Fairmilehead Community Council

Minutes of meeting held on Tuesday 2 November 2010 in Fairmilehead Parish Church Halls

Present: Dennis Williams (Chair); Louise Maguire (Vice Chair), Norman Tinlin (Secretary); Alison Elfick (Treasurer); Barbara Dick (Buckstone Association); Johanna Carrie; Richard Hinton; Tom Strathdee; Pam Wight (St Fillans); Councillors Elaine Aitken and Eric Barry; PC Kenny Welsh (part); Bruce and Joyce Beveridge; Cameron Cochrane; Ian Elfick; Wendy Kenyon; Paul de Luca; Colin Manson; Neil Mackenzie; Norman McKenzie; Matthew McKerrow; Catherine Smith; Lindsay Taylor; Margaret Walker; Roger West; Charles Whytock; Alan Wight

Apologies: Bryan Fisher; Sandy Macpherson; Cllr Jason Rust; Ian Murray MP

In attendance: Shona Walker, Maggie’s Centre

1. Maggie’s Centre The Chair introduced Shona Walker from Maggie’s Centre who gave the history of Maggie’s.

A Maggie’s Centre is a place to turn to for help with any of the problems, small or large, associated with cancer.

Maggie Keswick Jencks was the co-founder, alongside Charles Jencks, of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. Maggie was a writer, a landscape designer, a painter and a mother of two.

In May 1993, Maggie was told that her breast cancer had recurred and spread to her bones, liver and brain. When asked, her Dumfries oncologist gave her two to three months to live. By joining a trial involving advanced chemotherapy Maggie extended her life by a further 18 months and it was in this time that her idea for a cancer caring centre was born. She worked closely with her oncology nurse and was asked to write an article for a medical journal on a patient’s perspective on being treated for cancer.

During the latter part of her life and during her many visits to the Western General Hospital Maggie formulated an idea for a Cancer Caring Centre. Shortly before her death a charity was set up and in November 1996 the first Maggie’s Centre, designed by Richard Murphy, opened in the converted stables within the grounds of the Western General. Maggie’s has charitable status and is self funding.

At present there are 13 existing and interim facilities. There are centres in areas such as Glasgow, Fife, Inverness, Dundee, London and Cheltenham as well as . Centres are being worked on in Oxford, SW Wales, Lanarkshire and Hong Kong. It is planned to have Centres in Aberdeen, North east England, Nottingham and Barcelona.

All centres differ in their design and most are designed by local or internationally renowned architects. Maggie’s strives to create spaces, that are non-institutional and domestic in scale, but which are also unique. They ask architects to design buildings where people feel safe and valued and also to create an atmosphere that stimulates their imagination.

A referral is not needed and anyone affected by cancer, patient or carer, is welcome. A variety of activities, courses and groups are run by the staff and volunteers. The Edinburgh premises are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and also some evenings. A benefits advice service is also run from the Centre and over £1.8m in benefits in the Edinburgh area has been claimed for clients.

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Further details on Maggie’s can be found at: http://www.maggiescentres.org/maggies/maggiescentres/home/home.html and the Edinburgh centre at: http://www.maggiescentres.org/maggies/maggiescentres/home/centres/edinburgh/introduction.html

2. Police Report PC Kenny Welsh reported that October had been a good month with only 11 crimes recorded and 6 of these were solved.

There were 4 crimes/offences where property was damaged. These occurred in the Buckstone and Pentland areas and were 3 cars and one house.

There were 4 crimes of dishonesty, 2 of theses crimes resulting in items being stolen and the other 2 were obtaining money by fraudulent means. These occurred in Buckstone, and Pentland areas.

There were 3 other crimes of disorder, violence and road traffic offence which occurred in Frogston and Pentland areas.

Unfortunately he was not able to provide more detailed locations due to data protection restrictions being imposed by the Force.

His main concern last month was that the bogus workmen were out and about which resulted in a crime of fraud being committed. He advised everybody to be aware of people calling round the doors particularly with the current weather and rogue traders suggesting roof need examined.

The neighbourhood watch newsletter which was previously issued is no longer being issued and new format was being worked on but this was supposed to be for “good news” and not crime statistics. Also as mentioned streets where crimes occurred were not to be identified.

