Davidson’s Mains & Association www.dmsa.org.uk

November NEWSLETTER 2019

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS GROUP

We are delighted to announce the Christmas Lights switch-on event will be from 5-7pm on Saturday 30 November at Holy Cross Church. We have a very special start planned for the event and we’d hate for you to miss it, so please come down as soon as you can. We’re selling tickets again this year; it’s £2.50 for adults and kids are free. We’re going to have a slight change of layout. To help protect the grass in the churchyard, we’ll be making more use of East Barnton Gardens and the space at the entrance to the park. As usual we’re keeping it local, so we’ll be selling the traditional food and drink favourites, with fun for the kids, entertainment from the stage, and a warm welcome with hot drinks and cake in the hall. DMains Tap – a special locally brewed ale - will be back, on draught and in bottles to take home. And new for this year, Sue’s Kitchen will be selling their delicious homemade Thai food. We’re really looking forward to seeing you all there, and making this a really special community event. We’ve had a busy year of fundraising and planning. Our recent bag pack in DMains Tesco raised over £400. Thank you to everyone who supported us. A big change for us is that we are now a constituted group, and so after a couple years of brilliant support and guidance from DMSA, we’ve become self-sufficient and are managing our own budget, but we’ll remain closely associated with them. We originally formed as a group in 2017 when City Council were unable to guarantee they would continue to provide Christmas street decorations. Our fundraising campaign was launched in order to secure the future of a Christmas lights display along Main Street. Thanks to the fantastic support of the community we met our £10K target this year, and were fortunate to receive another two years of the Council providing the lights. So you will see the Council lights are being used again this year. We’re continuing our fundraising to give us a sustainable plan for providing a really special local lights display and to make sure we can host our switch-on event every year. Although we’re now in a position where we don’t know whether the Council will provide lights in 2020, at least we can give you a guarantee that there will be a lights display in future years. And this year we are starting to use our funds to provide a number of new additional light displays to bring some extra sparkle to Main Street. We’d love to hear from you if you’ve got ideas for the future of the Christmas lights display or the switch-on event, and of course if you have any spare time, we always welcome new volunteers. We’ll be holding our AGM in March, and will post the details nearer the time. Please come along and say hello. You’ll find us online on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for news and updates on our fantastic sponsors and supporters. You can also send us an email at [email protected] or visit our new website www.dmainsxmaslights.com for details of when and where you can buy tickets for the switch-on event. But you will also be able to pay at the gate. Finally, huge thanks from all of us for the continued wonderful support from residents, businesses, Davidson’s Mains Primary School and the community organisations of Davidson’s Mains and Silverknowes. Together, let’s make DMains shine! The Christmas Lights Group

HOW TO CONTACT THE DMSA

We are always very interested in hearing from residents on local issues and welcome relevant comments that any resident cares to make. The best way to contact us is via our website, or contacting Charlotte or Rod by whichever method suits. We have been circulating members of the Association with email communications about important local issues which appears to have been welcomed. If you are not a member and would like access to our communications it is still possible to join the Association for the modest sum of only £2 per annum. New members would be very welcome. If you are interested or just want to support the work we do you can apply for membership by downloading the form through our website, completing the comment slip on the website or by contacting Charlotte directly. Contact details are as follows: Secretary, Charlotte Cowe, 151 Main Street, EH4 5AQ. Tel: 0131 336 2494 email: [email protected] Chair, Rod Alexander, Tel: 0131 336 3856 Via the website www.dmsa.org.uk

