The first blog post we wrote about the Forth Energy power plant plan on Leith Docks was in January 2010.

Since then, there have been nearly sixty more blog posts, five consultation responses, protests, stalls, public meetings and petitions.

After all this, and some two years later, it has come as a welcome surprise to learn that Forth Energy have finally seens sense and abandoned their proposed Leith Biomass plan. 

You can read the full press statement that was released by the firm here.

Now we can only speculate at the real reasons behind the company's decision to abandon the project. 

• Was it because it was the most unpopular project in Edinburgh's planning history?
• Was it because they realised they wouldn't be able to overcome the objections from the statutory consultees like Scottish Natural Heritage?
• Was it because the subsidies are getting pulled left right and centre?
• Did they blink first in the back room negotiations between themselves, Scottish Enterprise and the City of Edinburgh Council over the future of the site?
• Are they about to announce a big wind turbine manufacturing deal on the docks which is more lucrative?
• Or is it just a clever move from a firm used to playing 'subsidy tetris' with its land holdings?

The reality is, it's probably a little bit of all those things. 

Over the months that we've been following, and campaigning against, this proposal, it's been amazing to see civic Leith join forces in opposition against the plan. 

The numbers of local people, especially in the No Leith Biomass campaign group, who have put in hours and hours of time to digest tedious, and very technical, planning documents has been remarkable.

Not to mention the effort that went into producing leaflets, manning stalls, protests, lobbying, producing mock up images, and so on.

The politicians who backed residents also deserve a thanks. It was heartening to see that politicians from across the political spectrum could work together to oppose the plans.

Indeed we've lost track of the number of Holyrood motions that have been lodged, and parliamentary questions that have been asked, urging the Scottish Government to reject the project.

There is even another Holyrood motion that has been lodged today, by the Greens.

Locals also received support from city-wide and national organisations too, like Friends of the Earth and Biofuelwatch. The Cockburn Association put in a particularly well worded objection to the proposal.

All of the people involved will be glad to see their hard work has paid off. And indeed a celebratory drink is certainly in order.

And it would appear that some people have learned so much about the real environmental impact of the Forth Energy proposals that they may well continue to support campaigners in Rosyth, Dundee and Grangemouth where the firms big biomass plans are still very much alive.

Just as importantly, many local businesses in Leith who depend on tourism and attracting visitors from elsewhere in the city will be hugely relieved that one cloud on their horizon has been removed. 

However, it's clear that Forth Ports might come back with a new plan. 

If they do, we hope they'll have listened to some of the things we said about How Forth Energy Could Win Friends and Influence Leithers.

Greener Leith has always said that if they work with local residents to support the development of a really decentralised, community owned, low carbon district heating network, then they might get somewhere. 

And you might say it'll never happen in Leith. But the council is already moving ahead and installing a shared heating system in Cables Wynd House this year at a cost of more than £2million.

This will lower the heating bills, and the carbon footprint, of 200 households in Leith.

Could that development be the first in a series of 'heat islands' that might one day form the basis of a genuinely decentralised heating network in Leith? 

Only time will tell. 

What they said: 

Here's an interesting poster seen on Easter Road.

As the Council's poster says, "appearance matters." As anyone who has even partially signed up to the "broken windows theory" of neighbourhood management will tell you, fly posting is said to increase people's fear of crime.

Question is, does a tatty flyposter from the council on an abandoned shop, not somewhat undermine the message? Is it not a branding fail? Is it really best practice to be funding flyposting firms?

Once upon a time, local authorities were hell bent in putting flyposting firms and the businesses who funded them out of business. In Camden they even took out an ASBO against a flyposting company boss. But legally, it proved too tricky.

So, eventually, local authorities adopted a different tack and did deals with the same firms. The deal works just like the one you see in this photo.

The council 'authorises sites' and the company that manages the 'authorised' sites gets to put up their adverts in return for 'managing' the site. This therefore reduces the cost to the council of removing the flyposters when they get ugly. In theory.

