Greening the Edinburgh City Deal
Can Edinburgh’s “City Deal” be the UK’s greenest City Deal, asks STEVE BURGESS The dust is settling on a fifth Holyrood election. In the end, what had been billed as the most predictable election ever, turned up some real surprises. In Lothian, I am delighted that one-time councillor colleague Alison Johnstone has been re-elected as…
That was the 2016 election, now let’s look ahead
Green councillor Gavin Corbett looks back on the Scottish election campaign in Lothian. The Greens in Lothian set out to elect two Green MSPs in the region and we did just that, with Alison Johnstone re-elected and joined by land reform expert, Andy Wightman as regional list MSPs. 34,500 people in Lothian voted Green –…
Election 2016: when the dust settles
Newly re-elected Green MSP Alison Johnstone reflects on the Scottish Parliament election and what it means for the new term. Elections are usually bitter-sweet. I am, of course, delighted to be back in the Scottish Parliament and even more delighted to be joined locally by new Green MSP and radical land reformer, Andy Wightman. It…
Edinburgh Co-convenors: the final few days of the election
We’re heading into the final few days before the election. After months (years?) of work, we now have just a few days more to chap on doors, set up stalls, share Facebook posts and tell everyone we know to vote Green on May 5th and win us the Greenest Scottish Parliament ever! We can only…
School repairs inquiry
Green councillor Melanie Main argues that an inquiry into the school repairs crisis must have no areas which are out of bounds. The current crisis in the condition of PPP1 schools started in the storms of January and is still with us in May. From a collapsing wall at Oxgangs PS, to further problems at…
Lothian list vote battle hots up
Gavin Corbett predicts a tight race in the battle for Lothian list votes on 5 May. As election day looms, I’ve been looking closely at some of the Lothian-specific data in the last couple of days. A couple of things are apparent. First of all, the SNP is well on track to win at least eight of the…
Homes for the future
Alison Johnstone calls on government, local and national, to stand up for a homes programme which meets housing need, not developer greed. Edinburgh needs more homes. As a city with almost a thousand homeless households in temporary accommodation and where rents are soaring, it is clearly feeling the pressure But the pressing need for homes…
An inquiry into school closures
Green Group councillor Melanie Main spoke out for an inquiry during the Corporate Policy and Strategy meeting earlier this week which included discussion of an emergency motion on the closure of 17 schools. At the Council’s Corporate Policy Committee there was an emergency motion tabled about the Edinburgh schools closures. It omitted to call for…
School conditions: after the storm
Urgent answers are needed to the latest Edinburgh school repair fiasco, says Green candidate Andy Wightman.
Tax havens, land and affordable housing
What have tax havens got to do with bold action on affordable housing? Andy Wightman explains. Edinburgh has a housing problem. House prices are the highest of any Scottish city. They rose by 5% last year and, at almost six times average incomes, are the most unaffordable. The value of residential land in Edinburgh has…
Action on flytipping
On my way back home the other day, I passed a pile of abandoned furniture. Wardrobes, drawers, sideboards and sofas had all been dumped by the side of the road. They were unsightly, are likely to attract vermin, and will be expensive and time consuming for the council to clear up. And the cost of…
New Meadowbank
Green MSP Alison Johnstone welcomes progress towards a new Meadowbank stadium. Meadowbank stadium has been a second home to me. From hazy memories of the 1970 Commonwealth Games, to my own career as a competitive runner in my teens and twenties, to my more recent involvement coaching the next generation of athletes, the stadium has…
Hollowed out public services
Do we want hollowed out public services, asks Green MSP Alison Johnstone There is scarcely day goes past without some council or another announcing significant job cuts. In Edinburgh, the estimated number of posts to go is around 2,000, out of a total of just over 15,000, over the next 2-3 years. Almost 500 have…
A Green Energy Policy for a Secure and Prosperous Scotland
Rory MacLure is from Aberdeen and currently lives in Edinburgh where he’s studying to get his Masters in Global Crime, Justice and Security. He’s been a member of the Scottish Greens since 2013. It has become clichéd to say that environmental and energy policy is at a crossroads. Frankly we passed the crossroads long ago…
“Energy for Edinburgh: time to get moving
Cllr Steve Burgess welcomes the council’s progress in setting up its own energy services company but says the proof of the pudding will be in the (h)eating. Among the papers for the City Council meeting this week is a progress report on setting up an Edinburgh ESCO (Energy Services Company). As the councillor who first proposed…
Planning our schools for the long term
There are big lessons to be learned for a long term approach to school provision in Edinburgh, says Melanie Main. The big education controversy this week in Edinburgh was the council suggesting that it may have to turn away S1 pupils at James Gillespies High School this August, as demand from both the immediate catchment…
Planning democracy
A dose of democracy in the planning system is long overdue, says Alison Johnstone Back in August 2015 the City of Edinburgh’s planning committee unanimously voted to reject a planning application to demolish a Victorian building at Canonmills Bridge, which currently houses local cafe “Earthy”. The developer then wanted to use the cleared site for a…
Participatory budeting: to boldly go….
