC have been more involved, and arguably have more experience of, and expertise in, public events than any other citizen or community group in Edinburgh. Accordingly we hope our conclusions in this submission will be read and considered.

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Edinburgh Council Communal Bin Review & Bin Hubs – Information Sessions – Make Your Views Known!

Edinburgh Council’s Waste & Cleansing Service has undertaken a review of communal bin services across the city, including the New Town. This includes a wider review of waste management services currently offered to residents.  The broad intent is to bring about improvements to a service that is widely seen by residents to be inadequate.

To date, there has been little or no consultation with residents in the New Town and less than adequate consultation elsewhere in the City about these proposals, in contrast to what has been done in the past.

While the Council’s proposals are aimed at promoting a much welcomed increase in recycling capacity, this is intended to be achieved through siting groups of communal bins in fixed “bin hubs” across the New Town. Each ‘bin hub’ will consist of up to six bins for Food, Glass & Recycling along with General (non-recyclable) Waste. The initial proposals state that these will be set out either in lines along the kerb (up to 8 metres in length) or in a square configuration  (approx 4 metres by 4 metres). These ‘hubs’ will serve about 50 properties and be located so that each one is no more than 50 metres walking distance from any property. The Council also intends to cease doorstep collections on certain streets for  Food, Glass and Recyclables – as well as end the use of the Gull Proof Sack service for approximately 2,500 homes in the New Town.

There is a “drop-in” session for the Broughton area covering these proposals at Broughton St Mary Church on Bellevue Crescent on Wednesday 17 November between 9:45 am -1:45 pm. Although we are aware that some residents have now received notification of this very recently, many others may not be aware of either the current proposal or the opportunity being available to discuss with Council officers the details of what’s proposed.

Whilst this may not be a convenient time for some, we would encourage everyone who can to go along to get a better understanding of what is being proposed and make their views known.

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