Of course, this still means that people who live near the 'authorised' sites have to live with the posters whether they want them or not.

And in a latest twist, it seems the council and the Scottish Government has now gone from trying to legislate against flyposting companies, through tolerating them on the basis that it cuts the costs of managing them, to paying them for their cheap 'advertising' services.

See also the No Knives Better Lives fail on Great Junction Street.

Anyway, if you think this poster looks rubbish, "why don't you report it?"

The phone numbers are on the poster.

A few weeks ago they held an update meeting, and the sad news is that a model that once looked promising has been somewhat scunnered by uncertainty over the level of subsidy that the Westminster government is likely to provide solar energy schemes in the future. 

Here's the presentation that Stuart Hay gave to update people on the progress they've made investigating the business case for installing solar panels on the nice big south facing roof of the South Leith Parish Church halls. 

Leith Community Energy Project Update

More information on the meeting on the co-op blog.

The project has now refocussed on promoting energy efficiency in the area and have organised four drop in sessions in local libraries in the coming weeks. More details here: 

Edinburgh Community Energy Co-op Energy Efficiency Poster

Here you can see the full text of the appeal document below.

57 Constitution Street - Appeal Form and Grounds

Councillors objected to the proposals mainly on the basis that they would be detrimental to the amenity of local residents. However, in the appeal documents its clear that the agents acting on behalf of the developers are vigourously opposing those grounds for refusal.

All the other documents relating to the appeal can be found on the Scottish Government's website here.

The way that Scottish Government appeals processes work is a somewhat arcane field to most mere mortals, although we understand that Cllr Rob Munn has been invited to get involved.

All are welcome to attend a meeting on Wednesday 15th of February at 7.30pm in the Constitution Bar to discuss whether locals can bring any further influence to bear on the Scottish Government at this stage.

It's great to see local independent businesses working together to provide ethical and environmentally friendly gift packages, the like of which you won't see in any chain store. 

Flux say they: "stock a wide range of quirky, handmade, eco-friendly and ethically-sourced gifts for people who care about where the things they buy come from as much as who they are buying for."

They've put together three Valentines Day packages:

Absinthe Makes The Heart Go Stronger - £25

Give your lover a warm fuzzy glow with fair trade rosebud fairy lights, organic absinthe Venetian masks by East Lothian chocolatier The Chocolate Tree and a single fair trade red rose.

You and me up the Chocolate Tree - £45

Pretty fair trade silver flower pendant by Earthworks with a heart-shaped origami gift box from organic chocolatier The Chocolate Tree and a single fair trade red rose

Lux Flux - £250

An all-out luxurious package with a gorgeous heart-shaped white gold pendant by ethical jeweller Fifi Bijou, organic Venetian mask gift box by The Chocolate Tree and a dozen fair trade red roses.

To get hold of any of these packages you'll need to move quick, as you need to order them in advance for collection from the shop. They also do bespoke packages if you'd like something a bit different for your better half.

You can get in touch with Flux via their website: www.get2flux.co.uk

This is a sponsored post. You can find out more about advertising on the Greener Leith blog and our policies on sponsored posts by clicking here.

The Zero Waste Podcast series is produced by Emily Dodd for Greener Leith and funded by City of Edinburgh Council Waste Action Grants, Vegware and Changeworks. 

The theme tune for the podcast was brought to you by Waste Action Grant funded project, Trash Arts.

As this photo shows it was way back in the spring of 2010 when we established the Leith Links Children's Orchard, with the help of loads of local school kids.

This summer we got our first fruit from the orchard, with some trees doing really well.  

Each year, we try to organise at least one event to help keep the orchard well maintained. This year we've set-up something that should be pretty fun for all involved.

Our 2012 workday will provide a great opportunity to get fit, do good for your 'hood, and learn a new skill all in a couple of hours on the 11th of February.

