On 5 May, Scotland went to the polls for the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary Elections. Greener Leith, as part of its remit to make Leith greener in every sense of the word, asked the various candidates standing in the Edinburgh Northern and Leith Constituency their views on environmental and social issues that affect our constituency. All of the candidates responded and most did so in a comprehensive manner; Cleaner transport and better air quality were mentioned again and again. Leith is now the most densely populated place in Scotland and the air quality some of its poorest; about 2000 deaths a year are caused by it. Almost without exception the politicians wanted to invest in cycling, walking and public transport, although some of them didn’t like the tram..
Responding to the question ‘How will you use your role to inspire and encourage greater pride and civic engagement in our public spaces?’ candidates offered some interesting options: more allotments, more green spaces and play spaces, outdoor gyms, new taxes to pay for all of the above. When asked about the the issue of global climate change most candidates responded that they would work their hardest to combat this. One candidate however did not think that global warming was a problem and asserted that we need more reliable nuclear power stations and scrap unreliable wind turbines. Not something Greener Leith would agree with, but it does prove that we let everyone have their say!
Small charities often face challenges of being under-resourced. It’s not always about money and with Greener Leith it is about struggling to find people to rely on to get things done. Recently we found itself in this situation when the charity’s website, managed for years by by a computer-savvy journalist, needed a major overhaul while said journalist announced his departure to pastures new. It was a major task but it was also an opportunity to sweep out the cobwebs.
Thanks to our dedicated volunteers we got there in the end and we are very proud to show you our new and updated site. We are doing fewer news items as these are very labour intensive but have improved our events calendar, so please, if you want to advertise an event, do not hesitate to add it to the calendar. We also have an improved photo page that shows the latest photos that people have added on photo sharing websites such as Instagram and Flickr tagged #Leith. Of course you can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