PROPOSALS FOR A DEFIBRILLATOR IN THE VILLAGE

Public awareness is increasing all the time about the benefits of having quick access to a Defibrillator after a cardiac arrest. Without any immediate response, survival rates are as low as only 1 in 20. However ,if a defibrillator can be used quickly within 3-5 minutes of collapse, survival rates increase dramatically to as much as 75%. These statistics provide overwhelming evidence of the case for having defibrillators readily available to the public. In Davidson’s Mains there are defibrillators available at a number of locations including Tesco, DM Dentist , Ye Olde Inn and Maitland Bowling Club and at the Parish Church where a new one has just been installed . This is a fair number but the only one which has external access and is available for 24 hours per day is the new one at the church. It is excellent for the church and the Quality Street end of the village but it is a bit remote from the village centre. The Association has for some time been interested in providing a defibrillator in a public location central to the village with 24 hour, 7 days a week access although we were always a bit concerned about the cost and had anticipated it would need a public appeal or contributions from local businesses. However towards the end of last year we were approached by a generous local resident who was willing to provide the necessary funds if a suitable location could be identified . At that stage we moved to have detailed discussions with St. John who run a Public Access Defibrillator Project and who provide advice on all aspects of installation, maintenance and training for the equipment. The scheme requires a hosting arrangement for the equipment and the Association would be very pleased to do this on behalf of the community. The situation now is very hopeful . As we go to print it looks like we have a possible location at the junction of Corbiehill Road and Main Street and we are seeking assurances on the availability of funds, so there is every chance of this worthwhile initiative going ahead very soon. We will provide a lot more information about the defibrillator, the location and the generous donor once everything is firmed up . ACTIVE TRAVEL AND SAFER ROUTES TO SCHOOL CAMPAIGN The Association has had discussions with a group from the Davidson’s Mains Primary School Parent Council to discuss the development of an Active Travel Plan for the school. The objectives will be to increase active travel with more walking and cycling to school with less parental car usage which has safety implications for pupils around the school entrance on Corbiehill Road and leads to very high levels of air pollution from car exhausts. The broad purpose will be to encourage a change in the behaviour of parents and children to move to active travel while seeking investment to improve safety. The DMSA recognises that this will be a plan owned by the Parent Council who are themselves best placed to engage with the parents and pupils on changing attitudes and behaviour with respect to the means of travel to school, but the Association, and Future DMS , are local groups can help to campaign and give support for the type of investment needed for dedicated safe routes to school, some aspects of which may require significant investment and will take time effort and commitment to try to ensure that Council funding can be made available. A good example is the route to school from Silverknowes which has over 35% of the school role. There is only one recognised route to school for most of these pupils who travel via the route over the bridge on Silverknowes Road, to the crossing on Main Street and then along Vivian Terrace to the school on Corbiehill Road. Nearly all the children from Silverknowes use this route and either walk, scoot or cycle to the school. There is clearly a very strong case for designating this as a protected walking and cycle route from the junction with Silverknowes East to the school entrance. A school survey highlighted the fact that parents and children view the crossing on Main Street as high risk and Future DMS have developed a design to take this forward. This is something which is mentioned elsewhere in our Newsletter. When the children and parents reach Corbiehill Road they encounter the risks from the parking problems at the school and the pollution from the exhausts. There are other clear primary routes to school for which plans are needed but this gives an example of the sort of direction which is needed with a number of strands of action each feeding in to a common purpose. The DMSA will be supporting it in any way we can. NEWS FROM FRIENDS OF THE PARK

The decorative painting of the football club container has now been completed and is the result of a collaboration over the last 18 months, between the Friends of Davidsons Mains Park, who originated the idea of an artwork, the Royal High School Art Department, and the Davidson’s Mains and Silverknowes Association . On behalf of the Friends, I wish to thank the input of the different groups in bringing the project to a successful conclusion. Special thanks should go to Mike McNiven who managed the project on behalf of the Friends and worked closely with RHS in coordinating the work of the S2 students,. Two students from RHS undertook a project to collect and record litter in the Park over a 12 week period for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. A body of work was produced that could be used to inform future monitoring of litter in the Park. The North West cycle route area was cleared for wild flower meadow planting. This has been fenced off whilst cleaning and replanting is done. The Park Rangers have replaced some of the failed Apple Trees in the Fruit Orchard area adjacent to the Millennium Wood in the NW corner. Future care and maintenance of this area is essential if we are to develop a proper orchard, so the Friends need volunteers to help with this. Spontaneous artworks have appeared using natural materials in the southern woodland adjacent to Queensferry Road. There is still outstanding work to be done including waste bin replacement, container artwork paintwork retouching and flooding is still a problem, FoDMP Information panels are showing serious deterioration and the East entrance planting area is overgrown. The Friends of Davidsons Mains Park need your help to increase membership and recruit volunteers. Dan Smith Chair, FoDMP [email protected] NEWS FROM FUTUREDMS

