oNE BIG FAMILY
Welcome to the Warriston Residents Association website. The Warriston estate is located on the fringes of the New Town in the heart of Edinburgh and is one big family of 220 homes.
The Association was set up in the early eighties under the Neighbourhood Watch Scotland initiative to ensure that the area we live in remains a secure and safe place to live. As a community we share information on crime prevention and community safety issues. Membership is free and we cover the following streets; Warriston Drive, Warriston Avenue, Warriston Gardens, Warriston Grove, Warriston Terrace and a few properties on Inverleith Row that lie on the west side of the estate.
In recent years we have worked with the City of Edinburgh Council to improve access onto the estate from the cycle path network, improve street lighting, walkways and safety. We are a ‘Cold Calling Free Zone’ and as a community we care and take pride in our neighbourhood. Where possible we assist people who are less able to look after themselves and during the recent pandemic we set up a voluntary support group to offer assistance with a whole range of tasks.
The WRA holds regular committee meetings, when matters affecting our area are discussed, and action taken if necessary. As a group, we have a successful relationship with our local council. A local councillor normally attends our Committee Meetings. Our local Police Station is Drylaw – 0131 343 3171 and a member of the local Community Police Team usually attends the Committee Meetings.
The WRA shares information with the Stockbridge and Inverleith Community Council, which generally meets on the third Wednesday of each month, at the Stockbridge Parish Church, Saxe Coburg Street.
We issue a Newsletter two or three times a year. This includes articles of local interest and information, and also details about the A.G.M. which is held once a year, usually in early April, at the Bowling and Bridge Clubhouse at the end of Warriston Gardens.
There are eight Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators that help deliver Newsletters, welcome letters and information to new neighbours. The WRA alerts neighbours to any relevant news from Neighbourhood Watch Scotland and the local Community Police Team, as well as from neighbours themselves. Please feel free to get in touch with any comments, questions, suggestions or to volunteer your services.
We have an email alert system that you can join by sending an email to Alan Shepherd (Warriston Residents’ Association Secretary) at warriston.ra@gmail.com should you require an update.
We also have a Warriston Residents’ Association Facebook page, to help residents keep up- to-date with alerts, events and issues in the area. It provides a forum for discussion on all aspects of life in the WRA area. If you’re already on Facebook, search for ‘Warriston Residents’ and click on the ‘join’ button. From the internet, navigate to http://www.facebook.com/groups/Warriston/
Please feel free to get in touch with any comments, questions, suggestions or to volunteer your services.
The first houses to be built on the Warriston Estate, was in the 1930s. These were in Warriston Grove, Warriston Gardens, the north end of Warriston Terrace and most of Warriston Avenue. The next phase was in the mid 1950s which includes Warriston Drive and the rest of the Terrace and Avenue, built by Miller Homes.
Miller then focused their attention on the site of the demolished Warriston House and proposed to build houses and three and five story blocks of flats which would necessitate the removal of many mature trees. This perturbed Residents and the Warriston Residents Association was formed on 28 th January 1981 to oppose the plans calling for a reduction both in the heights and numbers of properties as well as saving trees.
To keep Residents informed, the newly established Committee decided to issue a Newsletter. Initially printed on a continuous roll on a school computer, it evolved to an A5 size product. Below are relevant features from Issue No. 1.