Spruce up for town centre

Work starts on Tollcross makeover

Tollcross is set for a makeover as part of the Council’s Urban Centre Programme (UCP). £225,000 from the South Central and City Centre Neighbourhood Partnerships has been set aside to carry out improvements on the streetscape.

These include street lighting upgrades, some pavement repairs and pedestrian safety improvements at crossing points. A small-scale shop-front improvement scheme is also being considered.

The work will begin in September before being suspended at the end of November in time for the Christmas trading period. Work will start up again in January and should be finished towards the end of March 2010.

The UCP offers the Neighbourhood Partnerships the opportunity to allocate funding to projects within their neighbourhood designed to improve the accessibility, safety

and cleanliness of the areas selected. Regeneration staff from the Councils strategy and investment team have been speaking to residents, businesses and visitors asking them what improvements they would like to see made.

Tollcross community council and the very pro-active traders’association have also contributed their ideas to the project.

A funding bid to the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Regeneration Fund is being resubmitted and we will find out if this has been successful by October.

The bid seeks additional funding of around £400,000 which would allow for more pavement improvements, signs for visitors and street furniture.

Need to know

For more information, visit www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Housing/ CEC_housing_development and click on the link to the Urban Centre Programme.