The new funding was announced as the Unoccupied Properties Bill, which will allow local authorities to charge extra Council Tax on houses that have been empty for more than a year, was introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

The new loan fund will be specifically targeted at projects to bring empty homes into use for affordable housing. For example, this could include council or housing association schemes offering loans to help owners renovate their homes in exchange for the properties being made available as affordable housing.

Housing Minister Keith Brown Photo: Scottish Government

Scotland’s high streets will also be boosted by the Bill, which will reduce the business rates discount for some empty commercial properties from 50 per cent to 10 per cent. This will encourage owners to bring empty shops back into use.

Even after reform, the relief on offer for empty commercial properties in Scotland will remain significantly more generous than in England.  Overall, Scotland continues to provide the UK’s most generous business rates relief package, which offers tax breaks worth well over £500m annually to Scottish businesses.

Mr Brown said:

“Long term empty homes are a blight on communities. They often fall into disrepair, and become a focus for antisocial behaviour like vandalism or fly tipping.

“We will not simply stand by and let this continue to happen. That is why we have introduced an Unoccupied Properties Bill that will allow councils to increase council tax on certain empty homes. That should be a strong incentive for owners who are simply ignoring empty homes to either sell or let the property to someone who needs it, or bring it back into use themselves.”

Scots runners will try to break the original record set by Canadian runners in Ontario, which saw over 1089 kilted enthusiasts pounding the pavements.

The attempt will made along the River Tay, in Perth and will be take place on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend.

Scots runners aim to break the Guinness World Record 

Perthand Kinross Provost John Hulbert said: “We’ve had a great response so far but we still need more people to sign up to help us break the record. Our Canadian friends have set the bar high with an official record of 1, 089 people to beat – let’s make sureScotlandbeats that number!

“The event will provide something for everyone. Local people will be able to bring their families and enjoy a picnic and entertainment, visitors from near and far will seePerthshowcased with the spectacular parade and we hope to make our name world-wide by breaking the kilt run record.”

The run, sponsored by the Famous Grouse, will take place along the River Tay and will link between the North Inch and South Inch parks in the city.

The event will raise funds for two good causes – ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, which assists serving and retired servicemen and women and their families, and PKAVS, which supports vulnerable people in Perth and Kinross.

Helen Mackinnon, from PKAVS, said: “It’s great news that Perth Kilt Run is going to be one of the major events within Perth’s Jubilee celebrations.

Challenge will go ahead on June 2 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Weekend 

“The event should be a fantastic day, showing Scotland at its very best. Money raised throughout the day will make a huge difference to some of the most vulnerable in our society, for example 11-year-old young carer Katie who spends much of her time helping to care for her younger brothers who have autistic spectrum disorders.

“The charities urge everyone to get involved, enjoy a fantastic family day out and be a part of breaking a World Record.”

Charles Dunphie, from ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, added: “We’re hoping to see loads of different tartans out on the day. It’s going to be really interesting to see which tartan has the most runners.

“I really hope people throughoutScotland– and further afield – get behind this event.

Runners can sign up by visiting www.perthkiltrun.co.uk

Natasha, Simone, Dion and Whitney McMahon – cousins of Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher – are on track to be the first family in the country to have four siblings in the national squad.

Natasha, 16, and Simone, 14, are already members of the under-17 and under-15 squads respectively. Dion, 13, and Whitney, 12, are well on their way to making the national squad.

Natasha said they had been inspired by Darren Fletcher’s achievements on the pitch.

“He’s a great role model for us, as he is for any kid interested in football.”

The talented 16- year-old already plays for the under 17s Scotland team and is working to become a qualified coach of teams in Midlothian.

She added: “He takes a keen interest in our progress. He just tells us to keep working hard and do our best.”

The talented sisters, from Bonnyrigg, Midlothan, have not only been coached by their famous cousin but they also had Keith Wright- former Hibs stiker- on hand to lend them advice on holiday football programmes.

