The Edinburgh Reporter January 2020

The Edinburgh Reporter
6 NEWS
@EdinReporter /EdinReporter edinburghreporter theedinburghreporter.co.uk
NEWS 7
Plans for Peffermill
The University of Edinburgh has
published artist impressions of
its planned new sports village at
Peffermill Playing Fields.
There will be a sports centre
designed to complement the
landscape in the area which will
increase the facilities students
can use.
About half of the bookings at
Peffermill are made by the wider
public and they will enjoy the
enhanced facilities of the world
class sports village too.
The University’s sports facilities
across the city are used by
numerous teams and members of
the public on a daily basis.
This will include a 12-court multipurpose
sports hall, four-court
indoor tennis hall, strength and
The Royal Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland
(RHASS) has just completed its
third year of investment in the
showground at Ingliston, with
record attendance at the show and
welcoming over one million people
at over 200 events at The Royal
Highland Centre.
A planned three-year £15
million investment programme
into the Society’s 120-acre
site was announced in 2017.
Now that programme is almost
conditioning gym, fitness gym, and
social and conference spaces.
The tennis facilities are
supported by Tennis Scotland’s
Transforming Scottish Indoor
Tennis Fund – in recognition of
the shortage of easy access to
indoor courts in the local area.
Basketball, futsal, korfball,
netball and volleyball will also be
added to the sports available at
Peffermill, along with improved
facilities for hockey and archery.
Plans include a 573-bed
residence on existing
University land, which will offer
accommodation for students
during term time.
These will then be made
available for athletes and event
attendees during summer months.
complete. There has been
significant modernisation to
utilities, upgrading of existing
event facilities and a £5 million
conference and membership
facility has been built which will be
launched in Spring this year,
The 180th Royal Highland
Show in 2020 looks like the most
sustainable to date. RHASS
Directors also gave their support
to a root and branch review of
transport and travel to the RHS
following the successful pilot of
its public transport plan in 2019
when over 40,000 visitors left the
car at home and travelled to the
show by bus, tram and train.
New for the 2020 Show is a
comprehensive bus travel plan
which will transport those coming
to the show from major towns
and cities throughout Scotland,
providing a realistic alternative to
car journeys.
Alan explained the approach:
“The RHS has an ongoing
commitment to improving its
sustainability and environmental
credentials and we will continue
to promote its excellent public
transport links as the ‘Best Way to
Getting the roads fixed
Shane Carter has lived in East
Claremont Street for about three
years and for at least two of those
he has been trying to get the
council to do something about the
state of the road and pavements
there.
He explained to us that it is
particularly the footpaths which
concern him.
Mr Carter said : "My complaint
with the council is is that the
highways department is reactive
and not proactive, that it's a
service in crisis. They are not
proactively managing their
work. They're not engaging with
residents.
"And they're just very arrogant
about when they'll do work if they'll
do them at all, and about actually
not putting works out to tender
in time and making sure that
what needs to be done is done
in a timely manner. That's really
my essential complaint with the
council.
"The pavements in East
Claremont Street and the
get to the Show’. Our aim is to set
the standard in sustainable travel
for the event and would welcome
all our visitors to ‘enjoy a dram and
take the tram’, ‘let the train take
the strain’ or ‘avoid any fuss and
take the bus!’”
Last year over 50,000 day visitors
parked at the showground during
the four days and according to
Chief Executive Alan Laidlaw,
this level of parking is simply not
sustainable as the Show grows.
He said: “We have invested
significantly in ensuring the Show
is as sustainable as possible
through recycling, reduced energy
and water consumption as well as
reducing food miles by sourcing
local produce. The final piece
in the jigsaw is to reduce the
environmental impact of travelling
to and from the showground and
the time has now come to take
bold steps to actively discourage
the use of cars as the primary
mode of travel.
“Without doubt the biggest
source of frustration amongst
visitors is around travel time. The
reality is that these roads are
already congested due to heavy
road membrane - the cobbled
membrane - is in a parlous state.
It's extremely dangerous. What if
an old person, a disabled person
or a visually impaired person came
along here and tripped? They
have less wherewithal to protect
themselves than other members of
the public. That would put a huge
pressure on our hard pressed NHS
and it's the fault of the council - it's
a dereliction of duty on the part
of the council. Any defences that
are available to the council in the
Highways Act will be defeated if
someone is injured, I'm certain of
it."
