Juniper Green and Baberton Mains Community Council (JGBMCC) meets monthly except July and December, on the fourth Wednesday of the month, currently online via Zoom.  If you wish to join the meeting please email correspondence@junipergreencc.org.uk and you will be emailed the joining details.  

AGENDA

1. Apologies

2. Minutes of last meeting and actions arising

3. 20 Minute Neighbourhood Initiative

4. Edinburgh University Research on Care in Later Life

5. Community Council Focus for 2022

a. COVID-19 related issues

b. Traffic including Spaces for People

c. Cityplan 2030

d. Greenspaces

6. Councillors' Corner

7. Reports and Recent Meetings

a. School notes

b. Secretary

c. Treasurer

d. Local Planning Matters

e. Any other meetings

8. AOCB

Next meeting Wednesday 23 March 2022

1.         GRANTED PLANNING APPLICATIONS (0)

2.         PLANNING APPLICATIONS MADE (1)

22/00127/FUL - 73 Belmont Road - Proposed side extension to form new kitchen/dining area to existing lower property. New extension within existing property's garden area and boundary – comments by 18/02/22

3.         TREE REMOVAL (0)

4.         REFUSED  APPLICATIONS (0)

5.         STILL AWAITING DECISIONS (6)

21/06416/FUL - 12 Woodhall Avenue - Proposed one-and-a-half storey extension to side and single-storey rear extension – awaiting assessment - comments by 28/01/22

21/06826/FUL - 55 Baberton Avenue Baberton GC - Build single storey golf simulator pod – awaiting assessment - comments by 11/02/22

21/06170/FUL - 7 Belmont Road - Renewal of Approved Planning Permission 18/04094/FUL. Proposed domestic attic conversion to flatted dwelling, conversion of garage, alterations and extension to provide disabled access, replacement of porch and external stair (as amended) – still awaiting assessment

21/05802/FUL - 46 Baberton Crescent - Increase area of rear external deck. Internal remodelling to form new kitchen and utility room. Form rear viewing balcony off of first floor master bedroom. Replace window in roof dormer with glazed double doors – still awaiting assessment

21/05132/FUL - 62 Belmont Road - Construction of fence around site boundary – still awaiting decision

21/01983/FUL - 543A Lanark Road - construct 4 houses by Juniper Projects - still awaiting decision

6.         UNDER  APPEAL  (0)

OUTWITH JG&BMCC AREA THAT IS WORTH NOTING IN OUR AREA

21/06024/PAN - 7 Murrayburn Gate - Proposed affordable housing development with associated infrastructure and landscape – Consultation approved 01/12/21 - Earliest date for planning application 10/02/22

21/04443/FUL - Currie High School - Construction of a new ultra-low energy community high school, swimming pool and sports facilities plus associated landscaping and parking; demolition of existing school building – application validated 01/09/21 - awaiting assessment

21/03334/PAN – Land north of Newmills Road, Balerno & Currie area

Mixed use development including houses (Class 9), flats (Sui Generis) care home (Class 8), retail (Class 1), commercial (Classes 2, 3 and sui generis), business (Class 4), education and community facilities (Class 10), mobility hub, open space and landscaping, access and all associated infrastructure - Pre-application Consultation approved 25/06/21

Due to the closure of York Place westbound and Leith Street northbound for Trams to Newhaven works, a number of services are subject to diversions across the city centre:

Service 44 is diverted in both directions via Princes Street, Waterloo Place, Regent Road, and Montrose Terrace.

Service 33 northbound is diverted via Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, George Street, Frederick Street to Princes Street.  Southbound it will follow the normal route via North Bridge and South Bridge.

Full details here

Scottish Water is doing some work around 533 Lanark Road (by Lyndsay & Gilmour/ pedestrian traffic lights) between 6 and 10 December and the water supply may be cut off on Monday 6 December between 10am and 5pm.   Four-way temporary lights will be operating while the work is under way.

