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Opposition to the possible move of Gaelic Medium Education (GME) to Drummond Community High School has stiffened.
Parent bodies at two primary feeder schools and Drummond itself have each issued strong statements against the proposal by the Council. (You can read the statements here, here and here. A statement from Abbeyhill parents has yet to materialise.)
As you read this, the February Spurtle has not only rattled through the presses but leapt off the floor and into the arms of our black-spandex-clad ninja distribution operatives.
You won’t see or hear them, but over the next two days they’ll be fanning out across the barony and beyond, delivering hyper-local news from odd angles about and to the places other papers rarely reach.
Issue 270 begins with the elephant in the room, continues with a notable bear, and concludes by considering a potential cuckoo.
The whole kit and caboodle
Earlier this month we published a piece by Cllr Mary Campbell on how the Scottish Greens view the future of Gaelic Medium Education in Edinburgh.
Now it’s the turn of Cllr Callum Laidlaw, Conservative spokesperson on Education and a member of the Gaelic Implementation Group.
Defining ‘best’
Every parent wants the best possible education for their children, and Edinburgh Council is committed to ‘getting it right for every child’.
Proposals for a new gyratory on Picardy Place were approved at a meeting of the Transport & Environment Committee this morning. Councillors voted in favour by 9 votes to 2, with only the Scottish Greens against.
What follows is an impressionistic summary of the main points. For local-government enthusiasts whose Netflix subscriptions have run out, the whole meeting is available to enjoy here for free.
Deputations
FIVE BIG HITTERS ON PICARDY PLACE AND WHY COUNCIL MUST THINK AGAIN
Pressure has mounted on Transport and Environment Committee members as open letters, articles and social-media messages over the last week have articulated widespread public opposition to the Council's latest plans for Picardy Place.
LOCAL LANDMARK COULD GET SWALLOWED
The Edinburgh-based Thistle Property Group has applied for planning permission to retain the façade of the old Canon Mill at 1-3 Canon Street and demolish the building behind.
They want to create 11 new flats (8 x 1-bedroom, 2 x 2-bedroom, 1 x 3-bedroom), with commercial space at ground-floor level (Ref. 17/05967/FUL).
In early 2016 the First Minister began an external review of how non-domestic rates could better reflect economic conditions and support investment and growth.
The resulting report by Ken Barclay, published last summer, contained 30 recommendations ‘to support growth, improve administration and increase fairness’.
The last of these recommendations was that ‘Commercial activity on current exempt parks and Local Authority (council) land vested in recreation should pay the same level of rates as similar activity elsewhere so as to ensure fairness’.
New Picardy Place proposals emerged today in a report going before the Transport & Environment Committee on 25 January.
They may be the last.
The changes partly fulfil what the public asked for in the extended consultation process before Christmas, which drew around 1,000 responses from Edinburgh stakeholders and residents.
The 34-page report lists key features of the revision as:
How best should Scotland’s capital support Gaelic and Gaelic Medium Education?
Mary Campbell – Scottish Green Group education spokesperson in Edinburgh, and councillor for Portobello/Craigmillar – reflects.
Lively debate
Clear skies, low winter sunshine and a layer of snow made a wander about Broughton and the ascent of Calton Hill an absolute pleasure this morning.
And the slippery descent, something of a nightmare. The steps down to Waterloo Place appeared not to have been gritted, and were particularly treacherous.
Conditions in Old Calton Burial Ground were deep and crisp and uneven.