The meeting felt that this was a retrograde step as the newsletter was a useful tool in crime prevention. It is understood that actual addresses could not be identified but that a street should be. If a crime had happened neighbours would probably be aware of it in any case. It may also assist in identifying unreported crimes or witnesses coming forward.

There had been no reported incidents of egg throwing at houses on Halloween. The Chair reminded people of the bonfire and fireworks on the coming Friday evening at the Pentland Community Centre.

Issues raised were vehicles being parked and displaying advertising; car traders’ vehicles being deposited in the area with For Sale notices on them; and scam phone calls regarding alleged viruses on computers.

3. Minute Of Meeting Held On 7 September 2010 And Matters Arising. The minutes of the previous were approved by the meeting.

Matters Arising: a) Fairmilehead Park Wendy Kenyon gave the background to the application for grants to replace the play equipment on the children’s play area in the Park. The grants had been approved and they were dependant on each other. If part of the work did not proceed then the grant would fall. The fence was to be removed because of the Council’s current policy on play strategy.

The Secretary said he had checked the application to the Pentlands NP Funding Panel submitted by the Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust and it was ambiguous regarding the removal (and possible replacement) of the railing.

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After discussion the meeting decided to note that the work was going ahead and to monitor the situation without a fence round the play area. The existing fence was being put into storage.

Funding was also available to purchase equipment such as wobble boards, a shelter and football goals for teenagers. The only outstanding matter was the final choice of equipment and its location.

It was decided that Cllr Aitken would arrange a meeting on site with interested parties regarding the teenage facility.

Wendy Kenyon and others were thanked for work in bringing this to fruition.

Louise Maguire asked why the playing field attached to Pentland Primary School was not available for community use. This was because it was required to be kept clean and safe for the pupils. b) Water Treatment Works The Secretary reported that he had received intimation from Bill Elliot that there will be an extensive programme of road works on Buckstone Terrace and Biggar Road from November 2010 until November 2011. This work will be in connection with excavations, surveys and pipe line improvements.

Traffic management measures will be in place from 8 November onwards which will ensure the safety of the public and operatives during investigations. Lane closures and banning some turns are a necessary part of these operations and Scottish Water apologises for the inevitable impact on the movement of traffic through this area. Traffic management will be in place until mid December and cleared ahead of the festive period.

Following on from a suggestion at the previous meeting regarding forming a sub group to look at community gain in regards to the planning application he said that this would probably be more effective with a small group. It was suggested that, for example, all organisations in St Fillans get somebody to represent them and this person acts as the liaison between the groups and the sub group. The same could apply to Fairmilehead church. This allowed a greater input but kept the group manageable. He was going to arrange an initial meeting with Cllr Aitken to progress this. Scottish Water or the developer, Planning Department and Children and Families and he other councillors would also be involved.

Cllr Aitken said that the pre proposal plans were still no display in Scottish Water’s offices if anybody wished to examine them. c) Customer Service Excellence Lunch The Chair reported that he and the Secretary had attended this lunch at the SW neighbourhood office on 7 October. The purpose was to enable the Inspector to meet community members as part of the assessment. It had been a successful inspection although talking to other community council members he was surprised that they did not their councillors attending their meetings. FCC was very fortunate in this respect.

4. Correspondence a) Regional park – Autumn/Winter edition of the Pentlands Beacon (Circulated by e-mail as now only an online version being produced. It can be found at: b) http://www.pentlandhills.org/beacons/beacons.html c) Association of Scottish Community Councils – Papers regarding annual national ballot 2010 and national conference, 20 November in Glasgow d) Invest Edinburgh magazine October to December edition e) Licensing applications for November Board (None in area) f) Working Capital magazine – September edition

3 g) Connect magazine – Autumn edition of newsletter of Scottish Health Council h) CEC City development – Edinburgh Canal strategy Consultation – Closing date 17 December 2010 (Circulated by e-mail) i) Bill Elliot, Scottish water – e-mail re roadworks Fairmilehead in connection with pipe work (Discussed under item 3b above) j) Spokes magazine – late 2010 and details of meeting 25 November, Augustine United church k) CEC – details of adoption drop in evening (Poster on board) l) Lord Provost – request for nominations for Edinburgh Award - closing date 26 November

5. Councillors’ Reports Cllr Aitken said that a start had been made with painting the DYLs at the foot of Buckstone Road, Gardens and Avenue although there was a car parked in the Avenue which may require to be moved. She had asked for the road and footpaths in Camus Avenue to be re- assessed along with some in Swanston as they were extremely bad.

