26 Mar: Reference: Slides and notes from the 23 Mar live event at City Chambers. On the menu panel, go to EACC Papers >>> Meetings 2024 to find Community Empowerment & Engagement (CE&E) and Edinburgh Transport Transition. Community councils are closing to the end of a five year term, depleted in number and in participation, struggling on 'engagement', disheartened, and 'edgy' at what is seen as an overly- bureaucratic and prescriptive operating framework carried within the draft Scheme Review. New support is needed. Will it be 'practical'; will it be 'effective'? Meanwhile, the big picture is of a city changing shape quite dramatically.
Thanks to all those who came along and thanks to Andrew Field, Head of the CE&E Team, for facilitating.
21 Mar: Article: CEC Scheme Review 2024: Two detailed responses from Tollcross CC and from Queensferry & District CC; see below.
21 Mar: Reference: National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4); you can find a Structural Guide in EACC Papers >>> Planning 2023 . Go to the menu bar.
21 Mar: Reference: Planning Democracy and the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (ARPS) recently concluded a series of webinars covering 'Scotland's Planning System / National Planning Framework 4 / Navigating Local Development Plans / Having a say in the future of your area'. View the series at: https://aprs.scot/event/joint-webinar-series/ . Planning Democracy offer guides on Planning Appeals and Responding to a Planning Application; you can view them here . In a wider context, the Improvement Service ('"The 'go to' organisation for Local Government improvement in Scotland") has a comprehensive Planning Skills Series where you can pick up a lot of technical detail. View the programme, along with a directory of 'Planning Links', at: https://www.improvementservice.org.uk/products-and-services/skills-and-development/planning-skills/planning-skills-events .
6 Mar: Reference: Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Spring 24 update (work schedule ahead of 1 Jun enforcement): Briefing and LEZ rationale.
6 Mar: Consultation: Belated pick-up on the further CEC Planning consultation on the proposed Old and New Towns World Heritage Site Management Plan before targeting approval by summer 2024. Five themes of relevance to date: Awareness and appreciation of the World Heritage Site status: Climate emergency: Conservation: Shaping new development: Sustainable visitor experience. Find the relevant consultation material through the following link. The close is 8 April. https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/edinburgh_whs/
5 Mar: Reference: A copy of the 2024 Draft (Phase 1) Scheme for Community Councils, without tracked changes, is available here in the menu bar; go to EACC Papers >> Community Council Support. This draft takes us into the Phase 2 Consultation which closes on 12 Apr 2024. Here is the document with tracked changes. Here is the link to the Phase 2 Consultation on the CEC Consultation Hub.
4 Mar: Reference: Slides and notes* from the 29 Feb meeting now available. Go to EACC Papers >> Meetings 2024. (*Gavin King, Head of Governance on the Scheme Review Phase 2, and Cllrs. Mandy Watt and Lewis Younie on the City's Budget 2024/25 outcome.) Go to the Consultation Hub link above to access the Phase 2 consultation. Note the following extract from Gavin King's remarks:
<Everyone would love to see CCs become more diverse and representative, but (CEC) nervous about doing anything prescriptive which boxes CCs into a situation where they become unviable. The changes which emerge have to be about how CEC can support CCs and encourage people to take part in them; that hinges on how ‘we empower CCs’, how CEC ‘supports… and works with’ them. The support has to be practical and it has to be effective.>
4 Mar: Article: Ian Williamson, Secretary of Cramond & Barnton CC, writes below on his CCs' list of 'ongoing issues', most of them relating to CEC. There is a clear air of frustration and resignation here, something he is sure will 'resonate with other CCs'. How, then, do we reset the dial for the next assembly of CCs?
16 Feb: Consultation: Phase 2 of the Scheme and Boundary Review starts on 19 Feb (12 Apr close). Here is the proposed and approved framework tabled by CEC on 8 Feb. Here are the proposed and approved Amendments. Your CC Chair and Secretary have received details of the diary of ensuing drop-in consultation sessions where you can discuss the framework, including proposed boundary changes. For more information on that diary, email
16 Feb: Reference: Cllr. Scott Arthur (Transport & Environment) offers a couple of recent posts on his Blog relating to the city's Pothole Predicament and to the Feb 2024 budget setting for Road and Footpath maintenance.
