Talk of the town: New ball game at City Chambers

ONE of the factors behind the city council choosing Market Street as its new headquarters was its close proximity to the City Chambers.

Even those who are far from being fitness fanatics would struggle to make a walk between the Chambers and Waverley Court take much longer than ten minutes. But it seems that some councillors are weary of the trip to visit council officials.

In her report, city leader Jenny Dawe says that new chief executive Sue Bruce has set up a "touch own facility" within the City Chambers so that she can work more closely with elected members.

"This should reduce the number of trips between the Chambers and Waverley Court," said Councillor Dawe. "I am sure that all members will join me in welcoming this approach."

Minister for Edinburgh might be just capital

AWAY from the problems of walking between offices, it seems Cllr Dawe could be in line for promotion.

At the Lib Dem conference in Perth at the weekend, she took the opportunity of a question-and-answer session to suggest to finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis that the Lib Dems should recognise the vital role played by Scotland's cities, not least the Capital. And she recalled past appointments of ministers for individual cities.

Mr Purvis told her: "I would rather devolve more power to councils so you were effectively the minister for Edinburgh."

Jumping to attention

MARKING International Women's Day at Edinburgh Castle today will be Sergeant Sarah Smith of the Royal Artillery, who will fire the One O'Clock Gun.

Sgt Smith served in Helmand Province last year, commanding a detachment which provided fire support, and she worked as a searcher for the Gurkhas.

So while the blast of the gun will make the rest of us jump as usual, the whole thing will probably make a relaxing change of pace for Sgt Smith.

Shell shock survey

AND finally, to mark Pancake Day, a new study has been released on things people only do once a year.

As well as flipping pancakes, Edinburgh residents admitted that visits to the dentist and enjoying a romantic weekend were all activities they only undertook once a year. A less surprising statistic from the study, put together by The Happy Egg Co, was that 40 per cent of residents only bought a chocolate egg once a year, which begs the question - how often do the other 60 per cent buy them?