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Representing Juniper
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News Archive |
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March 2010 JG300 are happy to report that
the new monument to celebrate the historic past of Juniper Green is now ready
to be installed. The first documented appearance of Juniper Green’s name was
in 1707 (hence the 2007 tercentenary celebrations), but archaeological finds
show that people were living here in the Bronze Age at least 4000 years ago.
The Monument incorporates symbols of Juniper Green’s Bronze Age, the mills
round which it grew and the plant after which it is named. Standing 2 metres
above the ground and carved in green stone by sculptor, Ian Newton, the stone
will be unveiled in a ceremony on Sunday March 7th at 2pm. Everyone’s
invited! Piper, Christopher Grieve,
will start the proceedings and Bronze Age expert, Dr Alison Sheridan, of the
National Museums of Bring along your camera as
well as a little small change for our donations bucket and mementos
stall. Please join us for this historic event. November 2009 Annual General Meeting The Annual General
Meeting of the Juniper Green Village Association will take place on Monday 16
November at 7.30 pm in the Committee Room of the Juniper Green Village Hall. Evening News Article The Edinburgh Evening
News has published an article on the Council blocking the proposed Village
Sign for Baberton Mains. The article can be read on the Evening News website.
A downloadable PDF version of the article is available here. The first of a
series of articles on suburban The article
can be read at the Many of us enjoyed all the activities and events
associated with the tercentenary of Juniper Green (300 years old, but really
3000+ as we know from the discovery here of Bronze
Age burial remains!) Remember "Art in the Park", the Bronze Age pot
making, the history and natural history walks/talks, the leaflet and booklets
and splendid school pageant, the Gardens Open Day and the Exhibition in St
Margaret's Court? Community Council Following the
recent Community Council nomination period sufficient people put their names
forward to form a Juniper Green Community Council (covering JG and Baberton
Mains). A Community Council is formed if at least 5 people put their names
forward, and if more than 10 an election is held. Ten people were nominated
so a Community Council is formed with no election. Details
of the Community Councillors and the date of the first meeting will be posted
here once official confirmation has been received. To see a map of the
Community Council area click here. The Village
Association would like to congratulate all the new Community Councillors and wish
them every success in the new venture. Right of Way After lobbying
from the Association and from the Friends of Muir Wood Park, we are pleased
to report that the City of September 2009 Village Signs The Village
Association in conjunction with the Juniper Green 300 group has been working to
get Village Signs in place for Juniper Green and Baberton Mains and these are
the final designs. It should be noted that the colours displayed here are
subtly different to the actual colours. This is a limitation of Photoshop and
computer screen displays. The signs will be made of retro-reflective material
which enhances colour definition in poor light conditions.
Unfortunately
we have been told that the designs do not fully comply with the minutiae of road
signs regulations and in an email on the subject a Council official stated
“As previously discussed Baberton Mains is a housing suburb and not a
recognized village and therefore permission will not be given to erect
village boundary signs for Baberton Mains”. The item below on Community
Councils shows what nonsense this is. Detail
is given of the area defined for the Juniper Green Community Council area
(should it ever be established) in the form of a map. This
shows that the proposed Juniper Green CC area includes all of Baberton Mains.
