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LHNCC February 2024 minutes

Minutes of the Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council ordinary meeting, held at Custom House, on Tuesday 27 February 2024 at 6:30pm

Actions and decisions are red italic. Nem con means that no-one spoke or voted against an item.

1 Introductions and attendance

Frank Geoghegan-Quinn LHNCC Arthur Young LHNCC Sergeant Chris Casselden Police Scotland
Douglas Tharby LHNCC Cllr Chas Booth Leith ward 2 residents/visitors
Neil Tulloch LHNCC PC Lynsey Crawford Police Scotland

2 Apologies for absence

Elaine Dick LHNCC Cllr Katrina Faccenda Leith ward
Jason Ran LHNCC Ben Macpherson MSP Edinburgh Northern and Leith
Bruce Ryan minutes secretary Deidre Brock MSP Edinburgh North and Leith

3 Minutes of January 2024 meeting

Approved subject to noting that members present accepted F Geoghegan-Quinn as secretary (proposed A Young, seconded N Tulloch)

4 Matters arising

  • Ian Anderson of SOSLeith has passed away. LHNCC sends its condolences to his wife and family.

4.a Actions from November meeting

Row Item Actor Action Status
1 3.a (row 1) J Scanlon Forward to LHNCC the police report received by Leith Links CC Held over – J Scanlon not present
2 3.a (row 3, 4) D Tharby Chase for map of NE locality and its clusters, map of LHNCC GP changes
3 3.a (row 9) Cllr Booth Chase for a CCTT/trams team meeting date See item 7.c.ii below
4 3.a (row 10) Cllr Booth Chase for information on electric vehicle charging points
5 4.b D Tharby,
J Ran		 Arrange a meeting about local place plan Held over – J Ran not present
6 4.b LHNCC Discuss its local place plan
7 6 D Tharby Enable F G-Q to take over secretary duties In progress
8 6 E Dick Give F G-Q access to the secretary email address, and the laptop Held over – E Dick not present
9 8.a.i D Tharby Pursue planning upskilling See item 7.a.i below
10 8.a.v E Dick Ask Ocean Terminal to present about the application in February Held over – E Dick not present
11 8.a.vi LHNCC Work on local place plan See item 7.a.vi below
12 8.c.i E Dick Contact H Tobermann to follow up about CCTT Held over – E Dick not present
13 8.d.iii friends of Western
Harbour ponds		 Share their objection to development here with LHNCC
14 8.e.iii E Dick, D Tharby Collaborate on LHNCC’s work on Discovery Gardens Held over – E Dick not present
15 11 D Tharby Arrange for F Geoghegan-Quinn to become a signatory of bank account
16 13 E Dick Arrange a business meeting for LHNCC Held over – E Dick not present

5 Residents’ Issues

5.a Anchorfield update

  • Cllr Booth, D Tharby: Some of the scaffolding has been removed but residents have not yet been able to return.

5.b Dogs walked in public spaces

  • D Tharby: there is a growing problem of dog-attacks, which I have raised with CEC parks – dogs should be leashed in parks.
    • Cllr Booth: CEC has limited enforcement powers. Reports of dogs and owners can be sent to streetenforcement@edinburgh.gov.uk, who may be able to take action.
    • Sgt Casselden: see also advice on dangerous dogs on page 5 of the police report.
    • There was discussion of XL Bullies, the need for owners to train their dogs, and Police Scotland’s dog unit.

5.c Pavement parking

  • F Geoghegan-Quinn: a resident has contacted LHNCC about an incident of pavement parking not being tackled. LHNCC should be aware that such reports incidents are likely to increase now pavement parking is illegal. CEC is attempting to recruit more parking attendants. Meanwhile there is concern (over the impression) that enforcement is only taking place in ‘honeypot’ areas, which may lead to people ignoring regulations.
    • Cllr Booth: residents can inform ward councillors, who will then inform the police, or use a CEC webform.

6 Police report

  • See report on LHNCC website. Sgt Casselden and PC Crawford also reported:
    • The number of calls in total was roughly the same as previous months. However there was a significant increase in public nuisance calls (from 8 to 21), in part due to youths throwing pebbles at passing trams. Police are working to identify suspects. There were about half the number of ‘concern for’ calls than in last February.
    • The number of shoplifting calls varies month by month. Shops and shop organisations need to implement security. There is recent legislation on assaults of retain staff, which may change how such assaults are reported and recorded.
      • D Tharby: there has been a spate of shoplifting, including threats to shop staff. Leith has a very high SIMD score.
      • A Young: a shop door on Lyndsey Rd has been repeatedly vandalised.
      • There was discussion of habitual offenders.
    • F Geoghegan-Quinn: will Police Scotland undertake any initiatives to support Edinburgh’s jewish population?
      • Police: we are not aware of any, nor of police advising people to hide their religious symbols. If such has happened, people can and should make official complaints.
      • There was discussion of racist graffiti – police will remove this.

7 Standing reports

7.a Planning

7.a.i Upskill training in planning for LHNCC

  • D Tharby: CEC is putting together relevant training
    • Cllr Booth: CEC planning produced training materials in the past but they are now out of date. I will chase for updates.
    • F Geoghegan-Quinn: There are useful videos on the Improvement Service’s YouTube channel.
    • N Tulloch: training materials will need to cover the relatively new NPF4.

