Present : Ian Cunningham, Ian McLean, Dorothy Dobson, Gill Brittle, Jean Butterworth, Amanda Bennett, Caro Tulloch, Jane Wood, Rose Pipes (part meeting)
1. Apologies: Morag Fitchet, Isobel Bathgate.
2. The meeting note from the meeting on 2nd December was accepted.
5. Flood Prevention.
Rose had kindly agreed to attend the meeting to provide an update on the flood defences work and so this topic was covered first.
Rose had put several questions to Lagan and these together with Lagan’s response are detailed below.
Sylvia Taylor is Stewart Mackay’s replacement. Sylvia is not an engineer but has been helpful in trying to get updates for residents.
Q1. What are the plans for reinstating the garden at Falshaw Bridge?
A1. Lagan say this is Arup’s responsibility. Plans are not clear yet. The meeting agreed that the garden should have been treated in the same way as the house gardens with an inventory being taken before the work started. However, some of the bulbs and plants have survived the work. Once all the work has been finished the garden will be maintained on a voluntary basis by Colonies Residents.
Q2. When will the gardens of the houses next to the new wall be reinstated?
A2. Work has started already and planting will start around March.
Q3. When will Bell’s Bridge re-open?
A3. March / April.
Q4. When will the temporary roadway be removed?
A4. Most of it has gone already.
Q5. When will the triangle of garden at the temporary bridge on Arboretum Avenue be re-instated?
A5. Replanting will take place over the summer. Both Friends of Rocheid Path and Colonies Grapevine have alerted Reid Terrace to the fact that this work is due to start and that their contribution is welcome.
Q6. When will the earth bank to the north of Reid Terrace be re-seedd?
A6. Initial seeing has been completed and will be repeated if required.
The presence/absence of soil on the shelf on the north side of the new wall has to be followed up. There should be soil but it may have been washed away.
Rose went on to say that several gable end properties have been damaged, most likely by vibration. Councillor Lesley Hinds called a meeting with CEC, Lagan and Arup. CEC will reimburse those with a legitimate claim. The Gable Enders have to get estimates for the work, these estimates will be reviewed by CEC and if accepted, residents will receive the money thus allowing them to get the repair work done. It is difficult to conclude if the flodd defences work did cause the damage to the properties as the sruveys instructed at the start of the process did not include the inside lining of chimneys, cracks in ceilings.
The meeting then discussed the bollards that were knocked down today by one of the contractors’ vehicles. Although the damage will be sorted it was felt that more careful driving would have prevented it happening in the first place. Damage to Glenogle Road was also commented on and this too will have to be rectified once the work have been completed.
4. Dates for Your Diary.
Quiz. Gill reported that everything is in order for the Quiz on 8th February. Dorothy has got raffle tickets organised and has prizes too. Gill reported around 12 tables have been requested which is a full house. Secretary’s Note. A good fun evening was had by all and £180 was raised for Colonies funds.
AGM. This will start at 7.30 with the AGM business being conducted first. Then the Colonies Choir will perform at 8pm followed by Charlotte Nealy from Water of Leith Conservation Trust giving a talk.
Morag to prepare accounts. Action : Morag.
Speak to Charlotte about format of talk and bringing leaflets. Action : Gill
Prepare agenda. Action : Gill
Yard Sale. Date for this is fixed and is 12th May. Jane thanks Morag and Amanda for offering to help her.
Sunflower Planting. Caro kindly volunteered to run the “grow something in 2013” competition and sunflowers were selected. Caro will have a think about how to run this and will report back to the next meeting.
Carol Singing. This ran on 16th December 2012 and £406.92 was raised for Marie Curie. It was another very successful evening and everyone enjoyed it. Around 50 people participated. The Colonies Choir made their debut successfully and were quite delighted/taken aback by the size of crowd that had gathered to hear them.
6. Environment.
20mph speed limit. Amanda updated the meeting. She has spoken to Gary Patten, CEC, who advised her that there are many 20mph pilot schemes running currently. These are due to finish at the end of March and a report produced by summer. He went on to say that there is suppport generally for a 20 mph limit but the Police are voicing their concerns over its enforcement. Community support is therefore important. Amanda will keep in touch with developments and for further updates. A poll should also be placed on the website. Action: Amanda, Isobel.
Tree Felling. Ian C alerted the meeting to tree felling that was taking place on Edinburgh Academy banks starting on 6th February; from Bell Place along to Gabriel’s Road.
Bins. Amanda has asked CEC to remove bins left out as bins left lying around looks hideous as well as being a safety issue as they obstruct the pavements and obstruct views of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians leaving/entering the Colonies streets. We will get as much information out regarding bin pickups, numbering your bins, consistency of service to residents. Include in the upcoming Newsline. Action: Amanda.
7. Neighbourhood Partnership. No update. Ian C is expecting an update on the stone pillars and will follow up with Steve Cuthill, CEC. Action: Ian C.
8. Friends of Rocheid Path. A very positive meeting has been held with the FoRP and John Wharrie, CEC. Tidy up dates are being issued and volunteers are welcome. There is a plan for regenerating the Water of Leith sight line from Stockbridge to Dean Village and there is a public meeting on 16th March. This will be publicised via Grapevine/Website to raise public awareness.
9. Newsline. Required for AGM Agenda to be included :-
Summary of events – Isobel to take from website
Dates for your Diary – Gill
AGM agenda and documents – Gill and Morag(accounts)
Bins – Amanda
How to use the forum on the website – Isobel.
10. Website. The forum is not being used too much and so Jane will send out a reminder and Isobel will be asked to show people and perhaps draft some guidelines. Interesting split bewteen grapevine users and website users – almost mutually exclusive. Not sure what that means but useful information when we are sending out information. Ian McL to add his plumber’s details to the forum. Action: Ian McL, Isobel, Jane.
11. Grapevine. Very busy but Jane sometimes has to field emails that voice views as opposed to just sending out information. The meeting thanked Jane for all her work on this as it can be a tricky task.
12. AOCB.Rose had mentioned running a Pensioners’ Outing. The meeting discussed this and thought it was too tricky as you cannot discriminate on age, it may become a huge outing so logistically and financially be too big. However, there was support for a ceilidh and this will be progressed. Spetember/October were preferred dates.
A street party will be run again but not in 2013 as it’s too soon after the Jubilee party. Perhaps 2014?
A warm welcome was extended to Ian McLean who has volunteered to join the committeee. Thanks Ian!
Acknowledged that Gill is standing down as committee member at the AGM.
13. Date of Next Meeting.
AGM Thursday 21st March
Committee meeting Monday 8th April 8pm at Dorothy’s. (Week later than normal schedule due to Easter)