The former Hibs star acts as the Midlothian Council’s SFA Football Development Officer and coached the girls through a number of soccer schools.

Natasha stars on her squad as right back and Simone also plays as right back for the U-15s.

Younger sisters Whitney- keeper-and Dion- a defender- are also making their way to the top and are playing on the South East Region U15 squad.

Last summer, Whitney hit the headlines after going 50 games without conceding a single goal with the St Luke’s Primary School’s girls team.

The four sisters train five times a week and attend St David’s High, Midlothian.

Natasha said: “It’s great that we are getting this recognition because we all take football really seriously and prepare ourselves for every training session and match we attend.

“We encourage each other, so we would really like to be playing on the national side together.”

Mum Liz, 37, a carer and volunteer coach with the St Luke’s Primary boys and girls teams, said: “I think what we are the most proud of is the girl’s determination and commitment to the sport, they have worked so hard to get where they are.

“Any child who has the ambition to do well, if they stick at it and have the right attitude, they can go far.”

The police work with locals to combat crime

LOCALS in Fife have been helping police tackle crime in the area.

As part of the Fife Constabulary’s commitment to community engagement, community consultation meetings are held throughout Fife on a bi-monthly basis within the heart of local communities. This allows people to meet with local officers, identify issues they feel affect them and be part of the discussions that lead to how policing is delivered in their area.

Cowdenbeath Police have been working hard to tackle local priorities which can range from tackling youth disorder and anti-social behaviour, to speeding, dog fouling and noise nuisance. The public have a vital role to play in the success of resolving these issues and at times can be additional eyes and ears that can provide a wealth of information and intelligence to assist the Police in tackling these issues.

Recent meetings held throughout the area saw a number of locals attending and setting priorities for September and October 2011. These meetings provide an ideal opportunity for members of the public to meet with their local Community Police Officers and discuss issues of concern and have a real say in how their concerns are addressed.

Local Community Sergeant Kenny Greig said: “I am delighted to see the continued support from the public at the recent meetings and also the numbers of people attending. Reported instances of anti-social crimes such as assaults, vandalism and public disorder have all reduced, however we are keen to hear the views and opinions of the public. This assists us in preventing and detecting crime in the area including unacceptable behaviour such as speeding and drug dealing.

“I would encourage members of our community take the opportunity to come along and meet with the local Community Police Officers for their area. The officers will be on hand to chat to local residents and will be asking them to identify their top concerns for the area to make sure that our resources are dedicated to the issues that matter most to the community.

“As part of the pledge we’ve made to the community, we want to get residents involved with policing and problem solving in their area.  By working together we can all contribute and tackle real issues that effect real people on a regular basis.  Please look out for our Community stands throughout the Cowdenbeath area during October which will provide vital information on Community Safety, Community Engagement Meetings and provide details of you local Community Officer.”

The Policing Priorities along with the dates of the next meetings and locations are detailed below

Benarty

Date of Next meeting – Tuesday 1st November 2011 7pm within Benarty Community Centre

Current Priority

1. Speeding

Cardenden

Date of Next meeting – Wednesday 2nd November 2011 6.30 pm within The Corrie Centre, Carden Avenue, Cardenden

Current Priorities

1. Speeding in Cluny

2. Illegal Parking at Station Road Cardenden

3. Dangerous Parking at Cardenden Primary School

Lochgelly

Date of Next meeting – Tuesday 1st November 2011 6pm within Lochgelly Town Hall, Bank Street, Lochgelly

Current Priorities

1. Speeding in area of Station Road and South Street Lochgelly

Kelty

Date of Next meeting – Monday 7th  November 2011 6.30 pm within Moray Institute, Main Street, Kelty

No current Priority

Kingseat

Date of next meeting – Wednesday 2nd November 2011 6.00 pm within Kingseat Community Leisure Centre, Main Street Kingseat

