It’s not always easy to find time to shout about all the work we are involved in as councillors, and sometimes the job can be quite opaque to members of the public. To try and help demystify just exactly what the job of a councillor is, I’ve decided to start a monthly blog of activities I’ve been involved with. Whilst this won’t be fully comprehensive, I hope it will give a sense of the sorts of projects I’m working on, and just how varied the work can be.
Tree watering and improving biodiversity on the Bruntsfield Links
I have a quarterly walkabout scheduled with the Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links group (FOMBL) who do fantastic work keeping our parks in the best condition. As a result of the most recent walkabout in March, I have been able to support the group to secure agreement with the Council for more nature friendly mowing regimes, exploring possibilities for new play equipment and asking questions about the Council’s continued failure to find adequate resources for tree watering. We are so lucky to have such dedicated community groups like FOMBL in the area and it’s very important the Council works with them, not against them. I see my role as being about brokering that relationship to everyone’s benefit.
Air Pollution campaign event with Parents for Future Scotland
On the 17th March at the City Chambers, I was pleased to sponsor ‘Parents for Future’ as they held a celebration event to conclude their excellent air pollution campaign which has been running for the past year.
Parents for Future contacted me in 2024 to find out if I would support them to run their air pollution project in schools across the city. At the time, I reached out to the Council’s ‘Learning for Sustainability Coordinator’ – a new role in the Council championed and spearheaded by my Green colleague, Councillor Steve Burgess – who coordinated with the campaigners to deliver a series of lessons on air pollution to parents and pupils at 17 schools across the city.
The culmination of the project was the attendance of over 100 children and young people at the City Chambers presenting on what changes they thought were needed to improve air quality around schools. Lots of community organisations were also present at the event, including ECCAN, BANZAI, Critical Mass, Blackford Safe Routes, and Cycling UK. We also had 15 Councillors from all political parties in attendance which was excellent – a huge thank you to everyone who came along.
The children had a number of recommendations for how to improve air quality across the city and my Green colleague Councillor Kayleigh O’Neill is taking these recommendations through the Transport and Environment committee. You can read more about the event in this report by the Edinburgh Evening News.
Speaking events and engagements
I was pleased to be invited to speak at a number of events this month, and also take part in a podcast with South Morningside Primary School.
- In early March I launched the ‘Travel Agents for Change’ exhibition at the Union Canal. This is a great project run by Porty Community Energy and Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network (ECCAN), focussed on showcasing the broad range of flight free holidays people across the city have taken. The idea of the exhibition is to show how possible it is to holiday flight free.
- I was also invited to speak at the ‘Yes Morningside’ meeting this March, where we discussed a number of topics including home energy and the impact of austerity on local authority budgets. It was a really interesting discussion and I was grateful to meet everyone.
- Finally – and definitely the scariest of invitations! – I was very privileged to be a guest on South Morningside Primary School’s pupil podcast. Pupils gave me a good grilling on all sorts of issues including whether, if offered, would I accept Taylor Swift ticket bribes (like Keir Starmer would)? I think we all know the answer to that (!).
St Oswald’s Centre drop in
I will pleased to drop into the St Oswald’s community centre to participate in the newest consultation about the space and find out more about the latest news on the site. Lots of you will be aware that work on the refurbishment stalled during the pandemic but volunteers are confident that progress will be made in the next couple of years. I encourage everyone to get involved and have their say – find out more about the St Oswald’s centre here.
Actions for peace at a local level: Al Dawayima memorial bench and banning arms companies from testing in Council parks
At our Full Council meeting at the end of the March I proposed two motions on the agenda:
- My first motion was to ask the Council to install a bench at the Al Dawayima Memorial Stone on Bruntsfield Links. I was pleased to see this motion pass with support from SNP and Labour Councillors, and there are now plans to install a bench in time for Nakba Day to provide the community with a space for quiet contemplation on a difficult day, particular given the current global context.
- My second motion, which was only supported by the SNP, was to ban arms companies from testing equipment on the Braid Hills and other Council owned green spaces. In December 2024, Councillors were made aware that the arms manufacturer Leonardo were testing communications equipment on the Braid Hills with Council consent. It is completely inappropriate for public land to be used to support the actions of a company whose work is directly fuelling the genocide in Palestine and conflict in other parts of the world. Whilst this motion wasn’t passed at Full Council, we will have a second opportunity to win this campaign at the Culture and Communities committee later this year. You can read more about this campaign in my separate blog post here.