What’s on at the council this week

Monday, 8 September, 2025

Tuesday, 9 September, 2025

Wednesday, 10 September, 2025

  • 10.00 am Planning Local Review Body (Panel 1) – Dean of Guild Court Room – City Chambers
  • 10.00 am Culture and Communities Committee – Main Council Chamber – City Chambers. The committee is unusually meeting in the largest room in the City Chambers reserved for full council meetings. On Wednesday however there are many other meetings in the building, but this one has an urgent remit. Councillors will hear that The Scottish Government has agreed to underwrite all the costs above what The City of Edinburgh Council has agreed to commit to the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in 2027 which is fixed at £1.7 million. This sum was agreed by the council on 24 June 2025. The government assistance should allow the council to proceed to sign the Host Local Authority Agreement on behalf of the council with the Tour de France company owned by the Amaury family. The event will be financed by a mix of public and private investment along with contributions from the UK Government and commercial partnerships. More details will be available in October 2025 when a report is prepared for the committee.
  • 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm Planning Committee – Dean of Guild Court Room – City Chambers. Another meeting on Wednesday will hear that council officers do not advise that the council could impose a moratorium on Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) – even though Glasgow City Council did so in 2021. Councillors are advised that “evidence would be needed to support why this is seen as a reasonable and necessary step in the light of the current policy context for such developments, whether the evidence of student need and demand and accommodation availability support it, whether it is desirable in relation to other Council policies and whether it could be considered lawful.” Edinburgh Council does not have a policy in the City Plan 2030 which would allow it to restrict the number of student flats being built in the capital, but it has other policies which it can use to restrict granting such applications. And in connection with the City Plan 2040 there is still room for introducing new policies.

Thursday, 11 September, 2025

Friday, 12 September, 2025

All change at Queen Elizabeth House

Following a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer which began on Friday and ended on Sunday, there is a new Scottish Secretary who has an office in Dover House in London and in Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh.

The Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP for Lothian East has been appointed Secretary of State for Scotland – for the second time after serving in the same office two decades ago.

There are several articles in our UK Government section here which relate the story which unfolded after the resignation of Angela Rayner as Deputy Prime Minister. Ms Rayner resigned as Deputy Prime Minister ( and was replaced by David Lammy) in light of the failure to pay the correct Stamd Duty Land Tax on a flat which cost £800,000. The ethics adviser to the Prime Minister, Sir Laurie Magnus said that while Ms Rayner had acted with integrity she had nonetheless breached the ministerial code.

Queen Elizabeth House The UK Government in Scotland (Scotland Office). Photo: Martin P. McAdam www.martinmcadam.com

Last Moonwalk Scotland

The last Moonwalk Scotland in Edinburgh took place on Saturday night beginning at Holyrood at midnight.

A new city will host the Moonwalk from next year, but has not yet been announced.

Walk the Walk – MoonWalk Scotland 2025 All images © Stewart Attwood Photography 2025.

Read more here.

Leith Central Community Council will meet on Monday, 15 September 2025 at 7pm at the Nelson Hall, McDonald Road Library.

Agenda

  1. Welcome, introductions, attendance, apologies, declarations of interest
  2. Approval of Minutes of previous meeting
  3. Matters Arising
  4. Policing Matters
  5. Open Forum for Local Residents and Businesses
  6. Planning
  7. Transport & Clean Streets
  8. Parks & Green Spaces
  9. Licensing
  10. LCCC Governance
  11. Bulletin
  12. Future Meetings and planned meeting topics/presentations

Detailed meeting papers will be posted in the cloud at http://bit.ly/LCCCpapers (includes past papers back to 2014).

The meeting papers will also be on LCCC’s website (meetings page: http://leithcentralcc.co.uk/reports) in due course

Curious at Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh are holding their annual festival – Curious.

The events which cover a range of topics from polar exploration to the 1935 Moffat murders run until 14 September. The full programme of online and in person events can be accessed here.

On Monday there is a workshop on palliative care and a talk about UFOs.

On Thursday the events are discussing the University of Edinburgh’s African skull collections and on a topic of interest to urban dwellers – What makes a good city?

This session at 3pm on Thursday 11 September will cover the path to a fairer and sustainable urban future – inviting you to imagine the cities in Scotland differently. Tickets are free but the session is hybrid so can be accessed online.

Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.

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