'Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal' confirmed

I was delighted to hear confirmation in the Chancellor's budget Statement this afternoon, that the "Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region Deal" now has formal Treasury-recognition, and is thus entering the detailed negotiation stage.

The 'Edinburgh and South-East Scotland City Region' comprises a total of six local authorities, as per the map - with some 24% of the whole Nation's population living in this part of Scotland. 

And for some time now, the six local authorities that make up the 'Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region', have been working collectively on a 'City Region Deal' bid, which has been submitted to both the Scottish and Westminster Governments for their consideration. 

The 'City Region Deal' is a mechanism for accelerating growth and investing in success. By investing in infrastructure, skills and innovation we could create a step change in economic performance, which would generate funds to pay back the initial investment. 

It's also about greater autonomy and decision making powers being devolved to the region, in order to make public service delivery more effective, and to tackle inequality and deprivation across the region.

Our ambition has been to secure +£1bn of funding and it's estimated that an additional +£3bn worth of private sector investment could also be leveraged. 

I've written generally about this issue before, via the local Newspaper - here ... 

... and the 'City Region Deal' website is available here.

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Speaking today, on behalf of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region, City of Edinburgh Council Leader Andrew Burns said: 

‘We are delighted with the Chancellor’s pledge to develop a City Deal for our region and welcome the opportunity to continue our engagement with both the UK and Scottish Governments. 

“We submitted our proposals in September 2015 and remain as determined as ever to negotiate greater fiscal powers and funding towards strategic housing, transport and infrastructure projects to help the region become the most connected, creative, inclusive and innovative place in Europe.

“This commitment from Westminster is a step forward for our proposals to tackle inequality and accelerate substantial economic growth.” 

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Saughton Park and Gardens --- Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Delivery Phase of Grant Award

I mentioned the successful Saughton Park, Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) application a couple of months ago - here ...

... well, there's a Full Report on the 'Delivery Phase' up at 'Transport & Environment' Committee next Tuesday - and you can now access it on-line via this link.

If you're local and/or interested at all - please do have a look at the Report --- there's just no question that this is going to be a great project for the South West of Edinburgh and I'm really looking forward to August 2018 when the new Park and Gardens will open :-)

New SNP Group Leader

There's been some 'change-at-the-top' of the City Council SNP Group, following their Annual General Meeting earlier this evening ...

... Frank Ross has replaced Sandy Howat as their Group Leader - and Frank will now become 'Council Deputy Leader', following this week's Council Meeting on Thursday.

At a personal level, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Sandy over the last 12-months, and wish him all the very best for the future.

Internal political-Group changes do happen, and the 'Edinburgh Labour' Group will continue to work constructively with the whole SNP Group on the Council - it’s important to stress that the local Labour/SNP Coalition will continue, as we collectively understand the importance of continuity and stability for Scotland’s great Capital City.

And I do now look forward to working with Frank, as the Council Deputy Leader, and both of our respective Groups continue to have every intention of ensuring this unique Coalition remains in place right through to May 2017.

Our Coalition-agreement remains unchanged, and our focus remains on doing what is best for Edinburgh.

Scotland's Agenda for Cities

Back in November, I mentioned the Scottish Cities Alliance participation in the "Cities Convention" meeting, which was organised by the Scottish Government - all as part of the work towards refreshing the 2011 "Scotland's Cities Agenda" documentation ...

... well, I'm pleased to update that the refreshed "Scotland's Cities Agenda" has been formally launched today ---

--- you can access the full document via this link; and Keith Brown (as Cities Minister) has briefly blogged about the refresh here.

Personally, as current Chair of the Cities Alliance, I'm delighted to see it feature so strongly in the refreshed Strategy.

Sponsorship opportunities galore!

I've got two colleagues who are undertaking very different challenges, for charity, in coming weeks ...

... both are for very good causes, and - if you can - please do consider following the relevant links and sponsoring them ;-)


In June, Maureen Child (left) is abseiling off the Forth Rail Bridge!

Sponsorship details via this link.

And my my colleague, and Lord Provost, Donald Wilson is running the London Marathon; for the second year, next month in April :-)

Donald's sponsorship details are available via this link.


