More leithers Pedal on Parliament to back cycle investment call

by Greener Leith • Sunday, 19th May, 2013 • 0 Comments

Thousands of people from all over Scotland gathered in the meadows today to call on the Scottish Government to do more to make cycling safer.

This is the second year that cyclists have come together to Pedal on Parliament – and this year the protest was even bigger than last year.

Greener Leith organised a “feeder ride” last year, and it picked up about 25 people by the time we’d got to the Meadows. In 2013, as the photo above shows, we’d beaten that tally before we even left Leith Links. In the end, there were about 33 folk on the Greener Leith feeder ride, spanning a huge range of ages and cycling experience.

We were delighted that Labour MP Mark Lazarowicz, came, as he did in 2012, to support the ride too.

We asked some of the people who came on the ride why they decided to Pedal on Parliament.

Dave Parry, from Trinity, said: “I came on the first ride. Looking back, it looks like this one is bigger. I think that it feels a bit more organised than last year.”

Asked whether he thought anything had changed in the last year he said: “Yes, I think there’s better facilities, particularly in the Leith area and towards Portobello, which I use a lot more now, but there’s still a lot to be done. There’s still a lot of glass on the cycle tracks which is not great but I think the awareness of cycling has increased since last year, so things are going in the right way.

Asked what he wanted the Scottish Government to do as a consequence of the Pedal on Parliament ride he added simply: “Help us ride our bikes more.”

Charlotte Bunting, who cycled with her young son in a child seat said: “I’ve come along today because I’ve been cycling for years, I commute to work, quite a long cycle to work, and I’m committed to trying to improve that situation.

“I was hit by a car once and I was injured quite badly, so I’m quite keen to make the roads safer. I’m also keen to make the roads safer for my baby too as I want him to get cycling too.

“Cycling is important for lot’s of different objectives that the government has, for health and wellbeing, for a better environment, and happier people. There’s lots of targets they can meet by promoting cycling so I would encourage them to do that.”

“I think the government needs to invest in educating drivers a lot more, but also making the roads safer by keeping cycling on the roads. I don’t think we should be hidden away off the roads, but that the roads should be made safer for cyclists.”

Lorna Hoy, from Newhaven said: “I came on the ride because I like cycling and I think it’s a great way to get around Edinburgh and I think it’s lovely to meet all these people with different kinds of bikes. Some with lycra, some with children on the back, some in fancy dress – I’ve just seen a wee girl dressed up as a ghost! I think it’s a good way to get around, but I think the roads in Leith – and in Edinburgh – are pretty dreadful at the moment.”

“If there was one thing that I want the government to do, it’s make it safer on the roads, and perhaps on the pavements – I think that there should be certain cycle lanes that are off the road and out the way of traffic.”

Thanks to everyone who came on the Leith feeder ride and supported the Pedal on Parliament campaign. If you couldn’t make the ride, but support the aims of the campaign, you can always write to your MSPs – and don’t forget the Lothian’s list ones – to ask them to support the Pedal on Parliament manifesto. An easy way to do this is by using the site www.writetothem.com

Shrubhill House owners UNITE granted 18 months more

by Greener Leith • Saturday, 18th May, 2013 • 0 Comments

The owners of arguably the largest eyesore in Leith, UNITE, were successful this week in their bid to renew their existing planning consent for Shrubhill House, even though the firm has failed to build anything there since it bought the site in 2006.

Local councillors on the planning committee, Angela Blacklock and Diedre Brock, failed to persuade the planning committee – by just one vote – to deny the firm a new planning consent. However UNITE did not get things all their own way – in the end they got an 18 month planning consent when they had hoped to be given the “standard” three year consent.

Councillors awarded the shorter 18 month consent largely on the basis that they felt UNITE could appeal an outright refusal decision for being “overly punitive” – and then the Reporter for the Scottish Government would overturn the council planning committee and award a three year consent anyway.

The apparent powerlessness of the planning committee to reflect local views will be a huge disappointment to many locals – not least those involved in Leith Central Community Council.

Community councillors have been arguing for some time – sometimes directly with the developer – that the lack of progress on the site has in fact been overly punitive to the local community. They claim the site has become a focus for drug dealing and other anti-social behaviour – and that it blights the whole area economically.

Certainly there are plenty of people who believe that UNITE are simply “land banking” – as the site is likely to be worth considerably less than the £6m plus that they paid for it 2006. There is a view that if they firm were denied planning permission then they’d be forced to sell the site at a lower price on to another investor who could then get on and build something.

As things stand now, UNITE do not have to write down the value of their “asset” on their books, and they can continue to try to sell it on. But will anyone be willing to pay the price they want for the site?

Few seem to think so – although it is understood from one source that a hotel developer has been “sniffing” around the site recently.

In the meantime – UNITE have pledged to step up their efforts to keep the site secure – and the council, having decided that they can’t force UNITE to demolish the building via the planning committee – continue to consider what legal levers they might have to force the firm to do something to make it look marginally less appalling.

Barring a small economic miracle in North Edinburgh, nearly everyone expects this one to return to the planning committee in 18 months time.

You can find more details of the relevant planning application here.

Arthur Rastatramp is OK. He is in Hospital.

by Ally Tibbitt • Friday, 17th May, 2013 • 0 Comments

Over the last 36 hours social media has been awash with rumour and hearsay speculating over the disappearance of Arthur, sometimes known as the “Rastatramp,” from Leith Walk.

He’s a local celebrity is Arthur. Indeed, he’s so well loved by locals, that he has a Facebook page dedicated to him that over 4300 people like. When Majestic Wine fenced off a place where he often slept, there was a public outcry in support of him.

When flowers started to appear on Leith Walk, some people feared the worst and assumed he had died.