He has taken his complaint to
the very top. He continued : "I have
written to Councillor McVey the
leader of the council about this
matter, I get all sorts of promises
and assurances back. I've written
to the City Engineers' Department,
who had the effrontery 12 months
ago to tell me they might do
the works in the financial year
2019/2020 but there again, they
might not. Everything is as long as
a piece of string. How dare anyone
Highland Show bosses promote public transport
traffic coming to and from the
city and the airport every day
and it is not realistic to expect an
additional 12,500 cars per day not
to have a significant impact.”
He added: “We have allocated
significant resources to
collaborate with public transport
operators to streamline getting
to the showground by bus, train
or tram. Feedback from users
who have used this service has
write to a member of the public
that pays council tax and say
something in those terms?
"Now, I would like these works
prioritised. They say that they'll
start on 6 January. Quite frankly,
I'm not holding my breath. I'd
like to see the documents where
these works were tendered back
in September. I don't believe it was
the case."
The Edinburgh Reporter asked
the council what they were doing
about the state of the pavements
in this area. They confirmed that
they had put the works out to
tender but that no tenders had
been received.
Transport and Environment
Convener Councillor Lesley
Macinnes said: “As has already
been discussed with Mr Carter,
it is necessary that we carefully
prioritise road and footway
improvement projects across the
city to allow us to focus limited
resources on the areas that are
most in need and where we can
create the greatest benefit.
“We do appreciate concerns
around this area in particular
though, which is already
listed as one of the footway
renewal projects to be carried out
this financial year. I’d like to thank
the community for their patience
in the meantime.”
The council approved works on
the footpaths in East Claremont
Street in March 2019, but SGN
have been conducting extensive
gas works in the area throughout
this year. Bellevue was closed in
autumn and so work could not
have been carried out then. But
the council do plan to start this
remedial work before the end of
the financial year.
We are sure Mr Carter will keep
us updated on any progress.
been overwhelmingly positive so
we will build on this for the 2020
show and beyond. However, for
those who absolutely need to
take the car, then advance parking
tickets are available via the Show’s
website.
Alan concluded: “By incentivising
public transport we can support
a change in behaviour that will
secure the sustainability of the
show.”
Bereavement support
Tom Gordon
Of course losing someone is not
easy, but Edinburgh-based funeral
directors, William Purves, has a
way of helping - even after they
have dealt with the practicalities
of a funeral.
They offer Acorns Bereavement
Support to anyone whether they
Andrew Purves is the fifth generation
of the family to run the firm
Comment - Planning
ahead
by Cliff Hague of the Cockburn
Association
As we welcome 2020, what
will Edinburgh be like in 2030?
The City Council’s ideas for
CityPlan2030, its 10-year
Development Plan, go public
this month. In anticipation, the
Cockburn Association produced
five discussion documents last
summer and shared them with the
public at three soapbox sessions,
and with Community Councils at
the Edinburgh Civic Forum. From
2007-17 Edinburgh’s population
increased by 57,000 – that’s
12.5% - mainly from national and
international migration. Further
growth is predicted: the same rate
of increase would mean another
64,000 before 2030. Student
housing completions numbered
1380 in 2010-11, but 4,050 were
built during 2016-17. The number
of Edinburgh University students
are a client of the family firm or
not.
This is a six week programme
which is open to you if you are
living with a loss. There is no
charge and it is a useful way of
meeting experts who can help, as
well as others who might have had
the same experience.
It is the idea of Tom Gordon who
works with the firm. Tom used
to be the chaplain at Marie Curie
Hospice.
He explained the ethos around
Acorns: “As the company
expanded with more and more
people going through their
hands, there was a concern
that they had nowhere that they
could refer people on to. There's
plenty of good agencies who
do support, but there wasn't
anything short life, a starter for ten
Weightwatchers for the bereaved
whatever you want to call it, where
people could come together, learn
from each other, with our guiding
hand and with good professional
input.”
www.williampurves.co.uk
here increased 29% 2008-18. Run
that rate forward, add in similar
growth at Edinburgh’s three other
universities and you have another
18,000 students by 2028. Tourist
numbers grew from 3.27m in 2012
to approaching 4.8m today. Hotel
rooms completed? 630 in 2010-11,
but 1575 in 2016-17. Short-term
lets, almost unheard of 10 years
ago, now account for one in six
flats in the city centre. Traffic has
increased too – up 7.5% 2012-17.
Over the past decade these steep
increases have impacted most
on the city centre and Leith, and
squeezed out affordable housing.