Juniper Green and Baberton Mains Community Council November 2021 Newsletter

1.     City Plan 2030

2.     Pentlands Book Festival: Last Few Tickets

3.     Active Travel Education Corridor: Research Continues

4.     PoppyScotland Appeal

==****====

1.     City Plan 2030

Edinburgh Council has prepared a new proposed local development plan, ‘City Plan 2030’, setting out the strategy to shape development over the next 10 years and beyond.  The Plan is accompanied by:

·        Environmental Report

·        Proposed Action Programme

·        Habitats Regulations Appraisal

·        other technical and supporting background documents

The documents can be viewed at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cityplan2030, where there are also details of online briefing sessions.  A paper copy is also available to view at libraries and the City Chambers. 

Representations can be made, and must be submitted in writing using the Council’s online consultation hub  www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cityplanhub by 5.00pm on Monday 20 December 2021. If you require any assistance in submitting a representation please contact cityplan2030@edinburgh.gov.uk.

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2.     Pentlands Book Festival, 15-22 November: Last Few Tickets

On Tuesday 16^th November at 3pm, Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of tales of murder and mystery, appears at the Corner Café to discuss his latest book, 'Case Study'.  Graeme’s first novel, ‘The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau’, earned him the Scottish Book Trust New Writer Award in 2013, and his second novel ‘His Bloody Project’ was shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize. In 2017, he won Author of the Year in the Sunday Herald Culture Awards, and 'Wolverine Blues' was recently serialised on Radio 4.  One reviewer described his novels as an experiment with a genre that might be called 'false true crime'.

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-afternoon-with-graeme-macrae-burnet-tickets-194982085667

Craig Weldon scales the heights on Thursday 18^th November at 7:30pm in Porteous’s offices in Juniper Green.  Craig climbed all the Munros by the age of 23 and his book, ‘The Weekend Fix’, describes his love of hill walking and the do's and don'ts.  Like many people of his generation, Craig came of age on hills all around the British Isles: braving the high mountains of the Cuillin and the lower tops of Gloucestershire, wild Welsh farmers and even wilder midges in the Highlands.  Usually funny, sometimes dangerous, more often wet, one thing was for sure: life was never boring!

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-weekend-fix-with-craig-weldon-tickets-194993870917

On Friday 19^th November at 7:30pm, again at Porteous, Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers transform themselves into Metaphrog.  These award-winning illustrators will demonstrate how they rework traditional classics into graphic novels that provide access to literature and literacy.  Metaphrog are multiple Eisner Awards nominees, winners of The Sunday Herald Scottish Culture Awards Best Visual Artist 2016, Excelsior Award Junior 2018, and SICBA Outstanding Achievement 2018. Their latest graphic novels are  adaptations of ‘The Red Shoes and Other Tales’, ‘The Little Mermaid’, and ‘Bluebeard: A Feminist Fairy Tale’.    Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-art-of-illustration-with-metaphrog-tickets-195000490717

All authors will have signed copies of their books for sale.  Tickets are also available at Currie Library.

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3.     Active Travel Education Corridor: Research Continues.

Five M Eng students at Heriot-Watt continue to research the issues of creating a walking/cycling route from Dean Park to WHEC taking in the primary and secondary schools in our area.  The students have spoken with our local politicians and other interested parties and are preparing their group dissertation on the engineering aspects.  Professor Guy Walker is directing the project and hopes to arrange a public meeting in the new year to communicate the students’ findings.  The route has a number of problem points that require some imaginative solutions, so it will be interesting to discover if imagination can be matched by reality.

The route in part is already in active use, and not just by schoolchildren.  However, there could be some exciting mini-projects for our schools that combine Safer Routes to School, the 20-minute neighbourhood scheme, and the effects of climate change, which all require elements of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) input.

A quiet route away from the busy, noisy and polluting A70 is something all our communities would welcome. so we wish the students success in their calculations.

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4.     PoppyScotland Appeal

The Community Council agreed this year to take over running this worthy cause, and poppies and cans were distributed to most of the businesses in Juniper Green - some taking part for the first time. The exercise runs up to and including 11 November and donations can be made in cash or via a QR code. 

