Events News

Your City Centre Neighbourhood Partnership wants to hear from YOU

“Your City Centre, Your Views” is an event, open to everyone who lives, works, studies or visits Edinburgh’s City Centre.

The event will be an opportunity for you to tell us what you think the issues are and what you would like to see happen in the City Centre in the future. All the information gathered at the event will be fed into an action plan for the City Centre Neighbourhood Partnership to deliver.

There will be over 20 stalls available to give advice and practical help on a wide range of topics ranging from how to deal with anti-social behaviour to the future for Princes Street, competitions, activities for children and much, much more.

So why not come along to the Assembly Rooms, George Street, on Thursday 8th May 08 anytime between 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and tell us what you think needs to change in Edinburgh’s city centre.

The City Centre Neighbourhood Partnership is a group comprised of local Community Councils, local ward councillors, and local service delivery providers that meet regularly to identify, plan, and deliver services that will improve the quality of life for those who live, work, visit and study in Edinburgh's city centre

On Friday 4 April 2008, St Andrew Square Garden opened to the public for the first time in its history.

Dating back to 1770 and designed by James Craig as an integral part of his New Town Masterplan, St Andrew Square Garden was previously only accessible to residents and businesses in the surrounding area. Now everyone visiting or working in the city centre can enjoy the tranquil retreat.

David Nicolson, Chairman of Edinburgh City Centre Management (ECCM), the organisation that initiated the proposal to open the Garden to the public says: “The redevelopment of St Andrew Square Garden has created a new high-quality space right in the heart of Edinburgh’s historic city centre. My thanks go to the proprietors of the offices and businesses around the Square for agreeing to the development work and to the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise for providing the funding so that residents, workers and visitors to Edinburgh can now enjoy this tranquil city centre oasis.”

St Andrew Square Garden has been transformed into a haven in the heart of the city centre as part of a programme of improvement works funded by the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian. The Garden now features a striking modern pavilion, which houses the first Coffee Republic Delicatessen in central Edinburgh. The £2.6million refurbishment has included extensive work to preserve the Melville Monument in the centre of the Garden, construction of a network of pathways through the Garden accessed through two existing and two new gates, a reflective pool and new lighting.

Steve Spray, Director, LaSalle Investment Management, which manages Multrees Walk, says: “The opening of the St Andrew Square Garden provides a beautiful public space for everyone to enjoy in the heart of the city centre. I think it will enhance Edinburgh’s attractiveness as a world class visitor destination. It was only possible because the private companies which own the square and the City Centre Management Company shared the same vision.”

Cllr Jenny Dawe, Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Good quality public space is so important to the fabric of the city and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to re-open the garden to the public. This fantastic transformation is another milestone in rejuvenating our city centre to ensure Edinburgh is a dynamic, thriving and attractive place to be for many years to come.”

Linda McPherson, Scottish Enterprise’s Regional Operations Director for the East of Scotland, says: “This is yet another important milestone in achieving our vision for the redevelopment of Edinburgh’s city centre. Having a dynamic city centre is vital if Edinburgh is to become one of Europe’s leading capital cities and investing in our public spaces not only enhances Edinburgh’s reputation as an attractive place to visit but also helps to attract businesses and talented people to support our thriving industries.”

Ends

For further information, please contact

Emily Johnston
Marketing Executive
Edinburgh City Centre Management
0131 652 5940

Notes to Editors

1. David Nicolson, Chairman of ECCM, unlocked the gates at the Jenners side of St Andrew Square Garden at 10:00am on Friday 4th April. There will be an official opening ceremony held in the next few months.

2. The opening of St Andrew Square Garden is one element of the wider Capital Streets Project, which has already seen the completion of Castle Street and work commence on the redevelopment of the Grassmarket.

3. The City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian provided a funding package of £17.3m for the Capital Streets Projects.

4. St Andrew Square is a key part of the New Town design. James Craig’s plan features three parallel main streets – George Street, Queen Street and Princes Street. Gardens were built at either end of George Street – St Andrew Square and George Square (later renamed Charlotte Square) after the patron saints of Scotland and England. Thistle and Rose Street were named after the National Emblems of Scotland and England.

5. St Andrew Square was built in 1770. A debate over opening the Garden to the public took place as early as 1851. Minutes from the Special Meeting of the Proprietors of St Andrew Square note, “a suggestion was made that the Central Area, now enclosed as a Shrubbery, should be thrown open, so as to convert the whole included space into a PLACE, such as those so well known and so much admired in various continental cities.”

6. Responses included those from Mr Playfair, Architect, which stated that (The proposed change) “would tend to improve the appearance of the Square, and increase the value of the surrounding houses, if it were properly and completely done”.

