LHNCC area

by

The Trams are coming!

Members Briefing 452: First day of Edinburgh Tram passenger service announcement

The date of the first day of Edinburgh Trams passenger service will be announced publicly today.

Councillor Lesley Hinds will be joined at the Gyle Centre tram stop by Transport Minister Keith Brown and Transport for Edinburgh Chief Executive Ian Craig at 9am today to unveil the start date of 31 May 2014, with a specially liveried tram bearing the date and #readytoroll.

The confirmation of the May ‘go live’ date comes as Edinburgh Trams approach the latter stages of a period of essential and rigorous testing, commissioning and driver training in preparation for the return of trams to Scotland’s Capital.

The system has been assessed, training and testing have reached a satisfactory stage, meaning that the four-week countdown can begin.

Media Plan for the announcement:

8:45am – Media assemble at Gyle Centre tram stop

9:00am – Liveried tram pulls up at Gyle Centre tram stop bearing launch date and #readytoroll hashtag
– Council press release issued announcing date and promoted via social media

9-9:30am – Photos and interviews carried out with Cllr Hinds, Ian Craig and Mr Brown with liveried tram in backgroun

Further information:

Katie Spence

Tram Communications Manager
E-mail:katie.spence@edinburgh.gov.uk

Tel: 0131 529 6225

by

Edinburgh Street Design

The Council has prepared new guidance for street design which focuses on creating better places for people.

Consultation will run until 30 June 2014.

The Council would like your views on the draft EDINBURGH STREET DESIGN GUIDANCE and the design of streets in the city.

You can read the document and complete the on-line survey on the Council’s web site http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/streetdesign

Alternatively you can e-mail us with your comments directly at streetdesign@edinburgh.gov.uk

You can follow progress on the consultation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/planningedin

by

Leith Programme update

We can announce that the Tender assessment for the next phase of the Leith Programme (Pilrig Street to the Foot of the Walk) is complete and the winning Tenderer is Crummock (Scotland) Ltd. The contractors will now begin to mobilise for an anticipated works start date of 5th May 2014.

 Our contractors have assured us that they will make every effort to keep disruption to a minimum, keep the worksites safe and maintain access to properties and businesses. Measures to endeavour to ensure this include:

·         Providing safe segregated working sites and safe surrounds

·         Providing appropriate signage and information

·         Working outwith normal site hours of operation if issues are identified with maintaining access during the working day

·         Minimise parking restrictions as much as possible

·         Dust suppression during cutting procedures

·         Daily inspection of site for cleanliness, security, trip hazards

 At times, it will be necessary to close side roads during resurfacing and work on junctions but these will be kept to a minimum and diversion routes carefully signed.

 In order to keep people in both the immediate and wider area informed of the work, letters are going out to 16,600 addresses in the broader Leith Programme area.

 During the works, timescales, road diversion and access information will be regularly updated on the Council website www.edinburgh.gov.uk/leithimprovements

 General questions regarding the work can be addressed to the City Centre and Leith Neighbourhood Team, citycentreteam@edinburgh.gov.uk, or 0131 529 7061. Issues related to the works on site, such as access enquiries or concerns can be directed to myself, in the first instance, as I will be based in the area and available on mobile number 07739 188438 or email alan.dean@edinburgh.gov.uk

by

High Hedges

This week (from 1 April) the High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013 came into effect to help resolve issues with high hedges which are having a negative impact on domestic properties.A hedge
Where neighbours are unable to resolve the issue of a high hedge, this new legislation gives homeowners and occupiers a right to apply to Edinburgh Council for a high hedge notice.The Council will act as an independent and impartial adjudicator, considering the position of each party, before making a decision.The intention is that the new law will resolve problems caused by hedges (hedges which are over two metres tall and block out light) and allows Edinburgh Council to enforce decisions taken. You can find more about the new legislation and how to make an application for a high hedges notice including the relevant fees on the Edinburgh Council website.

(copied from Planning Edinburgh blog)

by

Red and Blue Box Collections

Calendars for the red and blue box collections are going online this year. Calendars have been posted only to those with assisted collections this week.

In recognition of the fact that more people have access to the web, and to help drive down the amount of paper and costs involved with distributing more than 140,000 calendars each year, we currently only offer the refuse, garden and food waste calendar online, and the new red and blue box calendar is now online too.  In addition, we offer a link on our website to Green Box Day so that residents can get reminders of their next collection for garden waste and red and blue boxes.

We continue to send out calendars to those residents that received help with their collections (called an assisted collection) and anyone who still wishes to have a paper copy of the calendar, can contact us either by email or by calling 0131 529 3030.

There is a directory for the red and blue boxes here: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/redandblueboxdays, which lists the collection dates, and there will be a calendar linked to this that residents can download by Wednesday next week.

Non Internet users will be informed of the change by traditional media – posters are being distributed to neighbourhood offices, community centres, libraries, dentists and doctors surgeries.  Furthermore, we will provide information to community life pages and community papers.

Additionally, there is no change to the frequency or schedule of collections at the moment, so residents can continue to put their recycling and refuse out on the same days as before.  We will inform all residents when the service changes later this year.

by

Antisocial Behaviour Draft Policy

Draft Policy Framework Consultation March 2014

Antisocial Behaviour Draft Policy Framework Consultation – CLOSES 17 APRIL 2014

A draft Antisocial Behaviour Policy has been developed to help inform all key stakeholders, in particular tenants of the City of Edinburgh Council, their household members and their visitors, of the Council’s objectives and approach to tackling ASB. We hope by providing a  clear policy residents and communities can be assured that we, as a Council, are committed to taking a proportionate but strict approach to ASB, which places residents subjected to inappropriate behaviour at the heart of the process.

A clear aim of the policy is to set out the Council’s approach to the prevention and management of ASB that can often blight the lives and wellbeing of residents. It promotes the message that help and support are available where needed to assist people in changing their behaviour, however where this is not effective, and serious and persistent ASB continues, robust action will be taken.

The policy has emerged from key pieces of work including the ASB Strategy 2013 – 2016, ASB Review Group and feedback received from the Policy Development Sub Committee on the 10th September 2013.

Consultation on the policy is being carried out from the week from the 26 March 2014 over a three week period closing on the 17 April 2014. Feedback from the consultation will be incorporated into a final policy to be submitted to the Health, Social Care and Housing Committee in June 2014 for approval.

If you or other members of your community council would like to comment on the draft ASB Policy Framework, please read the attached copy and go to the link below for the Survey Monkey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5ZTG26W