An Update From Councillor Jule Bandel

Hello everyone! My name is Jule Bandel and I’m delighted to make my first contribution to the Stockbridge Spotlight to introduce myself as your new Green councillor and tell you a little bit about what I’m working on. First of all, I would like to thank everyone who put their trust in me and gave me their vote. I am truly thrilled and honoured to have been elected as a councillor for Inverleith ward and am looking forward to making our neighbourhoods better places to live over the next five years. As you may be able to tell from my name, I am originally from Germany. After moving to Edinburgh for university back in 2016, I grew so fond of the city, I decided to stay around and work for a Scottish housing charity. I’m also studying part-time for a Masters in Public Policy, focusing on more inclusive public engagement in policy and planning, which is something I love to work on in the Council as well. Indeed, just this morning I was looking at old study notes to write an amendment that seeks to make sure the youth participatory forum we’re setting up will be welcoming and accessible to all young people and offer them meaningful opportunities to engage with decision-makers.

Being able to make a real difference and deliver the changes my generation and the ones to come so desperately need was one of the main reasons I ran as a councillor and has been an incredibly rewarding experience so far.

From planning to parks, Edinburgh Council deals with a myriad of different issues, and since my election I have been learning loads about how its many services keep this city running. The variety of casework you get as a ward councillor is something I appreciate a lot, though I am also enjoying digging my teeth into more specific subjects and making policy on committees. I was particularly excited to become a member of the Council’s Transport and Environment Committee. Improving conditions for walking, wheeling, and cycling was one of my main campaign priorities and there remains loads of work to be done on this locally and across Edinburgh. A key transport issue I want to improve in the Stockbridge area are the conditions for people who walk and wheel. Raeburn Place, in particular, deserves wider pavements to transform it into the vibrant and inclusive town centre it can and should be. I was pleased to hear from the Council’s ’20 Minute Neighbourhoods’ team that this is already on their radar, though actual work on this is still some way off. I promise to do my best to speed up the process, but in the meantime, I will be requesting dropped kerbs, longer Green Man phases, and removal of street clutter, and stand up for the prioritisation of active travel at all times.

If you are facing any issues I can help with, please get in touch with me per email: cllr.jule.bandel@edinburgh.gov.uk. To keep up with what I’m working on as a councillor, follow @julebandel on Twitter (let’s hope it survives, I haven’t set up back-up social media yet!).

Deceased Houses Respectfully Cleared