Two types of poppies are now available: the conventional “green stem variety” which can be fixed with a pin, and a new type with a sticky back: very effective if the sticky surface is pressed hard against the clothing.

JG Primary School collection up to last Friday was an excellent £168.58, and a new can and supply of poppies had to be issued.

Currie Community Council, assisted by the ATC, has joined us and covered businesses in its area, including the Oriam sports centre.

Baberton Mains History Group Website:  Baberton Mains History Group website

Juniper Green 300 Years: website and celebrations  

You no longer need to book your visit to browse and borrow books.  Edinburgh Libraries website

Currie and Colinton libraries both currently have the same opening hours:

Monday: 1pm – 8pm

Tuesday: 10am - 2pm

Wednesday: 1pm – 8pm

Thursday: Closed

Friday: 10am - 5pm

Saturday: 10am – 2pm

Wester Hailes Library opening hours:

Monday: 1pm – 8pm

Tuesday: 10am – 5pm

Wednesday: 1pm – 8pm

Thursday: 10am – 5pm

Friday: 10am – 5pm

Saturday: 10am – 2pm

As the weather is getting cold again, now is the time to take stock.  If you see a grit bin needing filled, or if one is missing, you can report it here https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/grit.../report-problem-grit-bin 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to give their views to the Council on this.  158 people did, of whom 155 objected to and 3 supported the application.  We are not against 5G masts but this was not the right place - we are happy to work with the contractor and CEC to identify an appropriate and effective location.

Juniper Green and Baberton Mains Community Council October 2021 Newsletter

1.            Active Travel School Route Survey

2.            PoppyScotland Appeal

3.            Pentlands Book Festival: Plans Begin to Gel

4.            Balerno Music Festival

5.            Currie Beer & Curry Festival

6.            Edinburgh Libraries Extend Opening Hours

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1.            Active Travel School Route Survey

A group of students at Heriot-Watt University is working on a project to examine an ‘education corridor’ (see attached proposed route) – an active travel route between several local schools (Currie Community High School, Juniper Green Primary School, Dean Park Primary School, and Heriot-Watt University) to ease congestion on the A70 and to encourage more people to use active travel by providing a safe route. This route will also provide ease of access to the many facilities available at these locations.

Students of previous years have started work on this project, with feasibility studies being carried out on potential routes and feedback already obtained from the community via an engagement event.

They and we hope to get a good response to the survey and to build a good rapport with the public to work on this project together. The link to the short survey is below. Please complete by 18 October 2021.

Survey: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx...

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2.            PoppyScotland Appeal

We are operating this year’s Poppy collection for the first time in Currie and Juniper Green helped by supporters of the Pentland Community Space Project.

Poppy Scotland has a different area division from the CCs so we are not covering businesses in Baberton Mains. Poppies now have a sticky back and, following a trial last year, payment can be cashless at some locations. The collection period runs from 25 October to 11 November.

 ==****====

3.            Pentlands Book Festival: Plans Begin to Gel

This year’s PBF programme has extended its range of venues to Balerno, Currie and Juniper Green.  To socially distance or not?  To mask or not?  Answers will affect audience numbers for better or worse when Book Week Scotland starts in mid-November.  Pentlands Book Festival will follow Scottish Government covid guidelines in place at the time.

PBF launches with the annual history walk led by Liz Beevers, a two-mile ramble starting at 1:30pm on Monday 15th November at Heriot-Watt University, introducing participants to the Gibson-Craig Baronets of Riccarton and two hundred years of the University’s history.

On Tuesday 16th November at 3pm, Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of tales of murder and mystery, will have people on the edges of their seats at Currie’s Corner Café; at the same venue the very next day, Wednesday 17th November, also at 3pm, Peter Sawkins, the Bake Off wizard, will whet appetites and weave his culinary spell.

You can also put in your diary our 3 evening events:

Craig Weldon, Munro bagger extraordinaire, scales the heights on Thursday 18th November at 7:30pm in Porteous’s offices in Juniper Green.

