Save Our Meadows - The Campaign continues - Join - Write
Barbeques
Barbecues used to be forbidden on the Meadows and the Links, the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 changed all that. Anyone is allowed access to the parks for recreational purposes, which includes having a barbecue. However the law says that the right of access must be exercised responsibly, and no damage must be done. So anyone burning the grass with a barbecue is breaking the law, but no-one ever enforces the law. Now the Council have put down slabs for putting bbqs on and put up notices encouraging responsible barbecue use. What do you think? One of our members thinks barbecues are a bad idea.
See what she says. The Council has the powers to introduce a byelaw banning barbecues - do you think they should?
Other things
Over the years we have seen parts of the Meadows steadily deteriorate because of inappropriate use. The result is a large area being unusable for much of the time. We are constantly asking the City of Edinburgh Council to limit events on the Meadows to events which are suitable and appropriate. The Meadows is a great place for all sorts of events, many of which do no damage and are enjoyed by lots of people. In the past, events such as Fringe Sunday, The Meadows Festival, and Make Poverty History, have worked well on the Meadows, but events which have big tents and stay several weeks have caused lots of damage. It is easy to see from past experience which types of events the Meadows can cope with, and which do an unacceptable amount of damage.
The Meadows and Links were quite fragile in the winter months, particularly with the frosty weather. We were out and about with a camera to see how they looked in February, and again in April to see how well they had recovered.
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February,
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April 2010
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Some one was obviously driving across this bit of grass (under the trees at the east end of the Meadows). They seem to have stopped now. What we need now is some grass seed so it comes back to green.
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Heavy use by Rugby players? It's recovering now, but close inspection shows it is still fairly bare. Again, some grass seed might help.
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This hedge has now been properly trimmed. There must be another Green Flag inspection due!
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The leaves fell off the trees in November last year. Why did we have to wait to April for them to be cleared?
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This is the remains of damage caused by events in August 2009. The autumn leaves have been cleared, but the underlying damage still needs to be repaired.
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Why do vehicles drive along here? (South Meadow Walk, by Meadow Place.) Why don't they stick to the path if they really do need to use this route? This is just carelessness, creating a muddy mess for the pedestrians and cyclists the path is intended for. The April picture looks better because we have had a long dry spell. Hopefully the closure of Meadow Place will reduce the number of vehicles driving through here.
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Join
By joining the Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links you can help form our policies, and make us more representative of the community. The City of Edinburgh Council might then take more notice of what we say. Email the membership secretary at membership@fombl.org.uk.
Write
Keep up the pressure. We need to:
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Keep an eye open for the results of the Parks Department consultation on the City Wide Parks Events Manifesto. (See home page). We think the document needs to be improved in a number of aspects, and hope the Parks Department takes note of what we said in our response.
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We have been promised a review of policies after the 2010 events season. We must make sure it happens, and is a proper review in the light of whatever occurs.
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Urge the Council to put in place a Management Group capable of ensuring that policies are correctly followed, and interpreted in such a way as to protect the Meadows as far as possible.
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Get a good management plan drawn up, detailed enough, and with a vision for the park as a great place for the community to enjoy. A new plan has been produced. We shall be evaluating it shortly.
Please write and tell the authorities how you feel about the Meadows. FoMBL policy is to encourage only those events which do not do serious damage to the grass, and to persuade the City of Edinburgh Council to make the necessary repairs to ameliorate the damage done over the past few years. If you agree with this, tell your local councillors. Other people you can write to are:
- The Chief Executive
- Tom Aitchison, tom.aitchison@edinburgh.gov.uk
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- Councillors controlling Events
- Steve Cardownie (SNP) steve.cardownie@edinburgh.gov.uk
- Robert Aldridge (Lib Dem) robert.aldridge@edinburgh.gov.uk
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- Councillors covering the Meadows
- Steve Burgess (Green) steve.burgess@edinburgh.gov.uk
- Gordon Mackenzie (Lib Dem) gordon.f.mackenzie@edinburgh.gov.uk
- Ian Perry (Lab) ian.perry@edinburgh.gov.uk
- Cameron Rose (Con) cameron.rose@edinburgh.gov.uk
- Alison Johnstone (Green) alison.johnstone@edinburgh.gov.uk
- Paul Godzik (Lab) paul.godzik@edinburgh.gov.uk
- Marilyne MacLaren (Lib Dem) marilyne.maclaren@edinburgh.gov.uk
- Mark McInnes (Con) mark.mcinnes@edinburgh.gov.uk
Please copy us into any emails you send
It helps us to know how the campaign is going if, when you send an email, you copy it to our convener, Chris Wigglesworth, at convener@fombl.org.uk
Find your councillor