Breaking news

Spurtle’s Issue 269 comes out in December and will be the last until February, straddling the New Year period like a huge but elegant new road bridge with only a few piddling surface issues which it’s hardly worth mentioning despite the fact that in time they may cause the entire edifice to collapse. So we won’t. 

Page 1 is mostly about the dizzying spin that is Picardy Place, although we also find room for a desirable dragon and make confident predictions about what Leithers will be arguing about in 2018.

Activists, stakeholders and concerned locals opposed to the City of Edinburgh Council’s latest plans for Picardy Place will meet this evening. 

The idea is to establish priorities and discuss the best way to promote practical alternatives to the current proposal on offer in advance of the Transport and Environment Committee meeting on 15 January.

This is a closed, planning meeting. Further details will follow. For information, contact: picardygroup@gmail.com

 ADVERTISING DRUM PROPOSAL FOR St ANDREW SQUARE 

While Edinburgh collectively takes stock/girds loins/throws hands up in despair over the future of Picardy Place, here is a little planning problem you can help resolve today.

 IT LOOKS LIKE A GYRATORY. IT OPERATES AS A GYRATORY. IT'S STILL A GYRATORY 

Today consultations continue over the future layout of Picardy Place.

Members of the public are invited to attend an event at the City Art Centre between 10am and 7pm, or another tomorrow at Broughton St Mary’s Church on Bellevue Crescent from 3pm till 7pm.

DAVID YOUNG CAN HARDLY CONTAIN HIS EXCITEMENT 

1. Hullo – it looks like major work is underway in Edinburgh city centre. 

2. What can it be?

THREE EVENTS, MANY MISGIVINGS

City of Edinburgh Council has announced times and venues for further consultation on the future design of Picardy Place.

‘Stakeholders’ will attend (by invitation only)  an event in the City Chambers on 20 November.

Members of the public can go along to either an event at the City Art Centre on 21 November (10am–7pm) or another at Broughton St Mary’s Church in Bellevue Crescent on 22 November (3pm–7pm).

 DECISION TOMORROW 

A planning application for the erection of a ‘Festival Village’ above Waverley Mall will go before the Development Management Subcommittee tomorrow.

 CHIPS WITH EVERYTHING 

Current City of Edinburgh Council policy is to add colour to all new bus and cycle lanes by embedding red stone chippings into normal grey tarmac, writes Tim Smith.

Provided this is done correctly, the advantage for the Council is minimal maintenance costs.

Applied red coatings (as used on the recently installed bike crossings on the tram route, for example) are much more visually striking, but are liable to wear away, often unevenly, needing costly replacement.

If something lang-leggit goes bump in the night tonight, don’t worry. 

Chances are it’s either an absolutely enormous, parasitic crane-fly skittering about blindly in the dark, or the latest copy of the Spurtle arriving through a letterbox near you. 

Issue 268 is bursting at the seams with news about people and places in your vicinity. We start with things which are: pleasingly shorter; able to be much improved; or moving forward with a hop, skip, and a jump.

 X-RAY FINDS A QUEEN 

A research project by the National Galleries of Scotland and the Courtauld Institute of Art has revealed a hitherto unknown and unfinished portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots.

The image lies beneath one, dating from 1589, by Adrian Vanson, of  the Lord Chancellor of Scotland Sir John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane.