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Next Meeting: Thursday 30 April 2026: 

Scroll down for Current Issues, Events, Consultations and References:    

3 Apr: Tram Trains for Edinburgh Event on 27 April: The project team is holding its next public meeting on 23 April, at the Nucleus Building, on the Edinburgh University King's Buildings Campus. The event begins at 7.30pm and will cover a description of the project (tram trains to provide a fast and efficient public transport service around the South Sub) and specific issues local to Newington, Liberton and, of course, Cameron Toll. You can register your interest via this Eventbrite link: Tram Trains Event 23 April

27 Mar: EACC Meeting Report 26 March 2026: The site now carries the slides on the Active Travel presentation from Mike Birch (New Town & Broughton CC) along with a summary of the session. There is also a summary of the conversation on Road and Footway Infrastructure capital and repair spend, led by Alastair Webb (Morningside CC), covering also the possibility of setting up an EACC sub-group to cover that area of council activity and community council focus. Go to  EACC Papers >> Meetings 2026.

25 Mar: Transport & Environment Committee 2 April 2026: Agenda: There are key items on the programme:

https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=136&MId=7659&Ver=4

5.1 Work Programme: Updates on Waste and Cleansing Performance and on Cycle Hire due on 19 June.

6.1 Business Bulletin: Road Works Co-ordination Infrastructure Forum: Proposed membership: First meeting expected June 2026.

7.1 Transport Capital Investment Programme – Annual Update, with Appendices including proposed Capital Delivery Programme 2026/27 spend on carriageway and footways (by Ward); proposed Road Safety Programme 2026/27 (incl. junctions, crossings and speeding measures); proposed Local Traffic Improvements 2027/28.

8.1 Road Safety and Local Traffic Improvement Delivery Programme 2025/26 Update, including by project type and Ward.

8.2 Communicating Road and Pavement Improvements: ‘Transport Capital Investment Scheme lists to be available on the Council’s website and emailed to community Council contacts with information relating to the weekly online Road Report.’ (Follows August 2025 Council motion by Cllr. Ross.)

Plus detailed improvements to the Council website, additional information relating to the Road Condition Index; improvements to clarity and accessibility of the TRO process.

20 Mar: Transport & Environment Committee 2 April 2026: Note the scheduled Reports on 1) Transport Capital Investment Programme – Annual Update, including Road Safety Delivery Plan / Local Traffic Improvement Delivery Plan / Roads and Infrastructure Investment Programme. 2) Cycle Hire Update. 3) Communicating Road and Pavement Improvements.

11 Mar: Battery Energy Storage System near you? Peter Scott from Cramond, Barnton & Cammo CC brought this to my attention. It comes from the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS). It relates to the Scot Gov consultationon the thresholds for decision making on planning applications for commercial energy generation projects. This consultation closes on 27 March.

The issue is this: APRS argues that all decisions on Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) should be 'consented' or otherwise by local authorities, set in the context of local development plans and local community accountability. At the moment, applications for energy generation above 50MW are determined by the Energy Consents Unit at Scot Gov. This means the majority of applications are not decided by local authorities. Onshore energy generation projects, developer-led, are tabled with no overall national plan, it is argued, and local authority recommended conditions for go-ahead approval are often disergarded. This call for greater local involvement is a matter of principle, as well as good practice.

Read the APRS paper via this link: https://aprs.scot/news/call-for-all-energy-decisions-to-go-to-local-authorities-and-be-on-local-development-plans/ Go to the Scot Gov Consultation here: https://consult.gov.scot/planning-architecture-and-regeneration/electricity-act-thresholds/

5 Mar: Edinburgh Development Forum: The 5 March meeting featured the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Call to Action 2030, an outline of the thinking needed to hallmark the city as a leading UK tech and innovation hub. 'If we don't make the effort, we slide into business irrelevance'. Also Rab Bennetts' proposal for a City Architecture Centre; much-needed and long overdue. Go to EACC Papers / Meetings 2026 and to Rpt 26_03_05. See also: https://www.edinburghchamber.co.uk/

27 Feb: EACC Meeting 26 Feb: The Planning Democracy slides and summary are carried in EACC Papers / Meetings 2026. You can view the event here Planning Democracy Recap .

25 Feb: Planning: Revised Scheme of Delegation: The CEC Scheme of Delegation, setting the authorities of the Chief Planning Officer (inter alia), on behalf of Councillors, in reviewing planning applications, has been revised. See: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/planning-decisions-2/scheme-delegation . The revision is effective from 2 February. Planning Department released it yesterday. See Menu / Plannng & Place. 

24 Feb: Edinburgh Licensing Forum: Roger Colkett (EACC Board Member) offers a brief update on the work of the Edinburgh Licensing Forum, an adjunct to the Edinburgh Licensing Board. See the Menu / Licensing. 