Then, on Friday 19th November at 7:30pm, Sandra Marrs and John Chalmers transform themselves magically into the fairy tale entity, Metaphrog, appearing at Porteous’s offices in Juniper Green with tales of their preparation of graphic novels for children.

Finally, global cyclist and adventurer, Mark Beaumont, takes the festival peloton on Monday 22nd November at 7:30pm to the finishing line in the appropriate venue of Currie Rugby Clubhouse, Balerno.

All authors will have signed copies of their books for sale, in Peter Sawkins’ case, his first book of baking recipes. Keep checking our website www.pentlandsbookfestival.org from mid-October for details of how to reach the various venues and when tickets will become available.  Look out too for our leaflets in shops and libraries.  Tickets will be available via Eventbrite and in person at Currie Library.

 ==****====

4.            Balerno Music Festival

BMF is wrapping-up a small but perfectly-formed programme of events but a limited number of tickets are left for some.  You can view the line-up here, https://www.balernomusicfestival.org.uk/line-up/ with links embedded in each event to take you to Eventbrite for those that have tickets left. 

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5.            Currie Beer & Curry Festival

Takes place this Friday and Saturday, 8th and 9th October.  A great event and money raised goes to local causes.   Tickets here https://www.cbdrt.com/

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6.            Edinburgh Libraries Extend Opening Hours

You can find the hours of opening here https://yourlibrary.edinburgh.gov.uk/web/arena/library-reopening   You no longer need to book your visit to browse and borrow books. 

A group of students at Heriot-Watt University is working on a project to examine an ‘education corridor’ (see attached proposed route) – an active travel route between several local schools (Currie Community High School, Juniper Green Primary School, Dean Park Primary School, and Heriot-Watt University) to ease congestion on the A70 and to encourage more people to use active travel by providing a safe route. This route will also provide ease of access to the many facilities available at these locations. Students of previous years have started work on this project, with feasibility studies being carried out on potential routes and feedback already obtained from the community via an engagement event. They and we hope to get a good response to the survey and to build a good rapport with the public to work on this project together. The link to the short survey is below. Please complete by 18 October 2021.

Survey: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx

You may be aware of the proposed installation of an 18 metre high mast and 3 cabinets on the Baberton Avenue pavement outside of the tennis courts.  Some suggested wording below if you wish to object to it.

1.            Proximity to School and Playgroup

The proposed site is within 75m of playgroup and 150m of nursery playgroup.

2.            Basic errors of measurement in the application

States that Playgroup and School are approx 187m and 296m from proposed site, when they are within 75m and 150m respectively.

3.            Cluttering Safer Route to School

Cabinets and mast will take up a large amount of pavement, counter to Council policy of decluttering streets.  This is a key ‘safer’ route to the Nursery, Primary and High School and pavement space should be safeguarded.

4.            Inconsistency in logic

Alternative sites on the application were discounted due to the density of residential properties around the mast, but all have a similar density of housing as the site proposed

5.            Inappropriate development for a Conservation area

Juniper Green is a Conservation area reflecting the heritage of the area.  An 18 metre mast and associated cabinets is not in keeping.  Its design is not reflective of the surrounding architecture and it will tower over all properties in the village.

6.            Use of Huawei Equipment

The development would use a Huawei antenna.  The UK Government has passed legislation to ban the use of such Huawei kit.

Ron Burnett has kindly prepared illustrations that give an idea of what it would look like, and in the final picture, where it could be located to present less of an obstacle.

We are all for the roll-out of 5G but think an alternative location would be less of a safety hazard for young children going to and from school.

You can read more about the proposal by searching on 21/03525/FUL at the Council planning portal 

Edinburgh Council Planning Portal

A scheme operated by utility providers records in confidence details of customers who might need extra help in the event of a loss of supply because they meet one or more of a range of conditions including age, dementia, serious illness, deaf or blind/partially sighted, speech difficulty, hard of hearing, disabled children or English is not a first language etc.

