Edinburgh's De-Enlightenment

An open letter to Edinburgh Council Chief Executive Paul Lawrence from Dumbiedykes.

Edinburgh citizens when they think of Edinburgh Council

To: Paul Lawrence, CEO, Edinburgh Council
1 May 2025

Hi Paul,

I am writing to you from Dumbiedykes. You might remember us. We are the area Edinburgh Council forgot. At a residents meeting earlier this week I agreed to write to you to raise the following issues directly. We are writing to you as Chief Executive of Edinburgh Council because the idea that the Labour Party, with 9 out of 63 councillors, is ‘leading’ the Council is absurd. An absurdity that leads to administrative inertia and political paralysis. It is a fiction that suits the political class but one that the working class people should not be expected to take seriously. While the multi-member ward system leaves housing schemes like Dumbiedykes effectively unrepresented. Residents of housing schemes are not second class citizens. Edinburgh Council should treat us with the same consideration and respect they do people in the areas of the city where you and councillors live.

Lochview Court is a high rise block in Dumbiedykes with no working lifts. Elderly residents and those with mobility issues have been simply abandoned. The problems with the lifts are not unexpected. One broke down last July and the other one broke down last week. The second lift broke at the end of March but was repaired after a day. That should have been a warning. In fact, since the first lift broke last year residents have consistently warned Edinburgh Council that having everyone in the tower block using one old lift would lead to this very crisis. We were ignored. So this crisis is not unexpected. It is completely predictable.

One disabled resident told me they have been unable to leave the tower block since last week. An elderly resident explained that for the first four days they stayed in their pyjamas. Their mental health is negatively impacted by being unable to get out. A family told of taking time off work waiting on furniture to be delivered. Only for it to be cancelled due to there being no lift. Residents are appreciative of the support of their neighbours. And scathing of Edinburgh Council. To compound matters we have still not been given any idea of a timeframe for getting any of the lifts back operational. Failure to provide information. Failure to provide care to the most vulnerable.

While many residents in Lochview Court are Council tenants, others are renting from private landlords. One landlord was told, in writing, as far back as 30th October 2023 that the Council vote to replace the lifts in Dumbiedykes high rise was from that date legally binding. As the period to appeal had expired. The letter also states “I’ll write to you again in the next few weeks with details about the programme of works and the next steps.”

If a legally binding decision was taken by Edinburgh Council 18 months ago why has the work to replace the lifts not commenced?

In further communication with a landlord on 29th February 2024, again in writing, Edinburgh Council states “The lifts were installed in the 1960s and are now at the end of their economic lifespan. They have had partial repairs carried out since then however they now require to be completely replaced for Health & Safety. Lift breakdowns and repairs are very high up on the agenda as they are becoming more and more common. To compound the problem, contractors were finding it increasingly difficult to obtain the parts required to get them back up and running- or the lead time for delivery was such that it was not sustainable. Therefore, the Council’s Mixed Tenure Board has agreed the full upgrade of Lift Replacements takes place in these blocks.”

If, over a year ago, Edinburgh Council had identified that obtaining parts was difficult and the lifts needed to be replaced, why has work not commenced?
And, if this was identified as a Health & Safety issue, “very high up the agenda”, why has work not commenced?

It is not just the physical infrastructure which is broken in Dumbiedykes. Our social infrastructure has been decimated by Edinburgh Council. Our community centre, training centre, both community flats and greenspaces are all gone. Until recently they were all public spaces run by residents, for residents. Now they are all private spaces inaccessible to residents. Either closed or colonised. Our community centre is now occupied by Canongate Youth. Who have been very supportive of residents gaining access to the building for meetings. They are in the building as a direct consequence of Edinburgh Council’s decision to close South Bridge Resource Centre and give the building and surrounding land to the Fringe Society for £1 on a 100 years lease. This led to the loss of a much loved, well used, community centre and many vital services that flowed from the centre. This followed on from Edinburgh Council closing St Anne’s Community Centre in the Cowgate and disposing of that building too.

