Big Dig continued on Sunday 5th February 2012 13:00 to 16:00

 Blackcurrant, whitecurrants and redcurrants in the wheelbarrow

 Planting the blaeberry boundaries

Digging the holes for the heritage fruit trees

What a lovely day it was for the BIG DIG today - lots of hard work was done planting berries and heritage fruit trees and digging in the compost.  The Acheson Courtyard Community Garden is coming on beautifully.

The next day in the garden will be on Sunday, 5th February 2012 from 13:00 to 16:00 at Acheson Garden at Bakehouse Close, on the Canongate.

Everyone is welcome -please come if you can, bring gloves

Read the story online here


Empty Macrae tenements that residents lived in until cleared in 2008

Published on Monday 28 November 2011 12:13 in the Edinburgh Evening News

The collapse of the Caltongate development has cost the city council more than £110,000 in lost rent, it emerged today.

Nine council-owned flats on the Royal Mile have been lying empty since November 2006 when occupants of the flats were rehoused to allow for the demolition of the building.

The one-bedroom flats would have brought in £110,176 but still lie empty and have now been vandalised. Concerns have been raised about the cost to the council of the flats sitting unused – and about missing a chance to provide short-term social housing.

Demolition of the flats was put on hold due to the collapse of developer Mountgrange in 2009, scuppering its site plans, which included hundreds of homes, offices, a hotel and conference centre, shops and cafes.

Councillor Cammy Day, housing spokesman for the Labour group on the city council, said: “It is a lot of money to lose and £110,000 could have been invested in repairs to people’s homes or even building new ones. It is also a shame ‘clean’ properties are sitting empty for five or six years while people can’t get houses, even though there is no real plan for what to do with that site.

“We have got such a shortage of housing in the city yet, for five years, we have had empty houses. I accept there was a plan for them at first but that is not now going ahead and even if it was for temporary accommodation then at least they could be used for something.”

Mountgrange bought the privately owned flats in the tenements facing demolition but the council still owns nine.

Council chiefs had agreed a deal to sell all the property it owns, including the flats, the C-listed Canongate Venture building and a series of archways on Market Street, but withdrew the assets amid concern about the amount of time it was taking Mountgrange administrator Deloitte to agree a sale.

It is now understood that Ronald Persaud, who was a director of the joint venture firm that announced £100 million plans for the New Street site in 2001, is heading a consortium of South African investors that is closing in on a deal to buy the site.

The council would then be expected to strike a separate deal for the property it owns.

City economic development leader Councillor Tom Buchanan said: “It is disappointing that we are not able to make revenue from rental property on the High Street but we have been working with the administrator to make sure a new owner takes over Caltongate and develops the site. There is a developer that is close to going public on a deal.”

Councillor Paul Edie, the city’s housing leader, said: “The accommodation is not fit-for-purpose. It is damp, and we could not house people there

Canongate Venture in need of TLC

School that saved lives of poorest children fights for its own survival

The New Street building has barely been used in the past four years. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Published on Friday 14 October 2011 02:54 in Edinburgh's Evening News

Campaigners trying to bring a neglected former school building in Edinburgh’s Old Town back into public use have published a major study shedding new light on its little-known key role in the history of education.

It is hoped the research will boost a campaign to rescue the listed building on New Street from demolition and have it turned into a new literary and publishing hub.

The building was brought back into use for the first time in four years in August when it played host to a major Edinburgh Art Festival exhibition.

But its future has been thrown into doubt after the city council, which owns the building, confirmed it is in talks with a prospective new owner which would see it demolished.

The former North Canongate Infant School, on New Street, where some of the poorest youngsters in the capital were taught, helped shape the crucial Children’s Act of 1908, according to the new research.

Its long-time headteacher, Andrew Young, who later became an MP, was a key witness to a House of Commons study which led to the ground-breaking legislation being introduced.

The study has also found that the building was designed by Edinburgh’s celebrated schools architect John Alexander Carfrae.

The building was turned into a vegetable market in 1938 and later became home to a crafts centre, offices and workshops before being vacated by the council in 2007.

It was due to be demolished, along with a nearby listed building, to make way for a five-star hotel and conference centre.

Although the development was approved by the council and the Scottish Government, the plans collapsed after the developers plunged into administration. However, the council still harbours hopes of reviving the development and is in talks with a potential buyer about taking on the previous scheme.

A conservation study on the former school carried out by Adam Dudley Architects, for the Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust, which wants the council to keep the building in public use, states it is “in danger of being demolished” despite being in “generally sound” condition and calls for action to be carried out as soon as possible to “ensure its long-term survival”.

Sean Bradley, chairman of the trust, said: “It is clear from this study that its historical significance is much greater than was previously known and it even appears to have been downplayed over the years.

“The idea we’re exploring is to bring it back into use as a publishing hub combined with a literacy centre, which would become a vital part of the jigsaw for a vibrant literary quarter in this part of the city.”

Edinburgh architect Neil Simpson, a board member of the trust, said “The school building is firmly embedded in the social history of the Canongate and will always remain a potent symbol of community focus.”

However, Tom Buchanan, economic development leader at the council, said any new owners would likely want to avoid going through a new planning process He said: “The most important thing for us is to avoid having a huge gap site in one of the most historic parts of the city.”

A council spokesman said: “We are currently looking into various options regarding the future use of the Caltongate site.”

Press Release for EOTDT AGM

Press release.......................Press Release....................

Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust Annual General Meeting 2011

Date: Wednesday 23rd March at 7pm

Venue: Riddles Court, 322 Lawnmarket

Edinburgh

Speaker: Ian Cooke, Director of

Development Trusts Association Scotland

Contact: Sean Bradley, Chair on 07598 323440 & Catriona Grant, Secretary on 07717 204426

The Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust is throwing its doors open to the residents of the Old Town and Dumbiedykes on Wednesday evening for the Annual General Meeting of the Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust.

There will be an election of the Directors and there will be reports on;

• the Trust's Feasabilty Study to look at bringing the Canongate Venture on New Street, left empty due to failed Caltongate Project
• setting up a Food Co-op to provide affordable fresh food in the Old Town
• Granny's Green Garden Project supported by the Patrick Geddes Gardening Club

Ian Cooke of the Development Trusts Association Scotland will speak to the meeting about the process of transferring a local authority asset (or building) to a community organisation at less than the market value and what can be done to make sure that these transfers are sustainable. He will also look at the potential benefits of such transfers to community and councils alike.

Catriona Grant, Secretary of the Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust said :

“ We are looking at different possibiblities in how the Old Town community can bring a local well loved asset like the Canongate Venture or another building into community use run democractically by the community”.

“We are interested at looking at the Big Lottery Assets Programme and welcome Ian Cooke's contribution on how the residents of the Old Town and Dumbiedykes can take advantage of grants and initiatives so we can be our own developments that include residents, promote heritage, are environmental, suistainable and contribute to the economy of the Old Town”.

Ends