Leith Waterworld survey

Locals working on their bid to re-open Leith Waterworld need your help.

They're doing a bit of research into how people used the pool, and what people's ideas for the future of the pool - if it were to re-open - might be.

So, please help them by taking a couple of minutes to fill out this online survey:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHJRYmN3OTJXUC1Ya0Y5dDdnLVZqVlE6MQ

The more people that fill it out, the greater the chance that volunteers will be able to put together a realistic, and convincing, business case to re-open the pool.

And you can win £33.20 in a prize draw if you do it too (This is the cost of train travel to and from Burntisland and entry to Beacon Leisure Pool for two adults and two children).

Local anarchists invest in creative Leith Walk advertising solutions

Local anarchists, have apparently been inspired by the council's own alledgedly higher quality 'authorised' flyposting sites, to up their own game. Less of the black and white A4 flyposters that campaign groups of this ilk are famed for, they've produced a series of bespoke, hand painted, wooden signs to advertise their message.

Signs like the one below have been screwed onto some of the hoardings along Leith Walk, alongside the council signs advertising business start-up workshops. 

Meanwhile, in Abbeyhill, we spotted this thought provoking chalk message.

We subsequently learnt from Twitter that this is a quote from neo-marxists, Hardt and Negri.

And last but not least, lurking just around the corner from the Gayfield Police station you may find this:

 

Greener Leith is not aware of any radical political message in this last image, or of any connection between any of these bits of graffiti/street art/vandalism (delete as appropriate).

More anachist street-art-adverts, should you like that sort of thing, in our Flickr account.

Of course, as a footnote we should point out that whilst the anarchist art advertises the UK wide Anarchist Federation website, you may have more luck getting in touch with the "friendly and organised" Edinburgh Anarchist Federation.

Enforcement cameras rumoured for Shore

Although most people seem to support the recent upgrade at the Shore, one thing that doesn't seem to to be working is the North bound traffic ban.

A few days ago we spotted this taxi flouting the rules, but we've also heard local residents complain too.

Indeed, one local resident posted this report onto fixmystreet.com this week:

"I cannot believe after spending over £500, 000 in new road restrictions , that there is no one overseeing the illegal parking and miss use and ignoring the signs on the shore.

"Firstly on Saturdays and Sundays and after 6pm the cars parked along the shore on the double yellow lines is unbelievable, also cars entering from Henderson street and sand port place along the shore passing the Huge no entry sign is just unacceptable.

"When will this ever be manned as after spending huge amounts on the re- generation in the area at tax payers expense this should be looked at?"

A council officer, who would probably prefer to remained nameless has assured us that moves to install a safety camera to catch illegal drivers are now afoot.

Of course, that won't stop the illegal parking though, but it'll soon put a stop to people ignoring the traffic restrictions.

Spring birds around Leith

Elaine O'Mahony is a Leith resident who has recently started blogging about her encounters with urban wildlife. We're delighted that she's agreed to let us re-post her Leith-centric blog posts here on Greener Leith.

We had a lovely sunny morning in Edinburgh recently and I enjoyed a wonderful wildlife-filled walk along my local stretch of the Water of Leith. It really brought home to me how fast Spring is progressing so I wanted to share some of my top wildlife encounters of the season so far. The struggle for spring migrants that I complained about in an earlier post is no more! No sooner had I turned off St. Mark’s path and onto the Water of Leith walkway proper, than I was  greeted by a singing Chiffchaff flitting among the branches.

Only last week I spotted one in the Royal Botanic Gardens and another in Pilrig Park. I was delighted to then hear a second migrant: a Blackcap. Although this bird has a very similar song to the Garden Warbler, I was left in no doubt as I had a clear view of the male’s black cap after which the bird is named. Do check out this useful BTO video that highlights the differences between these two warblers.

Just upstream from what must be the last weir of the 80-odd that used to decorate the river in times past, I heard a Song thrush. Although these are considered common birds, I always delight in hearing one as they are on the decline, sadly. A short time later a male Grey Wagtail on the opposite bank caught my eye. It was engaged in a series of short flights from the edge to the middle of the river and back again. It took me a few minutes to realise he was foraging for insects. But my heart melted when I saw him hop upriver to feed his offspring! Although the fledgling was in plain sight, I had missed it earlier as its largely grey colour, with none of the yellow adult plumage, allowed it to blend in with the background.

Mute Swan on nest

A couple of weeks ago I came across a Mute swan nest and was relieved to see that it was surviving still. The big nest was attracting many House sparrowsand even a Greenfinch. As I carefully inched closer I could see that some caring neighbours had left scraps of bread. The swan had even used a sliced pan wrapper as nest material! The bread was attracting a lot of attention from Mallards and even two Moorhens were trying to get in on the action. Then the seemingly settled female suddenly lifted off the nest. I could not believe my eyes when I counted 8 large pale green eggs beneath her! And she was ringed with the letters IJY on her left leg; I can’t wait to find out more about her.

