Virgin Media Broadband – update on Kirkliston

After a number of months of disruption and complaints, the Virgin installation works are coming to an end and we expect Virgin to be fully out of the village this side of Christmas.

We fully understand that for some residents, the presence of the Virgin works has been terrible and we have tried to help resolve these whenever we can. The following aims to give some clear information in response to the number of email and social media questions being asked of us.

Getting the service

Where the pavement has been dug up outside your house, then the service is now ‘live’ and available. If you’ve registered with ‘cable my street’ then you should have already received a call or visit, or will do in the very near future. If not, and you want to get contact details, then please email us.

Louise spoke to one of the installation team when he was out in the village.  He has confirmed that, due to the scale of disruption, they are waiving the installation charge (usually £40) for Kirkliston residents. Now, we are not suggesting this gesture makes up for the disruption – just passing on the information. And again, for those of you who have asked us, it’s about £30 a month for phone and broadband and you can get up to 100mbps.

‘New build’ – non adopted roads

There are some areas in the village where Virgin will not be available.  We wanted to update you on that as it has come up a number of times over the last month, and has not been well communicated by Virgin.

In short, if your road has not yet been adopted by the Council, then Virgin will not come in and lay cables. To do so, they need the landowners permission (e.g. Barratts, Millers etc) and those Developers won’t give permission unless they have assurances  the disrupted footpath won’t negatively impact on their road adoption request.

The default position with the Council’s Road Adoption team is that any ‘altered’ pavement, needs to be fully re-tarmaced. That of course is a hefty cost for the developer or for Virgin. Louise has been exchanging a large number of emails around these different interested parties, trying to get some agreement and concession, and while some areas are possible, others are not. So here’s a rundown of what we know:

  • Catelbock Close (off Burnshot) – not yet adopted due to lack of agreement between Cala and Council. No agreement for Virgin to disrupt the pavements so no service.
  • Buie’s (opp leisure centre) – again, not yet adopted and as we understand it there is some level of dispute between Council and Developer so it’s not close to adoption. As above, Virgin are therefore not providing the service.
  • Catstane (off Housefield) – very new housing, and road adoption won’t start until 2 years after the last house is built. So no Virgin service.
  • Maudes & Todshaugh (off Kirkland) – again, due to the recency of the housing, road adoption won’t start for some time, and both sides of Kirklands are affected. No Virgin service.
  • Eilstons (off Eilston Rd) – road is very close to adoption and likely to happen within weeks to only a few months. I’ve encouraged discussion between the Council, Developer and Virgin to see if a compromise regarding permission can be found to allow works to be done before Virgin leave. I don’t have resolution yet but will advise via Facebook group.

For these areas, we have asked about when they could likely expect an extension of the network to be included, once road adoptions are resolved.

Frustratingly Virgin won’t give any guarantees and it would be unlikely to be during 2018 due to the advance planning of what communities they go into. However, if a number of these neighbourhoods were to become ‘available’ then collectively it could warrant a return visit of the installation team.

We will keep local people posted.

Lothian 43/X43 – need for frequency increase

Every month, we receive positive feedback on the Lothian 43/X43 service which started serving Queensferry, Dalmeny and Barnton in June.  We know people still value the decision of Lothian to provide the service, especially after Stagecoach withdrew its services.

There were also some rumours going round, suggesting the service could be changed to a single decker bus.  We have had it confirmed from Lothian management that there are no plans to do this.  We certainly would have been very surprised with any such a change, especially given current passenger numbers.

If anything, we believe there is a strong case for increased frequency during the morning and evening peak periods.  We know  city bound buses are often full, even before reaching Dalmeny Station. Equally, west bound buses in the evening can often go past bus stops at the West End and Dean Bridge because they are full and cannot accept any more passengers.

We have written to the managing director Lothian Buses to ask for further services to be considered.  We have also passed on some feedback received over issues around some city centre bus stops, especially those on George Street.

Cammo Estate Restoration Update

Edinburgh Council officials have announced new dates where local residents can view the master plans for the Cammo Nature Reserve restoration project.