23 Feb:TellmeScotland: Brought to you by the Scot Gov agency, the Improvement Service, TellmeScotland is a Scotland-wide public notice portal, listing Planning, Licensing, Traffic, Elected Councillor and other general public information notices on, for example, local elections and council tax changes. Search by radius of a post code or by local authority and type of notice. See list views and map views. Contact details for the issuer are provided. No registration required. Register if you wish to subscribe for alerts. 

https://tellmescotland.gov.uk/home/

https://tellmescotland.gov.uk/adminportal/pages/content/help

19 Feb: EACC View on Support for Community Councils: Go to Menu / CC Support to read the read the recent EACC submission to the CEC Executive.

19 Feb: Planning Special: Go to the Menu / Planning & Place for a review of training guides and information papers on Planning frameworks. 

19 Feb: New EACC Board Member: Keith Giiblet, Chair of Queensferry & District CC, has stepped back after long and valued service to EACC. His place is taken by Laura Sexton, Transport Convener of QDCC, up to the November 2026 AGM.  

17 Feb: School Travel Safeguards: CEC has in place a new School Travel Audit and School Travel Plan Process to help schools with the build and delivery of bespoke plans for individual schools. You can view the summary of a recent review of the procedure here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IuCkYsE3EbLjx7GgLL2cA-sc3jRpHKec/view?usp=sharing Parent Councils and School Staff Members are expressly invited to participate. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Marc Symonds) for more information in the first instance.

10 Feb: Living Streets Meeting: Living Streets Edinburgh works to hold the City Council to its commitment that, ‘Pedestrians are at the top of the urban transport hierarchy’. The Council’s next Local Development Plan, City Plan 2040, due for publication in 2028, hopes to showcase a series of Local Place Plans, neighbourhood ideas for urban improvement. Living Streets Edinburgh sees more pedestrian crossings and dropped kerbs, and less through-traffic, as local ideas worth pursuing. You can join Living Streets Edinburgh on Monday 23 February (3-4pm) to learn more, in the company of Anna Grant from Edinburgh Council, and Joanna McClelland, a practising architect from Leith. Register for this Zoom online meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/2aMsXeLtQBaNHa88iwhIiA#/registration

6 Feb: Black Cab Fare Review: CEC has commenced its regular (every 18 months) review of taxi fares and has opened (3 Feb) a public consultation with the taxi trade, the public and stakeholders. The consultation covers ‘black cabs’ only. It closes on 20 Feb. You can access it here. https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/taxi-fare-review-2026/

4 Feb: The Community Renewal Trust: What have we got here?: Based in Glasgow, the Community Renewal Trust looks to “listen, connect people to the support they need, build on strengths and stick with them as long as it takes…. sharing learning which will rethink how Scotland can end persistent poverty and inequity”. It works in several Edinburgh communities. (http://www.communityrenewal.org.uk/)  Community Renewal Consultancy and Training Ltd has been commissioned to undertake research into community spaces, assets and services to get a better understanding of the resources accessible to the residents of the city. “We would like to invite input into a survey of local community spaces (not local CEC owned community centres) to inform our research.” “Community Renewal Consultancy and Training Ltd will conclude (the) research by using the data collated through surveys and field research to create a report that analyses the spaces and services across the cities localities.”

Contact information
John Hawryluk | Senior Social Impact Consultant | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Here are the Survey Links: 

Spaces - https://forms.office.com/e/MHbEtPLvss     Services - https://forms.office.com/e/BS8LHY5Uf8

29 Jan: CEC Committee Agendas: Some Interesting Extracts:

* 29 Jan 2026: Transport & Environment Committee

6.1 Business Bulletin – Tram North / South Update – Consultation Survey Report and Strategic Business Case submission due ‘later in 2026’.

6.1 Business Bulletin – Communicating Road and Pavement Improvements – From Apr 26, added CEC website detail on Roads, Bridges, Road Safety and Local Traffic Improvement Plans – CEC Website Roadworks and Events listings - Improve project planning data availability. (https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/16145/roadworks-and-events-list)          

7.2 Edinburgh Visitor Levy: City Operations and Infrastructure Investment Theme.

7.7 Updating the External Organisation Membership of the Transport and Local Access Forum.

8.1 Communal Bin Review Update, incl. timeline and workstreams for overall project completion

8.3 Budget Strategy and Medium-Term Financial Plan (2025/30) – Progress update; referral from Finance and Resources Committee of 18 Nov 2025.

* 28 Jan 2026: Planning Committee

4.1.12 From Minutes of 12 Nov 2025 meeting: Changes to Scheme of Delegation. Training to be arranged for ‘members’ on the topic of representations on planning applications.

6.1 PBSA Working Group – Terms of Reference on forum gathering information on student numbers, accommodation needs, affordability and sufficiency of accommodation provision.