Thank you!

Delivering a new Meadowbank Sports Centre

On your marks for a new Meadowbank 

Delivering a new Meadowbank Sports Centre is the key recommendation in a report to be discussed by the City of Edinburgh Council next week.
  

Design concept for Meadowbank - London Road entrance

As referenced in yesterday's post ... delivering a new Meadowbank Sports Centre is the key recommendation in a report to be discussed by the City of Edinburgh Council next week.

The ‘Funding Package Proposal for a new Meadowbank’ report outlines the estimated investment required to build a brand new state of the art sports centre.

The estimated total project cost has now reduced to £41.1m and the report recommends the Council develops the detailed design which would allow the project to be tendered. This would then provide greater clarity on the funding gap required from the Council capital investment programme - currently estimated at £5.98m.

The remainder of the funding would be achieved by generating capital receipts from the surplus land at Meadowbank, prudential borrowing and revenue savings from closing the facilities during the construction period. In addition the Council would make an application to sportscotland for funding. 

Another benefit outlined in the report is that two areas of the site would be transferred to the Council’s 21st Century Homes Programme providing affordable housing. 

The report will now be discussed by a meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council next week (Thursday 10 March).

Council Leader Andrew Burns said: “This report sets out quite clearly the funding required to turn one of our flagship facilities, which everyone agrees is at the end of its useful life, into a sports venue fit for the 21st century. 

“While it is a significant investment for the Council, creating a detailed design would give us greater clarity about how much money we need to invest. Not only would we see a new Meadowbank but more homes would be built to meet the city’s housing needs.

“Obviously there is still a long way to go with a project of this scale if the funding is agreed but I want to assure everyone that the Council is determined to realise our dream of redeveloping Meadowbank.”

Councillor Richard Lewis, Culture and Sport Convener, said: “Transforming Meadowbank into a brand new sports complex would provide a modern, fully accessible high quality sports centre for sports clubs and local communities.

“The new venue will bring health and wellbeing benefits across the city by supporting even more people to become and stay active.”

The funding options and architectural design concepts for replacing Meadowbank, which was originally built for Edinburgh’s 1970 Commonwealth Games, have been developed with input from relevant governing bodies of sport and sportscotland. 

The plans would see the existing site transformed into a brand new sports centre that would serve the sporting needs of the local community as well as the surrounding region with facilities for physical activity, health and wellbeing.

A new Meadowbank would include:

• An outdoor athletics track with seating for 500
• An indoor 60m six lane athletics track with jumps area
• An outdoor throws area
• A 3G synthetic sports pitch or grass pitch in the centre of the outdoor athletics track for football, rugby and other pitch sports
• An additional outdoor 3G synthetic sports pitch
• An eight badminton court sports hall with 500 permanent seats plus bleachers (the same size as the current Meadowbank Hall 1)
• A four badminton court sports hall with 500 permanent seats (the same size as the current Meadowbank Hall 2)
• A gymnastics hall, gym, studios, changing facilities, café, meeting rooms.

If the funding shortfall is addressed then demolition could begin in late autumn 2017 with a new Meadowbank opening in summer 2019.

