Question 3: What about the Grain Store? Isn't that a category B listed building?

Forth Energy: Yes, it is a listed building. The reason it is listed is because it is an early example of a building with a full height conveyor belt - not because of its appearance. To build the power plant we'll need to get permission to demolish it. Originally, it was suggested that this building could be adapted to perform some sort of cultural function. Like the Baltic centre for contemporary art in Newcastle. However, the 'cultural building' in the original OPA has been incorporated into the Leith Harbour regeneration plans, and in any case, the building doesn't lend itself to easy re-use, as it is filled with concrete vertical silos.

Our Comment: Whilst it's a shame that this building will not be re-used, how many people are really attached to the Grain Silo building? There are more attractive ‘cultural buildings’ that could fulfill that role such as the Leith Theatre and the Leith Museum. If there is any investment in a cultural building in Leith we think it should be in one of those projects.

Question 4: People are concerned that if the Power plant is built on the scale proposed there will be a huge increase in the amount of lorry traffic in the area. Using your figures, we estimate this could result in as many as 10,000 lorry journeys per year. There are already concerns about the health impacts of traffic on local air quality on many of the main streets in Leith.

Forth Energy: We can't pretend that we won't need to use trucks to get some of the fuel in, and ash out from the plant. However, we question your figures, and we'll get our transport engineers to make an estimate of the maximum number of lorry loads the plant would be likely to generate. We should emphasise that we intend to bring as much of the fuel in by boat as we can. We've said that a maximum of 30% would come by road, but we'd hope that figure would be lower. We've not costed whether rail will be a viable means of transporting fuel in or out of the plant.

Our Comment: We're sticking with our figures - as Forth Energy can't come up with their own and show their working. If anything, ours are on the low side, as we're assuming that each truck is full, and we've not even considered truck journeys to remove the ash. We'll be urging planning officials to demand that a much higher percentage of the fuel and ash is moved by boat or by rail that the amounts proposed by Forth Energy.

Question 5: Communities all around Scotland receive payments from new energy schemes to help compensate local people for the negative consequences that arise from this kind of development. Will Forth Energy consider making an annual payment to something like a 'Leith Climate Challenge Fund,' if this development gets the go ahead?

Forth Energy: Although we can't commit to that at this stage, it's certainly something that we'd be willing to consider and discuss further.

Our Comment: Communities around a wind farm in East Lothian receive a payment of £200,000 per year from the developers - and that wind farm generates half the energy that the proposed plant by Forth Energy would produce. If Forth Ports get the go ahead to develop a power plant on the scale they propose, then we believe the local community should be entitled to a share in the profits of the venture - and that this should be used to promote sustainable development in the neighbourhood - for example, it could help Leithers who currently live in fuel poverty cut their fuel bills, by paying for better insulation and more efficient heating systems. This would help to ensure that the whole of Leith benefits from developments in the docks.

Question 6: There are a huge number of Biomass power schemes planned all over the world. How will you ensure that fuel you use will be genuinely sustainable and carbon neutral?

Forth Energy: There is currently no certification scheme for Biomass fuel, but we are committed to sourcing our it as sustainably as we possibly can. We're awaiting the development of an EU biomass standard. We've no intention of propping up the Russian mafia!

Our Comment: Until such times as there is an established internationally recognised standard for sustainable biomass, we think Forth Energy should commit to an annual audit of their fuel sources by a suitably qualified third party organisation, who will make their assessment public. After all, without this oversight, there will be no guarantee that the plant will indeed be providing low carbon energy.

Our Conclusion

Greener Leith has argued all along that truly sustainable regeneration in the docks area must incorporate some form of district heating system - and this is still something that we'd like to see. However, we question whether a plant of this scale, on this site, is really what local residents would want. Given that smaller commercially viable plants have been built recently in other parts of the UK, we think that it would be financially feasible to build one or more plants throughout the docks - although they may not provide the same return on investment for commercial investors.

Whatever scale of plant Forth Energy do eventually build on the docks, we believe that local residents should be entitled to benefit from a community fund that disburses a proportion of the profits made by the plant to a Leith Climate Challenge Fund that would promote sustainable development locally, and make sure that all Leithers get some benefit from the development on the docks.

