McCarthy & Stone lodge planning application for retirement development

Following the pre-application consultation a few weeks ago, McCarthy & Stone has now lodged its formal planning application for a new retirement community off Barnton Avenue West.

The proposals would build a sheltered housing development of 36 apartments and 12 houses on the south side of the road, just to the east of Riding Park.

You can see more of the background to the proposals via the McCarthy & Stone website.

The full planning application be seen via the Edinburgh Council Planning Portal using the reference 17/03129/FUL

We made a point of contacting residents in the immediate vicinity of the site when the proposals first emerged.  There was a lot of concern over the density of the housing which people felt would be out of keeping with the area and against the planning guidance which exists for this part of the city.  There was also concerns over parking capacity and the impact on drainage.

Objections to the application must be lodged with the planning department by 11 August 2017.

This can be done by email to planning@edinburgh.gov.uk or by writing to Planning Department, City of Edinburgh Council, Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8BG.

Remember to quote the reference number 17/03129/FUL.

 

Weeds – time for action from Edinburgh City Council

One of the issues re-emerging over the summer months is the problem of weeds across west Edinburgh.

This issue was debated at a recent meeting of the full City of Edinburgh Council with concerns raised about the under resourcing of the team responsible for removing weeds.  There have also been problems since the decision to phase out the use of harmful glyphosate weed-killer with a delay in developing effective alternatives.

Both of us backed a motion to push for urgent action.  Unfortunately, this was voted down by the Labour and SNP administration councillors. Instead, they chose to delay taking action until later in the year.

The failure by those running the Council to properly understand the seriousness of the weeds problem was shown when one administration councillor glibly argued that “a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.”

Labour and SNP councillors may be happy to see our streets covered in weeds but we think residents deserve better.  That is why we will keep fighting for action.

If there is a major weeds problem on your street then let us know by contacting us on kevin.lang@edinburgh.gov.uk and/or louise.young@edinburgh.gov.uk

 

 

 

20mph roll out in Barnton, Cramond, Davidson’s Mains, Muirhouse and Silverknowes

Residents will have seen new 20mph signage going up on lamp-posts and being painted on roads throughout Barnton, Cramond, Davidson’s Mains, Muirhouse and Silverknowes.  This is part of the city-wide roll out of 20mph as agreed by the last Council in January 2015.

Even though the signage is going up, the new 20mph limit will not come into force in these areas until Wednesday 16 August.

As part of this third phase of the project, virtually all roads in the area will be 20mph.  Roads which will not change include:

  • Queensferry Road (remaining 40mph)
  • Whitehouse Road (between the Barnton junction and Gamekeeper’s Road remaining 30mph)
  • Gamekeeper’s Road (remaining 30mph)
  • Cramond Road South (30mph)
  • Lauriston Farm Road (30mph)
  • Silverknowes Parkway (30mph)
  • Ferry Road (30mph)
  • Muirhouse Parkway (30mph)

You can view a map which show all the changes by clicking here.

These changes come after the 20mph roll out in Queensferry, Dalmeny, Kirkliston, Newbridge and Ratho Station last year.

The fourth and final phase of the project throughout south Edinburgh is due to take place in January 2018.  There will then be a full review of all streets after a year.

For all the information about the 20mph roll out, visit the Council’s dedicated web page.

IMPORTANT – WASTE AND RECYCLING UPDATE

Many more residents have contacted us over recent days about the problem is missed waste and recycling collections.

We have now received a full briefing on this and it is clear the problem is an acute lack of HGV drivers which is causing major delays across the city.

Here is the update we received.

WASTE & RECYCLING COLLECTION UPDATE
Waste and Recycling collections are currently experiencing delays in parts of the city. Garden waste collections are running three days behind schedule. There are also some delays of between one and two days for some food and glass collections.

The main issue causing the delays is a shortage of available LGV (HGV) drivers.

A recent recruitment exercise resulted in 10 appointments. However, a mix of both agency and permanent staff have subsequently left the service for work elsewhere. Our agency provider is assisting in trying to source drivers but has so far been unable to cover all vacancies. This shortage is not an Edinburgh specific problem (as several other Scottish councils have confirmed to officers recently). Both the public and private sectors are citing issues in securing and retaining HGV drivers.

As of the start of the week commencing 10th July the service was 10 drivers short; eight at Russell Road Depot and two at Seafield Depot. All of the driver vacancies are on kerbside services – individual household bins for garden, landfill, mixed recycling, food and glass services.