FutureDMS had a meeting recently to discuss our direction for next year and we decided that the obvious thing to do is to give priority to getting behind the Primary School in the campaign for Safer Routes to School. Our public meetings have clearly identified that safety on the route to the school from Silverknowes is one of the main concerns for local parents with the crossing at Main Street being top of the list. The risks to children from lack of space and congestion on the narrow footpaths on the approach to the crossing and the speed of traffic are just two of the main problems that parents are concerned about. When the Council were approached in 2018 about the poor design of the crossing, they took the line that the new 20 mph speed restriction on Main Street would have the effect of reducing the risks at the crossing and said they would not consider the issue further until a planned review into the 20 mph limit had been undertaken. We now know that there has been little effective reduction in average traffic speeds from the policy so in 2020 we will press on to approach the Council with our proposed re- design of the crossing. It may take time to achieve success but that will be our priority and it is as a key component of the safer routes strategy. In a wider sense FutureDMS is delighted that our Facebook Page has become a popular, vibrant, and successful medium for the discussion of local issues around Davidson’s Mains and Silverknowes. We take great satisfaction in that and we want to keep it going and build on the success. Keep in touch and let us know what you think about local topics on Facebook.

NEWS FROM THE 30TH CRAIGALMOND (DAVIDSON’S MAINS) SCOUT GROUP 30th Craigalmond (Davidson’s Mains) Scout Group continues to go from strength-to-strength. Each week 150 young people (aged 6-14) take part in a wide variety of activities aimed at providing Skills for Life. The past term the Beavers had a brilliant time staying overnight at Fordell Firs where they took part in crate climbing, archery, an adventure trail, circus skills and lots more. The Beavers also had a great time visiting Pets at Home to learn the welfare needs of animals. The Cubs took part in orienteering at Hill, played lots of team-building games and learned to make and then fly kites as part of Chinese New Year. As well as this, the Cubs were learning about environmental conservation and took part in a beach clean at foreshore. The Scout section camp to Blair Drummond Safari Park was a ROARING success! Sleeping in yurts opposite the lion enclosure was a great experience for the Scouts and getting our own private tour of the Park before it opened to the public was pretty cool too. Some of our older Scouts were fortunate to go sailing around the Isle of Bute with the Ocean Youth Trust, which was a truly unforgettable experience! Scouting is thriving in Davidson’s Mains due to the time that our volunteers devote to running such exciting programmes for our young people. We are, however, always looking for new volunteers, so if you’re interested in joining in the fun, please contact: Dylan Lynch, Group Scout Leader on 07870807067 |[email protected]|30thscouts.org.uk You can see what the Group is getting up to on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/30thscouts.

LATEST UPDATE ON PROPOSALS FOR DAVIDSON'S MAINS ROUNDABOUT The upgrade of the roundabout is dragging on and as we go to print we are awaiting the Council Report on the outcome of the recent public consultation on the proposed design. Following extensive monitoring and analysis of traffic movements at the roundabout over last winter the Council decided to stick with a recommendation for an upgrade to the basic roundabout rather than the construction of a traffic light controlled junction, presumably on the basis that an upgrade to the roundabout was appropriate to meet traffic needs and that the much more expensive traffic light option could not be cost justified. Over 1200 letters were posted to residents of Davidson’s Mains as part of the consultation, although it is regrettable that Silverknowes was not included in the postal survey. Nevertheless all local residents were able to comment on line and a number of residents made their views known to the Association. We understand that over 200 responses were received by the Council with the vast majority expressing concern about the proposal to reduce Main Street, Quality Street and Cramond Road South down to single carriageways on the approach to the crossings. This is hardly surprising given the current serious problems with traffic queuing in the village at peak times, and the fact it could only get worse after the changes. The Council tell us they will reply to all the issues raised in responses to the consultation but we think they should have explained the rationale behind the reduction to single carriageways at the time of putting the design out to public consultation. We know from discussions with the Planning Engineers that the justification for the change is that current safety guidelines for pedestrian crossings strongly advise against any situation where a crossing is on a road with more than one line of traffic on the approach to the crossing; the risk being that the traffic in the nearside lane can be stationary for a pedestrian to cross, but the individual is then at risk from a vehicle which may fail to stop in the outer lane. In essence it is a trade off for more delays against improved safety for pedestrians, and pedestrian safety is the priority. It is anticipated that the response to the consultation will now be provided early in December and we have been assured funds are allocated for the work to be undertaken in 2020.