There are three ways you can help out. You're welcome to pick and choose which parts you get involved in - but please do consider coming down and pitching in. 

The three things that we've got planned are: The Leith Good Gym Pilot, Tree pruning, and Litter Picking.

Everything will start at 10am on the 11th of February.

Taking part in the organised jog is by no means obligitory... 

The Leith Good Gym

We're working with two well kent Leithers - personal fitness trainer and Leith's own healthy living guru - Tracy Griffen - and Leith FM DJ, jogger and local blogger Leah Lockhart - to set up a regular Leith Good Gym.

What's a "Good Gym?" you may well ask - We've been inspired by the original Good Gym Project in London, and we're trying to figure out whether something similar would work in Leith.

This will be the first pilot event in Leith - so if are a regular runner in Leith, or if you've recently cancelled your gym subscription and are looking for something new - join us for the first Leith Good Gym. The meet-up is at 10am outside the Leith Franklin Cricket Club, club house on the links.  

Tracy and Leah then plan to take you on a bit of a jog - with the aim of arriving at the Leith Links Childen's Orchard in order to get stuck into one or both of the following...

Fruit Tree Pruning with the RBGE Edible Gardening Project

We're also delighted to be able to work with the Royal Botanic Gardens Edible Gardening project to offer people a chance to learn the skills of pruning fruit trees properly. 

There's space for a maximum of 20 people on this free course, led by Leith resident and Botanics professional gardener Ben Dell.

So, if you want to book a place please do get in touch as soon as possible. We've specifically reserved 10 places for people who live in postcode areas EH5-EH7 - Leith and round about. So, don't be shy.

For more information on this free training event and how to book a place click here. 

Childrens Orchard litter pick, bulb plant, and tree moving.

Council officers will be there on the day too, and they're going to bring all the kit we need to do a proper clean-up of the area. After all the winter gales - it seems that every plastic bag in Leith has ended up in the orchard.

Also, we need to move a handful of the trees we planted, to make way for a new cycle path that will be built through part of the orchard. Work is due to start on the ramp in a matter of weeks after the clean-up, so we need to save the trees.

Lastly, if we're lucky the council may have some bulbs left over that we can plant in the orchard to give it a bit of spring colour.

If we have enough people we'll also aim to do a litter pick of more than just the Children's Orchard itself.

Free Soup!

Assuming the catering gods look upon us favourably there will also be free soup from the marvelous cafe at Out of the Blue, for the first 20 people who manage to last until lunchtime. 

What you need to bring:

Please bring with you footwear appropriate to the task. If you're running, obviously some trainers you don't mind getting dirty. If you're not running something more robust might be a good idea.

As this is Scotland in February, you should probably bring with you a waterproof jacket.

If you are less than 18 years old, you are more than welcome, but you should bring an adult who you think is willing to take responsibility for you. 

In the unlikley event we get more than 20 folk then you might want to bring enough cash to supplement the free food.  

Any Questions?

If you've got any questions then please ask them in the comments below, or if they are questions that you'd rather not ask in public, please do click here to send us an email.

There once was a time when the plan for the regeneration of Leith Docks was illustrated with this picture. Well, it's looking increasingly unlikely that this plan will ever come to fruition. At the moment, Scottish Enterprise are busy spending £500,000 of tax payers money on a new masterplan for Leith Docks, which is almost entirely owned by Forth Ports.

Simultaneously, the council is in the process of preparing a new Local Development Plan for the whole city.

This plan is important because it will set out the key land uses, and principles that will guide development over a number of years.

Both these processes have huge long term implications for Leith.

