Sandport Boardwalk plan surfaces on The Shore

Former Leith Ward Councillor Rob Munn has started a new blog called Leith Notes. One of his first posts reports from a recent public meeting where developers outlined their ideas for a new boardwalk running along the Shore. We're grateful to Rob for letting us republish his report below. 

Sandport Boadwalk is the working title for a plan to change the Water of Leith basin as we know it.

Some years back a company called Water of Leith 2000 put forward plans for barges along the shore line for use as houseboats. However the plans changed to office use and today the barges moored between Malmaison and the Ship on the Shore house a variety of offices.

Expansion of this scheme upstream through the inner basin and on to Bonnington weir at the Quilts had so far not materialised. Water of Leith 2000 put their property (the shoreline on both sides) up for sale by auction in 2009 but failed to find a single bidder.

Recently it was revealed that Water of Leith 2000 had changed into Bluefield and that a new plan was in the offing. Friends of the Water of Leith Basin made contact and suggested that once they had some ideas to share they would be happy to host a presentation at one of their meetings. On 4th April as part of a General Meeting of FoWL.B a presentation was made of the proposal 'Sandport Boardwalk' by well known Edinburgh architect Malcolm Fraser.

It was tentative - Malcolm had only got involved about a week before the meeting. He stressed that what was proposed would balance commercial use (that's the bit that will make the proposal economically viable) and public space (the boardwalk bit). There are no definite plans yet and planning permission will have to be sought and further detailed public consultation would be required.

Concerns were raised at the meeting regarding visual impact, the consequences of changing the Shore in this way, practicalities such as access and increased pressure on parking in the area. As the proposed structures are intended to float as the barges do it was pointed out that the silting up of the inner basin could scupper the plans.

Another concern was the effect of 'deadening' the Shore - before the barges went in people used to spill out of the bars and restaurants on the Shore on warm summer days and evenings animating the area in a social way. By contrast while the office barges are visually interesting their effect creates a barrier between the shore and the Water of Leith. This could be the effect of the what is being proposed for the upper reaches though to be fair the boardwalk could alleviate this effect by allowing people to walk around these units.

The plans need to be fully fleshed out before being exposed to full public scrutiny and consultation. I certainly want to see more about what these structures would look like and how they might look on the Leith Shore. It may be that some of it will find support and some of it won't. Malcolm Fraser is a renowned architect and capable of coming up with something interesting and challenging. Interestingly there were other locally based architects present at the meeting perhaps most notably Groves Raines Architects who have recent restored Lamb's House as a home and working architects office. Their response at this initial stage seemed to sit between lukewarm and hostile.

The Council has recently spent a lot of public money improving the road, footways and general public realm at the Shore and it looks fantastic. These plans could change the whole look of those improvements and it could be argued exploit this public investment for private gain.

One thing is clear - more public debate is needed on these proposals and much more detail of what is proposed needs to come into the public domain to allow as full a discussion as possible. There will be great interest in these proposals as the plans come forward and the public debate will be lively.
The Friends of the Water of Leith Basin are to be thanked for organising this initial presentation on Bluefield's proposals.

You can read more from Rob Munn on his blog at http://leithnotes.blogspot.co.uk/

If you would like to write a guest post for Greener Leith, get in touch.

Enforcement cameras rumoured for Shore

Although most people seem to support the recent upgrade at the Shore, one thing that doesn't seem to to be working is the North bound traffic ban.

A few days ago we spotted this taxi flouting the rules, but we've also heard local residents complain too.

Indeed, one local resident posted this report onto fixmystreet.com this week:

"I cannot believe after spending over £500, 000 in new road restrictions , that there is no one overseeing the illegal parking and miss use and ignoring the signs on the shore.

"Firstly on Saturdays and Sundays and after 6pm the cars parked along the shore on the double yellow lines is unbelievable, also cars entering from Henderson street and sand port place along the shore passing the Huge no entry sign is just unacceptable.

"When will this ever be manned as after spending huge amounts on the re- generation in the area at tax payers expense this should be looked at?"

A council officer, who would probably prefer to remained nameless has assured us that moves to install a safety camera to catch illegal drivers are now afoot.

Of course, that won't stop the illegal parking though, but it'll soon put a stop to people ignoring the traffic restrictions.

Henderson Street to close for 16 weeks after Shore upgrade complete

The council team managing the extensive improvements taking place on the Shore have circulated a new update on progress of the works. 

