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Pollingtons comes to Pencaitland

Some residents will already be familiar with the many types of food vans which make their way through the village. In recent years the sight of both ASDA and Tesco home delivery vehicles has increased as people find little time to make it to the supermarkets, instead relying on online ordering.

Pollingtons Fine Food & Drink

But it’s not just the big name food stores that ply a trade to Pencaitland and other nerby villages. We have regular visits from the Fish van, a fish and chip van and occasionally the sound of the Luca’s Ice Cream van can be heard in the distance too.

Now a new vendor is adding Pencaitland as a regular stop.

Pollingtons Fine food & Drink is, “a company committed to providing artisanal food and drink across the Edinburgh and East Lothian areas. Our unique advantage is that we operate on a mobile basis bringing the products to you.”

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Baldy Bane visits Pencaitland with road safety play

The Baldy Bane Theatre Company, which offers a range of plays it takes round communities in Scotland, recently stopped by at Pencaitland Primary School to present the play “Better Late than Dead on Time” which was developed in association with Road Safety Scotland.

The Baldy Bane Theatre Company present 'Better Late than Dead on Time' - click for more images

As well as kids from primary years six and seven, a number of village locals were invited to the show, including Community Councillors.

The play centres around a family where the grandfather is about to celebrate his 70th birthday, exactly one year after he’s lost his wife to an avoidable traffic accident. We also hear about other family members, in particular the grandson who suffers many close calls whilst using his mobile phone when crossing the road or under the influence of alcohol he shouldn’t be drinking.

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Police Surgery this Sunday

Do you know who your local bobby on the beat is? This Sunday is your chance to find out.

From around 3pm on Sunday the 4th of March PC Robertson will be holding a surgery in the car park next to the Spar Shop and Post Office. Just look our for the Police van.

Click to see the Fa'side ward's local police officers

If you would like to meet your local officer or you have any particular concerns you are keen to raise, pop on over and say hello.

Additional Info

The Lothian and Borders police for Fa’side are based in Tranent Police Station. The full address is:

Tranent Police Station
113 High Street
Tranent
EH33 1LW
Tel: 01875 610333

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Diamond Jubilee Big Lunch Sunday 3rd June

This year is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and across the whole of the United Kingdom there are plans for a number of activities in order to celebrate the event.

Big Lunch

One of the events will be the fourth annual Big Lunch, initiated by the Eden Project, on Sunday 3rd June. The Lord Lieutenant of East Lothian has written to our local villages asking that we encourage the local community to get together with friends and neighbours to organise a party. 

You can find out more about the Big Jubilee Lunch here and you can see a copy of the Lord Lieutenant’s letter here.

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Reporting road or pavement problems to the Council

After a winter of high winds though little snow, you might be wondering how best to go about reporting problems with roads and pavements in and around the village.

The good news is that in this digital age it really couldn’t be any easier to report problems to the Council. Here’s one method…

Fixmystreet.com is a fantastic initiative from the mySociety team, which in turn is a charitable initiative from the UK Citizens Online Democracy. All you need to do in order to report a local issue is enter your postcode, supply (optional) contact details, upload a picture if you have one, then just hit send. It really couldn’t be much simpler or user friendly.

You then receive a confirmation email with a link from the website, click the link to confirm and you’re done. Your local council has now been alerted courtesy of Fixmystreet.com.

Below you can see an example of a submitted problem on the Fixmystreet.com website.

Using the Fixmystreet.com website couldn't be simpler for reporting road or pavement issues.
Using the Fixmystreet.com website couldn't be simpler for reporting road or pavement issues.

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Scoop on the Poop!

Have you been an unwitting victim of dog poo? It seems many of you have as we’ve had a spate of reports about young and old inadvertently getting into a mess… literally!

East Lothian Dog Watch - click to find out about reporting an offender

To try and get a measure of how big the problem is we’d like your help. The next time you see a doggy doo on your way around the village please send a text to 07920 094 923 saying when and where, or if you’re a tweeter you can tweet your Community Council @pencaitlandcc or post a message on the Community Council Facebook page.

Caught in the act

If you actually spot an owner not cleaning up after their dog report this directly to East Lothian’s community and environmental wardens. They enforce dog and litter legislation and issue fixed penalty fines to people who drop litter or don’t clean up after their dog.