Recently, the consultation period on the plan's "Main Issues Report," came to and end. Greener Leith put in a submission. Here are some of the things we call on the council to do: 

• Protect the greenbelt whilst there is still plenty of 'brownfield' area left within the city.
• Adopt a 'minimum density' policy within the city to avoid sprawl and promote sustainable housing.
• Explicitly support national and local Government targets on promoting active travel.
• Adopt a favourable approach to community owned renewable energy schemes.  
• Preserve agricultural land close to the city on the basis that we might need it in the future if oil becomes significantly more expensive.
• Promote policies which favour the city centre as the best location for both office and retail developments.
• Prevent developers from providing their quota of affordable housing 'off-site,' as we think the current policy works and helps to produce mixed income communities.
• Take a more robust approach to conserving our built and natural heritage.
• Explicitly acknowledge and seek to expand active travel networks set out in the council's Active Travel plan. 

When it comes to Leith more specifically, the report asked people to choose between two options. We chose, like some other community groups, to reject both options as too extreme and dogmatic. Instead we called for a flexible approach to the regeneration of the docks that recognises:  

• Significantly increasing the amount of retail space around Ocean Terminal without building large numbers of new homes puts the vitality of Leith's existing town centres around Great Junctions Street and Leith Walk at risk. 
• Not all green industries are the same and not all industries which claim to be "green," actually are. Whilst we would welcome green jobs on the docks this must not be to the detriment of the existing inhabitants and local economy and therefore we suggest some factors the future plan should consider.
• Zoning large swathes of brownfield land soley for industrial use should be avoided as there is no guarantee that the hoped for manufacturing industries will in fact materialise. Depending on what happens to the economy, and indeed government subsidies for renewable energy, it may transpire that more jobs could be created over the lifetime of the next plan by doing something else. 
• There is still less green space per person in Leith than anywhere else in the city. New parks and allotments need to be created in the area.
• There are a number of current active planning applications that will see existing small light industrial premises converted into commercial offices and housing. We believe the future plan should aim to preserve the amount of light industrial capacity of the area in order to promote a diverse and resilient local economy.  

 You can find our full consultation response here, but you might also need to read it in conjuction with the Main Issues Report document to make sense of it. 

In thirty years we consumed over one third of the earth’s natural resource space. Do we need to keep buying?

The people of Leith are sharing books, toys, cars and even fish tanks. Visit Casselbank Kids Toy Library, meet founder member of Greener Leith Ally Tibbit to find out about the online Leith Lending Circle and pop into the pub, Sofi’s bar to swap books and DVD’s. All this and more on our latest podcast: 

If you have iTunes installed on your computer you can subscribe to our audio as a podcast by clicking here. 

One of Leith's most high profile visitor attractions, the Royal Yacht Britannia, has spent most of January in the dry dock on the other side of Leith Docks from her usual home, getting her underside checked and repainted and ready for another stint at Ocean Terminal. 

Someone publishing under the name "Maggittooth," has posted this six minute video clip to YouTube of the boat's rarely seen underside.

Warning: The boat may be high and dry but as the clip is shot on a phone, it could still leave you feeling a bit sea sick. 

The officers investigating the crime believe local people may hold the key information that could solve the case. As well as tweeting in three different Eastern European languages, the Police have also released this appeal for information in Polish on YouTube. More than 1100 people had listened to it at the time of writing.

Detective Chief Inspector Gary Flannigan said: "It is now one week since the murder of Maciej Ciania, and our investigation is making good progress.

"The response from members of the local community has been very encouraging and is supporting the police investigation.

" The answer to finding Mr Ciania's killer lies within the local community and I am making a direct appeal to anyone who has information or knows who is responsible to come forward immediately.

"For whatever reason that they may be reticent about speaking to police, I would like to reassure them that any information we receive will be treated in the strictest confidence.

"Mr Ciania's death has devastated his family in Poland, and left them without a son and a brother.

"If members of the community would prefer to speak to a Polish speaking officer or a translator these services are available."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 311 3131 or the charity Crimestoppers in complete confidence on 0800 555 111.

 You can find written translations of the Police appeal in Polish, Lithuanian and Russian here.

We're delighted to publish this reflective guest post by local resident Colin Brown. 

