A few days ago, I suddenly had a ‘phone call to say that the pretty grassed area beside the village shop was about to be sold and asking me if the Civic Society could do anything about it? I could hardly believe this but I began to make immediate enquiries.

It seemed that Midlothian Council had decided to sell the piece of land at the beginning of December as a neighbour was interested in purchasing it. No one was told about this so there was no opportunity at that time for any of us, the ‘public’, to give an opinion. Yet this open space has always formed a vital part of the village centre and I know many members would not want to see it go. The decision was made at a time when our Councillor, Bill Geddes, who has always been so helpful to us all, was seriously ill in hospital; he had always been opposed to the sale of this piece of land.

Further enquiries were made immediately and it seems that Midlothian were within their rights to do this. They tell us that there is no statutory requirement to enter into public consultation over the sale of a "small parcel’ (their term) of land. They also told us that ‘the conditions of sale would ensure that this would remain amenity land for all time since all parties presently making use of the ground for parking or access will retain their right in perpetuity to do so. This will include the public pedestrian right of access to the riverbank’.

We appreciate these assurances from Midlothian, but after a great deal of consideration and discussion, we feel it would be best if this land were to remain in public ownership. Once it is sold, it could be allowed to deteriorate badly and if it were privately owned, there is not much that could be done about it. The final date of sale is yet to be announced and we are still in communication with Midlothian about the matter. They seem keen to go ahead with the sale but if a number of our members were to write and make their wishes known, we hope it might be possible to persuade them to change their minds; an irrevocable decision has not been made, so far.

Please write to: Bob Page, Midlothian Council
Dundas Buildings, 62A Polton Street
BONNYRIGG EH19 3YD

Membership Subscriptions for

1st April 1999 to 31st March 2000

(For yet another year the amount remains the same)

Our popular annual party will be held on

The essence of our much cherished quality-of-life in this area is founded on a great natural asset - the North Esk river valley. Rising in the Pentland Hills and flowing all the way to the sea at Musselburgh, it provides superb countryside and woodland vistas, is steeped in history, serves as an important wildlife corridor and is potentially a valuable recreational area for environmentalists of all ages. Along with that, there is the ever-increasing demand for pleasant opportunities for open-air walks around our growing local communities.

We are fortunate that two old railway lines also run nearby on each side of the valley - one from Penicuik all the way to Ironmills Park in Dalkeith, and the other from Roslin on through Gilmerton - giving the possibility of three parallel long-distance routes. A variety of shorter pathways and rights-of-way could provide interconnecting links at points along these main throughways to enable the development of a wide range of orbital walks around all the major settlements on both sides of the river.

The Edinburgh Green Belt Trust has now taken the initiative to prepare a formal programme which should benefit our communities for many years to come. This will involve a detailed survey of the status of each section of the path network with cost estimates to bring them up to acceptable standards, arrangements for Access Agreements with local land-owners, sign-posting, information boards and brochures, and ongoing maintenance programmes. It is anticipated that it will involve not only national organisations but also many local groups along the river valley .

MONDAY 8^th FEBRUARY 1999
7.45 for 8.00pm

THE PAVILLION
LASSWADE PARK

Councillor Bill Geddes has been our representative here in Lasswade for a number of years. He has always been ready to give us help and advice and I know many of us regard him as a friend who can always be called on to help when a problem arises.

The Pelican crossing offers no safe access to the park because Lasswade bridge has no footpath on the down-stream side. At present, crossing the A768 at the south end of the bridge is very hazardous, especially for children. There seems to be three possible solutions:

1. Construct a footbridge across the river between the Laundry and the Village Shop.

2. Connect the existing Pelican crossing by linking it to a second set of lights at the south end of the bridge. This option would facilitate turning out of West Mill Road and also the road from the park (also probably from School Green - but this latter facility might encourage further rat-running in Church Road).

3. See the next paragraphs.

Install independent traffic lights at this point.

For north bound traffic this would help Polton Road (but possibly at the expense of piling-up traffic from the Big Brae/Hillhead/Eskbank, which together is three times heavier than that from Polton Road. However, it would probably help traffic emerging from West Mill Road.

South bound traffic would more easily enter Polton Road (and also West Mill Road), but traffic for Hillhead and Eskbank would be needlessly held up because the A768 at that point is too narrow to permit filtering. A widening of two or three feet (on the park side) would solve that problem and could be carried out even if no lights are installed. Although lights at this point might well create more problems for vehicles than they solve, they would at least allow safe pedestrian access to the park as an alternative to options 1. and 2.

We are all very pleased to see that there are now double deckers on LRT routes 80 and 80B into Edinburgh. It is amazing how full these buses can get. This has been made possible by the raising of the railway bridge just past the City Bypass. The Civic Society had urged Edinburgh Council to do this as a step towards improving our bus service.

There are several important matters mentioned in this newsletter upon which you might have opinions or queries. So if this is the case, do be sure to contact one of us at any time. There are some telephone numbers in the box above. I expect this will arrive when it is frosty, cold and windy - or raining - but look to the future! There are little green spears just showing in the garden, and if you look closely, some buds are beginning to swell. In fact, spring is nearly here and it is no longer dark at four o’clock. So, happy gardening - and my very best wishes to everybody.