Greener Leith is honoured to have won both Best Hyperlocal Blog and Best Nature/Green Blogs in the Scotblog awards. 142 blogs in Scotland were nominated, covering all sorts of themes and interests. The winners were chosen by a combination of public vote and the votes of a special panel put together - representing some of the 'big beasts' of the Scottish blogging world.

So, we'd like to thank everyone who voted for us, we're very grateful, and we'd also like to congratulate the other folk in the top 5 for both categories - they're well worth a read too.

We think Duncan Stephen, the man who kick started the Scottish Round-up site, and was one of the key movers and shakers behind the Scotblog process also deserves an award. He's done a great deal to promote Scottish blogs, and the art of blogging.

Next year, it's likely the blogging scene in Edinburgh is going to get more interesting. The Guardian have recently appointed Tom Allan as their local 'beat blogger' for Edinburgh. Tom has worked in the Citadel and Leith FM  and so he's got lot's of Leith connections. Although it's just a pilot project at the moment, we've already had a chance to meet with Tom to get a feeling for what he's going to be up to, and we're looking forwards to the launch of his Edinburgh blog later in the year. It will be interesting to see how this pilot project exploring the future of local news develops.

It's no wonder this phone box on Leith Walk has been thoroughly vandalised. The people who did it were no doubt driven to it by the frustration of trying to work out why someone, somewhere spent money narrowing the pavement, only to install a phone box, and a bin - ON THE ROAD. 

Now we know it can get complicated building a tram system. We know you have to break some eggs to make an omelette. We know two wrongs don't make a right. No doubt there was a contract somewhere that said all the utilities had to be reinstated after they'd been moved for the Trams. But seriously - someone spent a lot of money narrowing the pavement and installed a phone box and a bin - ON THE ROAD. 

If anyone can come up with a rational explanation of how this happened, and why it's still there, we'd love to hear it! 

Recognise the building in the picture? This strange image is of the Scottish Parliament, and the reason it looks so odd is because it was taken using a thermal imaging camera. These cameras are great for showing how much heat buildings lose, and identifying places where insulation could help to save the building owners money.

Soon we're going to be in a position to offer Leithers a free thermal imaging survey of their house. That's right - free! It doesn't matter what type of house you live in, or whether you own it or rent it, we're happy to photograph it. This is a fantastic deal, as we reckon that you'd need to pay at least £100 to a private company if you wanted a thermal imaging survey done of your home.

We're also looking for people who could share with us the 'energy story' of their house. Can you tell us about what powers your house, how you use it, and you feel about your fuel bills? Do you think you're going to use more, or less, energy in the future?

We're also going to be using the thermal imaging camera to photograph as many of the streets of Leith as we can, with a view to putting together an on-line resource - something a bit like Google Streetview - except using thermal images, rather than normal photos. We hope that this will help us, and everyone else, identify the buildings that could most benefit from energy saving measures.

Even better, one of the project partners is Out of the Blue - and so this first phase of the project will culminate in an exhibition of the most interesting images alongside some interactive exhibits and some of the energy stories of the Leithers whose houses will feature in the exhibition.

Thanks to funding from the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership we're in a position to be able to put two local volunteers through the fairly technical training required to use the cameras. Changeworks have kindly agreed to fund the technical analysis of the images, and Scottish and Southern Energy have kindly agreed to lend us the cameras.

If you would like us to help you work out the energy story of your home, please contact us and when our volunteers are ready, we'll get back in touch.

However, you don't need an electric bike to take part with our We Love Leith guided bike rides. To join in, all you need to do is meet us outside the Mal Maison hotel on The Shore at 10.30am, this Saturday. Below, you can see a map of the route:

January 2010 We Love Leith Bike Ride Route

Map your trip with EveryTrail

Last weekend when we checked the route, Scottish Water were busy digging up part of the cycle route, and they couldn't confirm whether the bit they were digging up would be open or not for the day of the ride. However, we have back up plans, so don't worry! 

We plan to stop at a cafe for lunch at Cramond, so bring some cash, or a packed lunch, to keep you going. The total length of the route is about 14 miles, and most of it is on traffic free paths. There are some sections that are on road, but there are virtually no tricky junctions. Last Saturday at least, even the main roads were fairly quiet.

Look forwards to seeing you on the day, and for more background about these rides click here. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to get in touch.