7.a.ii Seafield update

  • N Tulloch: there has been no progress. A presentation by the Met Office included a 16m rise in sea levels by 2300.

7.a.iii Ocean Terminal

  • D Tharby: OT is keen to present to LHNCC, but could not do so at this meeting. It is not clear when work would start.

7.a.iv Discovery Garden project

  • D Tharby: there is keenness for this project to proceed. LHNCC may wish to have a further representative. I will keep LHNCC informed.

7.a.v Western Harbour Ponds

  • Cllr Booth: tree preservation orders have been granted.

7.a.vi Local place plans

  • D Tharby: LHNCC member J Ran is taking on this work. LHNCC needs to be concerned with the future of its area.
    • Cllr Booth: CityPlan 2030 should come back to CEC in late February – early March.

7.b Licensing

  • No substantive points raised.
    • Cllr Booth: there is no update on the Foot of the Walk bar.

7.c Transport

7.c.i Update on Edinburgh Tram operations

  • No substantive points raised

7.c.ii Community Councils Together on Trams (CCTT), LHNCC membership

  • Cllr Booth: a further briefing for local CEC cllrs is due. Further CCTT have not yet been arranged.
    • D Tharby: CCTT has asked for two LHNCC representatives. E Dick and N Tulloch will undertake this.

7.c.iii Update on Edinburgh Bus Users Group

  • F Geoghegan-Quinn: new timetables will begin in March, as may a revision to fares.

7.d Environment

7.d.i Edinburgh Green Spaces, future presentation

  • D Tharby: EGP wishes to present to LHNCC later in 2024.

7.d.ii Friends of the Water of Leith Basin (FoWLB) update

  • A FoWLB representative: I am now FoWLB’s secretary. I could work with LHNCC on licensing.

7.d.iii SOSLeith

  • An SOSLeith representative: We are very pleased about the forthcoming CEC motion on testing for foecal bacteria, and would appreciate LHNCC’s support of this motion.
    • D Tharby: there is a stakeholder meeting at Mimi’s Bakehouse on 8 March, 3:00pm to 4:30pm.

7.e Heritage

7.e.i News from Scottish Historic Buildings Trust

  • D Tharby: SHBT now has a new CEO: Dr Samuel Gallacher. He has much relevant experience.

7.f Community

7.f.i £eithChooses Awards Night, 22nd February, Kirkgate Community Centre

7.f.ii North East Locality Community Planning Partnership, LIP development update

  • D Tharby: CPP chairs have met, to discuss a potential 5-year plan that will be based on recent consultations.

7.f.iii Review of Edinburgh Community Council Scheme and Boundaries, 29th February

  • D Tharby: I was the only attendee of a relevant meeting at CEC. Some CCs are much bigger than others. I do not support major changes to LHNCC’s area.
    • Cllr Booth: there is a further consultation.
    • F Geoghegan-Quinn: I will attend one of the consultation sessions. There are also online consultation events.

8 Edinburgh City Councillor’s reports

8.a Cllr Booth

  • CEC is consulting on plans for the Pride bridge.
  • The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Edinburgh is buildings. CEC is consulting on a draft strategy, in which Leith would become part of a heat network zone.
    • D Tharby: there is also a consultation on community engagement.
  • CEC’s budget has been set. There will be more money for schools, roads, lighting and drainage, and a council tax freeze.
  • CEC planning discussed short-term lets. 650 STL licenses have been granted, but there have been no refusals. There needs to better co-ordination between CEC’s planning and licensing departments on STLs. (Planning has refused some applications, on grounds of disruption neighbours or loss of housing, based on NPF4.) There have been claims that all ‘historic’ STL applications should be approved, based on recent judicial reviews about dates of changes of use.
  • CEC has not been hit as hard by SG grant-cuts as other councils, but there may be cuts to social care. As far as I know, there will not be cuts to CEC libraries. Edinburgh Leisure does not plan to close any premises. The STL industry may argue that STLs provide housing for non-tourists as well as tourists.
    • I cannot comment on any future planning applications, except that they will be judged against the current local development plan. Ocean Terminal plans were approved in late 2023. (There was a hearing because the area is specified in NPF4.) Further ‘waterfront’ planning applications are due.

9 Local MSPs’ and MP’s reports

No reports – no MSP or MP present

10 LHNCC treasurer’s report

  • D Tharby: bank balance was £932·72 as of the last bank statement, but the current balance is around £800.
    • LHNCC has paid its annual Information Commissioner Officer’s fee and for use of Heart of Newhaven in March.
    • LHNCC’s financial year ends at the end of March, and will sign off its accounts at its AGM later in 2024.

11 EACC update

  • D Tharby: EACC will meet this Thursday. I will circulate details.

12 AOCB

12.a Consultations

  • D Tharby, N Tulloch: There are currently consultations on Edinburgh’s public libraries and the Leith LTN.
    • Cllr Booth: CEC is also consulting on the LTN TRO.
    • There was discussion of the impacts of CPZs and LTNs. It seems that many objectors do not live in the relevant areas.

12.b Digital matters

  • F Geoghegan-Quinn: LHNCC members should report any suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.
  • F Geoghegan-Quinn: LHNCC follows 223 accounts on X (Twitter) and is followed by 829 accounts.

13 Dates of future meetings

Tuesday 26th March 2024 (at Heart of Newhaven), Tuesday 23rd April 2024

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