Malcolm Chisholm in June, outside the site of proposed Biomass Plant
I have continued to raise biomass issues in the Parliament and have sent in a response to the second round of consultation on the proposed Leith Biomass Plant. This second round was triggered by responses from the statutory consultees and it was particularly helpful to see Scottish Natural Heritage saying that the damaging visual impact could not be mitigated.
It seems that Forth Energy will try to change the proposal to some extent in an attempt to make it moreacceptable but the SNH objection has made that next to impossible. This will run and run since the Council is not going to give a view until December and it will then go to the Scottish Government for a decision several months later. Opposing this proposal will continue to be a big priority for me.
Read Malcolm's questions to the First Minister and other ministers >>> Home-Start
I was very pleased to open the new Home-Start Leith office in Leith Walk during the summer. Home-Start has done great work in Leith and North Edinburgh for a long time but it will be so much easier now they have a shop front office and easy access. It is hard to think of anything more important than supporting families with young children and that is the crucial work that Home-Start does so superbly.
We are lucky in fact to have so many excellent organisations in the constituency that work with families, including Dr.Bell’s FamilyCentre, Multicultural Family Base, Stepping Stones for Young Parents and Circle which is based in West Pilton.
Home-Start Leith web site >>> Seafield One of my main constituency priorities continues to be the Seafield Sewage works. The OdourImprovement Work has been completed but it is vital now to have proper monitoring to see if further action is required. Given that the stench is still evident , that seems very likely. Early monitoring has been botched by the Council because of a failure to have a dedicated contact point at the Council and the absence of proper communication with local people about the monitoring process.
I wrote to the Chief Executive of the Council demanding that the monitoring period should recommence once local people had been properly informed and there was a dedicated contact point at the Council. Tesfu Gessesse
It is very sad to see Tesfu Gessesse leaving his work in Pilton and north Edinburgh after so many years but our loss isEthiopia’s gain where he has an important new job working on child and maternal health. He has been a key figure in theconstituency for anti-racism work over the last sixteen years, firstly with the Black Community Development Project andlatterly with the Community Organisation for Race Equality.
He will be greatly missed but the work goes on and hisexample will continue to inspire many local people including me. In the Parliament Four local issues I have raised in speeches in Parliament since the election are the Elsie Inglis Care Home scandal, the Green Investment Bank for Edinburgh, housing in Edinburgh and inevitably perhaps the tram. Speeches about these issues can be found at on June 9th , on on June 8th , and on June 29th .
I broadened out concerns about the Elsie Inglis to call for a major overhaul of the whole inspectionregime for care homes. Elsie Inglis for example received excellent grades from the Care Inspectorate less than a year ago but has now been closed because of appalling practices. I set up the CareCommission when I was Health Minister a decade ago and it has done great work but it is certainly time to look at the conduct of inspections again. My Freedom of Information requests about the Elsie Inglis were withheld because of an ongoing police inquiry but the full facts will emerge in due course.
In the housing debate I called once again for Housing to be the number one priority for capitalInvestment. I am particularly concerned about the declining number of socially rented houses being built . The City of Edinburgh Council has submitted a bid to the Innovation and Investment Fund for money to rebuild council houses on the site of Fort House and I have been strongly supporting this bid in debate and correspondence. Community Fun Day
I was very pleased to open the Community Fun Day held at LeithCommunity Centre in July.
This is now a great annual event where many local groups and projects have stalls and people of all ages can get involved in various fun activities. It highlighted once again the rich diversity of Leith and the way in which Leith benefits from the many different cultures and traditions that make up our local community.