Holding council officers to account
Chas Booth argues that holding council officers to account needs something more than grandstanding in the council chamber. At the full meeting City of Edinburgh Council today, Conservative councillors tabled some motions about very valid and important issues: on improving the council’s bin collection record, for example, or on ensuring that the council’s school estate…
Fixing a broken housing system
In a broken housing system, how we “do” housing needs to change, argues Andy Wightman.
The price of high rents
Edinburgh’s tenants need a break says Susan Rae. Our city has more private tenants than anywhere else in Scotland. 63,000, or one in 4 households in the capital, are renting from a private landlord: often on short-term leases offering limited security. Edinburgh also has the most expensive rents in Scotland. Recent Scottish Government statistics showed…
Schools review in South West and West Edinburgh: here we go again
The controversy around the schools review in west and south west Edinburgh could, and should, have been avoided argues Mary Campbell. Even in the seven months since being elected as Green councillor for Portobello-Craigmillar, it seems to me that many disputes in which the council finds itself are a consequence of really poor engagement with…
Picardy Place: how effective is the consultation?
Picardy Place, to the east of the city centre, has become a focal point for a debate about transport in our city in the future. Green councillor Claire Miller highlights some lessons she believes ought to be learned. The council has responded to calls from the community, who have been asking for a longer and…
The electric transport revolution
The shift to electric vehicles needs to go hand in hand with traffic reduction in the city, argues Councillor Chas Booth. The recent announcements by both the Scottish and UK Governments that they will end the sale of fossil fuelled cars by 2032 and 2040 respectively, has seen electric vehicles move rapidly up the political…
A sustainable economy strategy
Green councillor Claire Miller wants to see a new Edinburgh economy strategy which takes a long term view. The City Council is consulting on a new economy strategy. The existing one, “A Strategy for Jobs, 2012-2017”, bears all the hallmarks of its time, designed as it was to pilot the city out of a UK-wide…
Turning over a new leaf
Being a councillor has robbed Gavin Corbett (just a little) of the joy of the seasons. I love going through Harrison Park on a warm summer evening, with the park full of people picnicking, kids playing, the canoe club out on the canal. But a very small part of me (1%, say) is blanching at…
Making the most of empty homes
Edinburgh needs to get a lot more serious about tackling private sector empty homes, argues Susan Rae.
Trialling Citizen’s Income
Gavin Corbett explains why City Of Edinburgh Council will be one of a number of councils pioneering citizen’s income. As a member of the Scottish Greens for 27 years, I have seen policy priorities ebb and flow, inevitably, as with any political party. But throughout that time, constants have been the twin landmark policies of…
The case for a Rent Pressure Zone in Edinburgh
In response to concern about rising private rents, the Scottish Parliament has passed new legislation which allows councils to designate areas as rent pressure zones (RPZs), the effect of which is to limit rent rises in existing tenancies. Ben Parker of Edinburgh Greens has analysed the case for using that new power in Edinburgh, as…
Positioning Green councillors in Edinburgh
It is 100 days since the SNP and Labour groups formally formed a Capital Coalition in Edinburgh: Melanie Main and Steve Burgess give a Green perspective on what it means for how the council works. Within hours of the council elections on 5 May, a renewal of the SNP-Labour coalition in the city chambers always…
Water of life
Let’s see more public water taps in the city, says Alex Staniforth. I know that many councillors take part in clean-ups of parks, rivers and woodlands in the city. The residents and community groups who organise and come along to these tidy-ups are owed an enormous debt of gratitude by residents as a whole. But…
Saving the Royal High School
Green City Centre councillor Claire Miller spoke today at the planning hearing on proposals to turn the old Royal High School into a hotel. This is the text of what she said. I’ve come to the hearing today to represent residents who, like me, are opposed to the plans put forward in the application before…
Picardy Place: transport choices
Picardy Place, linking the city centre to Leith Walk, is one of the city’s most notorious junctions. Compared to most European and even other UK cities, Edinburgh still funnels an astonishing volume of traffic through its historic centre. Picardy Place is where an awful lot of it seems to go. So, the redesign of the…
Education: who decides?
