New Portobello High School - on going issues

[Bob Jefferson]

[Bob Jefferson]

UNBELIEVABLE! I have just learned that David Manson, the chair of St John's Parent Council, has TURNED DOWN an offer from his counterpart, Ken Aitken from PHS Parent Council, for the two groups to meet to explore ways the schools could work together to produce a deliverable solution.

I'm sharing this information because I think that it is important that St John's parents are aware of what the Parent Council is doing on their behalf. I'm sure that many will be very disappointed.

Until now, most members of the PHS Parent Council were prepared to allow St John's to use the tennis courts area before PHS was re-built.

In the light of this rebuff, that is clearly something that will have to be reconsidered.

[Bob Jefferson]

[Porty]

[Bob Jefferson]

[Porty]

[seanie]

[Porty]

[seanie]

[Porty]

[wangi]

[Porty]

[wangi]

[seanie]

[wangi]

[Porty]

[wangi]

The Scotsman has a ... I'll leave you to read it over and come to your own conclusions... PHS hasn't started falling apart in just the last 18 months, and councils are still able to progress new PFI projects if they choose to.

Also interesting to see . Clearly a matter of priorities. When it was being built wasn't the selling off of properties lauded as a great cost saving exercise?

[seanie]

PPP might still be a theoretical possibility for LA's but there's a big difference now in that such schemes won't be financially supported by the Scottish Executive. Previously, spending on such schemes was supported by central government money, I think up to 80%. There's no longer a central fund to augment LA spending. LA's might not have realised that when they signed up to the concordat but that's the situation they're in.

[Bob Jefferson]

Reproduced from today's EN by kind permission of

[wangi]

[seanie]

[Bob Jefferson]

From today's EN:

[Porty]

[Pal of Porty]

[Bob Jefferson]

[Porty]

[Bob Jefferson]

It's Ghost's latest contribution on the EN comments section at . As no PPAG supporter is sufficiently confident in their argument to post on talkporty, I thought I would do them a favour and post their position statement on their behalf.

I'm quietly confident on the planning application and the common good issue as well. Bring it on! The only real hurdle is the question of funding. That's the real issue - PPAG have always been simply an annoying distraction.

[Porty]

Ah ghost! I love the way it reads a factual statement or document.then either misunderstands or misinterprets its meaning and implications. Then pronounces it to be misleading. Technically it is correct except ghost is the only one that is misled! It is a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. . .

[Porty]

Sean - Ewan Aitken asked the council when an audit of green space to include public open space would be conducted. To demonstrate that there is an over provision of such space in the catchment area. The benchmark being 6 acres per 1000 population. What types of spaces are included in the calculations and do you have any data for an educated guess? I have the councils official park sizes. And how important is the result? I imagine much more so when there is a distinct under provision. .

[seanie]

Local Authorities are now required to undertake Open Space audits, which includes private as well as public land. Guidance emphasises that such an audit isn't simply a question of the amount of land but that "quality, community value and use" are of particular importance. That makes it more difficult to second guess the outcome of an audit as rules of thumb on area provision are too simplistic.

[seanie]

To put it another way, not necessarily relevant to the immediate context, there is explicit recognition in national Planning Policies that sometimes quantity of open space can be sacrficied in favour or quality. However that's really only when there's considered to be an over-provision of open space in the first place and there won't be too many areas of Edinburgh that fit that criteria.

[seanie]

In general terms Open Space would include almost any vegetated area, woodlands, fields, playing pitches, parks, paths, allotments, cemetries, paths, rivers, lakes, civic spaces, squares, market places etc.

So if you're considering all that, as well as making assessments on quality, accessibility etc, and also bearing in mind that different elements will cater for different sizes and parts of the community, I'd imagine it's a fairly complicated business.

[SoupDragon]

Just a thought , would the beach be included in such a count?

[seanie]

High tide or low tide?

[SoupDragon]

I suppose it could be argued that the whole of the Firth is an open public space