The actions being taken to eliminate the delays on services are:
1) The hourly rate being offered to agency drivers has been increased and adverts have been placed on social media sites, via our agency partner.
2) LGV drivers from the Cleansing service will undertake driving duties in waste collection for the remainder of the week, including the weekend. This will be reviewed for the following week subject to progress against delayed collections whilst ensuring that cleansing requirements are not compromised.
3) Other employment agencies are being contacted and invited to supply drivers. Two drivers have been sourced and are being assessed on the 11th July with a view to an immediate start.
4) Supervisors with appropriate licences have been employed on driving duties.
5) Extra collection routes are being serviced on a Saturday and Sunday to reduce the number of collection rounds running behind at the start of next week.
6) Given the national shortage of drivers the service is looking at upskilling existing staff through a learning contract. This is not an immediate solution but is more sustainable in the long term than reliance on agency and will avoid future recurrences.

It is also recognised that changes to the way in which customers can contact the Council to report a missed collection has caused frustration due to the number of options available to the customer.

Resulting from recent customer feedback a dedicated line for waste enquiries is anticipated to be operational by the end of July. This will make it more straightforward for residents to log missed collections.

Good news as Salvesen steps re-open

GOOD NEWS – SALVESEN STEPS REOPEN
We received the welcome news that the Salvesen Steps in Cramond reopened today. Still work to be done in terms of the permanent replacement around the rock face.

The following is taken from the update we got from the Friends of the Almond Walkway

“Although the Council commendably and speedily agreed to replace the condemned structure with a temporary replacement, implementation has unfortunately taken longer than originally estimated.

“This has been due to a series of delays with Contractors, weather conditions and other factors too tedious to relate here. This has resulted in considerable inconvenience to local users and visitors alike. However, the big picture is that we can all now use the Steps again which is good news indeed.

“Furthermore, it is now unlikely that they will need to be closed again until a permanent structure is installed.

“It is important to note that the newly opened Steps are a temporary structure, pending a permanent disability-compliant replacement around the rock-face. There has been a welcome firming-up in the Council’s plans to commission a new structure.

“A fresh round of consultant’s reports has been completed and meetings, on which FRAW has representation, have been held to take the project forward. A couple of issues remain, to be clarified with partner and regulator organisations. Once these are resolved there is nothing to prevent the preparation of a detailed design ready for the tendering of the actual construction.

“Substantial funds have been allocated for this last stage of preparatory work and even possibly beyond. All this has all been a protracted business and it is too early to celebrate as there have been many ‘false dawns’ to date but there are now real grounds for optimism and a clear way ahead.”

Rubbish/recycling collection – have your say

Complete Louise’s survey here.

Later this week, Cllr Louise Young will be asking the Council’s new convener of environment about the problem of waste collection across north and west Edinburgh.  She wants to hear about your own experiences in your street.  Her survey takes no more than five minutes to complete.

So if you’ve suffered from missed collection or broken bins then let her know by using the link below.

Complete Louise’s survey here.

Edinburgh Airport update

One of our first acts as your new local councillors has been to submit our response to Edinburgh Airport’s second consultation on flight path changes.

During our campaign, we promised to do three things;
1. To oppose the changes towhich would see aircraft routed over Queensferry when departing to the west,…
2. To push for changes to the easterly departure route so aircraft are flown further away from Cramond and Barnton,
3. To campaign for the same kind of night time flying restrictions which already exist for Stasted, Gatwick and Heathrow airports.

We have worked with Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP and submitted a detailed response on these points.

We have explained how horrified we and the local community is by the airport’s U-turn. This came after earlier assurances that Queensferry would not be impacted by the flight path changes. We have submitted our petition of over 1,000 names against the propose new route.

On Cramond, we have worked with the Cramond Noise Action Group and endorsed their constructive ideas for changes which could also help reduce noise from arriving aircraft from the east.

We will be looking to meet with the airport in the coming weeks to discuss all these issues.

Barnton – proposed retirement development

We called in on the public information event which was organised today by McCarthy & Stone. This was to present their proposals for a retirement housing development on Barnton Avenue West.

Their plans include 12 cottages and 36 apartments, which are all designed for those over 60.

No planning application has been submitted but McCarthy & Stone plan to submit one to the Council later in the summer.

If you have views about the development then let us know by emailing kevin.lang@edinburgh.gov.uk and Louise.young@edinburgh.gov.uk

You can read more about the plans via this link.

http://mccarthyandstoneconsultation.co.uk/barnton/proposals/

Cramond Primary


The Council has now written to parents of children at Cramond Primary School about remedial works which are required following a survey across all city schools.

The good news is that the school can remain open with the affected areas fenced off as a precaution. The repairs will be carried out over the summer holidays.

We realise this news will be of concern to parents. We’ve asked council officials to keep us fully informed as the work is completed.