Cormorant showing white breeding patch

In the centre of Leith itself I got a cracking view of a Cormorant resting in the middle of the river. It’s not often that you see the white breeding patch usually concealed beneath the wing. These patches are used as part of a breeding display to attract the opposite sex. From here I went past the back of the Scottish Government Buildings at Victoria Quay. I rarely take this route but it is interesting to see what ships are currently moored at Leith docks. Today I saw the tall ship Jean de la Lune. I definitely wasn’t expecting to see nearly a dozen Sand Martins foraging over the lagoon at VQ. These birds are brown above, white below and have incredibly long pointy wings for their body size. It was only yesterday that I finally spotted several Swallows, a closely related species, in the car park of Cameron Toll shopping centre. I do hope the Sand Martins find suitable nesting sites there and stay for the summer.

As I walked around the side of the Ocean Terminal shopping centre, the screeching of Common Terns filled the air. I really feel summer is on the way when these delicate looking sea birds are around. Some were in the middle of the docks themselves but about 20 or so were resting on this weather-beaten wooden pier pictured above.

For my final stop of the day I visited the small garden outside the car park to the west end of the Ocean Terminal. This garden was created to celebrate Scotland’s most famous botanists. The reason for the stop was not to enjoy the garden but to check out the lamp posts, obviously! A few weeks ago I noticed Blue tits coming and going from holes in the lamp posts, so I assumed that these canny urban Blue tits were nesting there. Unfortunately I didn’t see the same today. Maybe this means that the young have already fledged. This would make sense as lately the food on the bird table attached to my kitchen window has started to disappear very quickly and I think some voracious juvenile Blue tits are responsible!

Thank you if you have managed to read this far. There’s a lot going on out there! Please let me know of other unusual nesting places.

Elaine first published this post on her really rather good, Urban Tails blog. 

Labour and Greens gain in Leith Wards

The LibDems have lost both their seats in Leith, following a local election which saw them reduced from the largest group on the council to the smallest - with just three councillors city wide. None of the three remaining LibDems are in Leith or Leith Walk.  

The Leith Neighbourhood Partnership, which is comprised of both Leith and Leith Walk wards saw anti-cuts activist Nick Gardner get himself elected in Leith Walk Ward, whilst Chas Booth got elected for the Greens in Leith.

Both had been supporters of the Splashback campaign to re-open Leith Waterworld.   

The SNP had hoped to get two people elected in both Leith Walk and Leith Wards. In the event, only Deidre Brock was returned in Leith Walk, whilst, in one of the big surprises of the contest, the incumbent Rob Munn lost his seat in Leith Walk.

Instead, voters opted to give more of their votes to his younger party colleague, and Adam McVey.

This may have been because he was first on the ballot paper, because of the 'Leith Water World factor' or because of bad "voter management" by the SNP who were the only party confident enough to stand two candidates in the Leith Ward.  Most probably it was a combination of all of these things.

Either way, on learning of his election McVey said:

The worst kind of win for me personally. But I'll do my best to fill the enormous void left by 1 of our party's brightest stars @robm2

— Adam McVey (@adamrmcvey) May 4, 2012

Whilst he represented Leith Ward, Rob Munn clearly took his work seriously and was always very helpful in resolving local issues that Greener Leith raised. Indeed, re-elected Leith Walk Councillor Maggie Chapman was quick to post her thoughts on the result on Twitter as well: 

@robm2 Really sorry not to have you in Leith ward, Rob! We've lost a really good local cllr - I'll certainly miss you!

— Cllr Maggie Chapman (@MaggieEdinburgh) May 4, 2012

Rob Munn has let it be known that he's likely to disappear from public life for a bit - primarily on account of the fact that he needs to find a job.

So your new councillors are as follows:

Leith Walk

• Angela Blacklock - Labour 
• Deidre Brock - SNP
• Maggie Chapman - Green
• Nick Gardner - Labour

You can find detailed results on this page on the City of Edinburgh council website.

Leith 

• Chas Booth - Green
• Adam McVey - SNP
• Gordon Munro - Labour

You can find detailed results on this page on the City of Edinburgh council website.

 The Leith Neighbourhood Partnership system brings councillors from both Leith Walk Ward and Leith Ward together with other representatives to make some local decisions. There's a chance it will see a bit of a shake up under the new administration, but for the foreseable future it is likely to continue. 

Indeed, given that Labour and the Greens gave commitments to devolve power away from the city chamber we can expect, if anything, that the Neighbourhood Partnerships will be strengthed, not weakened over the course of this administration. 

The Leith Neighbourhood Partnership is regarded as one of the more successful ones in the city, and this in large part is due to the fact that no one  political party could dominate the discussions. The fact that the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership has gone from a four party body to a three party body may be concerning in this sense, but if you look at the balance of power - locals may take some comfort from the fact that no single party has a majority.

This means they'll still need to work together at a local level.

