MP INSIDE The first eMagazine of any elected member in the UK 1 Welcome Following some very helpful feedback, I present a smaller and - I hope - sharper eMagazine this month. As always, do get in touch if you have any comments, criticisms or suggestions. OPEN Constituency Office 0131 662 4520 31 Minto Street Edinburgh twitter.com/ianmurraymp EH9 2BT @ [email protected] www.ianmurraymp.co.uk 2 Pages: Contents 03 IN THE CONSTITUENCY 11 AT WESTMINSTER 17 AT THE DESPATCH BOX SPECIAL FEATURE - 19 RICHARD ASCOUGH If you have DATES FOR YOUR DIARY any issues or 20 concerns that you would like to discuss with me, please do get in touch by the SEND contact details on the page Something you want to discuss, opposite. perhaps something to share or you have an important question to ask? You can Tweet me by including and Top 3 Lobby Correspondence of the Month Every month I include the top 3 issues that constituents have contacted me about. If you would like to see my responses, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Strathearn Post Office IF Campaign Exterminate! Thanks to Royal Mail who put on an excellent Arms Exports 'Dr Who' event at the start of the month to celebrate 50 years of one of the nation's favourite TV shows. CONSTITUENCY 3 Regular readers will recall the This result would not have The Royal Mail has said piece in last month’s edition been possible without the that, following their scoping about the proposed closure of fantastic work of the Grange exercise, they will not be taking Strathearn Road Sorting Office. Association, their members and the closure forward for “the Earlier this month, I was concerned local residents. Our foreseeable future”. I had been informed by the Royal Mail that, campaign put forward a pressing the Royal Mail to put in following the excellent convincing case that the sorting place a number of steps should representations made by local office provides a treasured the sorting office close but these residents, they have decided not service for local people, are now not necessary. to take forward their proposals especially the elderly, disabled Our campaign shows what for its closure and will therefore and many who are unable to can be achieved when the voices not relocate the services to receive parcels during the of local residents are listened to. either Bridgend or Slateford Road working day. branches. 4 A 'Kickpitch/Ballcourt' has been houses in Gilmerton Dykes had to take a turn in goals trying installed in the Gilmerton Crescent and Gilmerton Dykes to save the penalties of the young Dykes area as part of the local Gardens. people. Neighbourhood Environmental The facility is already being It’s a superb facility for Programme. used by the local young people local people and I hope it is well The facility has been and I was delighted to attend its used. Well done to all at the local installed in the Middlefield which Grand Opening. It was not just South Office in Captain’s Road for is a grass area surrounded by about the opening, however. I pulling it all together. CONSTITUENCY 5 I was saddened by the Many of you will know of someone death of Tom Buchanan last who has used the services of Marie month, who was SNP Councillor for Curie. They have recently completed a Liberton and Gilmerton from 2007. major refurbishment at their centre on Having been diagnosed with a brain tumour in Frogston Road. I was shown around the March 2011, he underwent surgery at the Western new facilities and chatted to staff and General and, with much strength and determination, patients. The official opening took place he successfully stood for re-election at the Council on April 17th. elections last May. What is clear is the absolutely We worked closely, both during my time as a Councillor crucial service they provide to both and since my election to Parliament in 2010. I recall patients and their families. The staff are Tom going all the way back to when he was a local remarkable and, on the day I visited, activist on the Liberton Community Council. were preparing for their annual Daffodil appeal (dressing up as daffodils no less). All our sympathies and thoughts go to his wife I joined them in their new Reception with Evelyn and the SNP Group in Edinburgh. my contribution to the fundraising efforts. Thank you for all you do. 6 Over the last few years the Alnwickhill The Committee, led by Louise Wrightson, Proprietors Association (APA) has gone from work tirelessly on a voluntary basis on behalf of strength to strength. The APA represents all residents and have singlehandedly turned everyone who lives in the Alnwickhill and the APA around. Howdenhall estate and looks after all the I thoroughly enjoyed the AGM and I’m common land that was transferred to their sure all the residents are hugely grateful to the ownership. There are a large number of APA Committee for all they do. Thank you and residents’ associations across the constituency see you at next year’s AGM! and I’m always delighted to support their work. Visit the Alnwickhill Proprietors Association website The community in Liberton and Gilmerton lost a doughty campaigner following the passing of Betty Wallace. I worked closely with Betty on a number of local issues. She was always championing the cause of local people in Gilmerton and especially the community centre. I attended her funeral at Mortonhall last month and it struck me how formidable she actually was as a senior member of the trade union movement with a passion for fairness. She will be sadly missed by all the community. My sympathies go out to her two sons and everyone who knew her. CONSTITUENCY 67 Visit the Liberton High School website Liberton High School invited me to assist in the planting of 36 trees at the school to create a new orchard. The Headteacher, Mr Kelly, the staff, the local environmental transition team, the Green Space Trust and, of course, the participating pupils deserve tremendous credit for putting this innovative scheme together. This is part of an overall strategy to transform underused areas on the school grounds into valuable green spaces with trees, plants, small allotment plots and flowers. Well done to Ms Landis for organising as well. I look forward to returning to the school at a future date to taste the produce from the fruit trees. Homemade apple pie anyone? 8 The Royal Society run an Dr Scott spent a week now far more knowledgeable annual pairing scheme for with me at Westminster about CCS and also the issues MPs to join up with an where he got a flavour of the around research and academic and shadow each role of an MP and also spent development at the University other for a number of days. some time seeing how of Edinburgh. I had the pleasure of scientific and public policy is Thank you to the Royal pairing with Dr Vivian Scott created and developed. Society, Dr Vivian Scott and from the University of I also spent a day with the rest of the CCS team and Edinburgh. Dr Scott is a him and his colleagues at the University of Edinburgh. scientist who specialises in King’s Buildings learning more Dr Scott isn't pictured below Carbon Capture and Storage about the science and as he was helpfully taking the (CCS) technology. technology behind CCS. It was photo! an enlightening exchange. I’m CONSTITUENCY 9 Diverse + City = Diversecity. Diversecity is a The pupils and staff at student-led production which James Gillespie’s High has been performed in its School put on a wonderful current format at the School ‘Diversecity’ show at the every year for fourteen school last month to an years. All the money raised adoring audience. goes towards supporting Around 200 pupils learners at Zwelibanzi and have worked tirelessly over Dloko High Schools in South the previous few weeks to Africa. organise a packed show of Congratulations to singing, dancing and Headteacher Mr Macdonald, Shhhh! The mobile library service is a city instrument-playing. The staff, pupils and parents - I wide service providing library services to school certainly has some had a fantastic night, and areas that do not have easy access to superbly talented students. especially enjoyed the “dead branch libraries. There are five large vehicle unicorn” comedy sketch. libraries operating the service throughout the year, with some 76 stops on a weekly schedule for two of the mobile libraries. One vehicle in the fleet brings library services directly to sheltered housing sites with over 30 of these locations being visited on a four weekly timetable. A dedicated children’s Book Bus visits 29 schools, special schools and nursery locations on a three week rotation. Each of the four general libraries and the Book Bus carry some 3000 books - fiction and non-fiction - in ordinary and large print. Audio cassettes and CDs are also available. Membership is open to anyone in the City of Edinburgh. Joining is a very simple process of completing a name and address Congratulations to form. In most cases new readers may borrow local Eco packaging pioneers books right away from the mobile libraries. who recently won two Existing users of branch libraries who major prizes in one week, winning the already have membership may also use the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in Sustainable mobile library services and they may return Development and scooping the £10,000 top their branch books at the mobile libraries.