The providers want to know if you have essential electrical equipment such as bath hoists, oxygen concentrators, heart lung machines, sleep apnoea machines, home dialysis units, stair lifts, nebulisers or ventilators etc.

Once you register, they will try to let you know in advance of a planned interruption of supply and will give regular updates during a supply cut, and may offer possible further help if the interruption is major.

Registration is free via your supplier. You can find out more at the Priority Services Register in Scotland website https://psrscotland.com/ or by writing to:

Customer Contact Team

SP Energy Networks

Strathkelvin House

Campsie Road

Kirkintilloch G66 1RN.

You can arrange with the provider to use a password selected by you to confirm identity if they call you.

Being on the register doesn’t necessarily mean that the provider will restore your supply more quickly but at least they will be aware that you may be having difficulty.

In the event of a loss of service any customer can ring the following numbers for information:

Electricity: 105  

Gas: 0800 111999

Water: 0800 0778778

The RBS mobile branch van is again visiting on a Tuesday as follows:

Balerno, Scotmid, Main Street. 10:15-11:00

Currie, the Library. 11:15-11:30

Juniper Green, Iceland. 11:45-12:45

You may find it parked in the rear car park of Iceland but we are working on getting it a parking spot at the front.

You will need to wear a face covering.  There is a hand sanitiser at the door and staff are behind a screen inside the van.

Please use the service or we may lose it.

RBS Mobile Branch details

1.            Proposed 5G Mast Baberton Avenue: Opinions Sought

2.            Pentlands Book Festival 2021: 15 - 21 November

3.            Old RBS Branch

4.            Cala Currievale Consultation

5.            Recognition for Professor Guy Walker

6.            Balerno Music Festival

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1.            Proposed 5G Mast Baberton Avenue: Opinions Sought

We've been made aware of a proposal to build an 18 metre high freestanding telecommunication mast and some ground-based cabinets on Baberton Avenue beside the tennis courts.

At nearly 60 feet we're concerned about the impact this may have, for example encroaching on the pavement, and are keen to get your views.

Clearly we all benefit from a improved communications network but might there be alternative sites that could mean it has less of an impact?

If you wish to comment on this please email correspondence@junipergreencc.org.uk and chair@junipergreencc.org.uk

==****====

2.            Pentlands Book Festival 2021: 15 - 21 November

The Pentlands Book Festival is determined not to die of Covid. We responded last year to an enforced quarantine by going online, but are being much bolder in 2021, planning for a short programme of live events to be held in Currie and Juniper Green.

We are in the early stages just now, but have already attracted funding from the Scottish Book Trust and signed up Metaphrog, the magical combination of storyteller John Chalmers and illustrator Sandra Marrs whose award-winning graphic stories for children have updated traditional fairy tales for the modern world.  Talking of awards, we are negotiating with a Man Booker finalist and Saltire Prize winner, the novelist Graeme Macrae Burnet, with a view to his appearance at a new venue, Currie’s Corner Café, before a local Book Club audience, but with tickets also available to the public.

We are more than delighted too that the Great British Bake Off winner and local celebrity, Peter Sawkins, whose first book will be published later this year, has accepted our invitation to appear in Currie during Book Week Scotland. Finally, another local author, Mark Beaumont, with tales of cycling is set to join the festival.  All in all, a mouth-watering line-up and too tasty to be missed.

Perennially popular is the annual literary/history walk led by historian Liz Beevers. This year the site of the walk is the Heriot-Watt campus where the university will be celebrating its 200th anniversary, though it is just the most recent occupant of an estate that can be traced back another 600 plus years. As always, early booking is a must.

We will be able to tell you more in later newsletters and the September issue of C & B News. In the meantime please make the diary entry for Book Week Scotland, 15 – 21 November, the week also of Pentlands Book Festival.

 ==****====

3.            Old RBS Branch

For years we successfully campaigned against a proposal to build a takeaway alongside the old RBS Branch on Lanark Road.  But yet in its wisdom the Government has decided to overturn the decisions of the City Council (this has been applied for and refused and then appealed three times!) and ignore the will of the local community.  It makes you wonder what the point is of local Communities engaging in the planning process when a developer can simply appeal and escalate until they finally get the outcome they want.