Work has been delayed by a couple of weeks, and so now it looks like it won't be finished until early May. Once it is complete, the intention is to ban through traffic, apart from buses, from traveling northwards on the Shore. 

Associated with this are changes to the parking arrangements on the surrounding streets. 

Details of the changes to parking arrangements can be found on the council website in Traffic Regulation Order TRO/12/13 which is currently out for public consultation. 

The report also confirms seperate council plans for a 'much needed' reconstruction of Henderson Street too. This  reconstruction work will mean that the road will entirely closed for up to 16 weeks from some point in May. 

Shore Update 10-4-12

Leithers asked to help save historic lamp posts

Not long ago we wrote to highlight the discrepancy between the way the old ornate lamp posts on the Shore were being managed, and the sad neglect of the similar lamp posts in places like Kirk Street.

Needless to say, it transpires that we weren't the only people to raise this issue, and last week we received a response from a council officer who says that the Kirks Street/Casselbank Street lamp posts are to painted 'soon'.

Indeed, it turns out that a fair bit of work has been put into working out what historically accurate colours the lamp posts should be painted. It would also seem that the council is not entirely sure where all the old lamp posts and similar lighting features are. So they're asking for Leithers help to put together an inventory of historic lighting features that will help to ensure that they all get maintained properly.

Here's the feedback we received from the council officer by email:

"I was approached to assist on establishing colours. I subsequently did some work with Historic Scotland into original paint colours for these columns and others across the city. A range of colours have been used in the past, green and cream as well as greys. This work took longer then we hoped and I appreciate that progress has been slow. However we have now set out a proposal for painting in the strategy that states where original columns are sited in streets and are not part of a sett piece arrangement (like the Shore or on bridges where other colours may have been used for example- although strangely there is not evidence to suggest that the columns were ever painted blue in Leith like the ones at the Shore) all original columns are painted grey and new columns will be painted to match or the material used will be a similar grey.

"The painting schedule for these original columns was agreed before Christmas and I am assured by my lighting colleagues that the columns in Kirk Street etc are due to be painted soon. What I am currently looking into is the painting of the shields on these columns. The ones on the Shore were picked out with the original (or similar to original) colours- gold and then blue/black/ white detail to highlight the sea etc. The paint sampling from the original columns certainly picked up the use of gold.

"We should be able to do this work to follow on from the main painting and upgrade of the original columns. I am also keen to complete work on an inventory of historic lighting in Leith. This will provide a record of original features and also highlight where we may need to restore lighting features.

"Another resident has been active in highlighting original columns in the centre of Leith, but I am sure there may be others. We have details of these and have been working with the resident on doing some initial surveys in the WHS. We need to do more surveying. Any help and interest you may have from your members on this would be great to hear about."

If you know of any historic lighting features in your street that you think should be on the inventory then please contact us to let us know the details and we'll make sure that it is forwarded to the appropriate council officer. Please also note the update to this post below which shows which lamp posts have already been identified.

However, before you do, you may wish to read the appendices to the report below which intriguingly includes a map provided by local Leither Derbhile O'Shea who has already documented many of the historic lighting features.

You can read the draft city wide lighting strategy here. 

Edinburgh Lighting Strategy Draft

Thanks also to Councillor Munn for chasing this issue up for us behind the scenes.

Update: Since we first wrote this post, local resident Derbhile O'Shea got in touch. It turns out that she has been researching the issue of these historic lamps for some time. She's had extensive correspondence with the council on the matter and also tried to persuade Historic Scotland to list the lamp posts.

She sent us a huge cache of carefully labelled photos, together with a map, to show the lamp posts that she's already identified and notified the council of.

In order to help other people supplement Derbhile's work we've started adding these photos to Flickr, and set-up a special group where anyone can add any new photos they take to the pool. If you tag the photos with "leithlamps" and geo-tag it too - it should show up on this map.

You can also see a slideshow of photos from the Flickr group here.

Final call for Leith shop front improvement grant scheme

Do you have a shop, or know someone who does inside this area shaded blue in this map? Or do you live inside this area?

View Leith THI Building Restoration Grant Scheme Area in a larger map

If so, this is your final chance to bag a grant from the council, through the Leith Townscape Heritage Initiative to improve your shop front, or property. This is money that could be particularly welcome for people who live in older buildings that have had their homes damaged by the recent storm.