March Leader's Report

March 2016
Ensuring best value for Edinburgh    Last month I welcomed a report by Audit Scotland, which demonstrated just how far the Council has come over the last year to address its financial challenges. The Audit of Best Value 2016 recognised the Council's strategy for changing the way it delivers vital services while making necessary savings against an increasingly tough financial climate. This was confirmed in a further report by the Accounts Commission last week, in which they highlighted the Council's four-year budget framework and strong leadership by elected members and officers. Setting the budget involved some of the toughest decisions of my 17 years in local government but, in difficult circumstances, we aimed to prioritise those services that mattered most to Edinburgh residents. I am confident that we are now in a stronger position to meet the challenges ahead. Councillor Andrew Burns Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council    A new Meadowbank    Ever since 1970, when it played host to Scotland's first Commonwealth Games, Meadowbank has served residents and professional athletes well. And while it is still a much loved facility, with over half a million users every year, it is now close to 50 years old and its facilities are tired. A report being considered by councillors next week outlines the investment required to transform the current venue into a sports centre fit for the 21st Century. Obviously this would involve significant investment for the Council but having a detailed design gives us greater clarity about how much money we need to find. A new Meadowbank would better serve the sporting needs of the local community as well as the surrounding region with facilities for physical activity, health and wellbeing. In addition, the surplus land available would allow hundreds of new affordable homes to be built on the site, contributing to the city's housing needs.   Edinburgh St James   The Edinburgh St James development is set to take another important step forward with the Council, Scottish Government and TH Real Estate, the developer, finalising the details of an innovative funding package. Known as the Growth Accelerator Model (GAM), it will fund essential public realm improvements to the Picardy Place area and has been key to helping unlock £850m of private sector investment at the heart of our city centre. Not only will it provide much needed premium retail space for the city, it will also contain 250 new homes, 30 restaurants, a multi-screen cinema and a 5 star, world class hotel - creating 1,000 jobs in the process. We anticipate demolition will begin this May with an expected completion date of 2020.   Yet more awards    Edinburgh has been named one of Europe's best cities to do business, having been crowned a winner in the annual fDi (foreign direct investment) awards chosen by the Financial Times Group. The win is no surprise considering Edinburgh remains a highly attractive place to do business. Indeed, the Council's work to build relationships with other global cities was cited by the panel as a key driver for foreign direct investment into the Capital. I'm glad to see the success of the sector - and the part played by the Council - isn't going unnoticed. There was further good news for the city when it was named one of the world's most beautiful cities, and who could disagree? We were beaten only by Paris, Florence and Rome in a Rough Guide poll of its readers.   Be Able    I recently visited the excellent Be Able Service, part of a registered day care service for Older People in Drumbrae, and was delighted to hear that a similar service is set to open in Oxgangs. This has been long planned and will meet a gap in current provision within the area. Be Able works with older people over a period of 14-16 weeks to improve mobility, regain and increase their confidence doing every day activities such as getting out and about and preparing a meal to help them remain living at home for as long as possible. It also offers support to people with the earlier stages of dementia. The service has had fantastic feedback from users in other areas of the city. You can learn more about what they do by watching their short video.   ESCo incorporated    Late last year, some of the largest organisations in the city pledged their support to our Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), which aims to transform our energy use by reducing demand and encouraging local generation - the first plan of its kind in Edinburgh. It's great news, then, that we're now taking the next step with the creation of our energy service company (ESCo). This will be wholly owned by the Council and have a key remit for delivering the strategic energy projects from the Plan. The development of energy projects will be crucial to its success and work is already underway to identify projects across three areas of: energy efficiency; district heating and renewables. The hope is that it could become self sustaining - delivering real environmental and economic benefits for the city.   Stay in the picture    Keep yourself in the picture with our news section online. Watch live full Council and some committee meetings on our webcast. Join the debate on Twitter #edinwebcast  If you wish to unsubscribe please email us.
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March Full Council Meeting

March's Full Council Meeting now coming up fast - takes place at 10am next Thursday (10th) ...

... all the reports are up on Committee Papers On-Line (CPOL) and you can access the main agenda directly here; and each of the individual reports separately via this link.

Of course - as ever, if you're so minded, you can watch all the proceedings live here ... or the meeting will be archived a few hours after it finishes for viewing at your leisure!

"Grant a Grand" winners!

I mentioned the "Grant a Grand" results event a few days ago ... well, all the results are now in, and the winners are all listed here!

Congratulations to them all :-)

Bridgend Annual Potato Day :-)

It's that time of year again - time for the tatties to be chitted ;-)

... so, we headed over to Bridgend 'Annual Potato Day' earlier this morning, and managed to get four varieties for the Allotment: three 'first earlies':

• Sharpes Express
• Casablanca
• Charlotte

- and one 'main crop':

• Robinta

All are now happily chitting away on top of our kitchen-cupboards :-))

Quick snap of the Potato-displays below:

Edinburgh Printmakers update

I've mentioned the Edinburgh Printmakers ongoing developments at the Castle Mill Works (in Ward 9) a couple of times before - here and here ...

