Category Archives: Announcements

Notification of works by Scottish Water – Cockles Brae to Morham pipeline

The Cockles Brae to Morham Pipeline is to be upgraded. with work starting 29th April.

Scottish Water’s alliance partners Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA) will be installing a new 5km pipeline in rural East Lothian running from Cockles Brae to Morham crossroads, near Haddington. The new pipe will improve the reliability and resilience of the water supply network for customers in the local area and the wider network. The pipe will run through fields, a burn and across local roads. It replaces an old 9-inch steel pipe, which has come to the end of its serviceable life.

During the work, there will be some short periods of local road closures and residents in these areas will be kept informed through signage and letters.

If you have any questions about the work, please contact Adam Warner (Corporate Affairs Officer) at Scottish Water – www.scottishwater.co.uk.

Haddington road closure

Notice from East Lothian Council:

It is the Council’s intention to undertake carriageway resurfacing work on B6368 Sidegate, Haddington, commencing Saturday 2nd March for approximately 2 days, weather permitting.

In order to comply with current Health and Safety Legislation, it will be necessary to close the road to through vehicular traffic from 8am to 5pm both days. Emergency vehicle and pedestrian access will be maintained at all times. No parking will be permitted on the affected section (From A6093 Hardgate Junction to Maitlandfield Hotel). A suitable diversion route will be signed accordingly. Restricted local access will be retained where practicable, however the direction of access/egress will be determined by the contractors’ whereabouts.

Children’s Christmas Party

Thank you to Sara, Laura and Viki who have offered to coordinate the 2019 Children’s Halloween party.

We are still looking for someone to organise the Children’s Christmas Party this year, usually held near the end of the school term. This job involves booking the village hall and an entertainer as well as making a poster and coordinating party food donations on the day, etc. If you have children aged from 0-11 years and are able to help, please use the contact form to let us know.

2019 Children’s Parties

Laura and Roz are stepping down from organising the Garvald and Morham Halloween and Christmas Children’s parties. Thank you to both of them for taking charge of these events over the last couple of years.

To enable the parties to continue we need one or two people to come forward and take on this role. Funding for the parties is available from the community council and the organisers would need to book entertainers (Christmas), organise games and guising (Halloween), book the village hall, buy food supplies, make posters, etc. If you have children aged from 0-11 years and are able to help, please use the contact form to let us know.

Castle Moffat road closure

East Lothian Council will be undertaking drainage improvement works on the Castle Moffat road from Tuesday 19th February 2019 for approximately four days, weather permitting.

To comply with current health and safety legislation, it will be necessary to close the road to through vehicular traffic from Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd February between 9am and 4pm daily. No through access will be permitted between the entrances of the Scottish water treatment works during these times. A local diversion route is shown in the attached map.

Vehicles wanting to travel north to Garvald will have to travel south to the B6355 then along to the B6370. Vehicles wanting to travel south from Garvald to Castle Moffat will have to use the same diversion route (see attached drawing EL19762118-003). Emergency vehicle access will be maintained at all times.

Adverse Weather Information

Be prepared! Garvald and Morham can get cut off in the snow in winter and/or have power cuts.

What to do right now:

  • Please let Penny Short (the Community Emergency Co-ordinator) know if you might need extra help in the event of adverse weather or power cuts. This includes if you are vulnerable or have specific health needs, a chronic illness, a requirement for carers or use electrical medical equipment. Please contact Penny using the form below.
  • Pack a small emergency kit and keep it in a safe place at home, in a waterproof bag. Your kit should include a torch and spare batteries (or a wind up torch), a battery-operated radio and spare batteries (or a wind up radio), mobile phone charger, essential medication, some toiletries and a first aid kit, 3 days’ supply of bottled water and ready-to-eat food (that won’t go off), copies of important documents like insurance policies and birth certificates (in case you need to locate these quickly or prove your identity), pencil, paper, a penknife, matches and a whistle.
  • Think about what else you and your family might need, should an emergency occur over an extended period. For example, ensure you have enough food supplies (keep some tinned food and long-life or powdered milk), formula/baby food, pet supplies. Consider purchasing alternative heating methods, a camping stove and an analogue phone (modern digital cordless phones will not work in a power cut).

What to do in adverse weather conditions or a long power cut

  • Keep as warm as possible. Wear layers of clothing and keep at least one room in the house heated.
  • Please try your best to check on vulnerable neighbours and help them to prepare.

Before travelling in severe weather

  • Consider whether you need to travel, or if you can wait until the weather improves
  • Check the weather forecast, and keep up-to-date with the latest weather warnings and road conditions
  • Make sure your car is ready for poor weather (check tyre pressure, windscreen washer supply and fuel levels)
  • Tell someone your destination and when you expect to arrive
  • Allow extra time for your journey
  • Take a fully charged mobile and charger with you
  • Pack an emergency kit in your car. The emergency kit could include a first aid kit, battery jump leads, a torch and spare batteries, a map for unplanned diversions, a blanket, a reflective warning sign. In cold weather, you should also take a shovel for snow, warm clothes and boots, some food, and a warm drink in a flask.

Obtaining information

Listen to local radio:

  • East Coast FM (107.6FM)
  • Forth 1 (97.3FM)
  • Radio Scotland (92-95FM or 810MW)

if you have access to the internet, you can get current information from these websites:

  • Police – www.scotland.police.uk or telephone 999
  • Scottish Fire and Rescue Service – www.firescotland.gov.uk or telephone 999
  • NHS Lothian – www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk or telephone 111
  • Scottish Power – www.spenergynetworks.co.uk or telephone 105 or 0800 0929290
  • Scottish Water – www.scottishwater.co.uk or telephone 0845 6018855
  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency (flooding) – www.sepa.org.uk or telephone 08459 881188
  • East Lothian Council – www.eastlothian.gov.uk or telephone 01620 827827 or out of hours 01875 612818

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This information has also been published on the Community Council web pages so you can access it when necessary.

Village Christmas Dinner

Many thanks to all those who attended last night’s village Christmas Dinner. Moreover, thank you to all those who helped in some way. There has never been so much food on the buffet, especially sweet treats. Garvaldians are both generous and greedy – the latter in a good way of course!

The event was staffed by DoE volunteers and their tips jar yielded £190 at the end of the night, thank you. They were very grateful for the monies and the warm welcome they received.

As always, any thoughts or feedback on the event would be very gratefully received by the organisers. Drop Katy Mowat at email or pop a snail mail note in the letter box at The Rowans.

Garvald and Morham Community Council News

Penny Short has decided that now is the time to stand down from the Community Council and the Chairperson’s role. Penny has served on the council since 2012 and as Chairperson from October that year. She has been a great asset to Garvald & Morham district.

We would all like to thank Penny for her dedication and excellent work over the last few years.

At our last meeting in December, with Penny resigning, the position of Chair was accepted by Phillip White from Garvald who has been the Vice Chair since 2012. The position of Vice Chair was accepted by Anna Derricourt from Morham.

In due course we will be looking for an additional person to join the Council and this will be advertised on the Garvald website soon.

Phillip R White

Chair, Garvald & Morham Community Council