So what can a community council achieve ?…. 

QDCC has built a strong reputation as a positive, constructive consultee and negotiator whom council officials, executives and other decision makers are generally eager to work with. We are not a protest group and reap many benefits of that constructive relationship for the area. 

Over the years some of the community council’s biggest achievements have been- 

• Brought about the redesign and increased investment in the QHS leisure facilities with community access, additional two lanes in the swimming pool, sauna & steam room and theatre access. 

• Negotiated and organised over 1000 places on the community walk day over the Queensferry Crossing prior to opening, following disappointments with the ballot. 

• Brought the Youth Talk programme to Queensferry, resulting in the youth clubs and Summer Fun Programmes we have today, along with other initiatives for young people.

• Attracted a £4m investment in Queensferry High St to be delivered 2025/26. 

• Attracted a £400k investment in new public toilets at the promenade. 

• Redesigned the cruise ship coach parking and logistics to release the Hawes car park back to the public from 10:30am on cruise days. 

• Founded and supported Christmas in Queensferry 

• Founded and supported The Ferry Elves 

• Supported the revival of CleanFerry 

• Attracted Lothian Buses back to service the town. 

• Negotiated directly with housing developers to seek best outcomes possible, such as play parks, road design, safe access, etc. 

• Negotiated with developers for support of local projects such as Christmas in Queensferry, SummerFun programme, High St planting, Ferry Elves, repair of the seal statue & Guardian of The Bridges, etc 

• Worked with QHS on a number of initiatives, latest being support for the electric car build by pupils recently aired on national news. 

• Worked with the Almond Neighbourhood Network to support various projects such as the pedestrian crossing on Bo’ness Rd and circa £25k of funding allocated annually to projects in the Ward. 

• Initiated a CEC community asset review, engaging multi stakeholders. 

• Commissioned and found funding for a Queensferry Place Plan. 

• Negotiated the QDCC/CALA community chest – awarding £5k per year to local initiatives. 

• Joined countless dots across the town to promote a wholistic approach to various initiatives. 

• Produced a monthly newsletter, published on our website, informing of all activity in the locality that QDCC is working on. 

What lies ahead for the next community council? …

• The £4m investment in the High St needs carefully managed to minimise disruption to businesses, residents & visitors, whilst ensuring long awaited delivery. 

• The £400K investment in toilets needs to be managed. Location and style are not ideal but the £400k evaporates on 31st March 2025 if we do not use it. The aesthetics need to be mitigated as best possible. 

• The solution for a high school needs to be decided by politicians. Whichever option is chosen, it will need to be properly managed, especially if an extension of QHS is chosen.

• The QPS Early Years proposal and proposed relocation of the library currently in consultation needs carefully considered and managed.

• The ongoing shortfall in infrastructure such as education provision, early years provision, out of school hours care, medical practice, dentist, community use space, parking issues, crossings, etc, need to be continually challenged. 

• Further improvements in the management of the cruise ship operation. 

• Working with Queensferry Business Group, CruiseForth and Forever Edinburgh to seek ways of local businesses capitalising better on cruise visits. 

• Working with The Active Travel team to address some of the local challenges of pavements, paths, safe cycle lanes, pedestrian crossings, safe routes to schools, etc. 

• The redirection of Builyeon Rd through the new estate will need carefully managed. 

• Continue working with the Forth Bridges Area Tourism Manager & Forth Bridges World Heritage Management Group on local signage and town promotion. 

• Continue to work on the Queensferry Place Plan & contributing to a strategic review of Council Assets in Queensferry including breathing new life into Queensferry Museum.

• Promote and seek the creation of a Community Development Trust. 

What would I get out of being a community councillor? … 

Your level of involvement is commensurate with what you are able to commit in terms of time and resource  and it is appreciated everyone has different available capacity. The community council is a team with varying skills. We meet as a council once a month in the evening but there are various sub-committee meetings, negotiations, emails, etc in between. 

Change does not come about as readily as some expect, it requires tenacity, a willingness to listen to all views and form wholistic conclusions, separating the signal from noise and being able to present the case well. Whilst we must have a good overall knowledge of the locality within the community council, we also need fresh ideas and knowledge of what works well elsewhere. We welcome applications from new residents to our community.

You will be there not to represent yourself or your personal interest but to represent the majority of the town, with a knowledge of how it impacts other projects, groups, etc. 

Sometimes that knowledge is not public, and you have to abide by a code of conduct and accept that some people may not agree with or understand the decisions. There will never be agreement across all, there are too many opposing considerations.

The return?…

• the satisfaction of knowing that without your input, certain things would not have changed for the better. 
• A great network of connections across the town and wider city, often leading to involvement in other local or city wide projects. 
• A well informed wholistic view of what is actually happening in the area, the challenges, the whys and why nots, the possibilities and the routes to achieving them. 

If you believe this could be for you, please apply for one of the 12 seats on Queensferry & District community council before 27th February. 

Further details and forms here : https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/community-planning/community-councils/3

The work of the community council can be viewed on our website, particularly in our monthly newsletter here : https://www.queensferrycommunitycouncil.co.uk/meetings-reports/