They're on a mission "to help people have fun outdoors hunting for wild foods anywhere plants can grow, from city parks, to country waysides and the seashore, and, just as importantly, show you how to turn this wild food into delicious dishes and drinks."

Their book, "Seaweed and Eat It" is described as the foodie's answer to "The Dangerous Book for Boys", and a nostalgic journey of rediscovery for the whole family. Part cookbook, part natural history guide, with tasty recipes, fascinating folklore and inspiring ideas for seasonal feasts, it leads the reader through the process of identifying, learning about and cooking unusual and wild native foods.

 Xa is also a journalist.  She worked on Fleet Street for several years for the Independent, and then as a columnist for the family page of the Scotsman before taking a sabbatical to raise a family of three boys.  She learned to cook with AA Gill.

 Hat-tip to Suitably Despairing for finding this one.

Greener Leith is pleased to announce that we've secured funding that will provide more safe cycle parking thoughout Leith. First off, the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership, Housing & Built Environment Sub-group accepted our proposal yesterday to install 20 Cyclehoops, similar to the one in the image above, in various locations around the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership.

Whilst we'll aim to focus on the top 10 local places that Leithers identified in the travel survey we conducted last year, the chances are that we'll also be able to target some other places too. The Cyclehoop design has won numerous design awards as it provides a cheap, flexible and appealing way to expand cycle parking provision. We particularly like them because they don't add to streetscape clutter - they bolt onto existing poles.

However, Greener Leith is also using our first bit of funding from the Vegware Community Fund to buy two Plantlock type bike racks too. These combine secure bike parking with metal planters to provide a 'softer' looking option, where a bit of greenery is welcome. We intend to donate one of these to the Persevere Community Garden and one to Redbraes (if they want it!), so that anyone who cycles there will have an attractive and safe place to lock their bikes.

Alastair Tibbitt, Development Manager for Greener Leith said, "The We Love Leith campaign asks everyone in Leith to try out greener ways to travel. But we don't expect people to make the switch alone. We're delighted that we've been able to get the funding to help new and experienced cyclists alike find a safe, attractive place to lock their bike when they're out and about."

Was there ever a better time to make a We Love Leith pledge? And if you've got a specific idea that would make it easier to walk, cycle or use more public transport in Leith then why not have your say in our on-line consultation?

I'm James, and I'm a volunteer. In the past I've volunteered as a steward for Oxfam at festivals and I've helped put on theatre plays with evil clowns and cabaret's upstaged by a 6 year-old. I've ran award-winning festival venues and helped run the central Edinburgh community arts-space, the Forest Cafe.

Clearly, I generally believe in volunteering – as a way to make a positive difference to your community, to develop your own skills and to get you out of the house meeting 6-year olds who are going to be big stars.

 But this is the important thing – I think most people do. Talking to people I find many people want to volunteer, but faced with the impression that this will require on-going commitment, interviews and references, general apathy usually wins out.

Sure, sometimes those things are essential depending on what the activity is. But there are
 many opportunities to easily help out, to just turn up and spend the afternoon working, and then retire down the pub, with no fuss.

Which is why I'm happy to reveal our new website,
 http://www.flocklocal.net. This is a tool-set designed to encourage groups and volunteers towards just these opportunities. We make it easy to search opportunities, see details about them and sign up to attend.

For groups, posting opportunities is easy and free. And more 
than just a listings site, we encourage volunteers to spread word of events to their friends by social media like Twitter and Facebook and for a sense of community to build around groups and users. We're planning on developing tools to allow people to come together with other like-minded souls and organise their own events.

At the moment, the site's looking a little bare – but then we did only go public 3 days ago. Keep an eye out, and if you want to organise a event, give us a try! I leave you with a recommendation for volunteering, and this thought: flyering on the royal mile in august dressed as a evil clown? Great fun.

Addiply is different from Google because they allow advertisers to choose exactly which website they want to advertise on, and they allow website owners to decide exactly which adverts appear on their sites. At the moment we've got just one more 25p per month slot left on the Greener Leith website. Once that slot is filled, the bidding starts, so if you're reading this and you've got something you want to promote direct to Leithers - you won't get a cheaper offer than the 25p slot that's available now. 

According to our stats we have between 500 and 1000 unique visitors every week to the site over the last 14 weeks - the vast majority of them are likely to be local residents.

