Pencaitland Community Council exists to represent the views of local residents about local issues that matter to them. This involves close liaison with other groups in the community and helps to develop a more coherent and dynamic village environment.
Q. How much household waste do we create each year in the UK?
A. 35.1 million tonnes of household waste.
On the 29th April it’s Pencaitland’s Annual Litter Pick Up. The aim is to start at around 2pm. All kids taking part (and bringing parents with them) will be in with a chance of winning a digital camera.
It’s seven days to go…
Pencaitland Community Council
Ormiston and Pencaitland Community Councils are joining forces to hold a public meeting on Tuesday the 1st of May in Pencaitland’s Trevelyan Hall, two days before Council elections, inviting sitting and prospective councillors to come and listen to local residents of rural East Lothian.
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The joint meeting will take place on 1st May at 7.30pm in Trevelyan Hall, Pencaitland.
The Community Councils are inviting both sitting and prospective candidates of the Council elections to attend and hear the effects first hand from members of the affected communities.
As Jim Blane, Chair of Ormiston Community Council explains, “We believe that it’s absolutely vital that all our political representatives have a clear understanding of what the removal of bus services would mean to real people of rural East Lothian. We’ve heard lots of welcome noises about what various politicians will do about this situation but our rural communities need to be assured that this is top of the priority list and that there is no-one left stranded without transport and unable to live their normal life when the First Bus service ceases.”
Pencaitland Chair Ralph Averbuch added, “Right now we’re all getting flyers through our doors telling us what each political party might do and criticising the failings of their opponents. What we need to see is joined up thinking where all political factions set aside their narrow party agendas and work together to ensure we have both a short-term solution when First services cease, and a long-term strategy which won’t begin to unravel in the space of one council term. We need imaginative but pragmatic thinking that delivers a lasting and viable bus service to rural East Lothian.”
As well as inviting members of their own communities Pencaitland and Ormiston Community Councils are also encouraging residents of other parts of rural East Lothian who will be affected by the bus service’s removal to attend the event.
Pencaitland Community Council
On the 29th April it’s Pencaitland’s Annual Litter Pick Up. The aim is to start at around 2pm. All kids taking part (and bringing parents with them) will be in with a chance of winning a digital camera.
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This year the Community Council is working much more closely with Pencaitland Primary School’s Eco Group and other community organisations in the village.
We would really welcome any families or groups, from the church to the brownies, who would like to help out on the day.
Apart from refreshments and litter-picking equipment and maps from our Litter HQ in Trevelyan Hall, all kids (anyone in Nursery/Primary or Secondary School) will be entered into our prize draw with the chance of winning a brand new digital camera, plus a 4GB memory card and carrying case to protect it.
The camera is the Fujifilm Finepix AV10. This handy little pocket snapper has a 10 megapixel resolution, 3x optical zoom, 2.7″ rear LCD screen and even lets you shoot HD film. You can also set it to snap when it detects someone is smiling or to avoid snapping if anyone is blinking as you click. All the cables and instructions for plugging it into your home PC are included.
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So don’t forget to collect your raffle ticket on the day to be in with a chance of winning the prize draw.
The draw will take place at around 4pm on the day, but don’t worry if you can’t stay as we will have your contact details if you collected a ticket.
We’re also looking for the best snaps of any rubbish you find in an odd or unusual place on your travels around the village. Send your snaps to website@pencaitland.org and your picture may be picked to be featured on next year’s Litter pick-up promotional poster.
Trevelyan Hall – come get your litter pickers (giant claws for picking up rubbish), bags and route maps.
The Pencaitland Litter Pick-up is from 2pm onwards. We only want an hour of your time! If you can’t make 2pm, come along later. WE aim to finish around 4pm.
Every day this week, in the run-up to Litter Pick day on the 29th, we’ll share a little litter fact with you. Here’s the first…
Fast food is the fastest growing litter problem we have. Ditched packaging has grown by 12%, with snack wrappers rising by 11% and ditched food such as pieces of pizza, half-eaten burgers and chips increasing by 7%. Although food is biodegradable (i.e. it eventually rots away back into the ground), our half-eaten kebabs, burgers and chips often don’t get a chance to decompose because they are eaten by pests such as rats, which thanks to our leftovers are thriving at an alarming rate (the rat population alone is up 25% in just two years). That makes fast food litter bad for our health and our environment.
Keep Scotland Beautiful – website.
National Spring Clean – website.
Eco-Schools Scotland – website.
The Scottish Government: Litter – website.
