Latest news with #EdinburghCityCouncil
The Courier
4 hours ago
- Business
- The Courier
Dundee tourist tax early consultation approved
An early consultation on a possible tourist tax in Dundee has been approved. A report on implementing a visitor levy in the city was considered by councillors on Monday evening. During a meeting of the economic growth committee, councillors approved an early engagement exercise with local businesses and residents. A working group will be set up to engage with local businesses, residents and 'any other relevant partners'. Feedback from this will then be heard by councillors at a committee meeting, where they will decide whether a statutory consultation should be approved. The earliest date a Dundee tourist tax will be launched is spring 2028. Edinburgh City Council was the first in Scotland to approve a visitor levy. From next summer, it will charge visitors an extra 5% on top of their accommodation costs. The early engagement period is set to begin this summer and run until spring next year. If approved, a statutory consultation would run for 12 weeks. A decision will then be made in autumn 2026 on whether a Dundee tourist tax should be introduced. If it is approved, an 18-month implementation period will allow businesses and communities time to prepare for the levy. However not all councillors backed the move. Conservative councillor Derek Scott called for councillors to note the report but take no further action, saying it could put people off visiting Dundee. 'I've always been opposed to a visitor levy,' said Mr Scott. 'I think the Scottish Government should be providing sufficiently in their funding allocation to local authorities to fully support the tourism sector. 'I've always been concerned about the impact a tourist tax would have on attracting visitors in what is a very competitive market.'
Scotsman
a day ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Edinburgh coffee caravan closes suddenly as owner issues ‘deep sadness' statement
A coffee caravan that relocated almost 300 miles from the Scottish Highlands to the Edinburgh seaside has been forced to shut – just weeks after it opened. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Isle of Coffee caravan was a popular fixture on the Isle of Harris before its move to the Capital last month. The small coffee shop, built in a 1961 Swift caravan, has been trading on the corner of Morton Street and Esplanade Terrace in Joppa since mid-May. But now co-owner Sean Parr has informed locals they will be closed until further notice, due to 'irreconcilable differences' with Edinburgh City Council. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In a post on Facebook, Sean wrote: 'It is with deep sadness that I have to let the great customers of Joppa know that we are having to shut the Isle Coffee caravan on Morton St and Esplanade Terrace. 'In trying to satisfy the needs of the council we have sadly not met the needs of the community and at this stage these seem to be irreconcilable differences. We hope in the future to find a workable solution and that we may be able to return to our new home. 'In the meantime we are heading back to Harris (good news for our Hearachs) at the end of the week and we will try and sort this all out from there. We are devastated to have caused so much consternation, it was never our intention to bring anything other than good vibes and great coffee when we moved to Joppa. 'We have loved meeting so many wonderful, friendly and joyful locals – it is a truly fantastic place to live and we have been made to feel so welcome by so many people, we just hope we can sort things out and come back to Joppa.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Locals expressed their sadness at Isle of Coffee's sudden closure in the comments. One local wrote: 'Really sorry to hear this, I enjoyed my post-swim coffee and was looking forward to many more. Your caravan was an asset to the Joppa end of the prom. Hope you manage to sort something out soon.' Another said: 'Please don't give up! Your coffee and your happiness and upbeat look on life has been such a joy to have. Hope to see you back on Morton Street very soon.' A third commented: 'Sean, this is such rubbish news. I was so hopeful that this situation could be resolved. Really such a shame – you were a welcome addition to Joppa. Hopefully it will get sorted in the future.' Edinburgh City Council has been approached for comment.
Scotsman
2 days ago
- General
- Scotsman
We need to get better at listening
Around 1000 people attended a meeting in Gyle Park at the height of the pandemic on plans for a low traffic neighbourhood scheme in East Craigs Gyle Park in my ward is a fantastic and much-loved community park with a dedicated group of volunteers committed to looking after it. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Friends of Gyle Park has done great work for the community, from fundraising for path lighting to organising Fun Runs (June 22 if you're interested!), and I know that many other groups across the city do similar good work. Friends groups are some of the most frequent visitors to Edinburgh City Council committees too, on issues ranging from commercial park use to bin placement, they attend and make their views known. It's to the credit of Edinburgh residents that so many groups, not just Park Friends, take such a keen interest in what the council is doing – or not doing. Theirs is a voice that is most welcome in debate, but often only comes to councillors outside their local area once they're in the committee room. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What does it say about the day-to-day engagement work of the council that so much gets to committee for final decision-making without these groups feeling they have had their voice heard? Excellent and valued as their work is, community groups aren't the only voice that councillors should be listening to. The council consults constantly on it's official platform, yet the number of people who say to me when I go out and knock on doors that the council doesn't listen to or care about their concerns, is only increasing. I won't pretend to have all the answers, but two suggestions spring to mind. Firstly, the council ran a consultation some time ago on residents' priorities. The responses to that were clear. It all comes down to basic services – bin collections, road and pavement repairs, park maintenance and more. That's what people are desperate for the council to get right. Secondly, the council must ask questions of itself. Where is our engagement lacking? Where is it difficult to use? Where is our customer service intolerably poor? If residents report an overflowing bin or a vast pothole on their road, when they do get a response? They are too often told it's been reported by someone else. That doesn't tell anyone the issue is resolved, and it doesn't provide any assurance that it will be. Maybe, if we can get this right, residents and our hardworking community groups won't have to come to committees in order to feel heard. Ed Thornley is a Liberal Democrat councillor for Drum Brae/Gyle ward
Scotsman
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Scotsman
Readers' Letters: Potholes prevalence is problem caused by council choices