Whilst one Council official dismisses Baberton Mains as a “housing suburb” it
appears that the Council officially recognise it as a community with Juniper
Green! If you would like to lend your support to having these signs erected
please email us at post@junipergreen.org.uk . We
intend to take the matter up with the Pentlands
Neighbourhood Partnership and get their support to make this great local
initiative happen. The Partnership exists to bring decision making closer to
the community and provide opportunities for communities to express their
views. We shall report further on whether this happens. May
2009 Community Council Update The
Association understands that a petition is being circulated seeking the
required number of names to get City of Community Councils The City of April
2009 There will be
an exhibition of paintings by Edwin G Lucas, an artist who was brought up in
Juniper Green in the 1920s and lived and painted in the area throughout the
1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. There is an item about Edwin in the History
section at http://www.junipergreen.org.uk/lucas.html. Details of the exhibition can be found
on this flyer. You'll see
that the exhibition runs from Tuesday 7th April until Saturday 25th April at
the Hanover Fine Arts gallery at 22A March
2009 Planning Application A second
planning application has been made to relocate the Juniper Green Public
Toilets and build a shop extension to the former Post Office. The applicants
do not own the toilets site and the Council have not as yet made it known
they will sell. This appears to be a speculative bid by developers. To view the
planning application and comment online go to: http://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/tdc_home.aspx
. Click “Application
Search” at the left side and enter the reference number 08/04272/FUL It could be
argued that the rationale is to obtain planning consent, buy the toilets,
build the new one and then not replace it with a shop extension but make a
planning application for a housing development. Interestingly it is entirely
possible that the applicant would get consent right now to build on the
Splash Bathroom site because this “brownfield”. Therefore it would suggest
the masterplan is to resurrect the idea to build on other plots. Although
whether this includes the south side of the river is a moot point given that
this was rejected previously at a Public Enquiry. Office of the Scottish Charities
Regulator The Office of
the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR) has confirmed registration of the
Village Association Annual Return and Accounts for 2008. The annual return
and accounts are available for viewing: January
2009 Doors Open Juniper Green gets
a mention in the latest Ian Rankin (post Rebus) novel “Doors Open”. We won’t
spoil the plot by telling you that one of the main characters lives in “a
large detached property in Juniper Green”. The story is about ripping–off one
of the most high profile targets in Edinburgh – the National Gallery of
Scotland. Published by Orion Books (cover price £18.99). Life and Death in Juniper Green and
Baberton Mains The Scottish
Public Health Observatory produces a range of statistical information on 61
indicators. These are available for Juniper Green and Baberton Mains for the
period 1996-2006. The data provides a fascinating insight into changes in the
community over that time period. For example, between 1996 and 2006 house
prices rose from an average of £76,000 to £230,000. The number of children in
the 0-15 age group fell from 970 to 678 whilst the number of residents aged
65+ rose from 518 to 610. The life expectancy for males is 77.89 years but
for females it is 82.19 years. The original
data file (Excel format) is available from the Scottish Public Health
Observatory website click
here. However for convenience the data relating only to Juniper Green and
Baberton Mains is available here
in Excel Spreadsheet format (2.8Mb) and in Adobe PDF format here as a read only
file (50Kb). December
2008 Café and Shop (former Post Office) The former
Post Office has now reopened as community café and shop. Visit the
blog for more information. Police Newsletter The latest
Police Newsletter for November 2008 details local crime and
policing issues. Website Update The content of
the Juniper Green 300 website has now been transferred to this site and can
be accessed through the History section. The leaflet
on historical sites and natural history features of Juniper Green can be
found in the About Juniper Green section. New Road Signs for Juniper Green and
Baberton Mains The Village
Association has been working on a project to have new road signs for Juniper
Green and Baberton Mains. The initial design of the signs has been agreed by
the project team and a local artist has produced drawings and mock-ups of the
signs in place at each end of Juniper Green. We are keen to get local reaction
to both the proposal and designs. There are four images: Sign at west entrance to