Firrhill High School have had their concert to celebrate their 50 years and over 100 had attended the Open Day the previous week There are to be a number of roadshows throughout the year.

She had had a meeting with David Connolly, the new acting Inspector at and he was very community minded.

There had been issues with the collection of recycle boxes in Biggar Road and refuse collections. Although not in our area but bordering on it, the path between Oxgangs Bank and Pentland primary school is going to be upgraded. She had a bid to the Area Board accepted and the budget was £10,000. It was also now on the winter maintenance list and will be adopted. There is no funding at present for improvements to the lighting.

Regarding the speed cushions in Buckstone Drive and Crescent being changed to humps there is no funding in the current year for this but hopefully funds might be found for next year.

The three councillors had attended the launch of Garrison FM book club at Library. The website is: http://garrisonbooks.wordpress.com/

Cllr Barry said that as well as the Garrison book club, Garrison FM could be heard on 98.5FM.

He had received an e-mail from Marshall Poulton, head of Transport CEC stating that there are proposals to convert the speed cushions in Buckstone Crescent and Drive to full width humps but this was dependant on the allocation of the 2011/12 budget. Until the budget has been decided it cannot be confirmed that the replace scheme will be undertaken. He had enquired when the work on the DYLs at Buckstone Road, Gardens and Avenue with Buckstone Terrace would be started. It appeared to be coincidence that work had started this week.

There are proposals to introduce a wide 20mph zone in the area bounded by the meadows, Morningside Road, Blackfords and Holyrood Park. This was to cost £100,000 although there would be no traffic calming features installed, only signage. Some of the roads within the zone would remain at the existing 30mph limit.

He had received many complaints regarding the new, enhanced, Council website which he had forwarded.

In regards to gritting more gritters and pavement tractors had been leased and lessons had been learned from last year. High lying areas such as Fairmilehead along to had caused particular problems and they should get more priority this year. Gritters, although

4 covering main routes all the time, and pavement tractors would only operate 9 to 5 in other areas. This was unsatisfactory as pupils will be in school by then. He had suggested that the areas round schools should be done before the pupils arrive. Funding was being looked at to achieve this.

The full updated business case for the tram had still not been given to the Council. It had been requested that the figures were brought to the December meeting. There was a proposal to merge TIE and and make the buses make up the shortfall in funding for the tram. This would manacle Lothian Buses and could lead to a rise in fares and the diminution of services.

In the absence of Cllr Rust he Secretary read out the following report: “Garrison FM have launched a book club in conjunction with Colinton Library. I attended the launch which took place yesterday and this will be the fourth book club at Colinton Library. It is arranged via blog and the hope is to integrate the army and local communities further.

Oxgangs Business Centre in Neuk has been launched with the support of Dunedin Canmore and provides good local meeting space for Oxgangs Care etc. The new IT suite at Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre is now open and various courses are running. The suite was partly funded by Pentlands Neighbourhood Partnership.

The next meeting of Pentlands NP is on 14th December. I have passed on complaints from community groups regarding the Council website.”

6. Pentlands Neighbourhood Partnership Tom Strathdee reported on the recent meeting of the newly formed Community Safety sun group. Dennis Williams represented the Community Council on the group and he represented the Pentlands Community Safety Panel. It works on a system of priorities where various problems and areas were looked at and the top 3 were picked for actioning on a local basis.

Crime and anti social behaviour were the main topics discussed. Also involved were the fire service, the community safety team and the environmental services. As a result of the new youth tracking system there had been 63% less complaints.

The next meeting is in February and individuals or communities can submit suggestions for the priorities. This can be done through our representatives or by submitting a form which is attached to this minute and which is also available on the website at: http://www.fairmileheadcc.org.uk/Pentlands%20NP/Issues%20Submission%20Form.pdf

It was also agreed that this would become a standing item on the agenda so that any issues could be fed back to the group.