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East Lothian Local Development Plan (ELLDPone)

East Lothian Council is preparing a new Local Development Plan. This will be a new land-use strategy that will eventually replace the existing East Lothian Local Plan 2008.

At this stage they are keen to hear the views of everyone with an interest in East Lothian.  They want to know what aspirations you have for the way the area might develop over the next ten years or so, and what planning issues you think may need to be addressed in the new plan.

A series of events has been arranged to gather your views. These will be run independently by Planning Aid for Scotland (PAS), an impartial, charitable organisation that helps people have their say in the planning system. The views gathered will help the Council prepare a Main Issues Report, which will then be published for consultation later in 2012.

Community meetings for the general public will be held in each of East Lothian’s six main towns, plus one event specifically to discuss the future role of Blindwells new settlement.  There will also be a series of additional workshop meetings targeted at specific audiences.

You can see details of the locations and times of the consultation events here. Places at these events are free but must be booked by emailing training@planningaidscotland.org.uk or calling Deanne at Planning Aid for Scotland on 0131 220 9730.

You can find a discussion paper here, which provides further background information and sets out the type of planning issues that the Local Development Plan might seek to address.

If you wish to submit any comments to be taken into account in the preparation of the Main Issues Report, please send them by Monday 12th March 2012 to the Policy and Projects team at localplan@eastlothian.gov.uk or at:

Policy and Projects
Environment Department
East Lothian Council
John Muir House
Haddington
EH41 3HA

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Community Environmental Fund

The deadline for second round of the 2011-12 Community Environmental Fund is Friday 3 February 2012.

We can apply for funding for projects up to the value of £3,000. 

The funding is aimed at projects which improve the local environment or increase opportunities for children and young people, and which are within the following broad themes:

  • Restoring, improving and maintaining parks and open spaces
  • Improving orphaned or abandoned open spaces ie open spaces without clear ownership
  • Improving the streetscape
  • Making streets and open spaces cleaner
  • Improving outdoor play and play areas
  • Improving and encouraging access to parks, open spaces and the wider countryside
  • Protecting and enhancing local biodiversity

Do you have an idea for a project which fits these criteria?  If so then please contact secretary@pencaitland.org as soon as possible.

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Groundhog Day at Pencaitland Crossroads – Two cars collide

Unfortunately we have to report another car crash at the exact same spot to the recent incident at the crossroads on the eastern edge of Pencaitland reported just before Christmas.

Two cars collided at the crossroads entering into easter Pencaitland - click for 2nd image

Sometime shortly before 7pm today (Jan 9th 2012) it appears that a car travelling in on the Tranent road couldn’t brake soon enough approaching the crossroads and met a second car coming into Pencaitland on the Haddington Road.

Fortunately no-one is thought to be hurt, though it’s believed that one of the cars is now inoperable…

UPDATE (8.20pm)

We have further information on the incident from a local resident living at the crossroads who heard the crash and went to offer assistance.

“I was working on the computer upstairs when I heard the familiar loud crash outside at the crossroads of the A6093 and the B6355. The weather was fine and mild with little traffic going through the village at that time. I ran down to assess the situation and offer assistance. Luckily, both ladies were unhurt.

Car A (a small red car) had been driven down the hill from Tranent and was apparently unable to stop at the line. Car B was being driven out of Pencaitland towards Haddington, and Car A ran straight into her. Both vehicles were damaged, though one, damaged on front & wing, was capable of being driven slowly and noisily down into the B6355 towards the nearby graveyard. The other had pulled in on the Haddington road and eventually was capable of being removed.

The small red car was so badly damaged it has had to be taken away by transporter.”

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Weathering the storm – high winds race through Pencaitland

Today’s winds came as quite a surprise to a number of villagers. Reports earlier today said that there could be gusts as high as 95mph across parts of the central belt, with structural damage expected. There were unconfirmed reports of gusts of over 100mph in Edinburgh.

Storm Damage - click for a few more pictures

Fortunately, unlike the last blast, this storm, whilst even more intense than the one before Christmas, blew out much more quickly.

A quick glance around Pencaitland after the worst had passed showed some roofs missing tiles and the Spar shop’s sign which shattered in the highest winds, also losing some of the guttering from the structure over the petrol pumps. That aside, so far the bulk of the wind damage appears to be tree-related.

In this video you can see the damage to the Spar shop’s sign as the canopy over the petrol pumps rocks back and forth.