 

Leith Walk Cycling: It's a Nightmare

Leith walk is one of top 10 worst roads to cycle on in the UK. But is it really that bad? I attached a camera to my bike (basket-cam) and cycled from the top to the foot (bottom) of the walk to find out:

Watch Leith Walk: It's a Nightmare (for bikes) on Youtube

Last weekend Leithers joined with 4000 cyclists in Edinburgh and 10,000 cyclists in London for the national 'Pedal on the Parliament' protest. The aim was to raise awareness of the need to make cycling safer. You can read about the Pedal on the Parliament Leith Feeder Ride on Greener Leith and more about the Edinburgh protest on STV Local.

It's much harder to control a bike when you're continually hitting potholes. Add speeding motorists, meandering pedestrians and parked car doors that could open at any moment.... you can see why cycling on Leith walk is a nightmare.

If you see a dangerous hole in the road you can report it to the council through Fix My Street, it takes less than a minute. Don't just moan about it, why not report it?

Sustrans named Leith Walk in their UK cycling black list, have you cycled on any of their top ten worst roads? How does your street compare to Leith Walk and do you think it should be included in the list? Send us a photo or even better, make a video and add it to the comments below.

The good news for Leith Walk is the Council have set aside at least 3.5 million to improve things this year and they're consulting the locals too. Read more about their plans on the City of Edinburgh Council Website. 

Hurrah for movie stars Ewan Fleck and Judith. Ewan saw me attaching a slightly rickety basket-cam and came over and offered wire to help secure it. Judith told me all about her experience of cycling down 'The Walk' holding on for dear life. Because I chose a movie trailer style film template I wasn't able to add additonal credits, boo!

Read more from Emily on Sustainable Stories, Twitter or Facebook.

Free walking tour of historic Leith available for download

Lothian Buses have produced a free audio guide to Leith, aimed at highlighting the long and varied history of the neighbourhood to tourists. 

Of course, there's no reason why you can't be a tourist in your own neighbourhood, and having had a listen it's quite likely that most Leithers might learn something about their story of the place where they live by going for a wee wander with some head phones on. 

The tour starts and finishes at the Foot of the Walk and according to the blurb:

"This walk comes in two stages and can be done in one go or can be completed in two separate visits. The commentary is educational and entertaining, historic but with a light hearted touch and has something to offer to all ages and all levels of interest. Each walk should take about an hour."

You can find out more and download the audio files from the 'Uncle Bob's audio tours' page here.

leithtour

You'll note that there is mention of The Leith Trust being involved in the tour. The Leith Trust currently has no website, but it does involve some high powered people, according to this website.

Indeed, it appears to be an organisation made up of Edinburgh residents who have Leith sympathies. These include Sue Bruce, the Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council, The Lord Provost (for the next few days at least) George Grubb, Ian Craig, Chief Executive of Lothian Buses, and Professor J.R Hume. 

Gordon Munro, sheds some more light on the mysterious Leith Trust organisation, which in no circumstances should be confused with The Leith Civic Trust, in this article in the Leither. 

Leithers Pedal on Parliament to call for safer cycling

Last Saturday, Greener Leith helped to organise the Leith Feeder ride for the Pedal on Parliament protest.

The day dawned sunny, if a bit chilly, and as is tradition for Greener Leith organised bike rides we convened outside Mal Maison, on the Shore. 

We eventually set off with about 20 folk, including local MP Mark Lazarowicz, a two year old in a bike trailer, a couple of folk on folding bikes and Leith's leading podcaster. As the idea for a Leith feeder ride was born on Twitter, it was perhaps unsurprising that lot's of folk on the ride began by introducing themselves to each other our Twitter handles - a sign of the times indeed.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the ride, was that all along the route we met other cyclists who were either waiting for us, or who tagged along because they were heading to the same place. So, by the time we arrived in the Meadows there were more than 30 of us - including at least three more kids. 

As progress of the ride was documented mainly by other folk on social media, it seemed appropriate to try to pull all the Leith related tweets together using Storify. You can see these below. 

Local photographer Richard Cross also shared the best photos of the day taken by anyone on Flickr (discuss!). You can see one of them illustrating this post - and another below.

The turn-out on the day was incredible - perhaps an order of magnitude greater than both the organisers and the Police had forecast - with somewhere between 2500 and 3000 people taking part.

This is further evidence, if it were needed, that there is a really strong desire from people all over Scotland to see tangible action, rather than political platitudes, on the issue of cycle safety.

Locally, Greener Leith has been campaigning on this issue since 2007, and whilst there's notable improvement in liveable streets in the area - for example at The Shore - perhaps the next key test for the council will be on how it approaches the redesign of Leith Walk once the utility works are complete.  

So, if the event has inspired you to back the campaign you may want to consider the advice in this SPOKES post on 'What to do next - vote in this weeks election and if you get the chance, ask your local council candidates what they're Vision for Leith Walk is.

Will they commit to providing better cycling and pedestrian infrastructure on the street - or do they want it to return to a dual carriageway? Of course if any of them wish to explain their views on active travel in the comments below they're welcome to post them!

Special thanks should also go to Emily Dodd who interviewed some folk on the Greener Leith camcorder on the ride. When we've wrangled the clips into some semblance of a thing then we'll post them to our YouTube account. 

If you can't see anything below this, try clicking here.