Mind the gap between rhetoric and reality on education says Mary Campbell. After the summer my eldest child will be joining thousands of children across the city as they make the leap into primary school. For any parent it’s an exciting and nerve-wracking period, and we all put trust in schools to do the very…
City Deal: looking forward
What are we to make of the Edinburgh City Region Deal, asks Gavin Corbett. City Deals have been around for a few years now, and typically involve investment to stimulate the local economy and so create savings through reduced unemployment, higher taxes and so on. Edinburgh’s deal was announced last week. Let’s start with the…
City Region Deal latest
Gavin Corbett ponders the latest reported delay in the Edinburgh City Region Deal. The local press has faithfully reported the twists and turns of the Edinburgh city region deal for almost two years near. And small wonder as the package of new funding and new powers has the capacity to shape the city region economy…
Treasuring Portobello Beach
Any list of “Things to do in Edinburgh in summer” would be incomplete without a trip to Portobello Beach says Mary Campbell. As the summer holidays begin, many people will be looking forward to a trip to Portobello beach to bask in the Scottish sunshine. I grew up in Portobello, and in the summer the…
A nation of animal lovers?
Public policy on animal welfare still has some catching up to do, argues Green MSP, Alison Johnstone. It’s easy to overestimate the protection offered to wildlife and pets in Scotland, given our reputation as a “nation of animal lovers”, but government actions and the fall-out from consumer choices leave a heart-breaking trail of suffering and abuse.…
Tackling high rents in Edinburgh
Leith Walk’s Green councillor, Susan Rae, made her first speech in the council today, arguing that the council should be at the head of the line to use forthcoming powers to declare a Rent Pressure Zone which would limit rent rises. This is what she said. Lord Provost, this country and our city is facing a…
A deposit return scheme for Edinburgh
Tackling Edinburgh’s litter problem should start with a deposit return scheme for cans and bottles, says Steve Burgess. With the UK election over, it is time for a non-partisan idea for the UK’s four governments to get moving on: deposit return for drinks cans and bottles. More than a quarter of a billion people around…
Safe cycling in the city centre
Green transport spokesperson Chas Booth says a step change is needed in in both cycling infrastructure – and in attitudes – in order to avoid future tragedies. The death last week of Zhi Min Soh, a young medical student, who was killed while cycling at the west end of Princes Street, was a tragedy that should not have happened.…
Cycling tragedy must prompt action
City Centre Green councillor Claire Miller reflects on this week’s tragic death of a cyclist in Edinburgh. The death of a young woman on her bike at the junction of Princes Street and Lothian Road this week has brought shock and disbelief. For the family and friends of the young woman who died, no words…
Challenging the benefit cap
Tackling Edinburgh’s housing crisis will be a litmus test of the new council over the next 5 years, says Alex Staniforth. The first council meeting of the new term on 18th May brought the city’s housing crisis right into the heart of the City Chambers. A group of protestors, most of them mums with young…
Interim arrangements for the council
Today Edinburgh City Council agreed short term arrangements to break the political impasse that has gripped the city since the council elections on 4 May. Steve Burgess explains. The cause of the political impasse in Edinburgh is not hard to see. At a time when all councillors should be focused on what is best for…
Caring for Edinburgh
Improving care in Edinburgh might also unlock the capital’s political logjam, argues Susan Rae. According to last week’s report into care in Edinburgh our services for older people are weak in several respects, specifically in ensuring that people get the right help at the right time. This will come as no surprise to many service…
UK election 2017 and the Greens
Green councillor Gavin Corbett, offers his personal take on the UK general election on 8 June. I’ve not spent a lot of time on social media on the subject of the UK general election and I’m not intending to. I am aware, however, of the increasingly shrill reaction of some people from rival parties on…
Making clean air a priority
The new city council should make clean air an early priority, argues Claire Miller. Inevitably, since the council elections on 4 May, there has been a lot of focus on how the city council should be led. However, the test of any new council, whatever its make-up, is how it improves quality of life in…
Political direction for Edinburgh
Green councillor Steve Burgess reflects on Edinburgh’s emerging post-election arrangements. Greens have always valued co-operation and discussion in politics. Traditional tribalism often gets in the way of finding common ground and making things happen. The how of politics matters as well as the what. So, in the run up to this year’s council elections in…