East Lothian Litter Initiative Community Information Pack – website [PDF].
Pencaitland Community Council
Anyone who has been on the wrong side of an encounter with an unwelcome doggy deposit may be interested to know that the East Lothian Dog Warden is coming to Pencaitland today.
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Villager Shamin Akhtar who organised the visit explains, “Over the past few months we have spoken to so many Pencaitland residents who have highlighted dog fouling as a concern. In response we have arranged for the Dog Warden to come along to the village, meet some residents and provide information about the scheme.”
This follows an earlier visit organised by the Community Council intended at looking for solutions to the problem of a few dog owners messing up (literally) the pavements for the rest of village residents.
Unfortunately the inaction of these few can tarnish the reputations of all dog owners. See our previous story “Scoop on the Poop” for details on reporting incidents.
TIME: 11am
PLACE: At the beggining of Huntlaw Road, Pencaitland
Pencaitland Community Council
Residents of Pencaitland may have noticed the recent appearance of a pair of black wires running across the main road in the village near to the entrance to the Carriage House.
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This was part of a recent road traffic survey being carried out by East Lothian Council over the course of a week in March.
Here are some of the interesting stats to come out of the survey which ran from the 2nd to the 8th.
The average speed of vehicles was 31.1mph which is generally good news. However, this is an average so some would have been travelling faster, whilst others would be slower.
Of course, the location is fairly close to the lights at the bridge which may be an influencing factor in terms of speed measured at this point.
The percentage of heavy goods vehicle traffic remains fairly constant at 11 percent out of a total 5 day average count of all vehicles of 3,900. This counts traffic travelling in both directions and isn’t hugely different from the measured numbers in 2009.
Nevertheless it’s hard to believe the reality of a daily figure just shy of 4,000 vehicles per day travelling through Pencaitland in both directions.
Pencaitland Community Council
With recent news about the unwelcome closure of vital bus routes to Pencaitland and Ormiston this June, you may be interested to know that there are still ways to get from A to B thanks to car pooling.
The advantages of this approach are pretty clear. A car with four seats fully utilised will spread the fuel costs amongst four people. It also means just one round trip compared to four separate cars on the roads, each with just one commuter.
It’s not only a more economical and social practice, it’s also much more environmentally aware, reducing unnecessary road trips and pollution.
You don’t have to own a car to participate. If you do have your own transport then you can arrange to take turns driving, thus using your car perhaps 75% less than before. This reduces wear and tear and, of course, fuel costs.
Interested? Then find out more about East Lothian’s very own TripShareEastLothian service.
As the website explains, “Tripshare has been created so that you may actively search for other members who are doing similar journeys at similar times. Tripshare has the capability of matching all types of journeys. This scheme will not only allow members to share car journeys if you wish, but also to choose to share taxi journeys, and to choose to cycle and walk together.”
The website costs nothing to use and forms part of the UK’s National liftshare network. It is restricted to people aged 18 and over.
PS – Do you already car-pool from Pencaitland or other villages in and around the area? Please tell us about it below and whether it’s been a success for you?
Pencaitland Community Council
It’s hard to take in that we’re seeing snow so late on in the year. Puts a real dampener on the plants which were loving the unseasonally warm weather a few weeks ago…
Click here to see a larger image (and more snow).
Pencaitland Community Council
RELBUS, short for Rural East Lothian Bus Users, is calling upon members to make personal representations to their elected representatives.
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As a recent articles on the RELBUS website explains, “In the light of recent announcements we thought it would be a good idea to set out some of the steps we can all take to ensure the politicians and operators respond appropriately. We are encouraging all RELBUS members to make personal representations to elected members, your local councillors and community councillors. Get support from your MSP to urge Government to step in and support the transition to a new provider, but also to look again at the regulations.”
The story goes on to recommend:
Pencaitland Community Council
Don’t forget Edinburgh’s International Science Festival has loads of activities for kids this Easter. One of the main attractions is the City Arts Centre, entirely given over to interactive activities for children of all ages.
Below you can see just one of the many entertaining activities to engage children’s imaginations.
Also worth checking out is the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street. It has a variety of science activities on offer.
For general information on all events go to the What’s On section of the EISF website. For all the activity based stuff go here.
Edinburgh’s International Science Festival was founded in 1989 and is an educational charity that encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to discover, “the wonder of the world around them”.
Pencaitland Community Council
We received last minute word that the Pollingtons fine food and drink van will not make it to Pencaitland today.
Owner Michael asked us to pass on apologies to anyone expecting to use his service today.
Pencaitland Community Council