Breaking news

Parts of Edinburgh struggled to cope with a sudden downpour on 24 June. 

Over half the month’s anticipated rain fell in three hours on the west of the city, and some 140 floods were reported during what Transport & Environment Convener Cllr Lesley Macinnes later described as an ‘exceptional period of extreme weather’.

Traffic disruption ensued. There was some localised but serious damage to property.

Edinburgh-based Star Pubs & Bars Ltd seeks planning consent for new signage at 46–48A Broughton Street (Ref. 19/03014/ADV). 

The former Phoenix Bar, it seems, is set to rise again as The Broughton, selling cask and craft ales, and malt whisky. 

This was originally going to be a short article about Broughton’s grain basket on East Claremont Street. 

There was to be a bad joke about parking wheaters, then a suggestion that the Council’s occasionally ineffective use of herbicide has attractive benefits. 

Instead, it is going to be about pedestrian safety.

Cyclists on pavements

Edinburgh Council has issued a revised carriageway resurfacing programme prior to tramworks starting in the autumn. 

We have extracted those parts of the programme most affecting readers in Broughton, and list them below. 

Dates are subject to change, but the work order should remain the same. 

NB: Work at Pilrig Street Junction, East London Street, and Dalmeny Street should end on 12 July.

Many thanks to Bellevue resident Mairghread Cunningham, who yesterday spotted this handbill attached to a lamppost beside the bus stop at the foot of Broughton Street. 
 
Difficult to photograph, the tightly turning text reads: 

 
WE HAVE BEEN LOST BY OUR LOVING FRIEND. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR US WE ARE BEING LOOKED AFTER BY THE STAFF IN THE STAFFORD CENTRE 103 BROUGHTON STREET. PLEASE COME AND COLLECT US. 
 

The Cockburn Association held a consultation in McDonald Road Library on 26 June, the first of five aimed at establishing recommendations for a new Local Development Plan (LDP). 

The LDP will form the basis of local planning decisions for years to come, which is why community input to Cockburn consultations between now and its collation of a statement in the autumn is important. (Elsewhere, communtiy councils and other bodies/individuals are also framing statements.)

As you read this, copies of the July Spurtle are already illuminating obscure corners of the barony, glinting like gold, bouncing like sunbeams off a holidaying Italian dentist’s smile as she leaves her Bellevue Airbnb in search of the day’s first espresso. 

Reading four-page hyperlocal newspapers is widely acknowledged to increase sexual allure and cure baldness, but the Spurtle can also be enjoyed as an invigorating infusion or source of information on an area bounded by Howe Street, Queen Street, Canonmills, and the wilds of Pilrig. This month we report on 40 locations.

As rain fell on Monday, the Edinburgh Evening News reported breathlessly about ‘unbelievable scenes’ across the city. 

Images liberally borrowed from social media showed cars and buses splashing through puddles. 

There was particular coverage of ‘flash floods’ and traffic disruption to the west of the capital. 

But staff were not averse to covering dramatic events elsewhere – like this from St Mark’s Park in Broughton.

First on Monday’s Twitter …

A new scheme has been launched to plant more trees in Edinburgh, and take better care of the ones we already have. 

Tree Time is a joint initiative by Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust, City of Edinburgh Council, and Woodland Trust Scotland. 

Readers who enjoyed the recent series of BBC Two’s Springwatch: Scottish Adventure will be pleased to learn there is an abundance of natural wonders right here on their doorstep.

Edinburghers need no longer be overawed by the grandeur of Glen Feshie and the towering Cairngorms. 

Nor do they have any reason to feel diminished by the lack of city-centre woodpeckers devouring tree creepers, or ring ouzels stuffing amphibians down the throats of their ravenous offspring.