CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Events, rides etc.

SKELF - Work Day (HELP NEEDED)

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  1. Angus
    Member

    Hello Edinburgh Bike People
    We finally got Planning permission for the SKELF!

    To kick things off we are having an initial tidy up, and clearance of the site next Sunday (the 21st February, from 10am-2pm).

    You are all cordially invited to come along and get stuck in!

    It will likely involve hunting down and collecting the kind of furniture/tents/vehicles/rubbish etc that people seem to like leaving in those woods, taking down a fair few trees, subduing undergrowth left unmolested by the Council since the late sixties, eating cake while pontificating on cycling facilities/infrastructure etc etc

    All in all it should be a day of agreeably physical and concrete progress...

    More info here: https://goo.gl/QKj49g
    Hope to see some of you there.
    Cheers
    Angus

    Posted 8 years ago #
  2. gembo
    Member

    Hi Angus, sounds good, is there a set time for the pontificating? Or can it be done whilst clearing the scrub?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  3. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I love clearing brush and pontificating but alas! I am otherwise engaged. Next time though.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  4. chdot
    Admin

    Sunday (the 21st February, from 10am-2pm).

    Posted 8 years ago #
  5. AIMC
    Member

    HELLO!

    Welcome to the (beginning of) the SKELF Bike Skills Park!

    THE PLAN FOR THE DAY

    ● A Litter Pick (of the whole site)
    ● Clearing the Pump Track Area (of bushes/undergrowth)
    ● Felling Some Trees (ie along the trails/in the Pump Track area)

    HOW ITS GONNA WORK:

    ● Separate work groups each focussing on a specific task
    ● Groups well separated across the site to avoid accidents etc

    HEALTH & SAFETY:

    ● Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for this kind of work is really important.
    ● Everyone will need to wear boots or other stout footwear (no exceptions).
    ● You'll also need to wear good work gloves & a hi-viz vest
    ● Bring these along with you if you can, but if not, we can provide them on the day.
    ● Only use litter pickers for picking up rubbish, not your hands!
    ● Please make sure you read the info below & sign up on the volunteer/consent sheet

    NEEDLES & OTHER SHARPS:

    The Braidwoods has a history of anti-social behaviour, including drug abuse.
    The site has been swept within the last 48 hours by both CEC staff & BBG volunteers, but vigilance is still required.

    If you do come across discarded needles/sharps etc:

    ● Tell the person in charge of your group
    ● Do not touch or handle it yourself
    ● Make sure other people nearby know its there
    ● If you or anyone else thinks they might have been jabbed by a needle, tell the person in charge of your group immediately

    TREE FELLING:

    Felling trees can be dangerous, so the tree surgeons are in charge!
    Before work begins they should explain:

    ● How best to work together
    ● How safety will work
    ● How communication will work

    Please follow the tree surgeons instructions!

    Posted 8 years ago #
  6. LaidBack
    Member

    Link to site.
    http://theskelf.org.uk/

    I only managed an hour but good to see such progress. Lots of wood if you can legally use a wood burning stove.

    SKELF Bike Park - first clearance by LaidBackBikes, on Flickr

    Posted 8 years ago #
  7. chdot
    Admin

    Looks good.

    Going to be a great 'cycling' asset - esp for young people.

    It may be 'sport' or 'activity', but it will be people riding bikes - and learning skills/confidence that will be useful for 'transport' riding.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  8. friskiffla
    Member

    In the pub last night I spotted a petition against the SKELF. I don't think it was there when I was last in two weeks ago, so maybe a reaction to the work that has recently been done. Their main gripe seemed to be 1) the removal of trees/appropriation of 'Our Green Space' and 2) the (perceived) lack of proper consultation.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  9. SRD
    Moderator

    that's so depressing. it's a total wasteland at the moment.

    i'm not altogether surprised though

    Posted 8 years ago #
  10. "petition against"

    I'm going to start a petition against unnecessary petitions...

    Posted 8 years ago #
  11. SRD
    Moderator

    From Cockburn association Facebook:

    Breaking News: Please help STOP THE CHOP

    A local resident has written to CEC:

    "We ask that you urgently recall Edinburgh Council planning permission 15/00557/FUL in order to review the viability of having a mountain bike park in such a densely populated residential green space. this is the area between Dumbiedykes up to St Leonards using up the tiny bit of green space that the community rely on as our garden.

    SKELF plan to chop down our remaining trees on Saturday 27th February.

    Please stop the tree felling until a full consultation takes place with the community. "

    If you feel concerned by the removal of trees along this strip of land then please respond to the call for action... locals will be on site tomorrow, Saturday 27 February, to try to prevent any further damage and open up a dialogue between the community and the Council.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  12. Morningsider
    Member

    A Council can't "recall" a planning application. It can revoke or modify a planning permission (Section 65 Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997) - but this power is literally never used, as the Council has to pay compensation for abortive expenditure and would likely lose any judicial review of the decision - unless there were very strong grounds for changing their mind.

    As for the current midden being a garden (home to a rare species of syringe flower and the greater spotted manky mattress) or the only green space in the area - it's sort of hard to know what to say.

    Finally - can you have a densely populated residential green space?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  13. gembo
    Member

    Didn't look like many trees left? As with the roseburn shops being about illegal parking this is about dog walkers being able to let their mutts shalala in the woods.