Continued to 2030 they will
change Edinburgh for ever. Growth
promises more GDP and jobs.
But 80,000 people in Edinburgh
live in relative poverty, in several
wards they amount to more than
one in four, and one child in five
in Edinburgh grows up in poverty.
CityPlan2030 should prioritise
well-being and inclusion, not just
growth.
More people die and fewer babies
born in Scotland in autumn 2019
There were 13,155 births and
13,585 deaths registered in
Scotland between 1 July and 30
September 2019, according to
provisional figures released last
month by National Records of
Scotland. Compared to the quarter
three average for the previous five
years, births have fallen by 7.0 per
cent and deaths have risen by 4.4
per cent.
The number of births was the
second lowest quarter three total
since civil registration began in
1855 (only 2018 was lower).
There is no single reason for the
downward trend in the number
of births, but possible causes
may include the postponement of
childbearing until later in life; and
economic uncertainty influencing
decisions around childbearing, as
the beginning of the recent fall
coincided with the financial crash
a decade ago.
The public spending watchdog
said important questions about
the delay to the opening of the
Royal Hospital for Children and
Young People remain unanswered.
The Auditor General for Scotland
said that the reviews to date have
been unable to establish a number
of issues, including:
· why specifications in the
hospital's 2012 tender papers
were inconsistent with national
ventilation guidelines for critical
care areas - an error that led to
confusion - and why a series of
opportunities to spot the error
- which caused the delay to the
2019 opening of the hospital -
were missed.
The report sets out the facts
At 13,585, the number of deaths
registered was the highest quarter
three total since 1998 (13,812).
Compared with the third quarter
average over the previous five
years, 2014-2018:
• The number of cancer deaths
rose by 5.0 per cent to 4,157;
• The number of deaths from
dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
rose by 18.2 per cent to 1,473;
• The number of deaths from
coronary heart disease fell by 3.6
per cent to 1,462;
• Deaths from respiratory
diseases fell by 11.7 per cent to
1,222;
• There were 843 deaths from
cerebrovascular disease (a
decrease of 7.0 per cent).
The provisional figures also show
there were 9,512 marriages in
total. This is 13.1 per cent lower
than the average number of third
as they are known and draws on
the reviews already carried out by
KPMG and NHS National Services
Scotland, as well as NHS Lothian's
annual audit report.
It comes ahead of a public
inquiry into the hospital project
and raises broader issues for
consideration, including:
· the clarity and application of the
national ventilation guidelines, and
how they were managed
· the effectiveness of the
oversight and scrutiny of the
project
· the role of all the parties
involved, including project
company IHSL's construction arm,
Brookfield Multiplex, who also built
the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
quarter marriages for the previous
five years, and the lowest quarter
three marriage figure since 1932.
There were 352 same-sex
marriages, 20 fewer than in 2018
quarter three.
There were 22 civil partnerships
(10 male and 12 female), ten more
than in the third quarter of 2018.
Paul Lowe, the Registrar General
for Scotland, said:
“The number of deaths was 4.4
per cent higher than the five year
average for this time of year, and
represented the highest quarter
three deaths total in 21 years.
“The number of births in
Scotland rose very slightly
compared with the third quarter of
last year, but was still the second
lowest level of quarter three births
since civil registration began in
1855 and was down 7.0 per cent
on the five year average.”
Sick Kids questions remain unanswered
Tiny Changes partners with The Centre
Glasgow.
Caroline Gardner is Auditor
General for Scotland, She
commented : "It's clear that the
checks and balances around the
construction of the new children's
hospital didn't work, and the public
inquiry may want to consider why
that happened after similar issues
had emerged around the building
of schools in Edinburgh.
"It would also be beneficial to
understand the role played by all
the parties involved, and to explore
why the issues that emerged
at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth
hospital didn’t prompt greater
scrutiny in Edinburgh."
The Sick Kids was due to open
in July 2019, but was already late.
The Centre, Livingston, one of Scotland’s largest shopping centres which attracts over 16m shoppers a year, has announced its new
charity partner as Tiny Changes, a mental health charity started in memory of Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison. The
charity was founded by Scott’s two brothers, Neil and Grant and mum Marion, to raise awareness about children and young people’s
mental health, following the passing of Scott in 2018.
The charity’s aim is to promote initiatives that provide help for children and young people impacted by mental health issues and
support for their families and carers and also to give youngsters a voice to help influence mental health policy and practice.
Grant Hutchison, Patrick Robbertze and Neil Hutchison