25 20mph Comes into Force

You probably have seen the signs – but the latest phase of Edinburgh’s 20 mile an hour zone has come into force. It now stretches from Portobello along to Granton and from Duddingston to Morningside. According to the City of Edinburgh Council, it means that around 80% of city streets now have a 20 mile and hour limit with the rest set to come in later. 

Mascots fro '20's Plenty'

It’s all part of the Scottish Government’s Road Safety Framework which is designed to make the roads safer for children, pedestrians and cyclists. Edinburgh is the first city to introduce the new limits but many others, including East Lothian, are looking at following suit. So in this episode, we find out about the rationale behind the new speed limits.

20mph Comes to Portobello

The move is supported by Police Scotland and officers will be monitoring the situation closely. Since the start of the first phase of the new speed limits, they've taken action against 18 drivers who have been driving too fast.

24 Nick Child Opens TEDx EU

The first TED conference took place over 30 years ago. A man by the name of Richard Wurman noticed that there had been a powerful convergence of three fields: technology, entertainment and design – thus TED. To begin with, it was an invitation-only annual event in California but the idea spread, especially with the creation first of TED Global – there were conferences here in Edinburgh in 2011, 12 and 13 – and then of TEDx, a radical opening up of the format to local, independently organized events. 

Nick Child on Stage at TEDx EU

There will be a TEDx conference here in Portobello this coming May. But what’s it like to take part in such an event? Well, this past Tuesday, there was one at Edinburgh University, run by the students – it’s now an annual event. The person chosen to open the event, its first speaker, was the psychologist and Portobello resident Nick Child. His theme was being a maverick. But how had he come to be invited in the first place?

Nick Child Opens TEDx EU 2017 

23 Organically Yours

 Late last summer and autumn, you may have seen – or more likely heard – Julia Leyden selling her muffins on the Prom, just along from the swimming pool. Julia arrived in Scotland several years ago and originally worked in financial services. But the financial crisis meant she had a sudden change in direction. Added to that, her daughter went through heart surgery and switched to a vegan diet. Organically Yours is the result.

Julia Layden - founder of Organically Yours

Although she currently sells her products from her stall, she has serious ambitions for this currently small business - she runs it from her flat overlooking the beach – and is now planning culinary global domination.

 Organically Yours

22 Bellfield - the Next Step

There’s been a lot of excitement in the air around the former Bellfield Church today. As we heard last year, Portobello has had the opportunity of a lifetime. The church was declared ‘surplus to requirements’ by the Church of Scotland some time ago; several congregations have been amalgamated into one, based at St Phillips, now renamed Portobello and Joppa Parish Church.

 

Portobello Hears the Good News

A group calling itself Action Porty started a campaign to buy the building for the community. Today, we learned that its application to the Scottish Land Fund has been successful! The Land Fund Committee has approved a grant of £647,500 which includes some £570,000 towards the purchase of the church and halls.

Bellfield Success

However, it’s not in our hands yet – though this is a major milestone. The final part of the Community Right-To-Buy process will involve a ballot of Portobello residents. The ballot papers go out at the end of March - so get involved!

21 Porty Fives

In the past few days, a campaign has been launched to save the 5-a-side football pitches in Portobello. The news they are under threat came as something of a shock both to users and to the local community. They’re angry that the eight-pitch site, run by Powerleague, had been put up for sale. 

Powerleague 5-a-side

 In fact, the threat is wider than just the football pitches. Down by the Prom, there is ‘Tumbles’, a national centre for gymnastics – just next door. We understand that all of this may be under threat as the City of Edinburgh Council has announced plans to sell off the ground to raise money for the new, updated Meadowbank Stadium.

Tumbles - a National Facility

What has angered five-a-side football fans in particular is the fact that they only heard about a threat to the eight-pitch facility when the for-sale notices appeared. They say there was no local consultation over the decision and are demanding that the process should stop until all options have been exhausted. The public outcry led to the Save the Fives campaign and a successful petition.

Porty Fives 

At present, the council hasn’t made any comment about the sale although its own development plan for Portobello says that “no loss of the football pitches will be acceptable unless a new facility of at least equal standard is provided elsewhere in the near vicinity”.

The Area under Threat

There has however been a letter from the current operators, PowerLeague, in which they explained: “For us it is an ageing facility which is approaching the end of its natural life and therefore it makes sense for us to look for a new location. Our search is focussed on the Eastern side of the city and we are investigating a number of potential opportunities.”