    Nearly thirty years back I used to like walking around dumbiedykes, the DIY store, the park and for a bit of variet the wasteland that will be skelf. The place was however very muddy and strewn with rubbish. We rarely saw another soul on our Sunday saunters but perhaps it changed? Or perhaps as it was never getting used ever the council gave it to skelf to regenerate? Not sure but there might be some adjacent green space called holyrood park but hanging offence to let your dog shalala there.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  14. Have to admit I don't care much about bike skill tracks specifically, but it's good to install some activity in such urban wastelands that can attract a variety of people, especially families.

    I don't live nearby but cycle through quite regularly as the path between Dumbiedykes Rd and St Leonards is a good connection between Holyrood and the Innocent (I have to push uphills though...). The "community garden" description in the Cockburn Ass letter sounds wrong to me, it seems more like a wasteland with generous fly tipping, and at certain times it's always a bit scary. I don't see that many people and most just seem to try to get up/down the path as quickly as possible (as do I).

    I don't think you can stop fly tipping and antisocial behaviour in green spaces in an urban setting so easily unless you do something to attract many different people to the area to create some social control. It's a mistake to think you can just do a cleanup and then it's nice, this doesn't really work if the green space then isn't used.

    So it's great that something is done to improve the area permanently, and looking at the plans it also looks as if a bike skill track will fit well into the existing woodland most of which will be preserved but become more accessible.

    Short version: I dunno why the Cockburn Ass has a problem.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  15. SRD
    Moderator

    Bigger issue seems to be either (1) how can councils do a better job of informing local people/getting them to engage with consultations OR (2) how on earth cN people be do oblivious to stuff going on/proposed /consulted on in their neighbourhoods?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  16. gembo
    Member

    Thirdly, why cause such a furore after the fact. What do they want? The trees can't be put back.

    When you said a bike skills track we didn't realise you would clear the area so we would have to pick up our dog poo?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  17. "(1) how can councils do a better job of informing local people/getting them to engage with consultations"

    Who are the local people? I don't think the community councils work well, at least not in my area, and there is a question how much power unelected and/or non-representative groups should have....

    "(2) how on earth cN people be do oblivious to stuff going on/proposed /consulted on in their neighbourhoods?"

    It just occurs to me that I often see planning application notices pinned to lampposts and then, on the bicycle, I stop and have a look if this is something relevant. Drivers may not see the notices and even if they do, they can't stop so easily...

    Posted 8 years ago #
  18. Actually I'm confused. Who exactly is opposing this? The Cockburn Ass text says "A local resident wrote to us..." - so is this just one person? Or is the Cockburn actively against it (and not just giving space to the resident's letter)? And how come the Cockburn as prominent, active and experienced group wasn't aware of it (or were they)?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  19. PS
    Member

    Presumably the Cockburn Association machine swung into action as soon as it heard about a situation with the heady mix of the Council and Change to the urban environment. We're just lucky that the Skelf site isn't in the world heritage site or UNESCO would be getting dragged into this as well.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  20. Rob
    Member

    How did the remaining clearing go yesterday? Did Swampy turn up?

    Posted 8 years ago #
  21. gembo
    Member

    Classic, Cockburn assoc. hire swampy to live in a tree, pastor Jack glass then comes back from the dead and chains himself to the remaining trees ( he did this when Jean Paul II was coming to Glasgow and his pope mobile was too wide for the path in bellahouston park so they had to cut down some trees.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  22. Morningsider
    Member

    I rolled past the SKELF site this morning and it looked like a good amount of work had been done over the weekend. Very tidy work site.

    Posted 8 years ago #
  23. chdot
    Admin

    Another session tomorrow (Sunday) from 10.

    They are looking for rakes!

    Posted 7 years ago #
  24. chdot
    Admin

    Work proceeding well. Photos from yesterday and previous week.

    May be another volunteer session at w/e.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  25. gembo
    Member

    Good to see this waste ground finally being put to good use

    Posted 7 years ago #
  26. chdot
    Admin

    Posted 7 years ago #
  27. kaputnik
    Moderator

    The site is fair coming along, but I hope the 2large boulders they've dumped at the top of the hill are a temporar thing. They're very obstructive for passage of prams, bikes etc. and I dare say wheelchairs.

    Posted 7 years ago #
  28. chdot
    Admin

    "

    list of things it would be great to get people working on on Sunday (probably in order of priority):

    Weed around the newly planted trees in the bank above the path & fruit trees down the hill
    Remove all undergrowth/bushes from either side of existing path entry to PT (LHS of new path probably the priority)

    Clear out/remove brambles/bushes/seedlings from area around old steps up onto rocky nobble at S end of woods

    Brown St rocky outcrop - Totally remove all brambles/seedlings/grass and ideally topsoil from rock outcrop

    Rake/tidy/level/remove wee stones from 'viewing area banks on either side of HM steps, make sure seating boulders are stable

    Litter pick/needle sweep at bottom, Dumbiedykes end of woods (Loop 3)

    "

    Posted 7 years ago #
  29. chdot
    Admin

    https://mobile.twitter.com/ScotgovJustice/status/778537882193686528

    He even got on a bike (against the advice of his 'minders')

    Posted 7 years ago #
  30. fimm
    Member

    I guess it says something about, well, something when the first thing I notice is what he is (or in this case isn't) wearing on his head...

    Posted 7 years ago #

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