Stockbridge & Inverleith Community Council (SICC) – DRAFT MINUTES of the meeting held on 17 March 2015 at Stockbridge Parish Church, 7b Saxe Coburg Street, Edinburgh
1 Present
Members of SICC Members of the Community
Hal Osler (Chair) Jack Bannerman Steve Adam John Cowie Cllr Nigel Bagshaw Pam Barnes Marion Blythman Police Scotland David F. Chamberlain PC 267 Medlock Gregan Crawford (Vice-Chair) PC 486 Smeaton Fiona Finlayson Len Havard Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Scotland Penny Richardson (Minutes) Frank Gallop, Lead Inspector
Apologies: Joan Beattie, Marco Biagi, MSP, Tannis Dodd, Cllr Lesley Hinds and Ian Hooper
2. Minutes of last meeting – 17 March 2015
Approved subject to the following addition to Minute No 3.ii Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership (INP): “It was agreed that a link to the INP website and INP documents should be added to future SICC agendas as and when appropriate and also to the SICC website. Penny Richardson would email Steve Adam about this. Adoption of minutes proposed by Gregan Crawford and seconded by Jack Bannerman
3 Matters arising
3.1 Minute No 7: Bus Service to Craigleith Shopping Centre: Online petition up and running – 315 signatures so far.
4 Brief reports:
4.1 Chair: very busy since February meeting: main issues were:
Raeburn Place street furniture, signage, traders’ trade waste and bollards. Most of these get in the way of pedestrians, especially parents with children and buggies. Cllr Bagshaw clarified that traders are responsible for their own waste but many say they do not have any storage place for this in their premises. The bollards had been put in place to prevent people parking their cars on the pavements. This all needs to be reviewed to make it easier for pedestrians.
Annual Water of Leith Clean Up: Previous SICC Chair used to coordinate. Now being linked and coordinated by Charlotte Leary, Community Officer. Please let Hal Osler know if you want to be involved. More information to follow. Information also to go on Community Notice Board.
4.2 Treasurer: David Chamberlain (Treasurer) confirmed that there is £2,400 in the bank. If any community council members have outstanding expenses, please let him know as soon as possible.
4.3 Police Scotland: update from PC 267 Carl Medlock: 47 recorded crimes in SICC area of which 20 were break-ins, both domestic and trade premises, the latter mostly in the early hours of the morning. There had been an increase over the past few months. There was a select group of mostly young offenders who were responsible for a large number of these. Because of their young age, they are released after being arrested and set bail conditions which include a kind of curfew where they must stay in their houses from 7 pm to 9 am. This is monitored. Juvenile offenders, ie those over 16, are often given very short sentences. Offenders under 16 are referred to the Children’s Panel. The Police Operation Quarterlight, where plain clothes officers targeted specific areas, had had some successes.
Most of the domestic break-ins were at the rear of properties, for example, via windows or patio doors, and where doors are concealed from neighbours and passers-by. PC Medlock emphasised how important it is for residents to make sure they have the best possible security for their houses but acknowledged that there can be problems with listed buildings. He will get more information leaflets about this for distribution by SICC and at Lifecare. Police Scotland recommends using CCTV. It was clarified that CCTV can be used without having to put up notices provided the camera(s) do not overlook someone else’s property or windows.
Fiona Blenkinsop, Crime Prevention Officer, can help businesses and traders with advice and information. She and her colleagues are based at the West End Police Station. PC Medlock would get more Home Security information leaflets for distribution by SICC and at Lifecare Centre.
4.4 Environment: No report
4.5 Transport: Scheduled upcoming road closures/road works: Councillor Barrie had sent a list of scheduled local road closures in the SICC catchment area to Hal Osler. They had included Deanhaugh Street yet again. Councillor Bagshaw will check to see if this information can be made available to SICC electronically perhaps with a link on the SICC website.