Edinburgh Council's collection of potholes continues to frustrate and annoy Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Scotsman published an article on Edinburgh City Council's £86 million backlog to fill in potholes (6 June). Transport Convenor Stephen Jenkinson said: 'We'll continue to do the best we can for the city with the resources we have available'. I take issue with this statement. This is a problem created entirely by the council – in recent years they have prioritised a range of vanity projects – the lowering of kerbs, the use of plastic bollards to create makeshift and largely unused cycle lanes, the closure of roads to create community spaces (again, largely unused), the replacement of pavements that had very little wrong with them in the first place, and the repainting of lines over obviously broken roads. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad These are either entirely wasteful or extremely niche priority calls effecting the few when the majority cannot use the roads for driving or cycling safety. The council shouldn't be allowed to start any new projects until they have sorted out the basics. Edinburgh City Council Transport Convener Stephen Jenkinson Gavin Neilson, Edinburgh Share bus lanes Harold Tobermann, Chair of Edinburgh Bus Users Group, is being disingenuous (Letters, 7 June). No one that I am aware of is objecting to the idea of bus lanes as a means of helping traffic flow in the rush hours. What is ridiculous is the proposal to extend the working of the bus lanes as a 24/7 proposition. The prospect of queues of cars crawling along the outside lane while the bus lanes lie largely empty for the whole day is simply stupid. It will create congestion and it will create pollution and it will certainly not 'go some way to reallocating the communal road space more fairly'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This experiment was tried several years ago and abandoned as a result of total unfairness to car users. Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Edinburgh Reform on track The most interesting thing about the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election for Holyrood is not who won, Labour, nor the fact that the voting was a three-way split between them, the SNP and Reform UK, but where Reform's votes came from. Compared to their vote share in the constituency in last Holyrood election four years ago, the SNP vote dropped by almost 17 per cent of the votes cast and the Tory vote by 11.5 per cent. Labour's vote-share actually went down by 2 per cent as well. This means that Reform UK's 26 per cent of the vote came more from parties of the Left than the Tories. Clearly Reform are not just a threat to the Conservatives. In the climate of dissatisfaction with the established parties, Reform is on track to be a force at Holyrood next year. Otto Inglis, Ansonhill, Fife Farage rejected Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Many valid and intelligent conclusions have been drawn from the result of the Hamilton by-election. However, there is one conclusion that doesn't seem to have been given much airing, ie that three-quarters of the voters in Hamilton want nothing to do with the pernicious, far-right poison preached by Reform. David Hamill, East Linton, East Lothian Apology needed? Why did Dawn French feel the need to apologise for calling out the genocide in Gaza? Why was Gary Lineker punished by the BBC for doing the same? Yes, the Holocaust should never be forgotten but it doesn't justify one against the Palestinian people. Gail Kirkland, Bowmore, Islay Remember heroes As the British Army was forced to retreat on 12 June 1940 the 51st Highland Division – mainly Black Watch, Seaforths, Argylls, left under the command of the French – were ordered to stand and defend to the end the perimeter of Dunkirk, against overwhelming odds, to allow the evacuation of around 331,000 soldiers. This they did. During the ten-day battle 20,000 were casualties and the remaining 10,000 were forced back to St Valery-en-caux, where they were trapped by high cliffs behind and the full weight of Panzer divisions in front. No ships could get near to take them off, there was no longer any ammunition, and two days later, on 12 June 1940, surrender was unavoidable. Nearly all men were captured and marched off to Stalag 344, in occupied and destroyed Poland. Those who survived the forced labour camps (only officers went to POW camps) were not released until May 1945. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This was all kept hidden so that the morale boosting 'miracle' of Dunkirk would not be undercut by the disaster of the 51st Division's sacrifice only ten days later. Relatives did not get news for years, some not until the war ended; the lives of many of the survivors were shortened; and the men whose actions had made Dunkirk possible were ignored. Every Highland village lost men, and yet little was made of St Valery – apart from those immediately connected – for the next 80 years. During their long imprisonment the 51st Division, with many pipers, produced much music, including the 'Reel of the 51st Division' and later 'The Heroes of St Valery', written by Pipe Major Donald MacLean (who died in 1964 aged just 56). In 2020 three Scottish Armed Forces charities organised a tribute, and pipers (and others players) all over the world brought the memory of these men, mostly long dead, to mind. Every year since 1940 much attention is rightly given to the courage of those involved in the Dunkirk rescue, including many who perished on the 'little' boats. Such commemoration should also be paid, every year, perhaps by playing 'their tune', to the men who fought on, to guaranteed disaster, with no rescue, in order that so many could be saved at Dunkirk – the heroes of St Valery-en-caux. Remember the Heroes of St Valery-en-Caux: The 51st Highland Division, on 12 June 1940. Susan FG Forde, Scotlandwell, Kinross-shire Write to The Scotsman Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Edinburgh Reporter
4 days ago
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Celebration week planned for Dean bowlers
Founded in 1900 by Sir James Steel, Edinburgh Lord Provost and a noted builder and businessman, Dean Bowling Club are currently marking their 125th anniversary. A week of celebrations are planned on the Comely Bank green from Saturday 14-21 June. All welcome. In the year 2000, when celebrating their milestone, Edinburgh City Council awarded the club a Civic Reception which was hosted by Lord Provost Eric Milligan. At that time there was a membership of about 150 and while, like many clubs, numbers started to reduce with hard work and perseverance Dean are on the way back up and currently sit at just over 100 members. The club are always looking for new members and a drive began on the annual Opening Day in April which was attended by Depute Lord Provost Lezley Marion Cameron and Councillors Vicky Nicolson and Max Mitchell. Full Membership for a new member's first year is fixed at £50, doubling in the second year. Thereafter the value is decided at the club AGM. Social Membership is £40 annually. The club has a strong coaching element within its membership and this mostly takes place on a Friday evening from 5.30-7pm. For more info go to: Like this: Like Related