... well, delighted to report that the project secured nearly £2million further funding today, through the "Regeneration Capital Grant Fund for 2016/17" :-)

More details can be found via this link; and I''ll paste some further information on the award/project below:

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7. Project lead:                    City of Edinburgh Council                      

    Project title:                     Castle Mill Works - Creative Industries Incubator

This project will restore Castle Mill Works, a C- listed heritage building of significant social interest in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. The building will be transformed into a vibrant cultural centre with cafe, garden, exhibition and retail space and a Creative Industries Incubator Hub, providing a catalyst for the economic regeneration of the Fountainbridge area. The project will actively target some of Edinburgh’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

The Castle Mill Works has lain vacant for 10 years and requires complete refurbishment in order to retain it. In 2012 community groups expressed a desire for the property to be brought into sustainable, community use.

The project will be delivered in a partnership with Edinburgh Printmakers.

Aims:

·  Address worklessness through the employability programme (training and work placements) and make links with FE and HE Creative Industries students

·        Broaden access for more people to enjoy and experience the arts

·      Enhance the ‘sense of place’ for Fountainbridge residents, encourage social cohesion and play a part in a major redevelopment that will make Fountainbridge a better place to live, work and visit.

·       Redevelop a historic building and return it to a viable productive use, boosting the local economy

·      Develop the resilience and international connectedness of Edinburgh Printmakers and contribute to Edinburgh’s and Scotland’s international cultural reputation.

·      Foster excellence and experimentation across the creative industries by establishing a new Creative Industries Hub

Anticipated outputs.:

·         24 new jobs created

·         50 construction jobs supported

·         13 existing job supported

·         18 training places created

·         1 buildings refurbished and brought back into use

·         507 sqm of business space created or modified

·         2250 sqm of building created or refurbished

·         3.5 ha of Vacant and derelict Land remediated/ de-risked/ brought back into use

·         1 community facility supported

·         20 businesses/ enterprises benefiting from supported facilities

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Bass Rock, East Lothian

Been over in East Lothian this weekend, for a bit of a birthday celebration, for my better-half ...

... the whole coast was looking glorious as ever (see above), but the Bass Rock was looking particularly splendid :-)

Reminded me of this Gordon Meade poem:


Bass Rock

The foundations
Of this house are black,
A beautiful, sooty black,
With the occasional glimmer
Of emerald green, hewn
From the living bodies
Of cormorants and shags.

The walls of the house
Are charcoal grey and white,
The elegant pillars of guillemots.
The windows and the doors are the cries
Of kittiwakes and the cackling
Of fulmars blown on the wind.

The roof of the house
Is brilliant white, tipped
With black, and lit with saffron.
The individual tiles are over six-feet
Wide, the wingspan of gannets.

February's Corporate Policy and Strategy Committee

All of the Reports are now out for February's "Corporate Policy and Strategy" Committee; it meets next Tuesday 23rd February!

All the papers/reports are now in the public domain: the main Agenda can be found here.

The individual reports are all on Committee Papers on-Line (CPOL) linked from here.

And, of course, all the Policy and Strategy Committee meetings are webcast live - and thereafter archived! All available via here --- it's TV; but not like you've ever seen before ;-)

"Grant a Grand" results event next week

I mentioned the 'Grant a Grand' scheme a few weeks ago ...

... voting is still ongoing, up until the 24th February; and new details of the 'results/announcement' event - on Friday 26th February - are now available, as per the poster on the left!

Hope some readers may make it along next week ;-)

Applications for the 2016 "Grant a Grand" are here!

  Applications for the 2016 Grant a Grand are here !

Young people in South West Edinburgh can vote by heading along to:
Fountainbridge, Balgreen, Sighthill (Gate55) or Wester Hailes Libraries.
 
Voting starts on Monday 1^st February and runs until Wednesday 24^th, the results will be announced at a community event on Friday 26^th February at Carrickvale Community Centre. The event will include stalls from local community groups, sports tasters and refreshments. It's free to come along and everyone in South West Edinburgh is welcome.

