Leith Walk might feel almost grid locked at the moment thanks to the tram works, but some help may be at hand. The area could receive around £4.5Million extra investment over the next few years if a bid to turn Leith into a sustainable travel demonstration community is successful. The project would see a package of proposals implemented that aim at reducing car use, and encouraging people to make more sustainable transport choices like using public transport, cycling and walking.

What does this mean?  The package includes proposals for organising more 'walking buses' to local schools, marketing the city car club better, and local 'path rangers' to improve the maintenance and safety of the off road path networks. The package also includes proposals for investment in the physical infrastructure of the area. This could include improvements to the off-road path networks (something Greener Leith  has campaigned on) ,an extension to the bus tracker bus stop information panels and work to implement a 'free bike hire' scheme, similar to the ones active in other European cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Oslo.

Car use should be reduced in Leith for lots of reasons. For example, air quality is particularly poor in some parts of Leith like Leith Walk, where the intensity of car use there presents a hazard to health. It is an unfortunate fact that the good people of Leith are statistically more unhealthy than the Edinburgh average. The CEC bid proposes to set up a scheme which would encourage doctors to prescribe 'active commuting,' to people where they would benefit from the exercise. This not only reduces the number of cars on our roads, improving air quality, but it also helps people to live longer and happier.

Greener Leith has wholeheartedly given their support to the Councils first stage application, and we hope that the Scottish Government will choose Leith as the perfect place to pioneer a sustainable travel demonstration community.

 An outdoor classroom, a haven for wildlife and room to grow fruit and vegetables: the vision for Redbraes Community Garden.

While Persevere Community Garden is taking shape, something equally inspiring  is happening not far away. Among the houses of Redbraes, just off Broughton Road, there are plans to turn a hidden green space into a thriving community garden where people of all ages can come together to grow food and flowers on the banks of the Water of Leith

This is the vision of local community police officer Simon Daley backed by members of Redbraes Residents Association. Local residents, who have already built the Park Centre in Redbraes Park, met in October 2007 to pool ideas for a community garden that will offer an outdoor classroom for local school children, a haven for wildlife and allotments for fruit and vegetables.

Since then the community garden steering group has lost no time. Garden designer Rebecca Govier used residents’ ideas to draw up plans making the most of the sheltered site visited by herons, ducks and occasionally kingfishers.  The City of Edinburgh Council has agreed to build the garden paths and Simon Daley has applied to Breathing Places, the Lottery fund that encourages local people to create space for wildlife, nature and community involvement.

“It’s ambitious,” says Davie Thomson, chair of Redbraes Residents Association, “but if we all work together we can show how to create a wee bit of sanity in the every day hustle and bustle of city life."

That’s why Davie, Simon and the rest of the steering group are inviting local volunteers of all ages to get involved. To find out more, they say you are welcome to pop into the Redbraes Park Centre where you can see the plans and details. Your opinions and help are welcome too!

Telephone  0131 467 3879 or e-mail redbraes@blueyonder.co.uk

Friends of Dalmeny Street Park and Halcrow Hustlers are planning to head down to Leith Links this coming Tuesday 6th May from 6.30pm to celebrate our greenspace, make new friends and stretch our legs.If we get enough people we will have a couple of games of 6 aside mixed touch rugby.

Great fun, not too serious and it doesn't matter how fit you are; you can play for 5minutes or 50minutes; its up to you!

Come join us, rain or shine! Our only aim in life is to celebrate green spaces in Leith by encouraging as many activities as possible! If we get enough interest we might even challenge The Meadows to a touch rugby tournament later this month; lets prove that Leith rules!

The design proposals for the Leith Links Seaward Extension (LLSE - OS7) have been released for consultation by the City of Edinburgh Council this week and Greener Leith is encouraging everyone to have a look and make a comment. You'll be pleased to know that it is a relatively small file to download (1.7MB), and that is not particularly lengthy or technical.

To help with this we thought we should explain some more about the proposals. First of all, we should make it clear that this is a 'Design Study', which aims to set out how the proposed Leith Links Seaward Extension (OS7) will be structured and how it will relate to other land uses. More detailed landscape designs will follow for different parts of the extension as it is implemented. It is estimated this could take as long as 20-30 years to complete. 

The Design Study is not a planning application, nor is it supplementary planning guidance. As we understand things, this means that it will not be legally binding on anyone. However, it will inform the development of the seaward extension, and on this basis it is worth commenting on. 

We should also point out that there are 'unofficial' alternative proposals for extending Leith Links, although these are currently unavailable on-line. These alternative proposals suggest extending Leith Links into the area currently earmarked for light industrial/commercial uses between the Eastern boundary of the LLSE OS7 proposal and the Seafield sewerage works further east.

The alternative proposals are officially outwith the scope of this consultation, as they would require a considerable change to the recently adopted Edinburgh City Local Plan. We understand from the planning officers involved that there is now little scope to modify the local plan (and consequently the current Leith Links Extension OS7) until it is next up for consideration. Work to develop the next Edinburgh City Local Plan will not begin until 2012 at the earliest.

