The Edinburgh Minute ⏰: Weekend edition 15-17 December 2023

🌤 Good morning Edinburgh. A reminder that £10 from every new annual subscription this week will be donated to the Edinburgh NE Foodbank and the Edinburgh Food Project. They reported empty shelves last week. The deal applies to gifted subscriptions too. The total raised currently stands at £270. Thank you and welcome to the new subscribers! Here’s Friday’s Edinburgh Minute followed by the weekend guide for paying subscribers. 

🏗  Controversial plans for student flats in Jock’s Lodge have been given the go-ahead. Despite more than 1,000 objections, developers appealed the council’s previous rejection and got approval for the 191-bed development from Scottish Government Reporter yesterday. - Phyllis Stephen, The Edinburgh Reporter.

🔐  Councillors yesterday agreed to demand an emergency bill to address what they say are ‘deficiencies’ in new Short Term Lets legislation. - Edinburgh Council.

🚨  CCTV pictures have been released of a man wearing a flat cap who police want to speak to as part of ‘an ongoing investigation into an incident that involved vandalism within St Andrew Square’. A Police Scotland statement said: 

“The incident happened at about 4.50pm on Saturday, 9 December, 2023. The man in the images is described as white and aged between 20 - 30 years old with short brown hair. He was wearing a flat cap, knee-length coat, blue jeans and carrying a backpack. Anyone who can help in identifying and tracing the man should report this to Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 2618 of 9 December, 2023. Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.” 

  ⮑  Earlier this week, this newsletter reported that red paint was thrown over a ‘Happy Chanukah’ sign in St Andrew Square at the same time as the CCTV images. Police said at the time that a report of a vandalism to a Menorah was ‘being treated as a hate crime’. Minute reader Joel wrote in to say: “The event still managed to take place yesterday, but scary to witness”. 

🔐  Three students who claim they were evicted unlawfully from an Edinburgh flat are taking their landlord to a tribunal. They say that eviction during exams took a toll on their mental health. - Jolene Campbell, Evening News.

🅿️  The council is writing to certain city households to remind them of new pavement parking ban rules. - Scott Arthur on Twitter.

🚗  Can poetry, sunshine and optimism add some soul to Picardy Place? - The Spurtle finds out.

🚨  Five Edinburgh police stations are set to close, having been listed as ‘surplus to requirements’. Offices in Balerno, Fettes, Leith, Portobello and the West End face the axe in a Police Scotland consultation. - Details via the North Edinburgh News.

🍕  ‘Please be kind to hospitality staff this Christmas’ - That’s the message from Mark De’Mar, Director Of Operations at local pizza brand Civerinos in this Herald opinion piece.

“Maybe if everyone was forced to do a festive season in hospitality, kind of like a national service of sorts, we’d all be in a better place. It sounds simple, but enjoy yourselves safely, and remember we’re just trying to help you do the same. And if you book a table, please turn up - or at least call to cancel. For small venues this makes all the difference.” - Mark De’Mar, Civerinos.

🏊‍♀️  Over the next four days, the Scottish National Diving Championships, incorporating the British Diving Cup, take place at the Royal Commonwealth Pool. - Local hero James Heatly spoke to Susan Egelstaff of The Herald.
  ⮑ Spectator tickets are available to purchase at £5 per day in the venue only, with no pre-sale. - Scottish Swimming.

🎶  Staff at the Botanics are starting a new choir for anyone who wants to get involved in group singing. “We are going to be a community of people who love to sing and who love plants. Everyone is welcome. You don’t need to have sung in a choir before, you don’t need to audition, you don’t need to read music. Even if you think you’re rubbish at singing, we want you to join us.” - It begins in February and you can sign up here.

🖼  Twelve artworks by Scottish Barbadian artist Alberta Whittle are exhibited across the city on billboards and advertising spaces this weekend. They’re extra-large versions of watercolours reminding people ‘to bring love into the everyday’, and part of The ‘Create Dangerously’ exhibition runs until 7 January at NGS Modern One. The billboards will be up until Sunday. - Read more about them in this week’s Culture Minute.

☕️  Meadows/Bruntsfield cafe Castello is closed until next week, when it will open with new owners. - After 12 years at the helm, Sandro is moving on and has written about his last day in charge here.

🎹  Acclaimed german composer and multi-instrumentalist Nils Frahm is playing the Usher Hall next summer and tickets go on sale today (Friday) at 10am.

🚎  Local historian Andy Arthur of Threadinburgh was set a challenge by one of his audience to create a thread about the surprising history of Clovenstone. He more than rises to the challenge in this thread.

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📌 "Join Edinburgh Royal Choral Union as we celebrate the festive season with a carol concert at Morningside Parish Church on Saturday at 18:30. Mince pies and refreshments will be served after the concert." - Tickets here.

📌  “James and Hugo at Bard in Leith are opening their doors for last minute late night shopping on Thursday 21 December from 5-8pm. Mulled cider, spiced biscuits and Christmas Number Ones will help drag all remaining scrooges into the festive spirit. At Bard, 1 Customs Wharf, Leith, EH6 6AL.” 

📌  🎅🏻  An enormous inflatable Santa has landed on the roof of Porty Vault, which has a festive give-away ongoing. If you’re up early enough, you might catch him face-down and looking ‘a wee bit hangy’ in the mornings.

📌  Local skate shop Focus is running a raffle for anyone who donates foodbank items at their shop on Sunday and Monday. - Details here.

📆  Things to do this weekend