Sorry about last week’s blip in service!  Events and commitments during the week overtook me, and we were away in Dublin for a wedding by Friday morning; so no Update done.  A lovely historic city is Dublin, complete with fabulous trams, lots of people milling around, and hardly any traffic on their seemingly redundant wide roads. Just saying, as I write this on Clean Air Day!

Residents in Newcraighall are planning to clean up of the sculpture on their village green on Saturday from 10.30am. The sculptor Jake Harvey has given his permission and advised on cleaning products. All welcome – just bring along a bucket of water and scrubbing brush!

It’s really great news that the winner of the 2018 Saltire Society Innovation in Housing Award is the wonderful Bath Street Collective Custom Build by John Kingsley for its innovative form of procurement that has produced four very cost-effective flats in an urban context. More here: http://www.saltiresociety.org.uk/awards/architecture/housing-design/2018-shortlists/innovation-in-housing/bath-street/. Warm congratulations!

A nice positive double-page spread appeared in Edinburgh Evening News about Action Porty Board member Shauna Macdonald and Bellfield’s launch event this Saturday. Have you bought your cabaret tickets yet? They might still available from COVE and The Skylark Portobello or online https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3457971(booking fee applies). Link to the article is here: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/entertainment/portobello-means-everything-to-me-shauna-macdonald-1-4755608

Sue and Jim Hurford will be opening their beautiful garden at 14 East Brighton Crescent to the public again on Sunday 24 June from 2-5 pm under Scotland’s Garden Scheme (SGS).  A share of the proceeds (60%) will be going to Action Porty, towards the fund for the restoration work to help get Bellfield into shape for the next chapter in its story.  Here’s a link to the SGS website where you can find out more about the garden: http://scotlandsgardens.org/14-east-brighton-crescent/

I am delighted that someone who really and truly inspired me, among many others, former Head Teacher of Castleview Primary School Lindsey Watt, was awarded an OBE for services to education. Niddrie Mill Primary School on Twitter said of Lindsey: ”A very special lady close to many hearts, particularly in the Craigmillar and Niddrie community. A huge congratulations and thanks on behalf of everyone, more than deserved.” And so say all of us! 

One of the really fun things I get to do these days is chair the Edinburgh Living Landscape Partnership.  Link here: https://edinburghlivinglandscape.org.uk/. Our partners do lots of great things to green the grey of the city, increasing biodiversity and saving the bees. We are currently promoting this great animation put together by the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh called Green the Grey.  Have a look at the YouTube link: https://youtu.be/sCoGfKsn1Ag

We are also very proud of the Edinburgh Shoreline Project under the ELL umbrella too, with an exhibition starting soon over the summer at the Botanics. Listen to David Calder’s fab Porty Podcast No 76  – and browse among David’s other Podcasts for more local gems here: https://player.fm/series/porty-podcast-2289726/ep-76-edinburgh-shoreline-project

This Saturday, Friends of Figgate Park are ‘Balsam Bashing’ from 10 am and ‘Bioblitzing’ from 1pm. Himalayan Balsam is an invasive species that the Friends will be removing from the banks of the burn. The FoFP advice is to wear appropriate clothing (long sleeves and trousers) and sturdy footwear for this conservation task. Gloves can be provided.  This is not a suitable activity for children. But Bioblitz is a fun activity for all the family in the afternoon. More here: https://www.google.com/search?q=friends%20of%20figgate%20park

Castlebrae Community High School (CCHS)’s  latest newsletter demonstrates all the sector-leading award-winning partnerships and the excellent learning and teaching going on there.  A whole range of fantastic partnerships, under excellent leadership and management, is the key to CCHS success: http://www.castlebrae.org.uk.  To name but one, their amazing Drake Music Scotland partnership hit the headlines in the Sunday Post here: https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/we-didnt-realise-we-had-a-voice-untilwe-wrote-a-song-and-performed-it/. I got my CD at the launch of the fab Castle Kidz song ‘Just Be You’.  Last I heard, The White House Kitchen’s CD stock was selling them them and they only had five left.

This afternoon, Education Children and Families Committee unanimously agreed to recommend that Council commit most of the funding of £25 million in the Capital Programme for Wave 4 new schools to Castlebrae Community High School. That is in addition to funding for the new school which has already agreed in the 2017/18 Budget from the winding up of the Council’s development company EDI.  Committee heard a Deputation, including three fantastic pupils from our great Craigmillar school.  They all made a heartfelt case in support of their school community, without a single note.  There is a real need for a building that matches the school’s high aspirations and all the innovative partnership work they do.  Design work on the new school continues unabated.

Local retail giant Fort Kinnaird and its excellent manager Liam Smith are a great support to our local community, not least in providing local employment and training and valuable work experience for our youngsters.  Fort Kinnaird have recently released some figures about their impact on Edinburgh as a whole:  https://www.fortkinnaird.com/community/fort-kinnaird-working-hard-edinburgh

It’s Spanish Week Festival at Craigmillar Library 16-23 June. A couple more days to join in this lovely celebration of Spanish culture – films, book events, exhibitions, children’s events and workshops.  More detail here: https://m.facebook.com/events/171392120219397/?platform=hootsuite

On the very vexed local question of Brighton Place – asphalt vs setts – the Council’s Transport and Environmental Committee listened to two Deputations on opposite sides of the question on Wednesday this week.  Committee sustained their unanimous decision to stick with the agreed citywide Council policy to replace the setts. There are very strong local opinions indeed, on both sides of the question, but the 9 March 2018 Committee decision still stands.  Work is ongoing to minimise the impact by engaging with Lothian Buses about possible diversion routes and link services and any practical alternatives, and to offer whatever support we can to local businesses.

Another great edition of The Portobello Reporter landed on my doormat last week.  It’s still going strong after an amazing 38 years this month, with only a couple of blips in production.  It’s always a pleasure to read cover to cover, especially for the last 28 years when I was no longer responsible for editing content and screening for the seemingly inevitable typos!  Nowadays, the circulation can be even wider through the wonders of the internet, social media and email. Click here for the latest edition: http://porty.org.uk/news/the-portobello-reporter/

Councillor Maureen Child

Labour Councillor Portobello/Craigmillar Ward

Office: 0131 529 3268

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