So far around £50,000 has been spent restoring shop fronts at the Conservation Studio (27 Duke Street), What's On (208 - 210 Great Junction Street), MS Properties (206 Great Junction Street) - both successful recent transformation of the ground floor of the former State Cinema - and the new barbers shop at 11 Duke Street. However, there is another £150,000 in the pot that must be allocated before March 31st this year.

Councillor Jim Lowrie, Planning Leader, said the Townscape Heritage Initiative had really helped revitalise parts of Leith .

He said: "This final grant is a great way of restoring shop fronts and buildings to their former glory and I would urge businesses and residents to get their applications in as soon as possible."

Each successful property can receive a maximum of £15,000 to cover 75% of eligible works. These include re-instating works like signage, security, stall risers, external doors and professional fees.

Residents in the same area can also apply for the money to re-instate traditional features on their homes such as timber sash & case windows, external doors, stonework repairs and railings. 

All grants must be awarded by 31 March 2012. For more information contact Lesley Porteous on 0131 529 6236 or e-mail lesley.porteous@edinburgh.gov.uk

There's more info on the grant scheme in the leaflet below. 

Leith THI Info

Shore improvements progress report

The City of Edinburgh Council have issued a progress report on the improvement works to the Shore. As many locals will have noticed - the works are only half completed at present as they halted for the festive season. 

The road closure will soon be back in order to allow workers to compelte the improvements. More details here: 

Shore Update

Incedentally, volunteers for the Friends of the Water of Leith Basin have spent several hours in December out in a boat removing some of the more unpleasant looking things that end up in the water there. 

They plan to have another litter clearance session in January or February and are calling on locals to help them note the location of any unsightly rubbish they see on a map that's kept behind the bar in the Malt and Hops. 

If you would like to get involved in clearing rubbish from the Water of Leith Basin, then you should contact us, and we'll forward your details to the organisers. 

It Shore will be better when upgrade completed

There can't be many Leithers who haven't noticed that the southern section of the Shore is currently being dug up. Here's what it'll look like when the upgrades are completed: 

Shore Improvements

It will come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Greener Leith blog for a few years that we did try to persuade the powers that be that stronger traffic reduction measures would have been even better. We gathered evidence that there are significant numbers of locals who would support full pedestrianisation.

Now that the tram doesn't look like appearing in Leith any time soon, it would appear that full pedestrianisation is probably not the best option to pursue. Afterall, many of the local businesses in the area there have a city wide clientelle that will be arriving by bus for the foreseable future.

However, we think there must still be scope to trial further traffic reduction measures that will help to push the balance of the street even further in favour of recreation and sustainable transport uses. For example, a complete ban of through traffic on Sunday afternoons over the summer could offer scope for outdoor events to take place there. 

Whilst, it remains to be seen how easy it will be for Police to enforce the buses and bikes only policy northbound on the street, there's no doubt this improvement scheme will make the area a better place to visit and live beside - and it will be welcomed by many.

We should also congratulate the council officials involved who have worked hard to build consensus over the final design, never mind finding the money to implement it. Given how strapped for cash the council is going to be in the future, Leithers are lucky that this project went ahead at all.

Funding package confirmed for Shore

It's been a long time coming, but after a vote at Thursdays Leith Neighbourhood Partnership Housing and Built Environment Sub-group Committee, funding is now in place for plans to give the Shore a huge facelift.

Draft plans have been produced already by council staff, and a period of public consultation will take place this Spring to fine tune the details. You can see an outline of the draft plans here:

Draft shore redesign proposals

View more presentations from Greener Leith

You can have your say on the plans at the next Leith neighbourhood partnership meeting. Details of the meeting here:

Leith NP Programme 24.3.11

Needless to say, we are sure that Greener Leith readers will for the most part be delighted with this news, afterall, "Pedestrianising the Shore" came out top priority in a large consultation we did as part of our We Love Leith active travel project. Whilst the proposal is not for full pedestrianisation, it will, we hope lead to a considerable reduction in the problems caused by traffic on the street.

Greener Leith has been supportive of the Friends of the Water of Leith Basin, who have also campaigned on this issue. In 2009, Greener Leith held a Car Free Day event on the Shore, which saw traffic removed from the street for the day. You can see an interview with George Johnston, of the Friends of the Water of Leith Basin, making the case for reducing traffic on the Shore back in 2009 here:

You can read more about this project in a post I wrote on STV Local earlier in the week.