You can see the draft designs on the following dates at Cammo Lodge:
• 19 January 2018, 11am-3pm
• 20 January 2018, 10am-2pm
• 21 January 2018, 2pm-4pm

Over December and January, officials are investigating partnerships relating to longer term
investment and sustainability, looking to other 3rd party funders for additional support for the project, pursuing suitable arrangements for improved car parking within the design and funding for this aspect.

You can see the full November update below.

Cammo Estate Restoration Project_Information Briefing_Nov 17 (1)

Massive opposition to Foxhall housing plans

After four weeks of consultation, local residents have shown their massive opposition to the proposed housing development plans at Foxhall in Kirkliston.

Over 300 individuals objections were made through the Council online planning portal with only two submissions in support. We lodged our own objection as local councillors as did local Member of the Scottish Parliament, Alex Cole-Hamilton.

Well over 400 people signed our own petition against the plans.  We want to say a huge thank you all those in the village who added their names in support.

It is clear these proposals have caused real concern, particularly over the potential traffic impact on the already congested village cross roads.

The planning application and comments submitted are now being considered by planning officials working at the Council.  They will then need to make a recommendation to the planning committee on whether to approve or refuse the application.  This is not expected until well into 2018.

We will keep people posted on developments and when a specific date for the planning committee is arranged.

Plans for new pharmacy in Queensferry – have your say!

Proposals have come forward to open a new pharmacy at the Scotstoun shops in Queensferry.  However, the plans are only likely to proceed if enough local people respond to the consultation being run by NHS Lothian.

We have long argued that Queensferry needs improved services and infrastructure before additional housing is agreed.  The latest figures suggest that Queensferry is already undeserved when it comes to pharmacy services.

NHS Lothian is now undertaking a joint public consultation with Samson Ferry Limited (who would open and run the pharmacy.

If approved, the pharmacy would operate 9am-8pm Mon-Sat and 10am-4pm on Sundays.  These are longer hours than the two Lloyds pharmacies already in Queensferry.

It is the NHS Lothian Pharmacy Practices Committee (PPC) which decides whether to allow the pharmacy to open and all local views must be considered.

You can get all the details and see how you can feed in your views here.

The closing date for comments is 26 March 2018.

Kevin appointed to Edinburgh Airport committee

Local councillor, Kevin Lang has been elected as the new representative of Edinburgh City Council on the Edinburgh Airport Consultative Committee.

This committee which must exist under law includes reps from community councils as well as councils from across the Lothians and Fife.  It allows communities to raise important issues directly with airport management.

SNP and Labour councillors on Edinburgh City Council tried to stop a local councillor from the communities most directly affected by the airport from serving as rep.  However, Conservative and Green councillors voted for LibDem Kevin Lang, ensuring a one vote victory.

Cllr Kevin Lang said, “There are so many serious issues facing the people I was elected to represent.  The proposed changes to the airport flight paths risk exposing many more communities to greater aircraft noise. My new role on the Edinburgh Airport Consultative Committee gives me an important platform to raise these matters directly with airport senior managers.

“At my first meeting, I asked about the proposed new noise action plan, the airspace change programme and also the public transport running to and from the airport. I will keep constituents informed of my work on this group.”

 

Fireworks – local team push for action

Earlier this month, we received many emails and telephone calls from constituents concerned about the misuse of fireworks over the Guy Fawkes weekend.

People told us they were petrified to leave their houses. Local newspapers described some communities we represent as being like “war zones”. One local police officer even had to be rushed to hospital after being injured from a thrown firework.

Of course, the vast majority of local residents buy, use and enjoy fireworks in a safe and responsible manner. But a small minority are causing damage, distress and misery for many.

That is why we brought a motion before today’s meeting of Edinburgh City Council calling for action. It was passed unanimously and means the Council Leader will now write to both the UK and Scottish Governments calling for a review and changes before next November.

