7/27/2019 Item No 6-1.1 Leader s Report
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Item No 6.1
August 2013
Festivals Capital
I just looked out of my office window to witness a 38piece New
Zealand Army Bandperforming the Haka followed by Gangnam Style
outside the City Chambers (a tasteof their quite brilliant
performance at the Tattoo ). This can mean only one thing: weare
slap-bang in the middle of Festivals season. And what better time
to live inEdinburgh? My Capital Coalition colleague, Councillor
Steve Cardownie, recentlyreminded us of why we love Edinburgh in
August .
Come the end of the month, and having indulged in everything the
city has to offer,you could be forgiven for seeking out a healthy
antidote to the weeks of excess.Well, look no further than the
citys fifth Festival of Sport , which kicks off in somestyle with
Sport with the Stars on 24 August. Running until 8 September,
theFestival offers a bumper fortnight of sport for everyone to get
involved in. Its theperfect opportunity to try new sports, find out
about the sports clubs in your areaand all of the activities are
FREE.
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Community Council elections get involved
Do you want to get more involved in your local community and
have a greater say on the issues affectingyour area? If so, now is
your chance. Nominations for community council members open next
month andanyone aged over 16 can apply.
Being a community councillor is a valuable and rewarding
experience and a great opportunity to representyour community, meet
new people, learn new skills and help organise events that make a
real difference towhere you live. Everyone has something to offer
regardless of experience, interests and backgrounds.Community
councils are also represented on their Neighbourhood Partnership
and work with localcouncillors and representatives from the likes
of Police Scotland and NHS Lothian to agree local prioritiesand
develop and deliver local community plans.
I know the hard work and dedication of community councils has
had a really positive effect onneighbourhoods. Why not get
involved? Nominations for election run from 223 September. Both
individualsand groups can join. Visit the council website for
further information.
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Wendy Henderson a Champion for Change
I hope you will join me in congratulating one of our Communities
Officers, Wendy Henderson, who hasreceived a Champions for Change
award from one of Scotlands leading anti-sectarianism
charities.
The trustees of Nil By Mouth have been hugely impressed with
Wendys energy and enthusiasm over thelast 16 months during which
time the charity has worked closely with the council to deliver
their 'BeyondReligion and Belief' workplace training package to
staff. This package has been developed in partnershipwith the STUC
and Scottish Government and seeks to raise awareness of
sectarianism in the workplace. Weare the first local authority in
Scotland to commit to the programme and the feedback we have
receivedfrom staff to date has been extremely positive.
Wendy is the first ever recipient of the award which recognises
outstanding contribution and best practice inaddressing
sectarianism in Scottish society.
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Tram project latest
The good news is that we now have a signed operating agreement
between the Council and Lothian Buses,who will run the tram on
behalf of the city. Naturally, Im delighted that were able to
benefit from their vastexpertise. You will find a report on this
agreement on our committee papers online system shortly.
Less good is the ongoing remedial work, particularly on and
around Shandwick Place, which the contractor iscurrently carrying
out on substandard sections of track. This work has taken longer
that initially anticipatedbut is now nearing completion. Again,
were sorry for the ongoing disruption. The contractor is
responsiblefor the additional costs and this will not affect the
completion date.
We now look forward to September when well be able to provide a
further update on project timeframes. Inthe meantime, our focus
remains on delivering a service by summer 2014. Its important to
remember thatthere is still much to be done in terms of completion
of works and, following that, testing andcommissioning.
See the latest pictures highlighting progress. You can also get
regular updates by following@edinburghtrams on Twitter.
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http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/blog/newsblog/post/676/festival-season-is-upon-ushttp://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/521/sport_sports_clubs_and_leisure_centres/2047/edinburgh_s_festival_of_sport_2013http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/820/community_councils_and_assemblies/544/community_councilshttp://nilbymouth.org/http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cpolhttp://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/galleries/20085/tramshttp://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/galleries/20085/tramshttp://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/cpolhttp://nilbymouth.org/http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/820/community_councils_and_assemblies/544/community_councilshttp://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/521/sport_sports_clubs_and_leisure_centres/2047/edinburgh_s_festival_of_sport_2013http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/blog/newsblog/post/676/festival-season-is-upon-ushttp://www.edintattoo.co.uk/
7/27/2019 Item No 6-1.1 Leader s Report
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The bids are in
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I want to take one
last opportunity to urge you to get behindEdinburghs bid for the
National Performance Centre for Sport (NPCS). The 25m investment by
the ScottishGovernment will create a world class sporting facility
providing fantastic opportunities both for communitysport and
performance athletes.
The bid team, including Chief Executive Sue Bruce, gave their
final presentation to the judging panel at
Hampden Park last week, following which full details of the bid,
including some pretty impressive artistsimpressions of the centre ,
were released for the first time. Well have to wait until the
return of the ScottishParliament next month before we get the
result although I understand that initial feedback from the
panelhas been extremely positive.
If you havent already, please show your support and back the bid
at the Go Edinburgh 2016 website .
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some committee meetings on our webcast . Join the debate on Twitter
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