village Sign at east entrance to
village To make a
comment or suggestion please visit the blog. We hope there will be both
interest and support for this initiative and welcome all views. Get
blogging!! November
2008 History Walks Information on
forthcoming Heriot Watt History Walks can be found here. Discover two
centuries of learning and the hidden history of UPDATE: The
Art trail walk takes place on Wednesday 12 November and not Tuesday 11
November as stated in the information sheet. Temporary Traffic Lights A letter
received by Councillor Ricky Henderson regarding temporary traffic lights in
Juniper Green can be found here. Juniper
Green 300 Greensomes Competition (Baberton Golf Club)
The second JG300 Greensomes Competition
took place on Sunday 28 September at Baberton Golf Club. There was a healthy
turnout with over 50 pairs entering. The winning teams and scores are:
1st
Handicap
Douglas
Waugh & Scott McDermott (Baberton)
73 – 7.6 = 65.4
(£70.00
each) 2nd
Handicap Chris Purves & Karen Marshall
(Baberton) 71 – 5 = 66 (50.00
each) 3rd
Handicap Jim Balfour & Malcolm Wilkie(The
Glen) 81 – 13.4 =67.6 (£30.00
each) 4th
Handicap Bernard Flockhart & Mike Kirk
(Harburn) 73 – 4.8 = 68.2 (£20.00
each) Scratch Stephen Marshall & Mark Murray ( (£30.00
each) Best
couples outwith the main prizes(£20.00 vouchers each) Ladies Maggie McPherson & Carole Mason (Dalmahoy)
96 – 21.2 = 74.8 Mixed Neil Patrick & Ann Patrick
(Mortonhall) 86 – 10.8 =
71.8 Mens Norman Robertson & Chris Murray ( Nearest
the 14th Tam Fell & Kevin Fell Nearest
the 17th Andrew Grieve & David Marshall (Murrayfield) Juniper Green Post Office The following
article appears in the Edinburgh Evening News (15 September 2008): Subpostmistress quits over audit 'irregularities'
Juniper Green post office has been shut temporarily
as a result – but Royal Mail bosses have failed to find anyone else to take
it over. And there are fears the community could lose its post office
permanently, even though it was not on the current hit list of closures. The branch, located at a newsagent's
at September
2008 Kinleith Mill Right of Way Petition The blocking
up of the Right of Way around the northern perimeter of the Kinleith Mill
site is causing concern as it is a route that connects Blinkbonny to the bus
stop beside Somerfield and is used by dog walkers and pedestrians up and down
the valley. Since we now know that Treetops has applied to be wound up, there
is a worry that in the current climate, no development will happen on this
site for a very long time. The site is securely fenced off - with the Right
of Way between the bridge below Somerfield and the Water of Leith
Walkway now inaccessible to the public. No alternative route was ever
offered. Currie Community Council are increasingly concerned that vandalism
will see damage to the fencing with people entering a site with unknown
hazards (e.g. missing manhole covers over drains) and coming to harm. In
their view, it is better to restore a pathway system that will not encourage
people to create their own access routes while keeping the rest of the site
secure. CCC is going
to collect signatures to a petition to City of Balerno Music Festival The Balerno
Village Conservation & Development Forum (BVCDF) think Balerno is
something to be proud of. So much so that they have created a brand new
community-run Music Festival. Balerno - the Gateway to the Pentlands – will
be alive with the sound of music! The three-day event, between Friday,
October 3rd, and Sunday, October 5th, is an opportunity for all members of
the community and outwith to celebrate music and the place they live. A
family friendly weekend of music offering young and old a space to have fun
and learn new skills. Go to www.balernomusicfestival.org.uk for
full details. 2
August 2008. The Post Office has now ceased trading. It is understood that
the shop premises will also cease trading in the near future. The nearest
Post Office is at Currie. 26 July 2008 A
planning application has been made to relocate the Juniper Green Post Office
into the adjacent public toilets and locate a new public toilet on the ground
immediately adjacent to the junction of Lanark Road and Baberton Loan. The
application may be viewed
online . (Note: Internet Explorer may be required to properly view
documents on the Council Planning Portal). At this time the application is invalid because it does
not properly describe what is intended and the drawings accompanying the
application are insufficient. It may be that the applicant, Caledonian
Heritable, intend that the road junction is also relocated to form a
crossroads with 20 July 2008 This site is under construction after
the domain name www.junipergreen.org.uk
was recently transferred to the Juniper Green Village Association. If you are a community group, association, charity, business or
are a resident in Juniper Green or Baberton Mains and would like to be linked
to from this site, or have a page on it, please contact us. |
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