Elegance and aggression showed in equal measure over the Water of Leith. Like balletic dancers, black headed gulls would stop, momentarily inert in mid air, the better to judge the value of pursuing their meagre goal, or to perfect their angle of attack.

Wings like tutus, some 60 birds formed graceful, interweaved and ever changing patterns in so small a space that collision seemed inevitable – yet was avoided, save for those who, 6, 8 or 10 at a time, plunged simultaneously for the same prey, landing in an angry cacophony of snapping bills, anticipating a hard won morsel.

The victor moved off sharply, trying to escape the outrage of those who seem to think they’ve been robbed.

The less successful birds surveyed the scene, turned about, leaving the crowd and regrouping, then rapidly re-entering centre stage with fresh determination, delighting, yet confusing the eye of a casual, human, audience.

Here and there a larger herring gull, from a small group of both adults and juveniles, eschewing elegance, made unsubtle but effective pre-emptive strikes, lunging forward before the smaller black-headed gulls (still sporting dark spots behind their eyes, not yet resplendent in their trademark chocolate brown heads) could satisfy their hunger.

On the water’s surface, slightly cowed by the frenetic activity both above their heads and in their midst, swam serenely the mallards, foraging, with surprisingly frequent success, for a small share of what food is on offer.

And in amongst them, the tufted brown head and low slung body of a goosander jerked nervously back and forth as though highly uncertain whether to brave the fray or not. She did, eventually, and emerged with a seemingly unmanageable crust at least the size of her head. With frustrated gulls nipping furiously at her tail feathers, she ran as if on pointe across the water’s surface until able to escape with her find in a more seemly manner.

On the path, behind the railings, close to the sad scar where a stand of small trees has met its end, a dozen or so pigeons, wholly unperturbed by the wheeling, flailing and screeching going on just feet – even inches – away, cooed gently as they hoovered up the crumbs scattered by one of the many Leithers who bring their crusts down to the water, and who set in motion this daily drama.

This is the second guest post by Colin Brown. If you liked this you can read his first one here. 

Thanks to the Comely Banking Crisis for sharing this image on Flickr

Graemac08 also posted this short video clip of birds on the Water of Leith this week: 

Leith Waterworld may have closed but the local campaign group has not given up. Hundreds of people have already viewed this video clip which was made by local resident Jon Pullman.

The man with the big brown hat in the video clip is Nick Gardner who is standing as a Labour candidate at the next election in the Leith Walk ward.

Readers of this blog will be interested to know that neither of his party colleagues who represent the area on the council, Angela Blacklock and Gordon Munro, have backed the Leith Waterworld campaign. Indeed, they actively voted against moves by another party at the last full council meeting that would have kept the pool open. 

Meanwhile, campaigners have lodged a formal complaint against two more local councillors, Lib Dem Councillor Marjorie Thomas who represents the Leith Ward and SNP councillor Deidre Brock who represents the Leith Walk ward.

Splashback campaigners alledge that the two councillors have a conflict of interest as they moved a motion at the same council meeting supporting the closure of Leith Waterworld, even though they both also sit on the board of Edinburgh Leisure. 

You can read more about the campaigners complaint on their blog. 

Meanwhile Waterworld campaigners have been perplexed to find that their Twitter account has been suspended. They still  have a Facebook page, on which they posted the following statement: 

"Innocent technical glitch or sinister attack on freedom of speech? The Splashback twitter account was suspended yesterday, shortly after mentioning a large supermarket chain and having the temerity to ask a question about the impact a large store may have on a local economy, in this case in Galashiels...We are appealing this, but in the meantime please keep in touch here on FB, or via the blog."

The Scottish Government launched a new "overarching national movement" today, to encourage people to behave in a more environmentally friendly way. It was put together with help from local firm, the Leith agency, who made the video above.