This said, Greener Leith has already voiced concerns that the Leith Docks Outline Planning Applciation does not contain a suitable amount of new Green Space, particularly with regard to sports facilities. If the planning committee do not act to remedy this deficit, then Greener Leith hopes that the Scottish Government will 'call in' the Leith Docks Outline Planning Application for a rethink.

If you're finding it hard work understand the planning process and how it relates to the Leith Links Seaward Extension proposals (we certainly feel like we're on a steep learning curve!) then you can attend a public meeting scheduled for Tuesday the 13th of May, at St Mary's Primary School, Links Gardens between 7pm and 8pm. Planning Officers will be there to answer any questions about the LLSE-OS7 design study proposals.

If you can't make this meeting, you can submit your comments, in writing, to:

Noami Sandilands, City Development, G:1, 4, East Market Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8BG by 9th June 2008. Alternatively you can email naomi.sandilands@edinburgh.gov.uk

Greener Leith will submit the response below to the Design Study consultation. If you aggree with us, you are welcome to use these points as an inspiration for your own letter.

1. Greener Leith is concerned that the OS7 Leith Links Seaward Extension, when considered in combination with other existing and proposed green spaces in the area, does not provide enough publicly accessible, free sports facilities. Greater thought needs to be put into this in order to meet the likely demand. Will one extra football pitch be sufficient to cope with demand from all the new residential development in Leith Docks?

2. Greener Leith questions whether more thought to the distribution of land uses may be required. Is it more appropriate to move the area designated for sports further away from the coast, and closer to the existing links, using the space currently allocated for 'community facilites and civic space,' and/or 'passive recreation and community education.' This would ensure that the sports areas are at least sheltered somewhat from the sea winds, by the orchard, allotments and surrounding buildings. In turn, this would allow space for more informal uses closer to the coast, where a larger number of people may wish to gather on days when the weather is conducive to sunbathing, and taking in the view across the Forth. Careful landscaping may be required to mitigate against the potential for the whole extension to turn into a 'wind tunnel' when the wind is from the North.

3. Greener Leith is concerned that the proposed land uses adjacent to the Seaward Extension proposals often present 'passive' frontages on the eastern edge. In addition, there is little natural surveillance from the eastern side of the extension - a greater proportion of residential land uses on both sides of the extension would provide this. As things stand, the pathways through the proposed new allotment sites, and most of the eastern edge of the new park have the potential to become frightening places in the evening. If the allotments were sited along this eastern edge, with no publc pathway through them, this may help to 'design out' potential anti-social behavior.  

4. Greener Leith is disappointed that the LLSE OS7 extension proposals have such a negative impact on the existing Leith Links allotment site. This site is much valued by the plot holders, and the association has done a good job in recent years to reach out and work with the wider community in Leith. Furthermore, this site has been in existence for many years. It is unfortunate that greater weight was not placed on preserving this site, when the initial proposals for a Leith Links extension were first mooted. It is also unfortunate that there is potential for some allotment holders to have to move not once, but twice as this project develops.

5. Greener Leith is pleased that the number of allotment plots is set to increase, and that the proposals give a commitment to ensure that the soil they are situated in is treated to mitigate against any residual industrial contaminants. Greener Leith also welcomes the proposals for an orchard, and would hope that this could be an opportunity to expand the newly established Edinburgh Childrens Orchard project into Leith. 

6. Greener Leith also notes that the creation of significant cycle route will eventually have an impact on the existing Leith Links and therefore extra investment, and careful design, will be required in the park to cope with this increased through flow of cyclists.

At Greener Leith, we might be doing our bit to try to make our corner of the planet better but we don't like to nag. However, the people behind 'The Nag' are pretty up front about it. They are very clever with their nagging though. They ask you to sign up to a 'monthly nag', and if you pay attention to it and take action, they aggregate all the wee nags using their clever website, to show the difference that people are making accross the country.

Even better, they have a highly amusing monthly crap prize draw, which explains the photo above. You could win this if you sign-up for a regular nag. How can you resist?

Interested in helping? Contact Kate or Clare on 0131 553 2152.  

Of course, we are delighted to see that the Leith Police are taking proactive steps to tackle vandalism in the park.

Initiaitves they are keen to fund should tackle the barriers that stop people from accessing or taking up healthy balanced diet. This could mean projects that make sure healthy foods are available, affordable, and that people have the skills to budget, shop for, and cook healthy food. Projects could also seek to tackle 'long ingrained' cultural habits of poor diet.

You can get more information from here.

Greener Leith volunteers attended the JUMP meeting on the 15th of April, to find out more about their campaign to improve the quality of the redevelopment proposals for Leith Docks. The meeting was well attended, showing the level of community concern on the issue, but  we have to confess we came away with mixed feelings.

The JUMP proposals use the image of a flattened flea as inspiration for an alternative master plan to the one that Edinburgh architects RMJM created for Forth Ports in 2005. The RMJM masterplan provided the basis for the Leith Docks Development Framework, which in turn, informs the current Outline Planning Application which is awaiting consideration by the City of Edinburgh Council planning committee.