16 Feb: Event: Planning Democracy continues its planning webinar programme on 6 Mar (19.00 to 20.30) with a session on Navigating Local Development Plans: Insights from Local Authority Planners. Register for the event (and catch up on earlier events) here: https://aprs.scot/event/winter-webinar-series/
14 Feb: Consultation: A new strategy and vision for Edinburgh's Public and School Libraries, led by the Culture & Communities Committee, under an All Party Oversight Group (APOG). Here is the background Future Libraries Committee Report of 7 Dec, along with the agreed Amendment. Consider the need for change in Edinburgh Future Libraries Strategy 2024 - 2029 – The City of Edinburgh Council. The consultation (26 Jan to 19 Apr) can be accessed on the CEC Consultation Hub: Edinburgh Future Libraries Stakeholders Questionnaire - City of Edinburgh Council - Citizen Space .
13 Feb: Article: CEC Scheme and Boundary Review - close of Phase 1. The Review was submitted and approved at the special session of the CEC Full Council on 8 February, accompanied by a small number of amendments. Two related to the naming of community councils; the others to community council 'shape'. Here is the link to the full documentation: https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/mgChooseDocPack.aspx?ID=7155 . Looking at the framework proposed for community councils, will it offer you the support you think you need to deliver for your community? Scroll down to read the article or go to Consultations on the Menu Bar above.
6 Feb: Reference: This is an update on the earlier (29 Jan, now deleted) reference to Our Future Streets - a circulation plan for Edinburgh, the far-reaching proposals intended to tie together the City Mobility Plan, 20-Minute Neighbourhoods and the drive to Net Zero 2030 among other objectives. The press highlighted the north-south tramline corridor, the congestion charge proposals and the closure of key city-centre routes to reduce car use by up to 30%. Our Future Streets went to the Transport & Environment Committee on 1 Feb.
The submission on the Tramline Extension is here: Item 7.3 Tram from Granton to BioQuarter and Beyond Consultation for Strategic Business Case Develop.pdf (edinburgh.gov.uk) . (A 12-week consultation is proposed.)
The wider Our Future Streets (OFS) documentation is in three parts, with the links offered as follows:
The Place Directorate submission to the Transport & Environment Committee along with the OFS Appendix 1 Technical Summary Report Part 1 (49pp) here:
https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s66421/Item%207.2%20Our%20Future%20Streets%20-%20a%20circulation%20plan%20for%20Edinburgh_Part1.pdf
The OFS Appendix 1 Technical Summary Report Part 2 plus Appendices 2 and 3 here:
https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s66422/Item%207.2%20Our%20Future%20Streets%20-%20a%20circulation%20plan%20for%20Edinburgh_Part2.pdf
The OFS Integrated Impact Assessment Summary Report (Feb 24) here:
https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/34487/our-future-streets
OFS heralds raw transformational change in the way this city moves, designed around the adoption of an over-arching Streetspace Allocation Framework (SAF). Our Future Streets "must follow the principles of sustainable development, simultaneously providing better economic, social and environmental conditions for all". However, here is the ever-present pinch-point: "the ... next steps are dependant, to a greater or lesser extent, on funding bids and associated increases in employee resources."
5 Feb: Invitation: CEC's Kyle Drummond has issued a reminder of the deadline (31 Mar 2024) for the call for projects for the 2025 / 26 Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP). Community councils are expressly invited to take the lead - on their own account or on behalf of other community organisations - in submitting bids for funding of 'place-based' projects in their locality. There is some £1.2m available in funding overall. This CEC report shows the reach and the variety of the programme. Your community council's idea may be just a notion or something much firmer, but if it stands to improve the space around you, then you have a rewarding and profile-building opportunity to go for. Speak to Kyle Drummond at
2 Feb: Article: Extract from a 23 Jan letter from Superintendent Sam Ainslie, Edinburgh Division, Police Scotland, setting out the resources behind current community policing arrangements, with a number of useful links.
