March 2023 Members Update
March Members Update
Events, Classes and Our Class Hosts at Bellfield
Are you aware the the Bellfield website lists all the events and classes taking place at Bellfield with an introduction to the class hosts too? Events can be found at https://www.bellfield.scot/events while the classes are listed at https://www.bellfield.scot/class and the list of class hosts in at https://www.bellfield.scot/classhost and that is all listed under the 'What's On' section of our website.
It is always being updated so do look there for the latest information. There are the Living Well Sessions, an Absent Friends Space every fortnight for those experiencing grief and of course the Friday Cafe too.
We've highlighted the Porty Flea taking place on 16th April below as a Bellfield fundraiser but Action Porty has a role wider than running Bellfield (although that is a crucial project for us). Get yourself a hot drink and a quiet place and head to the bottom of this update to read an article by our Chair, Justin Kenrick about what's next at Seafield and Action Porty's role in influencing that project. It is a big topic and important to our local area.
The Porty Flea - 16th April 11am to 4pm
Action Porty is holding a flea market - The Porty Flea - in Bellfield on 16 April from 11:00 to 16:00. All profits will go to Bellfield - this will be for the defibrillator mentioned below. If you would like to have a pitch (cost is £25) or more details please contact Sue Simpson on: patchworks01@hotmail.com. There will be a Bellfield stall and if you'd like to donate items to be sold to raise funds please let Sue know. We're having a cafe with home baking and entry is free. Please spread the word and help to make the day a great success. Follow us on Instagram at
porty_flea_at_bellfield. Thank you!
Defibrilator at Bellfield
We have decided to install a defibrillator at Bellfield. This will be a Public Accessible Defibrillator which means that it can be accessed 24 hours a day. We are working with St John Scotland on this. It will be located on the front of Bellfield. We have a fundraising target of £1,000 for the defibrillator and external storage cabinet with St John Scotland meeting the remaining costs. The Porty Flea mentioned above is part of our fundraising effort.
Volunteer Coordinator Update
We're currently looking for volunteers with online communications skills and/or basic graphic design skills (or for volunteers who'd like to develop these skills). This role is very flexible and could be done from home or in the Bellfield office. Someone able to give an hour or two each week, or every other week, would be ideal. More info here: communications | Bellfield
Thank you to all who responded to our recent Facebook call for Friday Cafe volunteers. If you're a regular Friday cafe-goer, you'll see some new faces serving drinks and cakes, but we're still needing a few more Friday helpers to join the team. More info here: Bellfield Cafe Kitchen | Bellfield
We are always grateful for volunteers. If you would like to help out please check our latest volunteering opportunities. Have a look and see if any of them take your fancy:
Volunteering is a great way to give back to your community, acquire new skills or just make new friends and meet like-minded people, so why not volunteer with us! You can also contact Alison (pictured above) on alison@actionporty.com to chat about roles that are of interest to you.
Seafield - What's Happening Next?
Edinburgh Council has appointed a team led by 7N architects to develop a masterplan for the 30ha Seafield site. The Master Planning process will run from March to July 2023.
The Council has proposed that the 30 hectare Seafield site should be re-designated from industrial use to be allocated for "housing led mixed use development". There is still to be a public inquiry which will decide the merits of that, but the contents of this masterplan could play an important role in informing that outcome and ultimately provide the coordination on infrastructure and the hooks and guidance for individual applications and projects to follow.
Much earlier in the process, the 4 neighbouring Community Councils (Leith Harbour, Leith Links, Craigentinny and Porty) plus Action Porty got together to try to get hold of the agenda and provide a platform for participation and engagement. With the overall objective of us all seeking a planned and participatory approach to regeneration and neighbourhood creation.
It has been a huge effort to get to the stage where master planners and infrastructure consultants have been appointed to work with the community, landowners, developers and Council - to look at the bigger picture.
But the next steps are the most important ones. They are make or break.
Will we - citizens of Porty - seize the chance to engage and shape what happens at Seafield, or will we simply hope that the council (under inevitable sustained pressure from landowners and volume house developers) will do the right thing without our pressure and support?
The next phase over this spring and summer are crucial. The financial resources for doing infrastructure research and appraisals, masterplan and other design work and all the engagement/ participation is tight, so as a community we need to make our voices heard and we need to come together as communities to make this as good a process as possible.
Porty can work with the other communities to bring a strong voice, bring local knowledge and issues to the attention of the Masterplan/ infrastructure team to help shape the outcomes.
7N have been charged with enabling a coordinated approach to place design across the Seafield area - from the Arnold Clark and MacDonalds area to the Bus Depot (so not just the car showroom strip - this is the full length to Craigentinny golf course, a 30+ hectare site). 7N are planning online engagement, local meetings within Porty and meetings with the other neighbouring communities. Please participate!
This is our chance to connect our communities, improve our city infrastructure, address the climate resilience of our coast and deliver new homes and places that people want to live in.
But there are real threats to Porty if this is not done properly.
It could leave us with ugly and uncoordinated development with a lack of supporting infrastructure. Poorly planned housing, car-packed streets and lack of green spaces, and a lack of facilities, active travel, and infrastructure, will over-burden our existing communities. We need to ensure that any development has the facilities, green space, affordable and diverse housing, sustainable transport and climate response needed to ensure a vibrant sister community.
So the consultations need to reach enough people and be sufficiently deep, engaging, and genuine. For people in Portobello, Seafield is an extension of Porty because the beach makes for a continuity. What happens at Seafield impacts our beach, Prom, High Street, facilities and community. A bad development (whether piecemeal or mass density or without community provision) is going to be a lot worse for Portobello. A good development would be a welcome sister community. We need a consultation process with excellent community input and outcome.
This will only succeed if we work together to identify what is needed and how to go about delivering in everyone’s interest. Brownfield redevelopment on this scale is inevitably challenging, but this is an important chance for the future of Seafield and a new seaside community, that bridges between Leith and Portobello.
Justin Kenrick
Here is Action Porty’s earlier response to Edinburgh Council's Proposals for Seafield (17 Dec 2021): https://www.bellfield.scot/news-articles/seafield-action-portys-response-to-the-councils-proposals
Here are notes from the Heart Talk Porty community meeting on Seafield (21st November 2021)
https://hearttalkporty.wordpress.com/seafield-development-opportunity-or-threat/
Gift by Donation
Your generosity keeps us going. As a charity, we rely on your donations (one off or regular) to enable us to support Bellfield and make a difference to the community of Portobello. Don't forget that, in addition to gifts by donation, you can gift by will. You can find out more about ways to donate here.
Lastly, you can also support us each time you shop on Amazon, then please use AmazonSmile and Amazon will donate to Action Porty, at no cost to you.
Till the next update, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and wish you and yours a happy and healthy New Year.
Yours Aye
The Action Porty Board for Bellfield