4.6 Licensing and Planning: Pam Barnes reported that there were no controversial planning apps at the moment but, as ever, economic development is a key factor. She reminded us that about the Planning Democracy conference on Saturday 25th April 2015 at the Trades Hall, Central Glasgow: the cost is £10. One of the key issues will be the right of third party appeal. Here is the link to their website for booking a place: http://www.planningdemocracy.org.uk/conference/
Councillor Bagshaw updated us on the Local Development Plan: now onto the 3rd version. But if the plan isn’t finalised, then developers could more or less do what they want. The City Council has to meet the Scottish Government new house building targets. To achieve this, 87% of the necessary land will come from brown field sites: the rest from green field sites. He alerted SICC to big developments which could be likely in the Green Belt and Maybury/Barnton Roundabout areas. These and the opening of the new Forth Road Bridge would cause huge amounts of extra traffic which would have a massive impact in the SICC catchment area, especially Stockbridge.
5 Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership
Here is the link to the INP website: http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/neighbourhood- partnerships/inverleith and here is the link to INP agendas and minutes and reports: http://www.edinburghnp.org.uk/neighbourhood-partnerships/inverleith/downloads/links-to-inverleith- np-papers/
6 Brief Overview of the role and work of H. M. Inspectorate of Constabulary, Scotland (HMICS): Frank Gallop, Lead Inspector
The legislative role of HMICS is to inspect Scottish policing. Mr Gallop clarified that HMICS is separate from and independent of Police Scotland. Areas HMICS looks into include outcomes, performance, leadership and governance, accountability and scrutiny, resources (buildings etc.), areas of strength and weakness, partnership working including community and locality planning and people – are they motivated and well led. Aim is for policing closer to the community and a more homogeneous service across Scotland.
HMICS is consulting with a number of city agencies and is especially interested in SICC views of policing in Edinburgh. This had included sending out 300+ questionnaires of which 100 had been returned. Marion Blythman and Joan Beattie had taken on the questionnaire for SICC. They had also commented on the fact that the questionnaire design had not been at all user-friendly. Mr Gallop said the feedback was welcome and explained that the questionnaire was one licensed to the Scottish Government and not specifically designed by HMICS. Survey results were not going to be published yet as this is a very new approach. However, some themes and issues had been identified. The next stage would include focus groups using the questionnaire feedback. The objective was for more localism and more solutions working with local communities. He thought police input at SICC meetings was a good example of community engagement.
Issues raised by SICC members and local residents:
Low visibility of police is a concern. It is also very important that the local community police get to know local young people and know them well. Losing trust in the police, they’re not there when you need them. Just, one example, on reporting a ringing burglar alarm on a house in Raeburn Place, the caller had been told that the police could not come out for this kind of thing and told the individual to go round that back of the house to check if anyone had broken in. This was potentially a very risky thing to do. Impact of recent terrorist attacks in France on policing: noted that police officers now have to work in pairs. Police contact with SICC -. Formerly, PC Medlock, local Community police officer, was our key contact and came regularly to meetings. This was much appreciated. A while back, SICC had had to put pressure on the council when it became apparent that there was a possibility of council funding for community policing being cut. This had coincided with a withdrawal of the regular police reports at SICC meetings. Since putting pressure on the Council, the regular police reports at SICC meetings had been reinstated but the lack of continuity had been problematic. Armed police: SICC had expressed its grave concern about the recent policy to arm the police in Scotland especially as this had been imposed without any consultation at all and people felt they had no control over it. Mr Gallop explained that the decision had been based on intelligence about potential terrorist threats. Additionally, many police officers now face day to day risks when confronted by people armed with weapons of different kinds. Community cohesion: It was concerning that some members of the public are now much more inhibited about taking action when they see some kind of criminal activity taking place or when someone appears to be at risk of harm. We all needed to keep an eye out for each other.
Mr Gallop concluded that this had been a very useful meeting; he was impressed by the good contact and partnership between SICC and the police. He would take on board comments from the meeting which would all be very helpful to HMICS. On behalf of SICC, Hal Osler thanked Mr Gallop for his presentation and for coming to meet with SICC and local residents.
7 Date and time of next meeting: Wednesday 15 April 2015 at 7 pm at Stockbridge Parish Church, 7b Saxe Coburg Street, Edinburgh
Members of the public are welcome to attend community council meetings. If you cannot attend the meeting but wish to raise a subject, please contact the S&ICC: www.stockbridgeandinverleithcc.org.uk