Here is our full motion passed today;

FIREWORKS

Council;

1. recognises that the vast majority of Edinburgh residents enjoy fireworks responsibly as part of the annual Guy Fawkes night celebrations,

2. commends those working in Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and other agencies for their commitment, bravery and professionalism in seeking to protect our local communities from harm,

3. condemns the reported acts of violence which took place in some parts of Edinburgh around 5 November, including fireworks being thrown at emergency service staff, and expresses its sympathy and support to those who suffered injury,

4. acknowledges motion S5M-08695 which was recently tabled to the Scottish Parliament and which has received cross party support, calling on (i) the UK Government to review the rules governing the sale of fireworks, and (ii) the Scottish Government and its partner agencies to investigate and address the antisocial use of unlicensed fireworks,

5. agrees for the Leader of the Council to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills to express the Council’s support for both reviews so new measures can be considered and, where possible, implemented before 5 November 2018.”

Queensferry 3G pitch approved

The planning application to build a new artificial grass rugby and football field (3G pitch), just to the south of the Sports Hub on Ashburnham Road in Queensferry, has been approved by the Planning Committee.

The new pitches will be built on the site of two smaller natural grass pitches and will also include a sports fence that will surround the pitch and restrict access.

It is expected the pitch will be used primarily by the school and the community and will upgrade of the existing natural pitches which can be in poor condition for extended periods of time.

The proposals primarily come from the planned re-development of Queensferry High School, which is scheduled to be completed by 2020. With the school to be relocated onto the existing playing fields, an alternative site is required until the school building is completed.

Over 120 people submitted comments during the consultation period, with over 85% in support of the plans.  The proposals was backed unanimously by the Planning Committee.

The new facility will be used as ‘rugby and football’ pitch. It would be surfaced with the latest 3G artificial grass with a sand and rubber infill and would be ‘let’ outwith school hours through the South Queensferry Community Hub.

Consultation on new high school arrangements for Kirkliston pupils

The replacement Queensferry High School currently awaiting planning permission will be built to a capacity of 1,200.  Due to the growth of Queensferry through the housing sites allocated in the Local Development Plan (which local Liberal Democrat councillors opposed), a catchment review is required to reduce the number of primary schools feeding into Queensferry High.

Without a catchment review the projections for the new Queensferry High School suggest a capacity of up to 1800 would be required.  This is significantly more than the largest high schools in the city and would be too large a school to establish on the available school site.

The report to the Council’s education committee stated the catchment review would most likely involve the transfer of Kirkliston from the current Queensferry High School catchment area to the catchment area for the new High School which is proposed in the west of Edinburgh.

The Council also agreed that discussions should take place with West Lothian Council to determine whether an alternative option would be for Kirkliston Primary School to feed into a new nondenominational high school planned for Winchburgh.

Council officials have been running an informal consultation on the options.

Two presentation evenings were recently held at Kirkliston Pimary and Queensferry Secondary.  The Parent Councils of both schools worked hard to hear the views from members of both school communities in order that a detailed response could be submitted
to the Council as part of that informal consultation process. The consultation ran until Friday 24 November and Council officials have been considering the responses received.

You can see the full details through the letter which was issued to parents below along with a map showing the location of the new Winchburgh school and possible sites for the new West of Edinburgh High School.

As your local councillors, we are not yet taking a position on the options available but are keen to hear local views.  The final decision will be taken by the full Council and a further update is expected this month.

We will keep residents posted as these matters move forward.

Kirkliston Primary – consultation (letter)

Kirkliston Primary – consultation (map)

Cala homes unveil plans for Cammo fields

Like many local residents, we attended Cala Homes’ information session on their plans for up to 700 new homes on the Cammo fields.

Whilst there are elements of Cala’s plans which are positive, such as a community hub and the greater distance between new housing and existing homes, our fundamental objections remain unanswered;

1. There is still no plan to address the traffic chaos at the Barnton junction which will get WORSE under these proposals,

2. We face the loss of iconic and panoramic views of the Cammo Tower and Cammo Estate,

3. New bus stops are proposed on a road which has NO BUS and no guarantee of new or extra services.

The reality is that SNP and Labour councillors should never have voted to designate this site for housing. It is completely unsuitable.

You can view all the detailed plans via the dedicated section on the Cala Homes website.

Cala are now expected to submit a formal planning application in January 2018 at which point residents can formally comment and object.  We will make sure to keep people informed.