1 Feb: Consultation: The Edinburgh LHEES (see below) is currently open for consultation. The closing date is 3 Mar 2024. The Delivery Plan covers preparation, followed by learning and piloting phases, and activity increases as resources permit. The Action Points are designed to be achievable under current policy, economic and operational restraints. Access the full programme here: https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s65055/5.2%20LHEES-FINAL.pdf . Hilary Blackman at CEC will lead the LHEES Office, as part of Kyle Drummond's Sustainable Development Team. If you have any queries on the proposed strategy and delivery prpogramme for the city, you are invited to contact them at:
31 Jan: Reference: At the CHEF meeting on 29 Jan (see below; 21 Jan) we heard from Scot Gov's Drew Murphy on the framework thinking behind Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES). Objectives are: decarbonise heat / improve energy efficiency / map the path for esch segment of building stock / prioritise areas for delivery / source (a huge amount of) funding. CEC's Hilary Blackman introduced the draft Edinburgh LHEES Delivery Plan which profiles some 76 'Actions' deliverable (with no or low opportunity cost) over the period 2024 to 2028 'in the current policy context and given existing funding and powers'; a really big challenge, nevertheless. The massive caveat on Scotland-wide LHEES programme is that the Green Heat Finance Taskforce – charged with developing “a portfolio of innovative financial solutions for building owners in Scotland" – (has) not yet published any recommendations.
However, we need to look beyond that. Here are the key links: LHEES - Drew Murphy Presentation.pptx - Google Slides ** Edinburgh Delivery Plan (DRAFT).pdf - Google Drive ** More about CHEF: Clean Heat Edinburgh Briefing 2023 - Google Docs ** The current Scot Gov consultation on "proposals to make new laws around the energy efficiency of our homes and buildings and the way we heat those buildings" - the Heat in Buildings Bill - open until 8 March 2024: Delivering net zero for Scotland's buildings - Heat in Buildings Bill: consultation - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Every household in Edinburgh stands to be impacted by the LHEES programme. Community councils need to play a part in getting the message across, as of now.
29 Jan: Reference: Report on EACC Meeting 25 Jan (EIJB, Primary Care) uploaded to EACC Papers >> Meetings 2024.
29 Jan: Reference: Congestion charge plan and north-south tramline corridor profiled in The Times (Saturday 27 Jan). Closure of key routes to cut city centre car use covered in Evening News (29 Jan) and The Scotsman (30 Jan). Our Future Streets - a circulation plan for Edinburgh (the Circulation Plan) goes to the Transport & Environment Committee on Thursday 1 Feb. See this article: Bold plans proposed for Edinburgh’s city centre and key transport corridors | Scottish Construction Now .
The Transport & Environment Committee submission on the Tramline Extension is here: Item 7.3 Tram from Granton to BioQuarter and Beyond Consultation for Strategic Business Case Develop.pdf (edinburgh.gov.uk) . A 12-week consultation is proposed. The Framework for the Integrated Impact Assessment of the Circulation Plan is here: our-future-streets (edinburgh.gov.uk) . The Circulation Plan itself is decribed in overview and in technical detail here: Circulation Plan .
29 Jan: Correction: On 19 Jan (below) and at the EACC meeting on 25 Jan, we profiled the new RAMPS data collection planning tool. It now emerges that the Edinburgh Local Authority Planning Portal is one of around ninc across Scotland which the RAMPS tracker cannot successfully access. Attempts to do so on the part of RAMPS have ceased for now.
21 Jan: Invitation: On 29 Jan, the Edinburgh Clean Heat Energy Forum (CHEF) is running another consultation workshop on the Delivery Plan for the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy. There is an express invitation to community councils to take part. Big changes in prospect - Why, what and how?? Hear from Scot Gov and from one of the leads from CEC's LHEES Office, among others. This is an evening event (17.30 for 18.30 to 20.30) at University of Edinburgh, 40 George Square (the former David Hume Tower), Room LG 11. Book now at Eventbrite, via this link: https://che29jan.eventbrite.co.uk . (When you register, you'll get a Zoom link as an alternative to attending in person.
21 Jan: Article: Bill Rodger (Trinity CC) writes on the pending (29 Jan) enforcement of the Pavement Parking Ban. There are two sides to this story.
19 Jan: Reference: The CEC Community Council Scheme and Boundary Review - here is what we know of the timetable from here:
Phase 1 Consultation recommendations to a Special Meeting of the Council (all Elected Members) on 8 Feb. (Details should be available from Friday 2 Feb.) ** Phase 2 Consultation 12 Feb to 8 Apr. Report to a Special Meeting of the Council on 9 May. ** Phase 3 Consultation 13 May to 10 Jun (?) ** Finalised framework to a Special Meeting of the Council on 27 Jun. ** Public notices accompany each phase and the announcement of the (finalised) new Scheme alongside (at that point) an invitation to electors to apply for the establishment of a community council (where there isn't one currently in existence). These are statutory undertakings. The procedures for elections by existing community councils call for notice of election to be given at least twenty eight days before the election date. The closing date for nominations is at least fourteen days before the election date. (The establishment of a new community council in a designated area calls for not less than 20 electors in that area to apply in writing to CEC for one to be set up. The election should follow within six weeks from the date of the application.)
