The Edinburgh Minute ⏰: Weekend edition 23-25 February 2024
Budget agreed, Leith Chooses winners, Oxgangs nursery closure, Chop House closing, Willow Tea Rooms opens, Pride Bridge consultation begins + your weekend guide
🌤️ Good morning Edinburgh. Before we get started I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported and shared this newsletter. Yesterday was a record day with 18,000 views of the newsletter. All-time views have now passed 1.5 million and it’s sent 342,000 visits to other local news sources since launch. It wouldn’t exist without paying subscribers’ support. So as much as I hate asking, please considering subscribing to help keep this going and growing. When more people read it, the better the newsletter is thanks to people sending in their local news. It’s a virtuous community circle. So thanks again. Here’s Friday’s Edinburgh Minute, followed by the weekend guide for paying subscribers.
❄️ The weekend weather will be cold and dry, according to the Met Office. Of course, reports of snow and an ‘arctic blast’ turned out to be clickbait.
🎭 The first batch of 2024 Fringe shows have gone on sale. - Christina O’Neill, STV News.
💰 Edinburgh’s council tax will remain unchanged for the next year while city centre parking charges will rise by 20%. An annual budget was agreed by Labour, Liberal Dems and Conservatives - which one SNP councillor said came following a ‘grubby deal’ - at the City Chambers on Thursday. - Donald Turvill was there and his full report is here.
⮑ Local public services are ‘moving closer to the edge of the precipice’, councillors were warned. - Midlothian View.
⮑ Anti-cuts protesters outside the City Chambers spoke to Morning Star about their concerns.
🛝 Local parents say they will ‘fight tooth and nail’ to save the Oxgangs Sure Start nursery, which faces closure at the end of March due to a council funding cut. - Jacob Farr, Edinburgh Live.
🥩 The Chop House restaurant in Leith will close on Sunday. An Edinburgh Minute reader’s tip-off was confirmed by Chop House owners The Compass Group, co-owned by Mark Fraser and Mike Spink. Sunday will be its last day of trading and existing bookings will be rearranged. All employees are being offered roles at the firm’s other sites. Head Office Manager Paula o’Brien told the Minute: “They have 4 other established restaurants, Bruntsfield Chop House, Market Street Chop House alongside Whitehorse Seafood & Oyster Bar and Monteiths on the fantastic Royal Mile which we will be looking to focus on.”
[EDIT: please could any journalists using this newsletter as a source please link back to this page in your reporting. I link to you every day. Do the right thing. Thanks!]
🫖 Opening today: Inspired by the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, The Willow Tea Rooms opens on Princes Street at 9am. A spokesperson shared this message: 'Serving afternoon tea, traditional food and drink, and fresh baking, they are dedicated to providing an exceptional experience at a reasonable cost. Find them at 120 Princes Street, from 9am - 5pm daily, with bookings available online.’ - See the menus here.
💰 The results of this year’s Leith Chooses funding competition have been announced, with 12 local projects sharing £52,624. The winning community groups are: The Men of Leith Men’s Shed, Citadel Youth Centre, Edinburgh Remakery, Leith Festival, Edinburgh Tool Library, Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, Hibernian Community Foundation, Dr Bells Family Centre, Leith Athletic, ELREC, Edinburgh Community Food, Himalayan Centre & (partial funding) and SHE Scotland. - Full details are here.
🔥 Tickets are now on sale for this year’s Beltane Fire Festival at Calton Hill on 30 April. - Tickets are available here.
🌈 A consultation on the future of the Lindsay Road ‘Pride’ Bridge has gone live. It will be open for six weeks and there are in-person info events planned. - All the details are here.
🌍 Climate and sustainability groups from across Scotland staged a fashion show of upcycled outfits outside the Scottish Parliament yesterday to call on MSPs to support the Circular Economy Bill, due to be debated soon. Models took to the catwalk in outfits including a dress made of bike inner tubes. Organisers said they aimed: “to highlight that 65% of our clothing is made from fossil fuel-based plastic, a cape made from plastic bottles collected from beach litter, and an electric cable headdress to highlight the impacts of mining for metals and lack of repair opportunities for electronic waste in Scotland.” - Friends of the Earth Scotland.
🏉 On Saturday Murrayfield Stadium will host Scotland v England in the Six Nations rugby. Scotland seek a fourth win in a row against England for the first time since 1972. The game kicks off at 4.45pm.
⮑ ScotRail issued travel advice and is running extra trains. There is limited access at Haymarket station caused by the ongoing redevelopment of an adjacent building.
🔜 Next week’s Minute will have news of big changes at a local coffee institution, a preview of a planning meeting where a nightclub could be replaced by student flats + whatever you send in via this form. Thanks to everyone who shares their local news. Nothing is too local here.
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📌 “We have a fab buns and ballet event on this weekend. Perfectly suited to all as a taster to ballet no experience needed.” - Mardy Bum Active Club, Marchmont.
📌 “Works In Progress: Live. Brought to you by EHFM presenters and featuring performances by local experimental artists. Join us at EMBASSY on Saturday, 9th March for a showcase of Edinburgh's experimental sound.” - Vicky Kavanagh, Works In Progress organiser.
📌 “Commissioned collaborative sculpture exhibition from two local artists in the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. Runs 8th March - 26th May.”