Current Priority

1. Speeding on Main Street/Henderson Street

Cowdenbeath

Date of next meeting – Wednesday 2nd November 2011 7pm within Beath High School, Foulford Road, Cowdenbeath

Current Priorities

1. Illegal parking in and around Cowdenbeath Town Centre

2. ASB within the Cowcdenbeath area

Crossgates

Date of next meeting –Monday 7th November 2011 6.30 pm within Crossgates Community Centre, Inverkeithing Road, Crossgates

Current Priorities

1. Speeding on main roads

Hill of Beath

Date of next meeting – Tuesday 1st November 2011 6.30 pm within Hill of Beath Community Centre, Main Street, Hill of Beath

No current priorities

Fife Constabulary is committed to allowing you to directly influence local policing. You can have your say on local priorities by coming to the community engagement meeting in your area. Contact your local community team on 0845 600 5702 or visit www.fife.police.uk for further details.

A COLLECTION of 5000 comic books spanning four decades has been donated to a charity shop in Edinburgh.

The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, left staff at an Oxfam bookshop stunned when they turned up at his flat to pick up the donation and realised its sheer size.

Shop manager David Hendrie, 28, said:

“Shock was the overriding emotion, and

“how on earth are we going to get these back to the shop’? We had to make two trips in the car.

“This is an incredibly generous donation and just stunning in terms of the sheer quantity of comics. Volunteers have been working hard to sort and price them. “

He said he hoped the donation would raise thousands of pounds when it was sold in the shop in the city’s Nicholson Street.

The complete collection will go on sale during a special late opening of the shop next Friday from 5.30pm, and a comic fair will take place at McDonald Road library the next day where remaining comics will be sold.

The collection includes a complete series of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One and comics from the

“Silver Age’ of the Justice League of America comics.

The donor, from Gilmerton, said he was offering the collection as he was moving aborad.

The Scottish SPCA has sent out an urgent appeal for information after a pony was discovered with extremely overgrown hooves in Fife.

The male Shetland pony was tracked down to a small area of land next to Balbeggie Avenue, Thornton, by SSPCA inspectors on Sunday. It had been spotted wandering about the area by a local resident.

Officers do not know how the pony came to be in such a negelected state, or how it had got into the residential area it was eventually found in.

SSPCA Senior Inspector Steven Gray said:’This pony has been caused a great deal of pain and suffering over a prolonged period of time.

“We are keen to trace the person responsible for this neglect and urge anyone with information to come forward. “

Anyone with any information connected to the incident is asked to call the SSPCA Animal Helpline on 03000 999 999. All calls are entirely confidential.

Parents Paula and Alex McPheators with four-year-old Zoe and two-and-a-half-year-old Oliver

By Alan Robertson

PARENTS have condemned a council for shutting their children’s nursery and moving it into a

“pub.”

Almost 40 children aged between two and five will receive their pre-school education inside Dalkeith Miners’ Club, Midlothian, under the plan.

Angry staff and parents at Woodburn Community Nursery said it was

“ridiculous’ to educate youngsters on licensed premises.

And to make matters worse, Midlothian council is now demanding a 3,000-a-year fee for the nursery to use the miners’ club even though the old premises were free.

The move came about after Midlothian council decided to shut the nursery’s current home, Dalkeith Community Centre.

The council wants the move despite widespread concern about the links between exposure to alcohol at an early age and the chances of problem drinking.

The nursery will move into a function hall at the miners’ club which has its own bar, although the

“shutters’ will remain closed.

Manager of Woodburn Community Nursery Denise Smith.

The room is located near the sports bar with its pool tables, darts and fruit machines. The bar opens at lunchtimes and parents and children can currently only access the building via the same entrance as punters.

The nursery would move into the function room on a three-year

“rolling contract’, starting this August.

Nursery manager Denise Smith said:

“I am meant to provide a safe and stimulating environment for young children, which I cannot do being near people with alcohol.

