Minutes of the Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council ordinary meeting, held via MS Teams, on Tuesday 28 June 2022 at 6:30pm

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

J Marlborough chaired this meeting

1 Introductions and apologies for absence

1.a Present

Stewart Auld	LHNCC	Neil Tulloch	LHNCC
Don Giles	LHNCC	Bruce Ryan	minutes secretary
Jennifer Marlborough	LHNCC	Cllr Chas Booth	Leith ward
Jim Preacher	LHNCC	Una Richards	Scottish Historic Buildings Trust
Douglas Tharby	LHNCC	~2 residents/visitors

1.b Apologies for absence

Elaine Dick	LHNCC	Cllr Katrina Faccenda	Leith ward	PC Chris Casselden	Police Scotland
Arthur Young	NTBCC	Cllr Adam McVey	Leith ward

2 Declarations of interests

none

3 Minutes of May 2022 meeting

Approved as-is (proposed S Auld, seconded N Tulluch, nem con)

4 Matters arising

4.a Seafield

• N Tulloch: the sounding board meeting scheduled for today was cancelled because the masterplan consultant has not yet been appointed. The Seafield group is unhappy with the procurement process proceeding without community involvement. It was agreed at a meeting with CEC officers that the Seafield group with have a right of veto around the choice of consultant. It was also confirmed that the group will be involved, on the basis of the memorandum of understanding. The group was advised that it may need to sign a non-disclosure agreement around commercial information. It may also need a code of conduct, but CCs already have a code of conduct so this may be superfluous.
  • Progress isn’t as rapid as hoped but the masterplan should be complete by the end of 2022.
  • Seafield has no relationship with the Granton masterplan: that has a single landowner but Seafield has many. Fountainbridge might be the closest analogy to Seafield.

5 Police report

See PDF on LHNCC website or text of report in appendix 1.

J Marlborough thanked Cllr Booth for getting swift action on discarded drug paraphernalia.

6 Councillor/MSP/MP reports

6.a Cllr Booth

• One of my key areas is work on better buses. I had asked for a meeting of the three ward councillors and community councils with Lothian Buses, about issues such as withdrawal of the 22 service, lack of a service for the north of Leith Linksand lack of a Leith to Western General Key Service.
  • Due to timetabling issues, only Cllr Faccenda and I could meet with Lothian Buses. This was a fairly fruitful meeting. Service 22 suffered from many roadworks, particularly the tram works nd the north bridge refurbishment. Lothian Buses will review the situation but while the tram works remain, it will be difficult to reinstate the 22 service.
    • J Marlborough: I’ve not received any reply to my letters about this. There is a lack of bus service from Leith to Waverley station. Services 11 and 16 stop at the Scott Monument, thus requiring relatively long walks or two buses to get to Waverley station. It is also difficult to get to the Gyle Centre or Ocean Terminal by bus. Diversions are happening without notice.
    • Cllr Booth: Lothian Buses is struggling to recruit drivers: other industries pay more. Also, the bus-tracker technology is getting old, so Lothian Buses sometimes has difficulty telling its own drivers about traffic conditions and diversions. I am raising another motion on bus-lane hours, and bus reliability.
  • There is a realistic chance of restoring bus services north of Leith Links, when tram works finish on Constitution St.
  • The Leith – Western general service would need subsidy from CEC.
    • Action: Leith ward councillors to pursue this.

Rainbow/pride bridge: I have been pressing CEC officers since December 2021 to explore alternatives to demolition. I have raised an emotion calling for a report on options, including partial infilling. The other ward councillors concur.

• S Auld: many road-markings, including box-junction marks, have been completely obliterated. What is CEC’s policy?
  • J Marlborough: the trams team will reinstate some – but not all – markings on Ocean Drive.
  • S Auld: there should be double-yellow lines at the Newhaven Place/Lindsay Rd junction.
  • Action: Cllr Booth to pursue these issues

7 Chair, Secretary and Treasurer reports

7.a Treasurer

• D Tharby: there was a phishing attempt on LHNCC’s finances.
• D Tharby: LHNCC’s current balance is £240·46. There is one new invoice, for LHNCC’s share of the gala costs (£16·67)
  • J Marlborough: Ocean Terminal is now looking after the CC gazebo

8 Custom house feasibility study

See video of presentation or presentation slides.

Una Richards, chief executive of Scottish Historical Buildings Trust, presented.

