5 YEARS AGO
According to Spurtle 187, City of Edinburgh Council wanted a 'hi-tech dialogue about cuts'.
Said CEC Leader Jenny Dawe: ‘The engagement will greatly assist us in the budget decision making process and although the end result may be a change to some services, having a dialogue with people in Edinburgh on this scale will give us a far greater understanding of the wider priorities of the city’s residents’.
Spurtle was sceptical: 'Loaded yes/no questions and X-factor gimmicks such as voting pads merely trivialise local democracy. Stage-managed dialogue cannot disguise that "doing things differently" or "a change to some services" mean cuts. It all smacks of a rather desperate and probably futile attempt to divert voters’ anger.'
There were apocalyptic rumours that John Lewis might move. Earlier in the year John Lewis MD Barry Matheson told Spurtle they had no plans to relocate while things fell apart all around.
But now the shop’s position seemed to be shifting, with insiders flagging issues as 'under discussion'.
Plus ça change, plus c'est La même chose.
Spurtle 20 reported on the ideas of half-a-dozen local teenagers on how to improve facilities.
'When it comes to provision for teenagers, the Broughton area's a bit of a no man's land,' opined Lothian Regional Council Youth Development Officer Rob Heasman. There was more provision down Leith Walk.
Drummond heidie Frank McGrail justified renting the astroturf to older people outwith the area on the grounds that the money raised funded the upkeep of the pitch. Stephen Fischbacher – youth worker at St Paul's & St George's Church – was running a youth club and football sessions on the Drummond astroturf. The youth workers agreed a drop-in centre would be welcome, especially for older teenagers who wern't keen to have leisure activities in school.
Guides, Brownies, Rainbows, Scouts, Cubs and Beavers were meeting at a number of venues, including the old Broughton St Mary's Church Centre in East Broughton Place.
Meanwhile, there was good news for John Gotip, who had been a senior pupil in Drummond CHS in the late 1980s when in Edinburgh with his Nigerian diplomat father.
He was released from Saugthon Prision, where he had been held since July following visa problems. Locals had been clamouring for his release, and were continuing to campaign on his behalf.
Extracted by David Sterratt