Participatory budgeting is coming of age in Edinburgh, according to Alison Johnstone. Participatory budgeting is a clumsy title for something that is both simple and radical. It is simple because it says that people who are most directly affected by a decision about how to spend money are best-placed to make that decision. And it…
Bringing life to the Union Canal
Social enterprise needs to be at the heart of the economic vision for a new canal quarter, says Gavin Corbett. I was at the council’s petitions committee this week, this time to speak in support of a petition which had been brought by local resident and community activist, Jane Jones, backing local social enterprise Reunion Canal Boats.…
Taking pride in our carers
Carers need much greater recognition, argues GAVIN CORBETT IT’S no exaggeration to say that the benchmark of a civilised society is how it cares for its oldest and youngest citizens. Yet, it’s an aim that is proving hard to achieve here in Edinburgh. Every week in the city, 5000 hours of social care go unmet.…
A budget for schools, social care and children
Green councillor Gavin Corbett explains why Green councillors are giving priority to schools, social care and vulnerable children in this week’s budget. This week is budget week for City of Edinburgh Council. Setting the budget is the single most important decision the council takes each year. But this year, it has heightened significance, for two…
City Council Complacent on Air Pollution
The City Council needs a lot more urgency on air pollution argues Chas Booth. Figures released yesterday (11 January) following a BBC Scotland investigation into air pollution show a woeful complacency on the part of Edinburgh Council to this serious problem. The figures come from a BBC documentary, due to be shown on 13 January,…
Cherishing the city’s voluntary sector
The city needs to cherish its home-grown voluntary organisations, argues GAVIN CORBETT “Darling”, she whispered, as she traced a delicate white finger across his mane of golden locks: “Tell me again about… co-production”. I dare say this is a sentence which won’t appear in many Christmas gift novels. Not unless Adrian Mole has started writing…
Light on the horizon for Lorne Street?
There is light on the horizon for the tenants of Lorne Street according to GAVIN CORBETT I’ve met the tenants of Lorne Street, off Leith Walk in Edinburgh, a couple of times now. The first time was a few weeks back, with a small group, then again this week, when 50 or so came to a…
Standing firm on no compulsory redundancies
Gavin Corbett says the council should stand firm on its No Compulsory Redundancies pledge.
Weed control and glyphosate
Green environment spokesperson Cllr CHAS BOOTH asks whether it is time for the city to end the use of glyphosate. The condition of our streets matters to a lot of people in the city. People feel dismayed if they see streets where weeds are sprouting from every crack in the pavement and from walls: it…
Cherishing the city’s oldest buildings
Much more focus is needed on the city’s older buildings, argues Gavin Corbett. Edinburgh is an old city. Just how old was re-inforced starkly at a recent Economy Committee when the depute mayor of Shenzhen talked about her city, growing out of fields in 1980 to a population of 15 million today. That is a…
Duncan Place Resource Centre: new gym and nursery, but community space still to resolve
Chas Booth reflects on today’s decision by Edinburgh Council education committee around Duncan Place Resource Centre. I’m delighted that Edinburgh Council education committee has given the green light to demolish the rear half of Duncan Place Resource Centre and build a new gym and nursery for Leith Primary on the site. This is great news…
Bright future for community renewables in Edinburgh
Chas Booth heralds the launch of Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative. I was delighted to attend the launch this morning of Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative. This is a new venture which aims to put solar panels on the roofs of 25 council buildings around the city, to both cut carbon emissions and to create a community…
Public services or private profit?
Green Finance spokesperson Gavin Corbett laments the revival of proposals to privatise management of council facilities. It’s about haggis, isn’t it? Five years ago, before I became a councillor, the city council was on the cusp of handing over the running of schools, community centres, offices, depots and so on to the private sector. The…