Conveniently, the acronym JUMP, 'Joint-Up Master Planning', fits in nicely with the flea-thing, but to our thinking makes a rather depressing, tenuous connection with the plague that raged in Leith in 1645.  If we were to ask the residents of Leith to identify a cultural motif that they'd like to see used in the docks regeneration, we'd be quite surprised if a flea were chosen!

However, we do  agree with some of the JUMP criticisms. They argue that not enough community consultation took place regarding the development proposals, and the way that RMJM/Forth Ports and the City of Edinburgh Council have proceeded with the development process leaves a lot to be desired.

Greener Leith has concerns that:

1.The current proposals do not contain enough public green space, and that which is proposed is badly thought out - particularly with regard to the proposals for extending Leith Links to the shore. We would like to see this development comply with the NPFA's 'Six Acre Standard' for open space provision.

2.The current proposals do not contain a sufficient mix of uses, and do indeed seem to run the risk of becoming a 'Westerhailes' by the sea, with little provision for small businesses or social services.

3.The proposals to submit further detailed planning applications for 'discrete urban villages' run the risk of delivering fragmented and incoherent public spaces. Key public spaces, such as the coastal walkway, should be considered, in detail and as a whole.  

4.If the docks are to be a truly sustainable development, then if the Western Harbour is anything to go by, standards must be lifted considerably. Higher standards for recycling facilities, energy efficiency, renewable energy generation and use, and an emphasis on design for sustainable travel need to be put in place and implemented. It is not enough to  commit to UK guidelines as they lag behind what is actually possible and shown to work elsewhere. If they can do it in Malmo, we can do it here.

5.We have seen no innovative proposals that show how the culture and historical links to Leith and  the wider city will feature in the development. Where is the 'uniqueness' that will give the redeveloped Leith Docks a sense of itself?

6.Where is the focus, or picture postcard image? Surely not Ocean Terminal? In the words of one professional, 'Where is the place where docks residents' would gather if there was a revolution?'

7.We have seen no clear specifications for car free routes. Given that the roads around Leith aren't going to cope if everyone drives in and out of the docks twice a day, this is important. The width of, and access to, the 'coastal' path at the Western Harbour is a worrying omen for the future, as is the appalling design of cycle lanes around Ocean Terminal. Surely, these things can be specified now?

8.The proposals must ensure that 'affordable' housing is integrated into the wider design, and not placed on the worst sites, or in separate 'ghettos'.

9.The proposals need to do more to encourage active use of the water, rather than limiting its use to large cruise ships. A port filled with houseboats, and smaller sailing boats will help to produce a vibrant, diverse waterfront setting. There is also scope to run a Fife – Edinburgh passenger ferry directly into the docks – at the very least the proposals the proposals should be flexible enough to accommodate this, should it be needed, in the future.

10.Exciting architecture doesn't need tall buildings. Copenhagen has successfully regenerated it's industrial dockland without ruining their historic skyline with tall buildings. We can too.

You can find out more about the plans and what others think about them at these sites:

1. Forth Ports Leith Docks Development Website
   
2. JUMP - Comments
   
3. Architecture and Design Scotland
4. Sunday Herald Article
5. Scotsman Article
6. Observer Article
   

If you want to comment now, it is too  late in the day to formally comment on the Outline Planning Application lodged with the council. You could still email the councillors on the planning committee, your local councillors and/or your community council as they all have the right to representation at the CEC meeting that will consider the Forth Ports proposals.

Following the CEC decision, it is possible that the Scottish Government could 'call in' the application and attach further conditions to it, as it did with Donald Trump’s golf development in Aberdeenshire. You could also consider writing to the Scottish Government minister responsible, John Swinney, stating your concerns and asking him to 'call it in', after the CEC planning committee have considered it. His email address is: John.Swinney.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

 If you contact any of the people above, The JUMP campaign would also like you to send a copy to them too at info@artinarchitecture.co.uk. You are of course welcome to use the 10 points in this post as an inspiration, if you agree with us.

Much of the Docks regeneration will not take place until after 2015. The detailed planning applications, for each of the 'urban villages', must be scrutinised, as they come in. There may even be a chance to address emerging issues through the next local plan, a process that will begin before 2015 as we understand it. It looks like a long game.  Greener Leith will do its best to keep our readers informed of this process as it unfolds.
 
If the JUMP campaign is to be a success those involved need to start work to build a consensus with as many stakeholders as possible. There appeared to be an unhelpful attitude towards those many professional people who have been involved with this development, and want to see  a new place created successfully. We should recognise that no-one wants the development to fail. We felt we should heed the advice of the person at the meeting who'd been involved in the campaign to improve the Caltongate development.  He said debating detailed 'contra' masterplans is a waste of valuable campaigning time.

Perhaps at this stage in the game, we should aim to get as many people as possible to sign up to some clear, easy to understand, design principles? This development is of national significance, and Greener Leith urges everyone to get involved in making sure the architects, the developers, the planners and the elected officials deliver.