The new campaign also has a new website that might suggest to the unsuspecting passerby that it's run by a voluntary organisation due to the domain name they've chosen: www.greenerscotland.org

Leithers may be forgiven for thinking that Greener Leith (est. 1996) has suddenly developed ambitions to cover the whole of Scotland. Or that the we've joined forces with other independent community groups, like Greener Kirkaldy and Greener Hawick to play a part in this "overarching national movement."

That ain't the case - as we have enough on our hands in our own neighbourhood. That said we're pretty sure all these groups, including us, would support the new marketing campaigns key message and the more positive way they've gone about delivering it.

Anyway, according to the Drum, this is what Pauline Lamb, senior strategic marketing manager at the Scottish Government, said they aim to do at Greener Scotland:

“The Overarching Greener campaign encourages us all to work together to make a difference to create a cleaner, Greener Scotland.

“By delivering an integrated consumer campaign and working with key stakeholders, partners and agencies - we can encourage the nation to assess their own green credentials and ultimately get on board with making Scotland a greener, cleaner place to live”.

If you're a marketing professional who knows an integrated consumer campaign when you see one, then you may be interested in this earlier post where we had a look at some environmental campaign ads that people have made in the past.

Warning: in the old days government sponsored advertising agencies often made animals die, or inanimate objects talk, in a way designed to make you feel guilty and afraid. That earlier post features some of these disturbing film clips.

What's good about this new campaign: It's positive, focusses on the benefits of collective action, and seeks a longer term and better quality engagement with people than some previous campaigns.

What they could do better: The campaign is still ultimately reliant on other generic sources of government information. 

Even though the Scottish Government has funded loads of local groups to take action all over Scotland through the likes of the Climate Challenge Fund there is little mention of these local groups on the website.

Some of the work they have undertaken is amazing, and arguably far more relevent to people in their local area. Yet, there is no linkage from the government. Why not?

Why can't the website direct people from Fife to local information - to the Fife Diet for example? Or people from Edinburgh to our Zero Waste podcasts? Local groups all over Scotland have put together some amazing resources - usually with funding from the government. It's a shame that these are not promoted. 

What would make a huge difference: In some policy areas, the Scottish Government is pursing policies that do the opposite of promoting a Greener Scotland. Like, cutting the budget for active travel by 33%, whilst increasing spending on trunk roads. You can read more about this on the Transform Scotland website.

After all the Government's own research from as far back as 2010 shows that successful behaviour change campaigns must be backed up by consistent, credible action from those at the top.

Yesterday, a local cyclist shared a letter she'd sent to the council with Greener Leith. We publish it below and have lent our support to this fairly straightforwards ask.

Having seen on the Greener Leith blog that you recently were able to get the bit of path from West Bowling Green Street to the north Edinburgh path beside the Water of Leith tarmaced to improve access (it's made a big difference to my commute as I can now go this way in all weathers, staying off Great Junction St and Ferry Road), I wonder if you'd be able to work a bit of magic on the access / cut through from The Quilts to West Bowling Green Street Link to Google Map street view of the bit I'm talking about: http://g.co/maps/qxgu8 (I hope it's pointing the right way)

At the moment, there's no dropped kerb access on the Quilts side, meaning that the barrier across the road is very effective at making it difficult to cycle through (it's on my cycle route to work).

I manage to squeeze through on the right hand side, where a bollard has been cut down, but I frequently bash my pedals, and if there is a car parked on the Quilts side, it's very difficult to get through. Not only that, but the far side of the barrier is very overgrown with grass/weeds, and it collects litter and dog mess, making it unpleasant and difficult to cycle through.

I appreciate that the purpose of the barrier is probably to prevent motorcycles using it as a cut-through, but the downside is that cyclists, wheelchair users and people pushing pushchairs have a much more difficult time getting past.

It's particularly trepidatious in cold weather, when cobbles can turn slippy / icy very quickly. Installing a dropped kerb, or perhaps just putting a small "ramp" of tarmac to smooth off the kerb on either side, would be really great. Any chance?

[Name and address withheld]