An item of "Breaking News". Will appear on the Breaking News page and the front page.
Technical problems and English bank holidays have delayed distribution of the printed edition, but January's Spurtle (Issue 190) is very much alive and kicking online.
Download your copy from our Home page (click on the image in the top-right corner) or Back issues.
28º 22' S, 137º 22' E
Not many places rival the grandeur of Broughton’s former Canonmills Loch, a more or less stagnant sink for many years situated in the frost-hollow between today’s Eyre Place, Rodney Street and Royal Crescent.
Issue 190 is just about ready, and will hit the streets of Broughton next week once they have been hosed down, cleared of revelling visitors and repopulated with flu-infested locals.
January's copy includes news about retail, domestic and dramatic developments, education, trams (lack of), dates for diaries, a prize pachyderm mystery, snow news, flood, leak and shipping latest, a review of 2010, and innumerable choice titbits of local intelligence.
When we first reported Tesco's successful application for an offsales licence at Picardy Place, we were seeking clarification on the New Town and Broughton Community Council's attitude and actions on the matter.
Holiday travel arrangements delayed their response, but we now learn that they objected on the grounds of oversupply and called for a 6pm restriction on this and any future licence.
Lucy Tanat-Jones, leader of the Broughton Street Traders Association, has now commented officially on the granting of an alcohol offsales licence to Tesco at Picardy Place (see Breaking news 22.12.10).
To some locals' surprise, she suggests an apparent Tesco magnet may actually strengthen local retail loyalties, or attract footfall to Broughton Street rather than monopolise it. This evening she described to Spurtle:
The recent spate of conversions on Albany Street continues with Roxburgh Investment Ltd's application for listed building consent to create four residential flats and a townhouse at 26–8 Albany Street (Ref. 10/03518/LBC). The work would be handled by Edinburgh-based Format Building Design. No plans or other documents are available yet online, but when they are here is where to find them.
On 20 December, City of Edinburgh Council granted an application by Tesco for an alcohol offsales licence at its soon-to-open Express store on Picardy Place (currently under development).
The decision will dismay local traders keen to restrict the impending supermarket's impact on general footfall and sales of like products in neighbouring Broughton Street and Leith Walk.
It will also annoy locals already disturbed by alcohol-fuelled disruption starting in Greenside/Picardy Place and later trickling down through Broughton streets, particularly at weekends in the small hours.
At the end of last week we urged the Council to clear snow and ice from pavements which have no grit-bins (Breaking news, 17.12.10).
This now appears to be happening. For example, the slippery hill from the top of Broughton Street down to the Water of Leith at Canonmills was efficiently cleared yesterday, with through routes off – for example London, East London and East Claremont Streets – receiving the same attention by mid-afternoon.
The Broughton Spurtle's Annual General Meeting – postponed earlier this month owing to a combination of inclement weather and the wrong sort of plague – has been rescheduled for 2011.
It will now take place in Broughton St Mary's Church, Bellevue Crescent, at 7:30pm on Wednesday 12 January.
All are welcome, particularly those interested in joining the team as writers, artists, news gatherers, idea generators, advertising executives or distributors. No previous experience necessary.
Campaigns running this Christmas and New Year reflect an Edinburgh reality many of us would prefer not to think about.
For the second year running, the Edinburgh Safety Community Partnership – involving the Council, voluntary sector and Lothian and Borders Police (LBP) – are targeting pubs, clubs and night-time premises to publicise the fact that race and ethnicity-related hate crime is not tolerated by the authorities and should be reported.
Hate crime offences are now punishable by prison terms of up to seven years and fines of up to £10,000.