Keep Edinburgh a city for families

Edinburgh's economic success of recent years has been brilliant for many aspects of the city but has meant fewer young people can afford to buy. It is important, I feel, that Edinburgh remains a city for families of all ages. So I'm supporting the policy of a £200 million pound float to enable some first-time buyers to put down the money for a deposit.

"Smitty"

Whoever he is "Smitty" could probably teach politicians about self-promotion. His 'brand' is scrawled on houses, walls and fences from Leith Links to the Restalrig Crescent. He has obviously been working hard to get known.

Needless to say, graffiti is an eyesore and needs to be got rid of. New York had a policy of coming down hard on small crimes and the effects were that major crimes underwent a drastic reduction too. It is no surprise that the areas with little graffiti have much less anti-social behaviour than those that do. Because the atmosphere changes with graffiti, it lets people who are inclined to act anti-socially think they can get away with it.

However, in an attempt to maintain standards all over Edinburgh, the council has put in place graffiti teams that guarantees removal of graffiti within 24 hours. All you have to do is call. It is another way of preventing an area slipping or helping to bring one up.

If you have a problem with graffiti contact myself : wilsonforleith@yahoo.co.uk and I will pass it onto a direct link and help get the marks removed.

Leith Waterworld

Working as a teacher you learn that there is some sense in the advice, 'Don't smile until after Christmas.' I never manage that long, but after Christmas, I think, you can relax a little bit more and start to develop the more positive aspects of the pupil-teacher relationship.

Attempting to do this, and actually having a genuine interest in how kids spend their time, I asked a first year pupil what she might do at the weekend:

'Nothing,' was the reply.
'Come on, you must do something,' I said.
Shake of the head.
'Nothing at all?' I said. 'Nothing?'
'Well, I do like swimming,' she admitted.
'Oh? Where do you go?' I asked.
'Waterworld.'

Waterworld Leith is expensive to run, but what it returns to the community cannot be easily measured. It gives a lot of fun to kids who perhaps aren't interested in football or team sports. It helps families play together - and it allows friends to get together. Personally, despite the cost, I think the closing of Waterworld would be a loss: the social 'profit' of Waterworld will never make it onto a balance sheet, but it is there, and it is giving a lot of people a good, beneficial way to spend their time.

Snapshot of Leith

Here's a quick snapshot of the new Leith Ward. It gives an idea of the size and variety of the new ward (while making some points as well!)

Community Values in Gordon Street

I met a father today who was worried about community values. He was a relatively young father - I'm saying that because I'm nearing that age -of 37 and had a 7 year old boy. His boy (who was very polite and delightful) had never thrown a piece of litter in his life, but he lived next to Easter Road which was often littered. He was concerned that this was getting across to his son the wrong value and that he, as a father, cannot be as strong an influence as the community he grows up in.

We all know community makes a difference. Family and community are powerful shapers of a person's life. Family values cannot grow too far apart from community values or community values from family values. This father wants to bring his son up in a community that values many of the things he does: looking after your children, knowing how to treat others, education, a nice area and care for the environment.

He believes in a community of responsible individuals.

I believe in that too. And I believe that a councillor should work to use the power he or she may have to fulfil the responsible aims of a responsible, value rich community.

The Ryehills - anti-social behaviour?

There are other types of anti-social behaviour, however. As people on the Ryehills know, driving your car at speed through a residential neighbourhood is anti-social. The traffic calming measures in the Ryehills have been successful in deterring the anti-social behaviour of some drivers. It has been one of Edinburgh Council’s policies to create child-friendly zones across the city.

It makes for a more secure environment for families, but the Ryehills is also an area where each house is quite individual. It is a corner of Edinburgh with its own character. It is safe, pleasant and free from litter. Areas like this provide a high quality of life for the people who live there.

Anything that threatens or spoils these qualities should be resisted. It is vitally important that development or planning does not threaten communities with their own individual traits and feel. It would be self-defeating if Edinburgh’s economic development spoils the old, beautiful, locales of which people are proud. We are a World Heritage site after all.

As one resident noted to me: ‘There’s no point having traffic calming, and then putting more cars into the area.’

Again, as a councillor, I believe that you have to work hard, to persevere with an issue and to respond to the communities strongly felt wishes.

