This ward stretches from Fountainbridge to Kingsknowe and the Local Government Boundary Commission estimates that the electorate will be 17,341 which is up slightly from 2012. The ward will be represented by three councillors as before.
Fountainbridge has a brand new school about to open there sometime this year, with Boroughmuir High School moving across the canal to a purpose built building. This has been beset by delays and the eventual opening date is not yet fixed.
The other project which is about to come alive there, is the renovation of the former North British Rubber Factory. The former home of the welly boot will be converted into an £11 million creative industries incubator with world class facilities at the proposed Edinburgh Printmakers Centre of Excellence.
The existing councillors are :
Gavin Corbett – Scottish Green Party
Andrew Burns – Scottish Labour Party
David Key – SNP
Labour’s Andrew Burns, the Council Leader, has been one of the councillors for this area, but he announced some time back that he will be standing down from local government this year. Burns is resigning after 18 years in local government. He has led the only Labour/SNP coalition council in Scotland, and was big on pledges, cooperatives, publishing the manifesto ahead of time and also drafting the council budget for publication well ahead of any budget debate.
A keen cyclist his administration achieved a first in that in this financial year it will spend 10% of its Transport budget on cycling infrastructure.
The 2017 candidates for this ward are :
Gavin Corbett Scottish Green Party
Andrew Johnston Scottish Conservative and Unionist
David Key SNP
Jenni Lang Scottish Liberal Democrats
Rojan Subramani Independent
Anne Wimberley Scottish Labour Party
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Open in new tab Gavin Corbett is one of the five Green councillors. This group was a lowly three until 2012 when six were elected. One of them, Councillor Maggie Chapman, then resigned to become what turned out to be an unsuccessful candidate for the Scottish Government in 2016. In the council by-election which ensued, her seat was lost to Labour.
Andrew Johnston Conservative
Andrew is currently employed by Ian Duncan MEP, and previously worked in broadcasting. He will shortly take up a business role in the private sector.
Andrew is seeking to be a strong voice for Fountainbridge and Craiglockhart, and will campaign for improvements to local roads, bin collections and street lighting.
Married with three children, Andrew will put an extra emphasis on ensuring the City is a safe place to live and bring up a family.
After his selection Andrew said “I am delighted to have been selected for the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart Ward, and to be given the opportunity to work to improve the day to day lives of local residents. The 2017 election gives the people of Edinburgh the chance to call for change in the City Chambers, and have their voices heard loud and clear. I will be campaigning to make sure the views of local people are put first”
David Key SNP
David Key is a helicopter pilot and a cyclist and has been a councillor for this ward in the last administration. He is on Twitter here.
He told The Edinburgh Reporter that his main political ambitions are:
Jenni Lang Scottish Liberal Democrats
Rojan Subramani Independent
(see comment below)
Anne Wimberley Scottish Labour Party
Anne was born and raised here in Edinburgh. Her daughter went to school at a time when she claims shortages in schools were unknown, and was able to take art, music and PE lessons for granted. “My elderly parents got incredible healthcare when they needed it. I would like to see children and pensioners today getting the same opportunities and care my family had.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
A teensy bit of research can be done rather than leaving candidates info blank.
Rojan Subramani: –
Spoken at TED talks
“When Rojan Kumar moved to Edinburgh he was 20-years-old and could not speak a word of English.
Born in Southern India he was orphaned aged 11. and was left with no other choice but to beg on the street. Not many people would have predicted that he would one day go on to do a TED Talk, be a sucessful entrepreneur and President of the Napier Students’ Association. But that is exactly what he did.
Today, Rojan sits in the reception of Edinburgh Napier University’s Merchiston campus. He knows basically everyone who walks by. Dressed smartly in his signature suit he grins at each familar face. You will never see him arriving on campus in a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie unlike most students. It’s a far cry from the simple clothes he grew up in.
‘As a kid I remember having trousers covered in patches. I had two short, one full length, that was my costume and I could carry it with me anywhere, but today I could never take all my things.’ Rojan shakes his head in disbelief. It’s clear he appreciates everything he has gained since his youth, even something as simple as having more clothes and a roof over his head. Growing up without his family he soon learned that he had to put himself out there and create his own luck if he wanted to make something of himself.
Tired of his life begging on the streets he plucked up the courage to ask a local shopkeeper for a job. The kind man agreed. Next he asked the man could he attend school, which he did. Every day he would go to school and then spend his evenings working in a local restaurant until late at night. He still managed to get the best grades in his class.
As Rojan talks excitedly about his life’s journey he barely has time to catch his breath. It’s not hard to imagine him as the class chatterbox. He remembers how the only time he got into trouble at school was for talking to his classmates.
‘I was always sent outside the classroom for talking so I remember kneeling down outside the door listening to the class so I could still learn.’
At the age of 13 he set up his first business, binding school books for his classmates. Charging just enough so that he could make a profit while still being cheaper than the shops in town. After deciding on a career in hospitality Rojan began working as a chef. He made his way from restaurants to hotels. to five star hotels. He finally decided to move to somewhere he felt would provide him with a growing hospitality industry to work in, that place was Scotland.
During his first year at college in Edinburgh Rojan failed all his exams. He was new to the language, the city, even the prospect of having to create a PowerPoint seemed daunting. But just as he had in previous troubles he persevered, putting his university work at the fore of everything he did.
He went on to graduate top of 600 students in the college.
Since then he has undertaken a business degree at Edinburgh Napier University where he became involved in the student union. After becoming Campus Officer he then moved on to be Vice President, today he is President and is hoping to be elected to the National Union of Students (NUS).
Despite his obvious aptitude for politics he has no interest in entering that world. Watching his Ted talk and other speeches on Youtube however it is hard not to picture him a s a future politician. His strong voice booms across the room as the crowd falls into complete silence. He never once looks at a note or even writes a speech for that matter. Every now and then the crowd bursts into laughter. He keeps speaking right up until the very end of his alloted time. HIs voice never quavers.
In the future Rojan hopes to become a motivational speaker, something that’s not hard to imagine. But motivating people isn’t something he likes to only do from the stage. While working weekends in restaurants and hotels in Edinburgh he has encouraged two Kitchen Porters to attend university. They both now have degrees under their belts.
That is what really drives him, showing others their potential. For this and all his other achievements he is immensely proud and rightly so. It takes a special person to acomplish everything he has in past few years. But Rojan however is adamant that everyone could achieve his level of success if only they tried.
It’s not all about the money either. After inventing a kit that produces bio gas and bio fuel from food waste on chicken farms Rojan refused to sell the patent. Instead he would rather that everyone can benefit from his invention.
‘My dream is not to buy a big car. My dream is I want to be an example to others. You don’t need to be born with everything I don’t waste money. Money will change people. But I always say it’s money under my feet. Money is just paper it comes today and goes tomorrow. But achievement always stays in the person. Education is an asset.’
Scotland has given Rojan what he had always longed for, an education and opportunities to push himself and achieve. As a result he couldn’t imagine himself living anywhere else.
‘Never forget where you come from. I remember where I come from but I can also never forget who supported me. I came here as a zero this country has given me entire skills and knowledge and opportunity. When I came to Scotland, Scotland treated me as a home student not an international. I am happy to stay here.
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