Social infrastructure is internationally and scientifically recognised as being vital to the health and wellbeing of communities. If Edinburgh did not have social infrastructure we would need to invest heavily to build it. Like the State invests in cycling infrastructure. Edinburgh Council is choosing to destroy the city’s existing social infrastructure. An area of the city like Dumbiedykes, that everyone recognises needs investment, we have instead got systematic disinvestment. These Council decisions benefit already wealthy institutions while negatively impacting Edinburgh citizen’s lives. Destroying social cohesion and people’s physical and mental health. Edinburgh Council decisions with questionable financial gains for the city and huge negative social costs for the citizens.

Over the last few months through a residents-led initiative people in Dumbiedykes have engaged constructively with our neighbours. Asking them what their priorities are. By knocking on doors, leafleting every flat, postering every stair and holding large residents only meetings we arrived at a clear consensus. Residents then engaged with Edinburgh Council. Residents have concluded the Council’s top down, funding led model has failed our community. The loss of our social infrastructure serves as a physical manifestation of this failure.

We offered solutions, not just criticism. Showing our willingness to work in partnership with the Council to create positive change in the area. In good faith and in the spirit of cooperation we offered a helping hand. Recognising that residents have responsibilities as well as rights. As a first step to build trust and confidence, we wanted to see transparency and accountability from Edinburgh Council.

To achieve transparency we asked the Council to provide an audit of all groups receiving Edinburgh Council funding to do work in our area. This would provide clarity on what groups were supposed to be doing and how much funding they were getting to do it. For accountability we argued it was vital these groups were independently evaluated. So we could see what positive outcomes their work had delivered. This would also give Edinburgh Council assurance they were getting value for money. This reasonable request from residents was met with nothing but hostility. Without transparency and accountability trust has not been established. Consequently residents have no confidence in Edinburgh Council.

In the recent past funded charities in this area have collapsed under the weight of their own mismanagement and corruption. We are shocked that rather than embrace openness and avoid a repeat, Edinburgh Council is choosing secrecy. Accounts of cronyism and back room deals in the City Chambers are legion. Defending the status quo not only means continuing to fund failure. It also means Edinburgh Council is covering up bad practice. When the next charity collapses in shame, as it surely will, you will not be able to say you were not warned.

Public confidence in civic institutions is collapsing. In Edinburgh it is not difficult to see why. Anyone objectively looking at Edinburgh Council will recognise it is not about to get any better. In fact, for working class areas it is going to get worse. From the lifts debacle to the loss of our social infrastructure through disgraceful property deals to the various scandals around bullying, abuse of power and more, it all points to a corrosive culture within Edinburgh Council.

A bottom up, residents led model is what is required in Dumbiedykes. As we have evidenced in the past this approach is beneficial for everyone. Edinburgh Council would save money and a new, transparent and accountable, model would deliver many times more positive outcomes than are being achieved at the moment. However, creating such change requires people with energy, enthusiasm and a willingness to embrace new ideas and creative solutions. These are all qualities Edinburgh Council is famous for not having.

Local government in Scotland’s capital is broken. How many more crises do citizens have to endure? How bad do things have to get before the hierarchy of the Council accepts they are pursuing policies and practices detrimental to the interests of the vast majority of Edinburgh citizens? Dumbiedykes needs change. Edinburgh needs change. For meaningful change to happen in the city there must be recognition in your office that Edinburgh Council needs radical change.

Those conditions do not currently exist. The residents led process in Dumbiedykes has not made sufficient progress to proceed. Trust and confidence have not been built. Edinburgh Council has confirmed it is not a reliable partner willing to embrace creative solutions. Without such a partner in the City Chambers the best residents can do is fight fires. It is unrealistic to expect residents in working class areas to spend our time firefighting. Especially when most of the fires are started by Edinburgh Council. Hopefully they stay metaphorical and not in high rise blocks with no lifts.

Jim Slaven
Dumbiedykes Working Group

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