How Mrs Beaton dealt with anti-social behaviour

Mrs.Beaton’s stairway used to have graffiti on the walls. There used to be litter and some people would even urinate in the stairway! No one should have to put up with this. So Mrs Beaton organised her stair, contacted her local Labour councillor – Ewan Aitken – and a security door was installed. The residents cleaned the graffiti off the walls, cleared the litter, and mopped-out the stair.

Now, having been in Mrs Beaton’s stair, I can tell you there is no graffiti, no smell and no litter, but there is a nice, clean stairway with a pleasant feel. Mrs Beaton wanted to live in a good environment and now she does.

I believe as a Labour councillor my role is to give full support to people like Mrs Beaton who want to improve their community.

Hermitage Park - anti-social behaviour

Residents have noted a problem with anti-social behaviour around Hermitage Park. Some may believe that only physical violence constitutes anti-social behaviour, others that it includes vandalism of property, but I believe behaviour that impacts on the quality of life, and on community values and feeling can be described as anti-social behaviour.

A person exposing others, especially children, to abusive language is, in my opinion, acting anti-socially. In family areas such behaviour is unacceptable because it undermines the values and feelings that parents work hard to cultivate in their children, and which the children themselves appreciate. I believe that we must act strongly and quickly to sort problems like this out. Setting the right tone for an area adds so much to the quality of life of the residents who live there. And it can detract a great deal from enjoying your home and your area if such behaviour is allowed to continue.

I believe acting quickly in the interests of the nearby residents would be a duty of a local representative.

Hawthornvale being used as a Rat Run

While meeting some of the residents the other night, one elderly gentlemen told me of the time when he walked down the steps from the front door of his stairway that leads onto the pavement, when a car passed in front of him, at speed, a few inches from him. The car had mounted the pavement to pass another, oncoming car. The elderly man explained to me that he believed if he had been 2 seconds quicker coming out he would be dead.

Hawthornvale is being used as a rat run by people who do not live in the area, and, a small minority, are using it very irresponsibly and risking the safety of residents. I live in the street and I've seen some of the reckless driving and heard the roars of engines that signal a car going too fast for a residential area. As one resident said to me, 'What about the mothers with prams in the street?'

Because of this, if elected, I would press for the installation of speed bumps. Safety is always the main concern. We've been lucky not to have one accident, and I believe we should act to prevent one and maintain the quality of life in an up-and-coming area.

Newhaven Road Bus Congestion

Those of you who live on or near Newhaven Road, some of whom I was speaking to on Monday night, will be aware that due to parking there is often a hold-up as vehicles have to let others pass. This can become a very tight squeeze when it is two buses that try to pass each other. I was on a bus that had to spend several painstaking minutes moving slowly by degrees so that each could safely get by the other. It surprises me that the people who park their cars aren't more concerned. I sometimes expect them to come out of their house white with anxiety as two buses edge between the cars on either side, with barely any room to spare, and, furthermore, often other cars pass by one another at speed with centimetres to spare. It must be an anxious view from the window at times!

The 7 and 11 are very good buses, and changing their route would be a loss for residents, so, as an alternative, I think we need some more sensible parking for this stretch of road. Parked cars and two buses side-by-side does not leave much room. If elected I would press to have parking areas moved to avoid this problem.

Mrs Beaton

I was lucky enough that some of you were in when I came round last Wednesday. You were good enough to give me a bit of your time and let me know about some of the issues in the area.

I was particularly struck by Mrs Beaton, who lives in Restalrig Crescent, and her story and would like to tell you a bit about it.

Anti-Social Behaviour

Mrs Beaton has paid £100 for a disabled car parking space outside her house. Her husband is very ill and this space is very useful. But workmen and people who do not live in the area park there; stopping the parking space being useful!

If elected, I would press local officials to clamp down on this and other like things. It is no trouble to park somewhere else, but the trouble caused to Mrs Beaton is very great.

This is an example of what I would call anti-social behaviour. It’s not just young people being aggressive: it’s small things like being ignorant of others, of throwing litter on the street, or of allowing dogs to mess on the pavement.

As a community, and using council powers, we should be strong on anti-social behaviour. It sets the tone for an area and the residents of this area deserve a nice area to live in.