7. Lord Cockburn’s opinion was that “The opening the centre ground of St Andrew Square is no new project to me. I did all I could to recommend it above twenty years ago. I did so solely because I thought it would be a great advantage both to Edinburgh and to that particular locality. If the scheme has opponents, I am persuaded that the opposition would be withdrawn, if they could anticipate the effect produced”.

The organisers of Edinburgh Farmers’ Market are holding the first in a series of Chefs’ Markets with the aim of creating strong links between local producers and restaurants. With the assistance of Slow Food Edinburgh and Edinburgh Inspiring Cuisine, a special market will be held at the Atrium restaurant on March 17th. The Chefs’ Market will introduce regular Farmers’ Market stallholders to Edinburgh’s numerous well-regarded chefs and will promote the concept of buying locally. Many of the stallholders at the award-winning Edinburgh Farmers’ Market have received awards in their own right, demonstrating that local producers have highly regarded food available for sale within a few miles of Edinburgh itself.

Andrew Fairlie, of Andrew Fairlie restaurant at Gleneagles, the only restaurant in Scotland to have been awarded two Michelin stars, will be the guest speaker. A firm advocate of utilising local produce, he was recently named Scottish Chef of the Year 2008.

Ian Broadfoot of Edinburgh City Centre Management, which organises the Farmers’ Market, says, “Scottish produce has long been recognised as among the best in the world. Formerly a large proportion of it used to be shipped abroad but more and more of the Capital’s chefs are rightly insisting that local seasonal produce is on the menu in their restaurants. The Scottish National Food Policy that is currently being developed fully recognises the importance of encouraging people to buy local produce and ensuring the long-term viability of primary producers”.

Encouraging local businesses and local farmers to work together means that the ultimate beneficiaries will be the restaurant customers, who will get to eat fresh seasonal food that has travelled very few “food miles”. This is probably one of the reasons why Edinburgh was recently named as the best place to eat outside of London, according to Harden’s UK Restaurant Guide 2007.


For further information, contact:
Helen O’Hanlon
Marketing and Communications Manager
ECCM

0131 652 5940
helenohanlon@edinburghcc.com


Notes to Editors

Edinburgh Farmers’ Market takes place from 9am – 2pm every Saturday on Castle Terrace. For further information, please call 0131 652 5940 or go to www.edinburghfarmersmarket.com

Stallholders hold a variety of awards that include the winner of the nationwide “Battle of the Beef Challenge”, Great Taste Awards and the Best Producer award in the Observer Food Monthly 2007 Awards. Edinburgh Farmers’ Market stallholders have also featured in the F Word and the Great British Menu TV programmes.

The Market holds the following awards:
· Certified Farmers’ Market of the Year 2007, FARMA
· Britain’s Favourite Farmers’ Market 2006, Country Life Magazine
· Guinness World Record for the largest bowl of porridge


Edinburgh Farmers’ Market has strict eligibility criteria which all stallholders must meet before they may attend the market:
· EFM is a member of the Scottish Association of Farmers’ Markets. All new stallholders must, if they are not already, become members.
· www.scottishfarmersmarkets.co.uk

· Primary produce that has been produced by farmers/growers is eligible to be sold.

· Products that are bought in or sourced (secondary retail) may not be sold.

· Priority will be given to producers based within the Lothians area and having an EH postcode.

· All food items must avoid the use of GMOs, MSG, hydrogenated fat, trans-fats and aspartame. Any E numbers must be declared. No un-natural fertilisers are to be used and meat must be reared without growth hormones and anti-biotics.


Slow Food Edinburgh
Slow Food promotes an attitude to food which values locally grown produce, eating food in season, small-scale artisan producers and non-industrialised farming. Slow Food sets itself against fast food culture by creating meaningful links between those who eat food and those who grow, farm, produce, sell and cook it.

The Slow Food Edinburgh convivium is the second largest in the UK with over 220 members.

Slow Food has a stall at Edinburgh Farmers’ Market on the first Saturday of each month. A cooking demonstration is usually organised with a local chef, who uses produce from the Market to cook a simple but tasty dish.
www.slowfoodedinburgh.co.uk


Edinburgh Inspiring Cuisine
EIC is a concept that has been developed by the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians to tap into the growing food tourism market and promote Edinburgh as an inspiring place to eat.
www.eatscotland.visitscotland.com

There will be some disruption for routes to Edinburgh Farmers' Market during the closure of Shandwick Place to vehicles from 2nd March 2008.

Shandwick Place will be closed to all vehicles from Manor Place to Queensferry Street and there will be no right turn from Lothian Road onto Castle Terrace.

