Breaking news

With concern mounting over the prospects of Britain crashing out of Europe, and the potential negative effects of such a hard Brexit on business and visitor numbers in the Scottish capital, you may think this is a difficult time to make money in Edinburgh.

Think again. Enterprising residents are finding a new way to prosper in the face of uncertainty, and observers say it could turn out to be more than a short-term trend.

The new earning model is called ‘warehoming’ or ‘warehosting’.

As you read this, copies of the April Spurtle are already glancing across Broughton like spring rain on an optimist’s BBQ. 

Issue 283 kicks off with a note about climate change, the unanticipated arrival of wildlife, and the comings and goings around two very well-known local landmarks. 

Take a butcher’s at this. 

The capital’s trendiest tote bag, designed by Edinburgh-based artist Alexandra Snowden, will be available the length and breadth of Broughton Street tomorrow. 

It comes as local traders celebrate the completion of gas repairs with a wide range of special offers, discounts, and tasters over the weekend. (Look out for balloons outside participating businesses.) 

 HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF AS FARCE ON EAST SCOTLAND STREET LANE 

The latest planning application for the lockup / flat / AirBnB / Class 2 office / lockup on East Scotland Street Lane has been refused (Ref. 18/03340/FUL). 

Many thanks to local reader John Hein, who today sent us this photograph of a sign attached to a London Road bus stop. 

As Mr Hein observes, ‘Hell hath no fury like a bus user endampened.’ 

For anyone having trouble with the image, we reproduce the text below (minus the relevant official's phone numbers). 

Around 120 people filled the Thomas Morton Hall at Leith Theatre last night for an event billed as the Save Leith Walk (SLW) hustings. 

For a by-election on the brink of trams, budget cuts, and Brexit, the atmosphere was remarkably calm and good-natured.

This mood was fostered in part by a celebratory presentation at the start of the evening, which outlined highlights of the (so far successful) campaign to oppose Drum’s development at Stead’s Place, and pointed the way towards future community pro-activeness on planning and a range of other issues.

Community Councils Together on Trams (CCTT) is a coalition of the four community councils most impacted by the proposed tramway extension route: New Town & Broughton CC, Leith Central CC, Leith Links CC, and Leith/Harbour & Newhaven CC. 
 
Anticipating a decision by the full Council to approve the Final Business Case for extending the tramway on 14 March, CCTT this morning issued a statement. 

Architects LBA have put forward new plans for a development of six 1-bedroom apartments on a narrow sloping site between 13 Claremont Crescent and Broughton Road (Ref. 19/00451/FUL; Breaking news, 22.8.17).

It falls within the New Town Conservation Area. LBA are acting as agent for an Edinburgh-based individual.

Eleven candidates will contest the forthcoming Leith Walk (Ward 12) by-election on 11 April.

They are, in alphabetical order:

If you live in a tenement, you may well have been frustrated by power cuts affecting the time the stair lights come on and go off. 

The reason power cuts affect lighting timing is because the timing on each stair is controlled by an ‘Astro clock’, or timeswitch, which turns the lights on and off at the right time of day for the time of year.