LOCAL PARKING AND TRAFFIC ISSUES We covered the reasons behind the congestion and parking problems in our area in our last Newsletter so there is no need to repeat them now but it can be said residents do not need any more comment on the current situation, other than it continues to get worse. To add to the misery, Davidsons Mains has been subjected to continual road works over the whole of this year due to the activities of the various utility companies. We appreciate that most of it relates to upgrading work and improvements to local services but there is no question it has all tested everyone’s patience in the short term. On a couple of points: there are driver infringements taking place relating to the vehicle length restriction on Farm Road and to the weight limit on Main Street . The planned DMSA surveys to identify the culprits had to be postponed this year because of all the disruption from the road works but surveys will definitely be planned for next year. Offers of help for an hour would be welcomed. This consists of taking names, registrations numbers of offending vehicles. Please contact Charlotte if you would like to participate in this. On parking, the proposed residents parking scheme for The Green was rejected for the present by the Council, but they did acknowledge that there was a serious problem and agreed to a further review next year.

FLOWER PLANTERS FOR THE VILLAGE

Last year at this time, we had plans for flower planters at two or three locations on Main Street with the commitment from a public spirited group of local ladies to maintain them over the summer. It seemed to be an excellent plan to introduce some colour into the village and we were very keen to support the initiative. One of the ladies had already set up a planter outside the former Clydesdale Bank building on her own initiative and kept it going during the recent summer. Unfortunately the plans for more planters did not go as intended. It took some time to get the Council to accept the idea , but eventually they agreed and they even went on to offer to provide planters from Council stock. That is where difficulties arose. Despite our best endeavours we could not get the Council to identify and deliver suitable planters and by mid summer it just became too late to organise it for this year. The lesson has been learned and for summer 2020 we plan to arrange for our own planters if the Council will not provide them . It is great that the ladies are still willing to give up their time to maintain them so we can look forward to attractive flowers and plants on Main Street next year with perhaps some scent to counter the vehicle fumes.

INFORMATION ON SOME FUTURE LOCAL PROJECTS The upgrade of the cycle path through the park has been completed and this will be followed by a re-design of the exit from the path at the crossing on Queensferry Road some time in 2020. The next significant project for our area is then likely to be to be the upgrade of the roundabout at the west end of Main Street, which is discussed elsewhere in our Newsletter, also programmed for 2020. It is becoming increasingly difficult to gain approval and funding for projects given the financial situation for local authorities but there are a number of other projects that have been identified which the Association considers to be justified on safety grounds. These include : Improvements to the pedestrian crossing on Main Street at Silverknowes Road; An upgrade to the roundabout at the junction of Silverknowes Road East with Ferry Road, including a realignment of the approaches to the roundabout. Footpath widening and carriageway narrowing on Corbiehill Road at the Primary School as a deterrent to parking. Extension of the Cycle Path from Silverknowes Road Bridge to Cramond Road South. Minor projects in the pipeline include a refuge island on Corbiehill Road at Main Street and replacement of damaged/missing trees around the periphery of The Green . Later it is hoped to replace the missing trees on Silverknowes Avenue and to replace the large trees at the west end of The Green with a smaller more appropriate variety.

NORTH WEST HERITAGE – OUR LOCAL HISTORY GROUP

Talks are held alternately at St. Columba’s Church, Blackhall and Davidson’s Mains Parish Church, Quality Street and are open to everyone. Cost is £2.00 per talk. Note the different meeting times depending on the venue. The talks for this session are: Wednesday 22 January 2020 & Other Mansions of Old Cramond Parish. Bill Weir continues his series on local Mansion Houses. Davidson’s Mains Parish Church Hall at 7.30 pm Wednesday 19 February 2020 Branch Railway. Kenneth Williamson. St. Columba’s Church , Blackhall at 8 pm Wednesday 18 March 2020 William Speirs Bruce Scotland's Polar Explorer. Simon Bendle. Davidson’s Mains Parish Church Hall at 7.30 pm Wednesday 22 April 2020 AGM followed by a talk on Edinburgh’s Water Supply. Douglas Lowe ( & District Local History Society) St. Columba’s Church , Blackhall at 8 pm Our website now has a photo archive. The collection is still ongoing so we would be delighted if people have further photographs which they would like to share with us For further information contact the Secretary, Charlotte Cowe, 336 2494; email: [email protected] Website http://www.nwhe.btck.co.uk