LASSWADE DISTRICT CIVIC SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER APRIL 2000

CONTENTS
Click on the links below or just work you way through the document

RIGHT TO ROAM
AGM
PETER SCOLA
FOOTBRIDGE
MELVILLE TIP
POLTON FARM

SPRINGFIELD MILL
ROADWORKS
TELEPHONE NUMBERS
EMAIL
CONCLUSION

It is 75 years since legislation was passed concerning the land, but now our Scottish Parliament is about to produce a bill on Land Reform. The White Paper (Land Reform: Proposals for Legislation) was produced in July 1999 and was discussed by various interested parties. Taking account of all these comments, the draft bill is due to appear this summer. It is hoped that the final bill will become law by the end of the year.

The reforms concerning land purchase do not really concern many of us here; but this bill also includes legislation about Access. This Legislation proposes a right of responsible access for informal recreation on all land and water in Scotland, though the privacy of those who live in the countryside should be respected.

Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister and Minister, said:

A Scottish outdoor access code is to be published with the draft bill. Mr Wallace stresses the importance of public education on the responsibilities that are attached to this legislation. All recognised Rights of Way are to remain but they too must be used responsibly. We await this new bill with great interest.

The Society is holding its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday May 2nd at 7.45 for 8 pm in the Pavilion in Lasswade Park. There will be refreshments.

A new Committee will be elected and any member willing to join is asked to get the signatures of a proposer and seconder and to sign a statement that they are willing to be elected. This can be done in advance or at the meeting itself. New members will be most welcome....

I know that you will all have heard that Peter died on April 16th. It came as a great shock to us all and has left us with an immense feeling of loss. He was a person we all knew and cared for, he was always friendly and welcoming, always ready to give helpful advice.

Peter was a founder member of the Civic Society way back in 1971 and has played an active part in it for much of the time since then. For about the last ten years, he has advised us on all planning matters. As a geographer, an economist, and an ex-civil servant, he was the ideal person to do this. Right up to the end, he never lost his enthusiasm for looking carefully into all planning matters to ensure that they would be of real benefit to us all.

Good progress continues towards the installation of our Footbridge across the River North Esk to Lasswade Park from the public amenity land between the Post Office and the old Village Hall (the "Laundry"). The required funds have now been assured from Landfill Tax income and related sources, mainly due to the help and support of our councillor, Derek Milligan. We are using Midlothian Council Contract Services as our Agent and they have appointed a civil engineering consultancy to supervise the installation. Its recommendations included six different designs for a suitable low-maintenance steel bridge structure and your committee has selected what it believes will be the most environmentally-pleasing configuration. Detailed design work is now under way.

The associated Amenity Garden area on its approaches from the village will include an interesting stone-built bus shelter with an integrated mail-box and covered space for displaying maps and other local information. There are to be raised beds for small shrubs, stone features and bench seating in a design intended to lead the eye towards open vistas of the parkland on the other side of the river.

The layout will be drafted shortly by the Landscape Section at Fairfield House, but it is most important that our members and others in the community are as fully involved as possible in providing ideas. There will be an opportunity to view the current stages of the design at our Annual General Meeting on May 2nd. Anybody interested in further details is also most welcome to contact Bill Dobson [Tel. 663 – 8103].

For many months now, the gases produced from Melville Landfill Site have just been burnt off, a very wasteful procedure. Midlothian has at last given Planning Permission to Natural Power Ltd. for the construction of a compound and the installation of equipment for the control and utilisation of this landfill gas to generate electricity at this site. The Society has been writing about this to Midlothian during the last months and we are very pleased that action is finally being taken.

The appeal by the developers against the Council’s decision not to allow 35 houses to be built here is to start on June 19th 2000 at 10 a.m. and will probably last for several days. The Civic Society will be represented by a small team of speakers who will cover, we hope, all aspects of the matter; and there are also to be one or two local people who wish to speak independently. Anyone who wants to come along is welcome.

I do not think any of us want to see houses built in an area like this which can be seen from so many parts of the North Esk valley and is an important part of the Mavisbank landscape designed by John Clark. It is, too, part of our Green Belt...

(I am afraid venue is still not known. M.W.)

SMAG members were delighted to see that the maps in the finalised Midlothian local plan now clearly show Springfield Mill as a wildlife site and that this is stated as the preferred use in the text. However a proviso has been inserted that if SMAG fail to demonstrate to the council's satisfaction that they have the necessary funding in hand, part of the site will be reallocated for a development of up to 25 houses. There would seem to be some in the council who believe that they can have both a wildlife site and houses and no doubt the developer will latch onto this. Both SMAG and the Society remain opposed to this view and have lodged objections to its inclusion in the plan.

Meanwhile SMAG are working hard to identify the funds. The group has registered as an Environmental Body and Landfill tax and Coalfield Regeneration grants have been applied for. A glossy leaflet has been produced for potential private funders. Some of the documents produced by SMAG as part of their campaign can be found on the Internet at: http://www.springtec.f9.co.uk/SMAG

The road works being carried out in Lasswade Village up to Wadingburn involve the laying of large pipes to act as storm drains when the weather is very bad. This should avoid any flooding such as we had last year. The storm water will drain into the North Esk beside the ‘laundry’.

Please phone one of us if you have any comments, queries, or suggestions.

EMAIL

As more and more members acquire this facility it would be most helpful if they could let us know their address by sending a simple message to ldcs@springtec.idps.co.uk. Please include a note of your name and postal address as well. From time to time there may be issues on which we would like to contact at least a proportion of the membership very quickly. One of these is where we are asked by other environmental organisations for our membership list. We never give this out, but it would be useful to ask individuals if they would be happy for us to give their address to a specific organisation for a specific purpose. All broadcast emails to members will be sent on a blind copy (Bcc:) basis so no one else will see your details. Please also be assured that our main form of communication will remain the valuable and hard working group of local distributors whose efforts are very much appreciated.

I want to end this newsletter by saying how much I appreciate the help and support the Society has had from so many people, in particular the committee members and the hard-working distributors. My thanks to you all.

Meanwhile, remember that Spring is here and relax ..... garden permitting!!

My best wishes to everyone.

Margaret Workman