But subsequently several notes have appeared, presumably from people who know, to reassure people who may be missing his placid presence on the street that he is not dead. It would seem he is in fact in Hospital.

A letter from PC Gordon Duff, from Police Scotland paper said: “I am aware that there has been speculation on social networking sites regarding the whereabouts of Arthur Williams who is known to sleep rough in the Leith Walk area.

“Arthur was taken to hospital for medical treatment 14th May 2013 and has been there since. Although he has some minor health issues, there are at the moment no serious concerns.

“Arthur is being well looked after him and when I saw him he looked happy in his surroundings.

“Arthur’s belongings have been removed from Leith Walk and stored for him.

“Social services and the Police have received numerous enquiries regarding Arthur and we are continuing to pass on messages of support to him from members of the community.

“I will try feedback information in the coming weeks and months about Arthur, through local media.”

Get well soon Arthur. And the way that local residents and public services have rallied around to support him really is awesome.

@ryanparkyy he’s alive, here’s the proof! LOL so cute Leith <3 Arthur x twitter.com/BreigeSwift/st…

— Breige Swift (@BreigeSwift) May 17, 2013

rumours going about that ArthurWilliams aka Leiths famous rasta tramp has died he’s not dead in hospital #leith twitter.com/Seanyboyhmfc/s…

— Sean(@Seanyboyhmfc) May 17, 2013

Photo credit: Melted Beatle on Instagram

Update 18/05/13: Since this post was published, someone has quite rightly pointed out that calling Mr Williams “rastatramp” in the headline of this blog post could be seen as disrespectful.

This was not the intention at all. Until I read the Police note I had no idea what Arthur’s surname was – and I suspected many Leithers were in the same boat.

I wanted to share the official Police message, and some of the unofficial notes too to help counter the rumours on social media – but thought if I only used his real name that less people would be able to find the information they were looking for – and the post would therefore be less effective.

And now that I’ve had a chance to look at the search engine queries that people have used to find this blog post in the last 24 hours – it would appear that my suspicions were correct. Lot’s of folk, rightly or wrongly, seem to be searching for “rasta tramp” or “arthur” and there’s also a surprising number of folk also getting his name wrong completely.

If this post helps to stop any daft rumours about Mr Williams, and perhaps helps to challenge some stereotypes that some people may have about him, then the post will have done its job.

Private landlords fail to protect thousands of Leithers deposits

by Ally Tibbitt • Tuesday, 14th May, 2013 • 0 Comments

New rules that require virtually all private landlords to place their tenants’ deposit with a third party tenancy deposit protection scheme come into force today, 15th May.

But according to figures released by SafeDeposits Scotland, more than half of all private landlords and letting agents in Scotland, who should have handed over their tenants deposits to a deposit scheme have yet to comply with the new law.

As 20% of households in the Leith Walk ward and 13% of households in the Leith Ward are estimated to live in the private rented sector a quick calculation suggests that that a staggering 4258 tenants in the Leith area alone could be being let down by their landlord.

This means that the landlords could face legal action from their tenants if they do not comply.

Malcolm Lindo, Managing Director of SafeDeposits Scotland said: “The clock has stopped for landlords and agents in Scotland. The deadline is now and if you let a property that is eligible for the scheme, are not signed up by the end of today, you could face legal action in the future.

“Based on the latest Scottish Government figures, we estimate there are up to 56% of tenancies eligible for taking a deposit where a deposit has not yet been paid into a scheme. That’s worryingly low at this late stage and means thousands of landlords could face legal action from their tenant in the future.”

He added: “It is a legal requirement but also this scheme benefits both landlords and tenants. Feedback from landlords has been positive so far. Signing up helps to resolve any disputes that could arise at the end of the tenancy, fairly, quickly and impartially. It’s a win-win situation.”

Robin Parker, President of NUS Scotland, said, “These statistics seem to indicate that many landlords have yet to sign up to tenancy deposit schemes, which will be a surprise to student tenants who are expecting to hear shortly from the schemes how much of their deposit they are due back. Landlords are liable for huge penalties if they don’t submit their tenants’ deposits to a scheme, and we urge them to beat the deadline and sign up.”

If you are a private tenant, you should have been notified by your landlord that your deposit has been placed in a deposit protection scheme. You can find out more about how third party deposit schemes work in the video produced by Shelter Scotland below:

According to Shelter Scotland, if your landlord hasn’t registered your deposit with a deposit protections scheme, then you can apply to the sheriff court and the court can order the landlord to pay you up to three times the amount of the deposit. You can do this up to three months after your tenancy has ended.

If you apply to the sheriff court during the term of your tenancy then the court can also make the landlord adhere to the tenancy deposit regulations.

If you are starting a new private tenancy it’s more important then ever to keep a good record of the condition that found your new home in when you first moved in. To this end, you might also be intrigued to know that there’s a smart phone app for that. Shelter have produced a rather nifty Housemate app that helps you put together an inventory of your new home.

If on the other hand, you are a private landlord with property in Leith, you can lodge your tenants deposits at any of these three official providers:

St Mary’s Primary Pupils get stuck into Leith Links Orchard

by Greener Leith • Saturday, 11th May, 2013 • 0 Comments

A big thanks to all the pupils from St Mary’s Primary School, Leith, who helped to add an extra layer of mulch to the fruit trees in the Leith Links Children’s Orchard this week.

After two decidedly chilly volunteer days in the orchard this spring, the pupils managed to bring some sunshine with them on Friday morning.

The Orchard is looking fantastic at present, as the trees are just coming into blossom. Whilst we don’t expect to get a huge crop of fruit from the trees this year, partly because of the delayed spring we’ve had, and partly because the trees are still pretty young, the extra mulch put down by the pupils will help to keep the grass down from around the trees, and also keep water in the soil over the summer.