Best of all, you know that any money we make from advertising on our website will help to support our mission to make Leith a greener place to live. 

We think this will be of particular interest to people who have a service or product they want to promote to Leithers. Afterall - Google adverts seem like a complete scatter gun in comparison. 

To advertise on our website you need to register with Addiply as an advertiser.

You can do that here: http://www.addiply.com/

Then, once you've logged into your account, you need to select websites to place an advert on. The websites are arranged by geographical area that they cover. Greener Leith is the only site in the Midlothian region to use Addiply, so we're easy to find! 

http://www.addiply.com/index.php?option=com_addiply&Itemid=69&r1=1&r2=179

Then you simply need to click the select button and follow the prompts to place your ad. More information on this process is available in their Frequently Asked Questions. If you get stuck, we've found the Addiply staff really helpful - and we're also happy to help out too. 

Of course, in an ideal world we would of course like to have no adverts whatsoever on our blog. However, we feel we need to take every opportunity to cover the 'core costs' of running our organisation so that we can direct as much of the money we receive from donations to our project work. 

Of course, this opportunity was too much to resist for the shopping trolley thieves...

There's a better photo by of the Shore here, taken later in the day by Ben Scappaticcio with a proper camera.

Forth Energy is a joint venture set-up by two of Scotlands largest companies, Forth Ports and Scottish and Southern Energy. It aims to develop renewable energy powerplants on the land holdings of Forth Ports in Leith, Rosyth, Dundee and Grangemouth.

The initial scoping study for Leith (pdf download) runs to 82 pages, so we've not had a chance to digest it in detail ourselves yet. However, we'd encourage avid Leith regeneration watchers to have a look at it, and lend us your thoughts on this dedicated discussion thread of the Greener Leith Social.

The formal public consultation process on the proposal is set to start "in the coming months", so we'd love to hear as broad a cross section of views from local residents on the plans now. Below, we give some initial thoughts and pose some questions.

Firstly, the most obvious thing that we've noticed is that the proposals do not seem to follow the previously agreed Masterplan or Outline Planning permission for the docks at all. The site where the powerplant is set to go, is, as we understand it, earmarked by Forth Ports for residential use. The area outlined in red in the map below is where the powerplant is set to go:

Yet this is what Forth Ports previously applied to build:

So, it would seem that these new proposals represent a serious shift away from the original plans. Obviously the recession, and the collapse in the residential property market has led Forth Ports to seek new ways to maximise the value of their land holdings. However, this change of heart has serious implications for the future of the whole docks area.

What does Forth Ports plan to do with the whole area of land between the Imperial Dock and the coastline?

What are the implications for the planned coastal promenade path, if that area remains as an active port serving an industrial purpose?

We note that the more detailed planning proposals for The Harbour, Leith Docks included two further, much smaller, sites designated as 'Energy Centres' (These are the red bits in the map below.) We assume that those plans are also therefore superceeded by this latest Forth Energy plan.

There are also other aspects of the plan that have already raised eyebrows on The Greener Leith Social. The proposed plant itself is big. It will be 65m high with 100m chimney stack. This means you'll be able to see if from, well, everywhere. Helpfully, Forth Energy have produced a map that shows you where people will be able to see it from. The green bits of the map are places where you'll be able to see the whole plant, and the red bits are places where you'll be lucky enough to only see the chimney.

Also, we note concerns over how Biomass will be transported to the site. Forth Energy estimates that 70% of the fuel for the plant will be imported by sea. By one local residents calculations, that still leaves about 400,000 tonnes of biomass that must arrive by another means. Some could come by rail to the plant - but nevertheless it would seem likely that a fairly sizable proportion of this would come by road. How many lorry journeys would it take to transport 400,000 tonnes of woodchip and other biomass?

There are obvious positives that we should not discount too. The power plant will help to generate a significant amount of renewable energy and it has the potential to support a district heating system too. It will provide much needed local jobs in sectors other than tourism and retail, helping to support a diverse local economy.

We'd like to hear your thoughts, either in the comments to this post below, or on the Greener Leith Social, on the matter. Do the negatives outweigh the positives? Should the development be scaled down? Where does it leave the plans for the rest of the docks? Do you welcome the potential for a massive investment in green energy and sustainable jobs in our neighbourhood?