The Edinburgh Minute ⏰: Weekend edition 19-21 January 2024

🌞  Good morning Edinburgh. The freezing temperatures of this week are behind us. But there are now Met Office weather warnings for a windy weekend. Here’s Friday’s Edinburgh Minute followed by the weekend guide for paying subscribers. 

🍜  Highly-rated local cafe Union of Genius on Forrest Road could be changing hands after 12 years in business. While owners Elaine and Bruce Mason seek a new owner, they are keen to point out that local media stories have incorrectly reported the business is ‘closing’: 

“To be absolutely clear WE ARE NOT CLOSING. The cafe and Dumbo will continue selling all your favourite soups and chilli. What is happening is that after 12 years, it's time for Elaine and I to move on. For that reason, we have put the cafe and Dumbo up for sale. A new owner may keep on with what we're doing or take the business in a new direction but you still have a good few months to enjoy us right here.” - Read more from the UoG team here.

⛔️  For the third time in a month, another vehicle got stuck on the stair at the top of Greenside Lane yesterday after driving over the cycle lane and pavement. This time it was a lorry. Local councillor Finlay McFarlane said he had flagged the problem to the council last year and is worried ‘someone is going to get hurt’. He told me last night that a temporary barrier will be put across the road and that while Google Maps is fixed, Apple Maps was ‘apparently still directing traffic down it’.

💰  The Citadel youth centre manager Willy Barr has written to the council asking it to reverse a proposed £125,000 funding cut. “Parents are really upset. We have some young people at our services whose parents used to come along. They want to tell the council the impact this cut will have on young people, families and the local community. The Citadel is more than a youth centre to people.” - Jolene Campbell, Evening News. 

⛰️  The five-year-long ‘temporary’ closure of the Radical Road path in Holyrood Park could be made permanent. An option to ‘permanently prohibit all access’ has been revealed among files obtained under freedom of information law. “It looks like 2024 will be another year of frustration, and no change,” said Angus Miller of Edinburgh Geological Society. - Rob Edwards, The Ferret (log-in required).

🚁  A drone carrying a package of drugs crashed near Saughton prison early on Thursday morning. Police believe the drone operator was in Longstone and are appealing for more information. - BBC Scotland News.

🤸  This morning a group of local freelance artists will meet to discuss the current creative sector funding system. Action Against Endless Applications is organised by Tess Letham, an Edinburgh-based independent dance artist. More details in the Facebook event here. 

🔥  Lawyers at Parliament Hall are enjoying roaring coal fires - despite Scottish Government pledges to make public sector buildings friendlier to the environment. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is going through more than half a tonne of coal each winter, reports Paul Dobson, The Ferret (log-in required).

👨‍🌾  More than 400 people responded to the recent Gorgie Farm Garden community consultation. The key messages heard include: “people want to see an improved cafe and shop”, “people are looking for education”, “gardening on site and sharing food” and “41% of people would be willing to pay.” - Read the full consultation summary here. (PDF).

🏗️  Plans for 267 new student flats on a Waverley site previously approved for rental homes will be debated next week. Councillors will vote on Wednesday on Vita Group’s plans, which planning officials have recommended for approval. - More from Brian Donnelly in The Herald.

⚽️  It’s a men’s football Edinburgh derby with a difference in the Scottish Cup on Saturday. Fourth tier side The Spartans will host Hearts at Ainslie Park. Staff and around 150 local volunteers have been making adjustments for the big occasion. The game will be broadcast on TV, and as Barry Anderson reports in the Evening News, preparation is a team effort: “Dugouts are moving, Turnstiles spruced up and LED screens installed. Extra hospitality venues have been sourced and more toilets brought in. Even the pie order has soared.”

"The BBC will have 13 cameras, 40 staff, scaffolding and all the units they need. They obviously get priority, so everyone else has to work around that. We had a meeting last night because, normally, manning turnstiles and selling programmes and raffle tickets can be done by four guys. For Saturday, we have 22 people involved in those tasks. So it's all the players from our under-20 squad and some guys from the para football who are helping with that. There is fantastic excitement around the club.” - Spartans chairman Craig Graham.

  ⮑  Nigel Duncan previews the game in The Edinburgh Reporter.

🎸  Doom-psych-metal outfit Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs, Pigs have been announced as a headline act for this year’s Edinburgh Psych Fest. The Summerhall event has grown and will this year also include gigs at The Queen’s Hall. - More details on Skiddle.

📲  The Edinburgh Tab editorial team is looking to hire a new TikTok editor. - The application form is here.

🍽️  Details of a new restaurant in Eyre Place have been shared by chef Tomás Gormley. Cardinal ‘will be fine dining for sure, but we want things to feel exciting and fun at the same time’, he tells Sarah Campbell in The Herald.

💌  Tell three friends about the Minute and get yourself a free full subscription. - Find your unique link here.

📌  Edinburgh Minute Community Noticeboard

  ⮑  Get in touch using this form. 

📌  The Porty Community Energy group is looking for volunteers to help organise a summer festival. - Join them for a walk and chat next week.

📌  The Leith Collective is still accepting donations of coats. Its free winter coats initiative is ‘running very low’. You can drop items off at the Leith Collective shop in Ocean Terminal. 

📌 “At Sonas Music we are professional musicians with experience of performance, teaching and workshop leading. We will guide you through two days of music making on 10th and 11th February at the Salisbury Centre, with activities to create breathing space, feel grounded and have some fun.” - Emma Smith and Marsailidh Groat, founders, Sonas Music Workshops.

📆  Things to do this weekend: