October 2025 news from Councillor Neil Ross
Greenbank Woodlands update
At a recent meeting of Greenbank Village residents, it was agreed to set up a ‘Friends’ group and separately a steering committee with the view to take over the Greenbank wood plus smaller parcels of woodland. For more details Contact Greenbank Village Facebook site here.
Trees along the Union Canal
Scottish Canals has been felling some potentially dangerous trees along the canal near Allan Park and towards Harrison Road. My colleague Councillor McKay contacted Scottish Canals on behalf of concerned residents. According to Scottish Canals, although no new trees are to be replanted adjacent to the felled ones, trees will be planted in the network but set back from the canal. There’s more information about overgrown vegetation and trees here.
Temporary lights at Cluny Gardens/Braid Avenue
Scottish Power estimate completion by next Thursday 9th. The explanation I received is - “I have just spoken to the contractor and he hopes that the works should be completed and the temp signals removed by Wed/Thurs next week. They have encountered difficult ground conditions that has meant it has taken them longer to complete their excavation than expected.”
Blackford Pond update
The Friends of the Hermitage & Blackford Hill have recently published details of several initiatives undertaken with the Council to improve Blackford Pond. Among these are a bird feeding station providing healthy food, rather than bread which is not good for the birds and encourages rats. A family of swans has been introduced and damaged benches replaced. More information is available at the Friends FB page here.
Harrison Road Canal Bridge news
In a recent Council update on progress with repairs to the Harrison Road bridges it was noted that demolition and reconstruction works to the road bridge are likely to take around three months. Whilst Harrison Road Canal Bridge has been closed, the Council has undertaken multiple tests and concluded that, once approved, the bridge will be re-opened with a permanent weight restriction of 7.5 tons.
Weeds coming through new pavements
Several streets have had a slurry sealing treatment on the pavements this summer. Unfortunately, the contractor did not properly remove or kill all the weeds before applying the new surface. As a result, weeds have been growing through it and the contractor has been told to do more weed killing. Pity the job wasn’t done properly to begin with! The streets getting the remedial treatment are Greenbank Row, Myreside Road, Merchiston Gardens, Springvalley Terrace and West Castle Road. Let me know if the remedial work isn’t effective.
Update on road plates on Bruntsfield Place at Leamington Terrace
Given it’s been a while since road plates were installed, I requested an update from the Council on progress to find a permanent solution. Scottish Power has advised that their next step is to undertake a trial hole to allow their design consultants to finalise the proposal for the junction. This can then be discussed with the Council to obtain agreement on what will be best for the road network. It seems we could be waiting a while yet!
Merchiston Leaf Clearing
If you live in the Merchiston area, the community council is promoting its annual leaf clearing project and is looking for more volunteers. More information is available here.