We welcome new enterprise into the local area, but with 7 different outlets for hot food within 200 yards of the site and 15 pizza takeaways within 3 miles, its not clear what this would add apart from more traffic problems in a village already suffering from rat runners and congestion.  There isn’t sufficient parking to meet the needs of the village just now, let alone those of the delivery drivers or those delivering supplies to the shop. 

The village of Juniper Green is also supposed to be a Conservation Area in recognition of the age of some of the buildings.  With this development its hard to believe such a label holds any value for Government planning officers.

Putting that to one side, this is a main route for a number of children going to Currie High.  Whilst the bus may provide a safe route to school, walking directly past yet another pizza takeaway would surely be too hard to ignore for many children and create bad habits in their formative years.

We’ve had the support of our local Councillors throughout this long drawn out process and its not really clear what else we could have done.  You do hope that good sense and logic will prevail but unfortunately that’s not been the case this time.

There is probably a joke to be made about this new takeaway having an undertaker next door to it, but unfortunately this decision is no laughing matter.

 ==****====

4.            Cala Currievale Consultation

Cala has set up a website to give the local community “an opportunity to view the proposals and provide comments which will inform our future planning application”.  It states that views expressed will form part of the pre-planning application public consultation report which will accompany the planning application.

We recommend you review the proposal and provide your feedback at https://cala-currievale.co.uk/ by 13 July.  

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5.            Recognition for Professor Guy Walker

JGBMCC was pleased to learn of the Community Award to Professor Guy Walker by Heriot-Watt University.  Each year the university acknowledges some outstanding work by one of its workers in the community.  This year Guy’s work on traffic modelling around our streets and those in Currie and Balerno has been rewarded by HWU.

Guy is keen to continue his involvement with the local community and hopes, with next year’s crop of students, to provide further research on the potential of a cycle route between several of our educational hubs including Currie High School and our own community.

==****====

6.            Balerno Music Festival

Balerno Music Festival has a smaller programme planned for 25/9 – 10/10, Covid restrictions permitting.  Watch this space for further news.

We've been made aware of a proposal to build an 18 metre high freestanding telecommunication mast and some ground-based cabinets on Baberton Avenue beside the tennis courts. 

At nearly 60 feet we're concerned about the impact this may have, for example encroaching on the pavement, and are keen to get your views.

Clearly we all benefit from a improved communications network but might there be alternative sites that could mean it has less of an impact?

If you wish to comment on this please email correspondence@junipergreencc.org.uk and chair@junipergreencc.org.uk 

For years we successfully campaigned against a proposal to build a takeaway alongside the old RBS Branch on Lanark Road.  But yet in its wisdom the Government has decided to overturn the decisions of the City Council (this has been applied for and refused and then appealed three times!) and ignore the will of the local community.  It makes you wonder what the point is of local Communities engaging in the planning process when a developer can simply appeal and escalate until they finally get the outcome they want.

We welcome new enterprise into the local area, but with 7 different outlets for hot food within 200 yards of the site and 15 pizza takeaways within 3 miles, its not clear what this would add apart from more traffic problems in a village already suffering from rat runners and congestion.  There isn’t sufficient parking to meet the needs of the village just now, let alone those of the delivery drivers or those delivering supplies to the shop.  

The village of Juniper Green is also supposed to be a Conservation Area in recognition of the age of some of the buildings.  With this development its hard to believe such a label holds any value for Government planning officers.

Putting that to one side, this is a main route for a number of children going to Currie High.  Whilst the bus may provide a safe route to school, walking directly past yet another pizza takeaway would surely be too hard to ignore for many children and create bad habits in their formative years.

We’ve had the support of our local Councillors throughout this long drawn out process and its not really clear what else we could have done.  You do hope that good sense and logic will prevail but unfortunately that’s not been the case this time.

There is probably a joke to be made about this new takeaway having an undertaker next door to it, but unfortunately this decision is no laughing matter.