• CH was built in 1811, and had major alterations in 1824. It was used by customs and excise untll the 1970s, then became a store for the Museum of Scotland until 2014. At that point, it was suggested CH is used for the community. CH has bought with common good funding late in that year.
• SHBT got a 5-year lease in 2015. This is due to become a 99-year lease when SHBT is ready for a capital project.
• SHBT has been using the building in a ‘meanwhile’ manner, introducing power supplies and toilets. It has been colonized by artists, craftspeople it. There have been various open days, in which SHBT has been consulting on the building’s use.
• SHBT has undertaken a full, more structural consultation, which found there should be exhibitions on Leith’s history, a community hub, etc
• A design team was appointed to develop a feasibility study. It found that basic repairs would cost £4m.
• A vision has been created for the building and its stories.
• Design considerations include access, interventions, use options and sustainability. Options include
  • Enhance existing use (plans in slide 12)
  • Commercial use to support community/heritage use (plans in slides 13 and 14)
  • A mix of community, commercial and creative uses (plans in slide 15)
• However the consultation outcome was a mix of all of these a community/creative hub Plans in slides 16 to 21). This would cost about £15m
• Next steps include wider consultations (slides 22 to 23)

8.a Discussion/Q&A

• Cllr Booth: where would funding come from?
  • Historic Environment Scotland, the national lottery, various trusts, foundations and private donors.
• J Marlborough: can Forth Ports help – its parent company made huge profits this year.
  • We will approach FP (and CEC).
• S Auld: much of the building is devoted to artisans etc. Is there sufficient interest?
  • We are in dialogue with existing residents: they wish to stay. There is likely to be demand from our other Leith tenants

9 Standing reports

All items held over to next LHNCC meeting

• Action: LHNCC to arrange an extra meeting to deal with this holdover.

10 Resident Issues

Held over to next meeting

11 Edinburgh Association of Community Councils (EACC)

Held over to next meeting

12 AOCB

Held over to next meeting

13 Date of next meeting

Tuesday 23 August 2022

14 Appendix 1: text of police report

14.a Looking Back

This month has seen a continuation of the work of the ‘Tyre extinguishers’ in the New town and beyond, details are being noted in relation to either breach of the peace or culpable and reckless conduct dependant on the nature of the incident. It is very hard to pin point who is doing this as it seems likely to be a number of individuals working towards a common goal. Most of the areas they target are away from CCTV however some of the leaflets left on the vehicles have been sent for forensic analysis. Please continue to be vigilant to those intent on letting down tyres on SUV style vehicles who seem to be doing so in the hours of darkness. Also, please ensure your vehicle, tyres in particular are correctly inflated before driving to minimise any risks to yourself and others.

On a similar environmental theme, a large window was smashed at Barclays bank on Princes Street by an extinction rebellion activist, part of a series of vandalism in Glasgow and Aberdeen, a female has been charged and reported for this incident. Barclays is a target due to its record in investment in fossil fuels.

14.b What We’re Noticing

There have been a spate of vehicle thefts in the new town. A Landrover was stolen opposite Broughton St Marys Parish church and a motor bike was stolen in the early evening at Fettes Row which has since been recovered thanks to a tracker installed by the owner. A further motor bike was stolen by three males with balaclavas on George Street. Two of the males were on scooters and the third male drove off on the bike around midnight on George Street, a person has since been identified for this theft.

There was just one break in to a domestic premises on Great King Street where a male has climbed in an open window and then fled when confronted by the occupier but not before they have managed to steal some small electrical goods. The housebreaking enquiry team have a suspect in mind for this crime.

We have been giving attention to areas where we still receive complaints re speeding in the 20mph roads of the new town with several drivers warned and tickets issues to those travelling at excessive speed. One of these offenders was the driver of a private hire car and he has been reported to the CAB office, a joint police/council department who monitor drivers issued with taxi licenses. As this limit has been in place for several years there is really no excuse for us not to all be aware and follow the 20’s plenty.

14.c Looking Forward

The City Centre continues to get busier now that restrictions have been removed. Resources are already being put in place for Operation Summer City when the festival returns. Officers from divisions out with Edinburgh will be amongst the additional officers being deployed. This will extensively boost the amount of officers that are within the city centre at any one time to ensure that tourists and residents alike can enjoy the festival safely.

If there are any issues which we feel you should know about, we will of course update you in the forthcoming newsletters, but if there is anything you would like us to address, or crime prevention information you would like us to provide, please let us know and we will tailor the content accordingly.

Kind Regards, City Centre Community Policing Team

14.d About Us

• Local Area Commander: Chief Inspector Kieran Dougal
• Leith Community Policing Team based at Leith Police Station:
  • Inspector Colin Fordyce
  • Sergeant Sam Rose
• Your local Community Beat Officer for NL26:
  • Constable Chris Casselden
  • Plus 8 officers dedicated to community issues in Leith

14.d.i Contact Us:

• 101 for non emergencies
• Email: edinburghcptnortheast@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
• Twitter: @EdinPolNe
• Facebook: EdinburghPoliceDivision
• Web: scotland.police.uk