The Edinburgh Minute ⏰: Weekend edition 1-3 September 2023
Radical Road delay, Bross Bagels tax debt update, new music school plans + bargain cinema day
☀️ Good morning Edinburgh. Here’s your weekend Edinburgh Minute.
⛰ Plans to re-open access to the Radical Road on Arthur’s Seat have again been delayed. Historic Environment Scotland has been accused of ‘broken promises’ after it said that ‘further reviews’ were needed. The path has been closed since a rock fall in 2018. Campaign group Ramblers Scotland describes the situation as ‘farcical’. - Rob Edwards, The Ferret.
🗞 New print editions of some of the city’s hyperlocal publications are hitting the streets this weekend:
🎻 The September Broughton Spurtle is available to read now. It contains an update about newly redesigned plans for the St Mary’s Music School. Its original Royal High School project had to be scaled back after costs more than doubled. Now, Spurtle reports, a ‘substantial redesign’ and new planning application will follow next summer as the trust will be ‘working in creative synergy with the Dunard Centre in St Andrew Sq’. - Read The Spurtle online here.
🗞 A new print edition of The Edinburgh Reporter is also out today. You can read it online here.
⮑ It includes a centre-page report on the Bross Bagels ‘inside story’.
📰 Thanks to C&B News editor Paul Fisher Cockburn for sharing these details of the next free edition: “The September issue of volunteer-led community magazine C&B News is now available online and – from this coming weekend – free from selected outlets in Currie, Balerno, Juniper Green, Baberton Mains, and Colinton. Features include an interview with young speed climber Andrew Goodall, comment from both sides of the Pentland Skyline Race dispute, and ramblers’ sunny and wet summer memories. Plus: local history; local group updates; comment from local politicians and community councils; and the latest local arts and sports news.”
🗳 Unelected religious representatives who sat on Edinburgh Council’s education committee have been stripped of their voting rights after councillors overwhelmingly voted in favour of the change. - Donald Turvill, Local Democracy Reporter, Edinburgh Live.
🛄 Queues stretched out of the terminal at Edinburgh Airport yesterday after a security scanner broke down. - Jody Harrison, The Herald.
🛹 Plans for a new activity park on the old bowling greens in Leith Links continue to move ahead. The local community group behind the plans visited the site yesterday with landscape architects the Council’s Thriving Greenspaces Project. They write on Instagram: “Next step - public consultation.”
🎭 ‘Was it worth it?’ is the headline in Rachel Healy’s latest Guardian piece, in which Edinburgh Fringe acts give their verdict on the festival.
🏦 Developers have applied for permission to build serviced apartments above the Bank of Scotland branch on George Street. - Brian Donnelly, the Herald.
🪟 Windows in the Saughton Park Gardens greenhouse have been smashed by vandals. - Jacob Farr, Edinburgh Live.
🛒 Lidl has announced a Spring opening date for its new store at Meadowbank. - Gary Flockhart, Evening News.
🎄 Apologies in advance for using the ‘c’ word… Tickets for Christmas at the Botanics have gone on sale. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh event often sells out as it approaches. This year there is a new trail route with new lights planned, as well as new, cheaper, off-peak tickets. - More details and tickets are here.
⮑ There’s further detail on which local artists are involved, via the North Edinburgh News.
🥐 That’s the c-word out of the way. Now for the f-word. Peter Simpson of The Skinny has a message for people who have been abusing staff at Lannan bakery in Stockbridge:
“Queuers… Wind your fucking necks in. This is just pastry – it’s delicious, handmade pastry, crafted with obvious invention and care – but at the same time, come on! This is not a ‘shouting at folk’ situation… If you can say with any kind of straight face that failing to acquire the pastry bag is “the biggest disappointment of your life” (another genuine quote from a real person) then your life’s been pretty uneventful and maybe you should keep your opinions and your bad fucking attitude to yourself.”
✍️ Edinburgh’s life drawing club All The Young Nudes is looking for a new venue. Their requirements are: ‘A weeknight for 3-4 hours, have a bar open elsewhere that doesn’t require extra staffing and is open to hosting up to 80 artists to draw each week’. - DM them on Instagram if you can help. Thanks to reader Martina for getting in touch with this.
🏔 Reader Olivia Leanne is planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro next year to raise funds for the Meningitis Research Foundation and is looking for sponsors. She says: “They’d donate to the just giving page and they’d get their logo placed on either my shirt or a flag that I’ll take to the top of Kilimanjaro! The photo would then be theirs for business / marketing purposes.” If you can help, drop her a line.