Where are we going?

[Guest]

[kevin]

[Susan]

[Gemini]

[Susan]

Hi,

I read Gemini's posting with interest.

I do think a visitor centre would be a good idea for Portobello. The siting of such a project would require vehicular access to allow commercial viability. I do think it would attract visitors if it was set up properly because there is a huge amount of interest in the social and industrial past of the town. I must admit that suggesting the Scottish Power site was a bit tongue in cheek! (I have read Gemini's comments elsewhere on the forum and I imagine any development in this area could prove very costly.)

I agree that there has been a lack of regeneration and investment in Portobello. Yet another £650,000 has been spent on a four day event in Leith, couldn't that have been put to better use?

You suggest that local proprietors should drag themselves into the 21st century and meet the needs of a more sophisticated clientele away from fish suppers, candy floss and kiss me quick hats. I have seen various ideas tried in Portobello over the last 30 years, attempting to cater for the sophisticated clientele. The clue to their success is given elsewhere in the forum when requests to provide such facilities have the proviso that they be cheap!

I think there should be provision for all tastes. After all, if people do not want what is on offer - they won't buy it. Simple fact of life.

Perhaps if the clientele were so sophisticated the provision would follow!

Susan

[Gemini]

Hi

I fully agree with Susan's comments regarding the £650.000 spend on a three day event at Leith which incidentally has turned into a major loss for the council!! think they must be using the same team that costed the Scottish Parliament Folly, which is another absolute disgrace and missmanagement of public funds (incidentally if anyone has been in Princess Street recently - you may have noticed some work being carried out at the National Gallery - One of the Consultant's used for the Scottish Parliament Building, appear to be also involved in this project!!)

However getting back to Portobello and regeneration along with inward investment, I really have no ideas as to what can be done to boost the area's current demenour, Susan mentioned that various projects have been carried out over the years for a clientele that will spend, again Susan was right to say that people always want the best but on the cheap!! So where do we go from here!! Maybe like Leith and other parts of the City we should have some sort team set up to best maximise the potential of Portobello, and I don't mean more pubs.

How do we as a collective go forward with this?

[Susan]

Hi,

There is already a team in place to put together ideas for Portobello.
They are doing things, the promotion and support of the Golden Days event, new benches on the Promenade, the volleyball competition, deckchairs, replacement railings on the Promenade at the Fun Park,etc.

Bob mentioned in his Scotmid piece about local trader apathy in turning out to recent meetings to promote Portobello. Perhaps this is a insight as to why:-

I know that there were not that many traders invited.

The meetings are held at 2.30pm an unsuitable time for independent traders to attend. ( A request was made for meetings to be held in the evenings but the Council workers cannot accommodate this request.)

It took three years for the team to agree and support the last venture that the traders had undertaken.

Perhaps the time is right to have another look at Portobello and find common ground for an approach to its future.

I still like the idea of a Visitor Centre, something big enough to give Portobello a boost! A new starting point for regenerating Portobello!

Susan

[Guest]

I agree that a visitor centre would be great for Portobello. However, I think we have to be realistic. It would almost certainly only open during the season. It would probably need to serve a combined function of museum, local tourist office and perhaps café. It might even have to be staffed by volunteers. There is certainly enough history in the area to make it interesting. The Indoor Bowls centre is, in my opinion, a criminally under-used resource. The large café area upstairs might be an option and there is certainly no problem parking.

Re Susan’s comments about the traders, my understanding is that personal invitations were handed out to most, if not all of the local traders. Of these, five (5) turned up. Don’t forget that this was several thousand pounds worth of FREE marketing help from the Council. No strings, no catches. All the traders had to do was show up and offer some input into how the money should be spent. If I were a trader I think I might have arranged for someone to cover me for an hour. Next time City Dev has a bit of spare cash, where do you think it might be directed? The Council helps those who are prepared to help themselves and those of us who seek to re-generate Portobello have to at least show willing. Promoting Portobello is going to require cooperation and coordination. It’s not something you can just throw money at and there is no ‘magic solution’ that anyone in the Council can provide. Above all, we need a strong, pro-active traders association with representation on, and input to, the Community Council and every other group that promotes our community. No-one doubts that Susan and Bill, Khalid and others have done more than their fair share over the years but it is now time that others stepped forward to carry that torch forward into the 21st century.

[Susan]

Hi Bob,

I would imagine that a Visitor Centre for Portobello would encompass all the things you suggest but I don't think Portobello should settle for a second hand arrangement. Purpose built and properly staffed.
Somewhere that all the Associations of Portobello could contribute to.

Maybe that's part of the problem with Portobello, too ready to accept things done on the cheap. We were promised a community centre and got a converted wash house. We were promised that the Council would implement facilities to attain Blue Flag status in 1995...... the list is long.

As for your comments on the local traders getting cover for an hour or so, its not like an episode of Eastenders where you hand over to the first person you know who passes along, it just isn't that easy!
Meetings that have been organised for the traders in the evening have been well attended, if they are all invited.

I think their needs to be some initiative from the new traders to organise into a strong association. I know the long hours spent being involved in any organisation, unpaid and often frustating at the slow progress being made.

Perhaps some of the 21st Century new traders, many of whom would not support the last venture by the Portobello Merchants' and Hoteliers' 2000 Association, could call a meeting and invite ALL those with business in Portobello to attend, as was done when the Traders were reformed.
Posting invitations and following up with a reminder in person just before the meeting assures a turnout! The initial meetings also have to be funded by the person organising things too - as I well know! (Please remember to invite the proprietor of the Fun Park, the Council left him out too.)

I'll watch with interest but perhaps as an "OLD" trader I will not have the appropriate criteria to warrant an invite!

Susan

[Guest]

[Susan]

[Guest]

I guess therein lies the problem. I don't pretend to have the answers. Isn't that Richard Barclay's job? I do think though that we need closer ties between the traders and the community. We are dependent on each other and we should be working together toward a common goal. Some traders on the Community Council would be a good start. Perhaps the constitution doesn't permit this, I don't know, but there should be some shared platform.

[Susan]

Hi Bob,

I don't think that it is Richard Barclay's job to form an association to represent the Traders of Portobello. He certainly can offer support and has done in the past but the motivation must come from the traders themselves.

As for representation on the Community Council. Any local association who registers with the City of Edinburgh Council who has a locally based interest within the constitutional area of Portobello Community Council is eligible to forward a representative for group representation at the meeting called for that purpose after the election of Community Council members. The members are then Representative Members of the Community Council with full member rights for the three year period of the Community Council. (If they cease to be a member of the association they represent then another meeting is called of all associations to allow them all opportunity to put forward candidates. Well that how it used to be by the Community Council rules.)

Any person who resides in the Community Council area, on the electoral roll, can stand as an elected member. If there are more than 20 people, an election is then held.

So there is no reason for the traders not to be represented.

There were many traders on the first few Community Councils in Portobello. At that time the Community Council had an all encompassing agenda policy and any interested member of the public was sent a copy of the minutes and forthcoming agendas and meeting dates.
It kept it alive and interesting. I think the same could be achieved again by putting the information on this site.

Susan

[Guest]