“The whole community is on our side. The only people who think it is a wonderful idea is Midlothian Council.

“I keep getting told it’s a club. I understand it’s a club but from 11am they’ve only got the bar open so to me that’s a pub environment. “

Denise said Midlothian had opted for the miners’ club because it did not want to have to pay to refurbish more suitable premises.

The charity leader also slammed Midlothian Council for backtracking on promises to renovate another former nursery building nearby for displaced Dalkeith centre users.

Disused former Thorneybank Nursery is in such disrepair Smith has been asked to shell out 350 an hour for safety checks just to view the building.

Mother-of-four, Paula McPheators (corr), 41, currently sends daughter Zoe, 4, to Woodburn nursery, while her two-and-a-half-year-old son Oliver is to follow suit later this year.

She said:

“I think it’s very wrong for a number of reasons. A licensed premise is not safe and not right for two-and-a-half year olds going into. “

She added: “Scotland has got major alcohol problems right now and they are trying to alleviate that by putting price rises on drinks.

The Sports Bar inside Dalkeith Miners’ Welfare Club.

“And they’re going to be sending children into a licensed premises, which is not the right environment and not a good advert.”

A report produced by the Scottish Youth Commission on Alcohol last year found over half of young people agreed marketing and advertising of alcohol should be more tightly controlled to lessen exposure to Scotland’s drinking culture.

The newly-elected SNP administration is expected to use its majority at Holyrood to drive through controls on minimum pricing for alcohol.

David Hamilton, the MP for Midlothian – whose parents both attended the nursery at the axed community centre – has pledged to look into the issue.

He said

“It is my intention to speak again to the local councillors and others to find a way through these difficulties. “

Midlothian Councillor, Peter Boyes, cabinet member for communities, said:

“As a first step, the Miners’ Welfare Club has agreed to provide accommodation for Woodburn Community Nursery – a non-Council-owned nursery.

“We are committed to ensuring that this new accommodation meets the needs of the parents and children of Woodburn Community Nursery and complies with the requirements of Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland. “

Edinburgh’s Quartermile donated £5 on behalf of every visitor to the city centre property development during New Homes Month in September 2010.

The Sick Kids Friends Foundation will use the £1,000 raised to fund weekly visits from Clown Doctors who aim to entertain the children and stifle boredom for the young patients as well as talk to them about any concerns they may have.

Will Guest from the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, said: “The Clown Doctors are a big hit with the children and create great excitement in the hospital. We are grateful to Quartermile for choosing us as their charity and look forward to working with them again in the future.”

Lorraine Paterson, Sales & Marketing Director for Gladedale Capital, said: “We wanted to mark New Homes Month by doing something that would also benefit our local community. Sick Kids is an excellent cause which is close to many of our hearts and we are delighted that we can help make a difference.”

Working with Sacro, City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Prison Service, Lothian and Borders Police say their so called ‘Integrated Offender Management scheme is aimed at what police term “vulnerable offenders” – those who are involved in thefts or prostitution – to fund their abuse.

Lothian and Borders Police Assistant Chief Constable Mike McCormick said: “This joint initiative will provide practical support to repeat offenders to help them on their journey to recovery.

“Ultimately we hope it will reduce their criminal behaviour and encourage re-integration to their local communities.

“The benefit to the wider community will be in the long term savings in health and criminal justice costs.”

The idea behind the scheme is to deliver a care package aimed at treating and rehabilitating their addictions.

If they relapse, the teams will be expected to support them back into the scheme, to try and end their culture of crime.

Lothian and Borders Police estimate such offenders will commit a crime every day – 365 days a year.

If they are caught, police say it costs the taxpayer £32,000 a year to have someone imprisoned for a year.

The scheme, if it works, is hoped to put an end to both the crimes and the need for such punishments.

ACC McCormick added: “There is no doubt this will be very challenging for some of the offenders – all of whom will volunteer for the pilot.

