Friday May 22nd 2020
The Stobhill recycling centre.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Midlothian Council is to open one of its recycling centres from June 1 if the First Minister gives the go ahead next week.
The local authority says its Stobhill centre will open subject to Scottish Government guidance.
However it has said its recycling centre at Peenicuik will remain closed for “safety reasons”.
The council also revealed that its intended date for reopening schools was August 19, later than the Scottish Government’s proposed August 11 date, set out by Nicola Sturgeon this week.
Staff are expected to return to schools across the country next month to begin preparing classrooms for the new model of learning which will be used.
It is understood some transitional work will also be done to help children going into Primary One or going from primary to secondary school, prepare for the restart.
The council said:
“Plans are already well underway to re-open schools in Midlothian and the Scottish Government’s ‘Strategic Framework for Reopening Schools and Early Llearning Centres (ELC) Settings in Scotland’ gives further clarity on progressing those, including arrangements for the return of specific groups of children in late June to support transition.
“All ELC settings should continue to provide childcare for key worker families only until further notice.
“First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also announced that schools will reopen on Tuesday 11 August, which is earlier than our planned date of 19 August.
“We will be sharing an update on reopening and transition arrangements with staff, parents and carers as soon as we have them. A key priority is to ensure the safety of our children, young people and staff.”
In another move towards easing restrictions the council’s landscape teams have been tackling the backlog of grass cutting with the help of colleagues from other services.
Council Leader Councillor Derek Milligan said new teams, many of whom had come from other services in the council to help, had their work cut out tackling some areas due to the length of the grass.
However, he said the work was almost up to date and focus would now be on maintaining all areas as well as weed killing, cutting back weeds and grass verges.
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