To minimise disruption for visitors to Edinburgh Farmers' Market we have put together diversion options along with a map wich can be downloaded from the documents section by clicking here. Alternatively you can pick up a copy from the Information Stall at the market.

Diversion signs should be in place on affected routes. For more information about Edinburgh Tram's please visit www.tramsforedinburgh.com

The favourite Scottish sausages can now be revealed after a close contest at Edinburgh Farmers’ Market. With market customers being given unidentified tasting plates and choosing their favourite, market regulars Ballencrieff, Piperfield and Puddledub collectively scored more points than the supermarket sausages.

Tristan Maclean, Market Co-ordinator, Edinburgh City Centre Management says, “I was always quietly confident that the Farmers’ Market sausages would come out on top. I’d like to thank Slow Food Edinburgh and Quality Meat Scotland for their assistance in cooking the sausages and collating the results.”

For the third consecutive year, customers of Edinburgh Farmers’ Market have voted Falko Konditormeister as the 2007 Stallholder of the Year. East Coast Organics and North Country Lass were also shortlisted.

Falko Konditormeister has now been awarded this accolade each year since 2005. The award was first made in 2004 when Mrs Hamilton’s Organic Beef and Lamb was the winner.

On Saturday 22nd December, Edinburgh Farmers’ Market will have a definite festive flavour. The market will see the return of the annual Best Dressed Stall competition, giving all customers the chance to vote for their favourite. Carol singers will be singing throughout the market to raise money for charity

The photos shows Mrs Hamilton’s Organic Beef and Lamb, the winner of the 2006 Best Dressed Stall award.

Filming for the new series of the Great British Menu TV programme took place at Edinburgh Farmers’ Market last weekend. Michelin starred chef Tom Kitchin used stallholder Caroline Hamilton’s organic meat to create his dish.

Mrs Hamilton’s Organic Beef and Lamb stall can be visited at the Farmers’ Market, held every week on Castle Terrace.

The programme will be shown in the spring.

Edinburgh's weekly Farmers' Market is familiar with winning awards but it has now added a Guinness World Record to its collection.

The world’s largest bowl of porridge weighed in at a massive 81kg. Portions were sold to hungry market goers with all money raised going to the Anthony Nolan Trust.

The weight was officially measured and authenticated by Edinburgh Councillor Paul Godzik and Environmental Health Officer David McCall. As Mr McCall wrote in his official report , “ I, as an authorised officer, would confirm that this muckle bowl of porridge is highly satisfactory and fit for a queen.”

Edinburgh Farmers’ Market (EFM) has just won three prestigious awards:

· Certified Farmers’ Market of the Year 2007, FARMA
· Regional Winner of Britain’s Favourite Farmers’ Market 2006, Country Life Magazine
· Over all winner of Britain’s Favourite Farmers’ Market 2006, Country Life Magazine

EFM was voted “Certified Farmers’ Market of the Year 2007” by FARMA at their annual awards ceremony in Torquay.

EFM has also been voted the best Farmers’ Market in Scotland & the North, and is the over all winner in Britain’s Favourite Farmers’ Market 2006 competition run by Country Life Magazine.

Country Life selected 18 outstanding farmers’ markets from across England, Scotland and Wales to compete for the title of Britain’s Favourite Farmers’ Market. The eighteen were made up of three farmers’ markets from each of six regions: East of England, the Midlands, Scotland & the North, the South West, the South East and Wales.

The public were invited to vote for their favourite market through voting forms in Country Life magazine, Strutt & Parker regional offices and the short-listed farmers’ markets themselves. These votes determined the finalists, representing the six regions:

Scotland & the North - Edinburgh, Scotland
Midlands - Moseley, Birmingham
Wales - Chepstow, Wales
South West - Tavistock, Devon
South East - Deddington, Oxfordshire
East of England - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire

All regional winners were put forward to Country Life’s panel of expert judges, all high-profile foodie personalities: Clarissa Dickson Wright, Shaun Hill, Mark Hix, John Burton Race, Lady Cranbrook and Tom Parker Bowles

Clarissa Dickson Wright said:

“Edinburgh farmers’ market is [also] held every week, allowing consumers to buy everything that they need from local producers in a community environment…The competition was certainly strong, but Edinburgh was named Britain’s Favorite Farmers’ Market because it really represents the future of farmers’ markets in Britain.”

Ian Broadfoot, City Centre Manager, said:

“I am delighted that the hard work and dedication that our markets team has put in over the last six years has been recognised. The diversity of producers, the locality of produce and the frequency of the market have helped to make Edinburgh Farmers’ Market a multi-award winning event and a firm favourite with Edinburgh residents and visitors.

Our thanks go to everyone involved in this achievement, most importantly our customers and stallholders, without whom the market would not have been recognised in this way.”