Consult this Good Practice Guidance for Community Councils and Local Authorities (Jan 2024).
19 Jan: Reference: Colin Anderson of Fairmilehead CC has brought this Planning Democracy innovation to our attention. RAMPS is a sign-up-to-access live update facility that tracks new documents and changes to existing documents lodged on individual Local Authority planning portals across Scotland. Search for any changes in a ward or area (new and existing planning applications) and have them brought to your screen. Less 'trawling'; more precision; be notified of new applications in your selected areas; track any amendments. Easy to see what has changed where and when; a time-saver. Here is the link to the RAMPS home-page and to sign-in: https://planningramps.uk/
19 Jan: Article: Sarah Mehrabi of Clean Heat Edinburgh Forum (CHEF) gives an outline of the (November 2023) Edinburgh Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) and the related Delivery Plan. Scroll down to read or go to Menu Item Environment and Energy
12 Jan: Reference: How does your council work? The Governance function sits at the heart of it - who does what and how it should be done. Take a look at this Committee Best Practice Guidance paper (December 2023), tabled at the Governance, Risk and Best Value Committee on 28 November 2023*. Note the Executive Committee Structure (P7): Policy and Sustainability; Culture and Communities; Education, Children and Families; Finance and Resources; Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work; and Transport and Environment. *Item 8.4 Committee Best Practice Guidance.pdf (edinburgh.gov.uk)
The wider Committee structure is set out here: Committee structure - Modern Council (edinburgh.gov.uk)
The outcome of the Scheme & Boundary Review Phase 1 Consultation emerges, I understand, at a City of Edinburgh Council meeting on 8 February, with the papers released in the week beforehand. ( Monthly meetings calendar - February 2024 - Modern Council (edinburgh.gov.uk) )
12 Jan: Invitation: Douglas Rogers, of Marchmont & Sciennes CC, has done a good deal of work examining the practical difficulties of insulating and energy- adapting conservation and heritage residential building stock in the city. The Delivery Plan for the proposed Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy places insulation retrofit high on the priority list. Douglas believes the Delivery Plan underestimates the scale of the challenge, possibly markedly. He is looking for ideas, then practical help, on how to begin to take on what, in effect, is a new and supplementary survey programme of 'no / low insulation loft spaces'; starting maybe in the Southside. He asks, "Are you able to help with this work and do you have an idea of how we could approach this problem? Even if you don't have the time or resources, please email me so that I can gauge the support within community councils and housing associations for this procedure."
You can contact him at
12 Jan 2024: Invitation: Affiliate Membership of Edinburgh Bus User Group (EBUG):
EBUG Chair, Harald Tobermann, spoke at the EACC May 2023 meeting. I recently asked him for an update. He tells me EBUG’s push for improvement continues – better interchanges, better timetabling coordination, the bringing together of the tram and bus companies, and this now in the middle of the real-time bus passenger information saga. But work-in-progress is ‘painfully slow’ as he describes it. Yet, without the ‘push’, perhaps it might be even slower! Here is where you might have a part to play, with a complimentary affiliate membership of EBUG for your community council.
EBUG has an established dialogue with Lothian Buses. Under its scrutiny come the likes of poor bus stop design and maintenance; improved efficiency of bus lanes; more transparent deployment of developer contributions dedicated to public transport, and, of course, reliable real-time route information. EBUG also has a wide network of contacts at bus companies and local authorities, and with government and regulators.
Harald is now repeating his invitation to city community councils to join EBUG as affiliated members, on a no-subscription-fee basis. If you are interested in transport issues, this seems like a very good way to get closer. He asks that your community council Chair or Secretary write to him to request affiliate membership, giving the nominee community councillor name and confirming the nomination as recorded in the Secretary’s records.
His email address is
Seems to me a good opportunity to widen that ‘dialogue with Lothian Buses’.