7. Planning and Environment a) Planning Matters Louise Maguire said that the right of way between Camus Avenue and Cockmylane was now called White Lady Walk. The old Home Guards club which was in the Comiston House Stables was up for sale with the recently granted planning permission. There were new leaflets available regarding the Braidburn Valley. b) Transition Edinburgh Pentlands Johanna Carrie said that there was a joint meeting with CC on 18 November when the film “The Transition” would be shown. The AGM was on 24 November and on 5 December a meeting was being held at Oxgangs Library when the film “In Transition” would be shown followed by discussion. c) Pentlands Hill Consultative Forum

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The Secretary reported that our representative on the Forum was Alison Elfick. He had been approached by Ken Shade, Chair of Balerno CC, who were anxious to get a place on the Forum but had been rebuffed. He was wondering if FCC was willing to give up their place. There were internal politics in Balerno regarding representation on the Forum which had caused the enquiry. The Secretary had discussed this with Alison but it was decided that we should retain our full place on the Forum.

At a meeting of the Environmental and Transport sub group of the neighbourhood partnership the previous evening it had been agreed that the partnership would write to the Forum and request a place. If this was granted then it may be that Balerno CC was nominated for this place.

The meeting noted the position.

8. Transport The Secretary said that following on from the initial intimation at the last meeting he had now obtained the result of the FOI enquiry relating to the proposals for a peak time bus lane in Comiston Road next to Braidburn Valley Park along with DYLs in Comiston Spring Avenue. The original request had come from a person in our area who had complained to a councillor as he thought his bus was being delayed in the mornings due to the cars parked there. The councillor had forwarded the complaint to the transport department.

No complaints of delays had been received from Lothian Buses or their drivers.

From the papers received it was ascertained that surveys had been undertaken on a Tuesday and Thursday morning at the end of last September, beginning of October 2009. The surveys had shown that that the average a bus was being delayed was 1.5 minutes. The build back of traffic had also been noted and this was as far as the Riselaw. There was no indication in the papers received that this build back was caused by the faulty sequencing and timing of the lights at the Greenbank junctions. The lights at Greenbank Crescent were the subject of many, and still are, fault reports. Anybody passing through this junction will be aware of the problems.

Although not strictly in our area many people from our area parked at the locus. Further if the proposal was implemented and parking was banned at the Park then this would move the parking further south into our area where the roads were narrower and into the residential streets. He said it was his intention once the formal Order was published to leaflet all the cars that parked in the area and make them aware of the proposals.

9. Youth Report Paul de Luca said that the 60 persons had attended the recent race night when £900 had been raised. Due to last minute licensing problems it had to be held in The Merlin rather than Golf Club as originally intended. They were starting to prepare for a family fun day next year and were looking around for funding.

10. Newsletter The Chair and the Secretary said that when they had been at the Excellence Award lunch they had picked up a newsletter from Sighthill, Broomhouse & Parkhead CC. This had been done in black and white but was still eye catching. It also made mention of a garden of merits award which may be worth exploring for this area in the spring.

They both through that with the Fairmilehead Water site development it may time to look at producing another issue. It was agreed that this should be looked at in the new year possibly with a spring edition in mind.

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11. AOCB In response to queries it was stated that there was no information on the consultation exercise regarding the Scottish Water pre application consultation. However when any information was available this would be brought to the meeting.

12. Date Of Next Meeting

This was arranged for Tuesday 7 December 2010 in Fairmilehead Parish Church.

Forthcoming Meetings: Tuesday 4 January 2011 Tuesday 1 February 2011 Tuesday 1 March 2011

Contacts: e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.fairmileheadcc.org.uk

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Please indicate below any issues you would like to discuss at future meetings

Anti Social behaviour (ASB) In you area †

Crime in area †

Street drinking and location †

Hotspots of ASB in your area †

Youth issues †

Vandalism †

Graffiti †

Dog Fouling †

Litter †

Feeling safe after dark †

Crime prevention †

Noise †

Drug Dealing †

How Safe do you feel during the:

Day?

After Dark

Why don’t you feel safe?

What would make you feel safe?

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