October 2024 news from Councillor Neil Ross
Plans for the former Post Office
The revised plans for the café/restaurant/hotel for the site of the former Post Office at 265 Morningside Road were shown at a recent meeting of Morningside Community Council - a ground floor café, restaurant on the first floor and hotel rooms on the second, with a roof terrace bar. The design has been altered to remove the basement and to reduce overlooking and noise impacts for residents to the north and east. A fully electric heating and ventilation system is planned and a large picture window set at an angle in the south west corner of the ground floor and first floor is an attractive feature. I understand the developer expects to submit plans to the Council soon.
Hermitage House – what next?
The Council is seeking a new purpose for Hermitage House in the Hermitage of Braid. It is currently under-used by the Council’s Natural Heritage team and needs substantial capital investment. I am working with the Friends of the Hermitage to draw up a list of suggested uses. If you have any ideas, please let me know. The Council is reviewing the locations of service provision in local communities across the city and is looking at potential alternative uses or disposal for a wide range of its properties. Hermitage House is a Common Good asset, so is unlikely to be sold. The Place Based Property Improvement Programme is at report 8.7 here.
Community Space at the former Sick Kids Hospital
Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council is working with IQ Students, the new owners of the student accommodation block at the former Sick Kids site, to set up a Community Interest Company to run the community space on Sciennes Road. They have already agreed that the space will be used during week days for art teaching. If you are interested in using the community space, want to be involved in setting it up or any other issue, please get in touch via pagsk2017 (at) gmail.
Astley Ainslie Community Trust update
I attended a recent meeting with the Astley Ainslie Community Trust (AACT) to hear about their plans to increase community engagement and of further delays from NHS Lothian, who are likely to remain on part of the site in the longer term. A new Ranger has been appointed by the NHS to increase use of the site. More information is available here. Membership of AACT can be accessed here.
New Boardwalk at the Hermitage of Braid
The Edinburgh & Lothian Greenspace Trust has recently completed a new 40m boardwalk to improve access at the Hermitage of Braid. They also built two bee banks. More details here.
Merchiston Leaf Clearing project needs help
Merchiston Community Council is co-ordinating its annual leaf clearing project once again and is keen for any offers of help from local residents. There is more information here and contact can be made via merchistonleafclearingproject @ gmail.
Tourist Tax & Libraries - Tell the Council what you think
The Council is running consultations on:
Tourist Tax - The proposed tourist tax is 5% of accommodation cost capped at seven consecutive nights applying to most places to stay - more details here.
Future Strategy for our Libraries - The libraries strategy focuses on potential changes to opening hours and how the service manages events and activities – more details here.
The Short-Term Lets consultation ends on 14 October.