You can keep up to date with all Grant a Grand developments by following the  @Southwest_team Twitter and watching out for #GrantaGrand.

South West Grant a Grand 

Over autumn 2015 and early 2016 young people in South West Edinburgh are being given the opportunity to suggest projects and vote on the ones they want.

There are 10 prizes each of £1000 to be granted, and local young people get to choose which 10 ideas get the money.

We are now closed for applications and we have sixteen applications going forward for the vote.

Young people between 10 and 19 will be able to vote at a South West Library whenever they check out a book.

The South West Libraries are: Fountainbridge; Balgreen; Wester Hailes; and Sighthill (at Gate55).

Downloads

The money has been allocated by the South West Neighbourhood Partnership from their community grants fund budget. So everybody making an application should read the Community Grants Fund Guidance and Conditions of Funding.
 
Grant a Grand Criteria
Information Sheet

If you would like more information please contact either:

Michael Edwards, Partnership Development Officer
Tel: 0131 527 3884 Email: michael.edwards@edinburgh.gov.uk

Scott Neill, Partnership Development Officer
Tel: 0131 527 3816 Email: scott.neill@edinburgh.gov.uk

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A real alternative on offer now

It was a pleasure to briefly introduce Kezia Dugdale - the Scottish Labour Leader - at an event here in Edinburgh, earlier this morning; as she outlined a significant policy announcement for our Party ...

... for those so interested, my personal Speech Note is as below; and fuller details on the actual policy can be found via this link (& full audio and text of today's event is now available via here).

In essence, I do sense a real alternative is on offer now:

• the Scottish Government could amend their 2016/17 Budget (Stage 1 debate is tomorrow)
• this would raise some £0.5billion to help protect education and front-line services
• the lowest paid would be protected

If such an amendment was accepted, I'd be the first to congratulate the Scottish Government.

Speech Note

Good morning colleagues --– great to see you all here on this fine Edinburgh-morning

For those of you who don’t know, I’m Councillor Andrew Burns, the current Council Leader here in the Capital City

My task this morning is simply to say a few words of brief introduction before we hear from our Scottish Party Leader, Kezia Dugdale

I’ve been a local Councillor for 17-years this coming May ... I was first elected on Thursday 6^th May 1999, the very same day as the first Scottish Parliament elections

So I’ve experienced all four Scottish Parliament terms – as a Senior Councillor, and latterly this last term as a Council Leader

And I think it’s fair enough to say that I’m probably one of the least-tribal Council Leaders in the country ...

... indeed, I’m so non-tribal, that I’ve spent the last 4-years in a two-Party Coalition with my local SNP-colleagues

It’s the only two-Party Labour/SNP Coalition across all of Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities

I mention all of this just to underscore that I am not one prone to anti- Scottish Government sentiment just because of its current political colour ...

... but frankly, having just set our own Edinburgh Council Budget for the 2016/17 financial year: enough is enough

Local Authorities – local communities - across Scotland cannot go on like this

I have just taken £85.4million pounds out of our 2016/17 local Budget (that’s a lot of money and a lot of service reductions) ... and I’ve done it, under central diktat with no choice but to sign-up to certain conditions, and no genuine ability to raise alternative revenues

But the body which has just enforced this austerity regime upon me – the current Scottish Government – does have the genuine ability to raise alternative revenues - right now

They have a majority in the Scottish Parliament and could alter their current Budget proposals to avoid these local cuts

To ignore this reality – and to continue to pass on austerity to Local Communities - would be frankly unforgivable

There is an alternative – of course that alternative isn’t necessarily easy ... but the difficulty in making the argument for a radically different course of action, is as nothing – as nothing – compared to the difficulties that the removal of £85.4million from our local Budget is going to impose on local communities here in Edinburgh

Politics is about choice

Do we simply accept and manage austerity

Or do we use all the powers available to us – right now – to combat austerity and invest in our future

So, colleagues – I’m delighted to welcome Kezia Dugdale, Scottish Labour Leader, and to invite her to set out our alternative – our choice ...

... Kez.

 ======