“However they will be supported on every step of the journey and the benefits to the public and to the offenders will be great.

“Through this work we believe they will reduce their dependency on drugs and alcohol, reduce their offending, and reduce the time they spend in police custody or even prison.”

Michelle Millar, chief social work officer at City of Edinburgh Council, said the pilot was a valuable addition to their arsenal.

She added:  “I particularly welcome the prospect of a reduction in offences such as housebreaking or theft which can have such a devastating impact on people in our communities.”

Lucy Florquin, Service Manager with Sacro, said Sacro was delighted to be involved.

She said: “We firmly believe that providing intensive support to those repeatedly involved in the criminal justice system and who have problematic drug/alcohol use is the most effective way to encourage them to desist from offending and reduce their drug use”.

Dangerous homemade bonfires are being removed in the Capital in the run up to Bonfire Night.

Community safety teams from the City of Edinburgh Council have spent the week taking down the sites across the city in a bid to prevent potential injuries and antisocial behaviour.

But David Lockhart, community safety manager at Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We are very much aware that this is an age-old tradition and we don’t want to stop people from enjoying this time of the year but we do need to make sure that people are safe and that communities are safe across the area.

“Where possible we would like people to go to organised events instead of having their own bonfire or fireworks as these are a lot safer.”

One particular bonfire on Wardieburn Road had to be reduced to the recommended 1.8 metres.

Speaking at the site Mr Lockhart added: “With this one we are going to have to make it a bit smaller and take away some of the items that are going to produce an awful lot of smoke when they start to burn.

“We have to consider the environment as in the houses round here and if we were to set this on fire now it would produce an awful lot of thick black smoke that obviously go into people’s homes.

 “Every year we get hundreds of calls about nuisance and unsupervised bonfires putting real pressure on our resources at our busiest time of year. Our fire crews also see firsthand the damage caused to property and the risks of serious injury from out of control fires. 

“We want to continue working with other agencies and the public to tackle the kind of behaviour we all know is detrimental to good quality of life.”

The move comes as the Council and Lothian and Borders Police launch their Antisocial Behaviour Strategy for Edinburgh 2010 – 2013.

The aim of the strategy is to prevent antisocial behaviour before it happens by tackling the root causes and resolving any issues at an early stage.

It will build on previous successes which have seen lower antisocial behaviour and crime rates across the city.

Councillor Paul Edie, community safety leader, said: “We want to be smarter in how we tackle antisocial behaviour by addressing the causes and not just the symptoms and by ensuring that communities play a prominent role in this process.

“It’s important the public don’t ignore issues affecting their community like nuisance neighbours, litter, fly-tipping, noise and graffiti, all of which can really impact on the quality of their lives and weaken communities.

“Tackling antisocial behaviour is a difficult challenge but one which can be addressed by good partnership working, moving towards long term sustainable solutions.

“The work being carried out this week by our Community Safety Wardens in dismantling the bonfires is a good example of preventing the potential for problems before they happen.

“We want people to enjoy Guy Fawkes Night but to enjoy it safely. One of the big risks there is things like disorganised, unorganised unauthorised bonfires. These can present all sorts of dangers to people and we want to make sure nobody finds themselves at risk.”

Superintendent John Hawkins, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: “The latest antisocial behaviour strategy for Edinburgh will seek to build on the progress we have made in recent years in improving the quality of life in communities across the Capital.

“By working closely with our partners, we have worked to address the underlying causes of antisocial behaviour in our communities, and this preventative approach has yielded positive results of which we can all be proud.”

Recent successes in Edinburgh have included a 14 per cent drop in vandalisms in 2009/2010 compared to the previous year.

A 27 per cent reduction in calls regarding antisocial behaviour to the Council over the past five years

A 75 per cent satisfaction rate from city residents on how the Council deals with antisocial behaviour (2009 Annual Neighbourhood Survey) – up 22 per cent from two years ago.

REPORT: Amanda MacMillan