SH&SCP & JGCC

Very constructive meeting of the Shadow Health and Social Care Partnership yesterday. Still a lot of work to do and a few challenges to overcome but we're certainly moving on the right direction. Starting from next month the meetings will be held in public. There won't be any fanfare launch or anything but the fact that our discussions will be held in public takes us on to an important next stage.

Last night was spent at a special meeting of Juniper Green Community Council to discuss the proposals to re-designate Curriemuirend Park as development land for housing in the new Local Development Plan. Its accepted by most that we really do need more housing in Edinburgh, especially affordable homes and there is pressure from the Scottish Government to identify development land. However, building houses on a local park does seem like a step too far. In addition, the plans (as revealed at Planning workshops earlier in the month) mean reconfiguring Wester Hailes Road from a dual to single carriageway which might make sense from a theoretical policy perspective but would be disastrous in practice. So, I've submitted an objection to the proposal and we'll see what happens at the Planning Committee on Tuesday.