November Members Update

Porty's Christmas

With many thanks to Juliana Capes Muir for the poster design.

As the festive season approaches, Portobello is getting ready for its Christmas switch on which will be on Thursday 9th Dec at 5.30pm.
On the same night shops will be open late (till 8pm) and there will be live music and carols at various locations along the High Street. allowing you to to do a bit of Christmas shopping, supporting local traders.
Also, don't miss our colourful Craft Christmas Tree which will be revealed at Bellfield!
Get into the festive spirit by joining us for a fun evening and help make a positive social and environmental impact in your community.

Winter Wanderland 2021

Winter Wanderland is back after last year's successful run. This time the theme will be 'Heart Talk' i.e. things dear to your heart.
to set up their own magical window displays, the event will bring cheer and happiness to the neighbourhood in these dark days and bring the community together.
If you do want to do a window, sign up via the link below.
https://www.windowwanderland.com/.../portobello-window.../
Following on from the late-night shopping event, the Window Wanderland will take place on Friday 10th to Monday 13th at 5.30pm to 8.30pm each evening.

Support the Makers

Why not head down to Bellfield and support the super talented Makers who are attending the Christmas Market on Sunday 5th December at Bellfield from 10.00am - 4.00pm.
The event will showcase a beautiful selection of locally crafted handmade products, ranging from food, homewear, jewellery, art, accessories & textiles. Here is a list of the makers attending the event:

1. Clarabunda
2. Bake Your Day
3. Biau-biau
4. Biscocho
5. Caroline Convey Artist
6. https://instagram.com/claire.macdonald.54584...
7. Clay Play Day
8. https://instagram.com/campbell_firth_studio...
9. Castaway Scotland
10. End of Terrace Trading
11. Fibremakes
12. https://instagram.com/gabors_watercolours...
13. Ilaria Botanicals
14. Jean Campbell Cosy Scarves
15. Juniper Cards & Gifts
16. https://instagram.com/lestudiospicesandherbs...
17. https://instagram.com/macwool_?utm_medium=copy_link
18. Made in the Avenue
19. My Happy Journal
20. Planet.A Craft
21. Solas Sea Glass
22. Shimmer on the Sea
23. https://instagram.com/tangletextileaccessories...
24. Tartan Terrors
25.The Knotty Chick
26. The Interior Flower Art
27. ROCK & FLAME
28. Wee Joys
29. West GINspiration
30. STEKAskills
31. Vetkoek Paleis Scotland
32.https://instagram.com/ollingtons.hello?utm_medium=copy_link
33. Bathtub Gin Care

Advance Tickets are on SALE now:
Tickets available at the door.
Children under 16 are free.
https://fb.me/e/I40fk21c
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/184719249247

The Song Space Winter Showcase 2021

Join the Song Space for their annual winter showcase on Wednesday 15th December (18:45- 20:30) at Bellfield. You will enjoy an evening of fantastically talented solo singers and Throwback choir and can expect a range of contemporary and classic songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s
You can book tickets here.

Heart Talk Porty Weekend

HeartTalk Porty was a weekend of conversations on issues proposed by people in Porty. 13 conversations were held in Bellfield and St Marks on the weekend of 20-21 November, another held in Towerbank, then two more with youth groups and another on the future of work will be held in the Wash House.

The conversations involved 6 to 26 people each, and were wide ranging, from supporting each other through grief and life transitions to ‘what is education for?’, from a community fridge for distributing good food that otherwise goes to waste to community growing, from transforming how we travel so Porty streets feel like home to helping the Prom flourish, from community cinema to supporting young mums, from affordable community-led housing to ensuring community-led design at Seafield. The final session was on community decision making.

Key points from the conversations will be up on the HeartTalk website soon. A myriad of possible initiatives emerged out of each conversation. Some will be taken forward by those involved, some may require wider coordination, and might for example be co-ordinated by Action Porty. The core question in the final session was: Does outsourcing decision-making to representative politics really work at any level, or do we need to develop inclusive democratic community assembly processes focused not on proving others wrong but on arriving at better solutions than any of us would on our own.

Seafield Development - opportunity or threat?

One of the HeartTalk conversations was about Edinburgh Council’s proposal to develop Seafield. There were strong feelings. For us, Seafield is an extension of Porty because the beach makes for a continuity. What happens at Seafield impacts our beach, High Street, facilities and community.

The council is proposing a ‘housing-led mixed-use’ development at Seafield. Some of the issues our conversation considered were: (1) Will new housing overshadow the beach, be high end and unaffordable, and put great pressure on existing infrastructure; (2) Seafield sewage and drainage is at capacity; and (3) Climate change is increasing storms and sea levels.

Will it be a market-led piecemeal disjointed development? Can we make sure it’s thought-through and community-led? Any development will need huge resources for sewage, transport and coastal infrastructure, and any successful development has to focus on community need not shareholder profit.

The Council has set up a ‘Sounding Board’ to review the way forward, consisting of it’s finance lead, the elected members for Craigentinny & Meadowbank, and reps from the 4 community councils, council officers and the 15 landowners.

In terms of how we respond, ideas were to: (1) Improve community representation on the Sounding Board (NB we’ve since secured Action Porty representation); (2) Respond to the Seafield part of the City Plan 2030 by 5pm Monday 20th December 2021. The relevant pages are pages 69-70; and (3) Develop and propose a community led plan. There were many excellent ideas for this on housing, transport, infrastructure, a lively Prom, green space, celebrating the coast, and renewable energy. Contact justinkenrick@yahoo.co.uk if you’d like more information.

Governance, Community Shares and Bellfield development!

Action Porty is planning to launch a fundraising campaign in the New Year to finance an ambitious redevelopment of Bellfield. A key element of the fundraising will be a community share issue which will require Action Porty to convert from a charitable company to a charitable community benefit society. We will be calling an Extraordinary General Meeting in early February to consult our members on our plans. Prior to that we will be sending out information about proposed changes to our governance and community shares, and at the EGM we will be outlining our plans for Bellfield.

Bellfield Gardens

The Bellfield Community Garden is looking good, with a full bed of greens. Residents can come and harvest what they need and there is now a sign to help you identify them. Happy Harvesting!

Gifts By Donation:

You 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 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 Actio Porty, at no cost to you.

Till the next update,

Yours Aye

The Action Porty Board for Bellfield