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Councillor report

Green councillors’ report for January 2025

For the period 21 Dec to 31 Jan

Following the hectic end to 2024, and narrowly missing out on the chance to form the council administration in December, Green councillors had a well-earned break and came back refreshed and ready to get down to work.

A lot of our work and discussion over the last month has been preparing for the council budget, which will be set in February, with our finance lead Alex Staniforth leading discussions. There was also a key vote in the council at the end of the month on the Transient Visitor Levy (TVL).

Despite an excellent campaign run by Green candidate Daniel Milligan and his team in the Colinton/Fairmilehead by-election, which saw another increase in Green vote share, we won’t be joined in the City Chambers by Daniel, but instead by a new Labour and a new Conservative councillor.

Chas and Susan
Green Group Co-Conveners

Councillor highlights from the month

Asked to pick one highlight from the month, our councillors chose:

Alex Staniforth

Alex has continued to work on the budget ready to present at the end of the month.

Alys Mumford

Alys has been working on how to make planning guidance more explicit about accessibility requirements, including getting specific questions on this in the public consultation.

Ben Parker

Ben worked closely with council officers to bring forward a proposal as part of the Transient Visitor Levy (TVL) to include spend on housing, in support of the work of campaigners and following his motion at Full Council in December 2023. Whilst the final, agreed proposal for housing wasn’t exactly what Greens suggested, it’s a huge win that the scheme includes some funding for housing – watch out for Ben’s blog on this issue coming soon!

Chas Booth

Chas has been working with local residents to set up a new community group, Liveable Leith, to encourage the council to make the Leith low traffic neighbourhood permanent when they make a decision on its future in February.

Claire Miller

Claire has been looking in detail at the Princes Street and Waverley Valley strategy consultation, listening to members of the community who attended a workshop, and providing feedback to officers on issues such as flooding, economic plans, active travel and visitor experience. If you have ideas to feed in, the consultation is open until 21 February.

Dan Heap

Dan has been working to help the new operators of Gorgie Farm with the cost of bringing the site back into use. He seconded an amendment to ensure the draft budget for next included £75,000 for repair works and any money saved by the council stepping out to be provided to the help get the new operators started.

Jule Bandel

Jule has been taking some time off due to ill health.

Kayleigh O’Neill

Kayleigh’s focus has been on Transport – she has met with unions, Motability Solutions, Lothian Buses and residents to discuss accessibility in the wider network. She also prepares to convene the city’s Transport & Local Access Forum which Greens revived after a five year hiatus.

Steve Burgess

After concerns raised by constituents and union members, Steve and Green group colleagues won backing from Education Committee for reports on arms manufacturers’ access to schools and on the environmental and health impact of artificial grass surfaces. Although LibDems, Tories and Labour amended ‘arms manufacturers’ to ‘defence companies’ and inserted a line about the benefit of apprenticeships in these companies!

Susan Rae

January has been extremely busy in Leith Walk ward as the voting for £eith Chooses 2025 went live at Kirkgate Community Centre, aided by much loved volunteers from our North Edinburgh Branch.

For the first time, at my invitation, the Chief Executive Paul Lawrence attended, and with the successful TVL vote finally going through this month, Greens have certainly established themselves as the champions of participatory budgeting.

Committee updates and other things to look out for in the coming month

Housing, Homelessness & Fair work

the next committee meeting will include proposals for the city’s ‘Local Housing Strategy’ and first annual review of the council’s ‘Housing Emergency Action Plan’. These two reports will be key in setting the strategic direction for housing in the city over the coming years.

Transport & Environment

Next month, ‘TECers’ will be looking at Water of Leith quality, communal bin review, use of glyphosate, table and chairs permits, traffic orders and much more.

Culture & Communities

In February, the committee will review the operation of the first ever Firework Control Zones, championed by Cllr Dan Heap.

Planning

The council is developing new guidance for building student accommodation. We’ve already had some success at getting the document to specifically reference student housing co-operatives, but there is more to be done so keep an eye out for the consultation which will be launched soon!