2. Minutes of AGM Meeting of 11th May
2006
The minutes were approved.
2a. Matters arising
There were no matters arising.
3. Chairman's
Report
The report covers the period from May 2006 to September 2007.
The chairman thanked his fellow committee members for all their
support during the year, explaining the office bearers voluntarily
give their time, all of whom have extremely busy day jobs. The
George Street Association has no plans to change this. The Chairman
thanked all the member firms who had donated their premises
to hold committee meetings through the year. VO’B went
on to thank all the members for their contribution to the Association
no matter how small.
2006-2007 has been a relatively quiet year. As detailed in
the minutes of 2006 AGM; the main focus of the Association was
to create the website. I am pleased to say this has been completed
and we are grateful to Gavin Bonnar for the excellent job he
has done. The Association has received many new members as a
result of the website, and a recruitment drive, who are all
very welcome. The Association is committed to increasing the
membership and will continue to drive this in 2007/08. It is
important to strive to create community spirit amongst local
businesses.
BIDs will be an important development affecting the area; The
George Street Association is well represented on the board with
VO’B, Denzil Skinner and Ian Bell.
Another significant development over the next year or so is
the installation of the Tram network, Mike Connolly has agreed
to meet with the Association in the future to apprise us of
developments. We will keep our members up to date with progress.
4.Treasurers Report
With apologies from Denzil Skinner for his absence, the financial
statement was circulated to all members present and was received
as an accurate record of the current financial statement of
the Association. The Association is showing a healthy balance
despite the outlay in setting up the website, this is due to
the increase in members. The Chairman thanked Denzil Skinner
Treasurer of the Association and Ian Bell, Royal Bank of Scotland
for auditing the Association’s Accounts..
5. Appointment of Office Bearers
Vincent O’Brien Chairman,
Standard Life Investments
Denzil Skinner Treasurer, Hamilton
& Inches
Ian Webster Northern Lighthouse
Board
Dorothy Anderson St Andrews
& St George Church
Gill Hames Neal Yard Remedies
Eleanor Dykes Lloyds TSB
Ian Bell Royal Bank of Scotland
Brian Smellie Grays
Amy Brown ESPC
Due to a couple of committee members stepping down, new office
bearers are being recruited; if any member would like to volunteer
to join the committee please contact the secretary.
6. Any Other Competent Business
There being no other competent business, The AGM was formerly
closed.
The Chairman welcomed guest
speaker, Mike Connolly, Stakeholder Relation Manager, TIE
MC’s presentation outlined the route and design of the
tram, and initial survey work being carried out.
The immediate work is do test bores to check infrastructure
in St Andrew Square east side, and Princes Street, this will
not affect the flow of traffic significantly. The budget for
Line 1A installation is £500m coming from the government.
The addition Line 1B budget is £92m, £45m of this
has been received from CEC, TIE is looking for other funding
to complete.
TEL integrated bus and trams making the purchase
of tickets and timetables easier. Trams will be purchased by
Tramco from CAFF and will follow Lothian buses livery. A Tram
is 40m long and will hold approx 230 people. MC finished his
presentation with an assurance that he would be available to
talk to GSA about upcoming planning, designing.
A number of questions were raised,
including;
Ease of pedestrians crossing tram lines
a) crossing points will remain as now, pedestrians will have
no difficulty crossing tram lines
Carbon footprint
a) Trams run on electricity, this will be sourced as greenly
as possible, the trams generate electricity which is fed back
into the line, trams being among the least polluted form method
of public transport.
Overhead lines
a) TIE’s designers are working with World Heritage and
Cockburn Association to ensure overhead cabling fits with architecture.
Dates for completion
a) Utility work will commence April 2008, we should expect to
see trams from 2009
For more information please see www.transportforedinburgh.com
The Chairman went on to welcome Ian Broadfoot,
City Centre Manager, ECCM.
IB gave a presentation initially
going over BIDs process and what BIDs can achieve for the area.
ECCM have contacted 220 local businesses, many more than most
BID areas, in addition have conducted surveys with businesses,
employees, and visitors to the area to ascertain what the community
would like to see from BIDs. The BID process is successfully
ongoing. Ian welcomed VO’B, IB and DS from the GSA to
the BID advisory board.
Draft business plan is due shortly, with final business plan
due in January, Business plan Ballot to be taking place May
2008
For more information please see www.edinburghbid.com
The Chairman went on to welcome Councillor
Tom Buchanan; Cllr Buchanan is Chair of the Council’s
Economic Development Committee.
TB gave a brief talk outlining how he would like to improve
Edinburgh standing against other cities. He supports BIDs as
a way to improve facilities in the city centre, and to encourage
marketing of the city. CEC would like to improve Princes Street
to make it more interesting to investors perhaps changing some
of the upper levels into residential; there is huge potential
in the residential market for properties on Princes Street.
TB spoke about the possibility of Edinburgh Waterfront Development
being more accessible from City Centre with perhaps this being
a plus point for trams.
TB ended his brief talk saying he would be willing to come
and talk to the George Street community on another occasion.
For more information please see http://www.edinburghoutlook.co.uk/article.php?article_id=1470
The Chairman closed the meeting with thanks to Shona Clelland,
and staff of the Assembly Rooms for hosting the event.