6.1 Princes Street & Waverley Valley Strategy Re-think.

7.1 Edinburgh Urban Design Panel – Annual Review 2025.

8.1 Data Centres and AI – issues on projected energy and water usage

28 Jan: Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA): has launched a public consultation to identify and assess local flooding concerns across the country. The results will help shape SEPA’s Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMP) 2028-2034, due for publication in December 2027. Communities are being invited to share their main flooding concerns and to highlight projects, initiatives or actions already helping to manage flood risk. “This consultation is about listening to communities and learning from local experience.” Find out more about this critically important programme here: https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/evidence-and-flooding/frmp-phase-1-consultation/ The risks in this locality may be limited, but risks there are. Take a little time to see what SEPA have to say. The survey runs until 22 April.

27 Jan: Tram Trains for Edinburgh (TTfE): Cameron Toll Redevelopment: The TTfE volunteer team see the Cameron Toll proposal as a big boost for their push to re-open the South Edinburgh suburban rail line (South Sub). It brings into play the idea of a major transport hub at Cameron Toll, joining up the North-South Tram line with the West-East sweep of the South Sub from a Murrayfield junction, through to Fort Kinnaird, then conceivably on to Portobello or Musselburgh. The team are keen to reinforce their vision with the Cameron Toll developers. The drive is now on to find sponsors of a further feasibility study. If you would like to join the venture, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit the 'Reopen the South Sub - Tram Trains for Edinburgh' Facebook page.

21 Jan: CEC Licensing Board: FIFA World Cup 2026: The Licensing Board is set to consider consultation with stakeholders on permitteed licensed hours amendments during the period of the World Cup, 11 June to 19 July 2026. Match timetables will mostly be late at night and through the overnight to early morning hours. Considerable public interest is expected. Temporary policy changes in licensing procedures are being called for from Local Authority Licensing Boards. This could be by way of a policy 'determination' or by way of extended hours applications by individual premises. It's anticipated that Scot Gov may issue 'guidance' to Licensing Boards. There is the related issue of licensed outdoor 'fan zones', which raises a whole stack of questions. The Licensing Board is expected to seek views from the Licensing Forum (along with Police Scotland, trade bodies and Licensing Standards Officers). You can offer you Community Council opinion to the Licensing Forum via the contact link at: https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/volunteer/become-member-edinburgh-licensing-forum/1

14 Jan: CEC Policy & Consultation Update December 2025: This monthly publication covers key reports tabled before CEC Committees, new and current Consultations and a wealth of material published by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and other Agencies. It takes your community council to the heart of the national and local government process. It is not available on the CEC public website. The link to the December 2025 report is here: CEC Policy & Consultation Update: December 2025

8 Jan: Dundee Street Fountainbridge Active Travel Project: The current consultation on detailed project proposals closes on 12 January. The Council’s Active Travel programme has the immense challenge of making ‘room for all’ across the city’s roadways, cycleways and footpaths. The quandary invites pressures for ‘elbow room’. You will be interested in the 29 December release by Living Streets Edinburgh (LSE) of its response to the proposals for the Dundee Street Fountainbridge cycleway connection. The LSE report ( https://www.livingstreetsedinburgh.org.uk/ ) illustrates the inherent conflicts in many aspects of urban transport design. It shows how such tensions can spill into confected mobility 'solutions' which in some cases undermine agreed core principles (e.g. on pavement width) and in other cases reveal the worst of all worlds in the shape of ‘floating bus stops’. Here is the consultation link:

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/dundee-street-fountainbridge-active-travel/

8 Jan 2026: Edinburgh Road Safety Delivery Plan 2025/26: Six-Month Update: Here is a little more detail, drawn from the Transport & Environment Committee 13 November 2025 Report .

There is an outline of the comprehensive Safe System approach to the Council’s road safety strategy, building protection around safe road users / safe speeds / safe roads and roadsides / safe vehicles / effective post-crash response. This strategy links with a Safer Streets Prioritisation Process, an revised assessment framework which will be implemented in Q1 2026.

Appendix 1 to the Report lists individual schemes carried in the 2025/26 Plan. These include major projects, pedestrian crossings, speed reduction measures, school travel measures, speed limit reductions and accident investigation and prevention outcomes. There will be further work on the adverse impact of an intended extension to the 20mph network on public transport service provision, with related delays to implementation. Developers will be encouraged to fund and install directly improvements to road safety infrastructure where they fall due to contribute by way of section 75 Developer Contributions.

A new Pedestrian Crossing Assessment Framework is underway, with a further report due to Committee later in the year. The intention is that members of the public should be able, as a matter of course, to log new crossing requests to a ‘heat map’ so that the Council can track the listings and use them to build a programme for crossings delivery from 2026/27 onwards. There will be additional assistance for schools in the preparation of their School Travel Plans. 

The projected budget for all road safety projects in 2025/26 is posted at £6.7m.

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