🚨 CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Parliament Success & Urgent Action Needed at the Town Hall! 🚨

🏛️ 1. Success at Holyrood with Jamie Langan MSP

Yesterday morning our campaign delegation stepped into the Scottish Parliament for a high-stakes briefing with Regional MSP Jamie Langan.

The meeting was a tremendous success. Jamie took our evidence on board. He confirmed that his office will actively seek cross-party cooperation within Holyrood to ensure our regional representatives stand completely united behind Penicuik. The political pressure on the council is officially doubling.

🚜 2. The Smoking Gun: Council Excavators Crushing Land Drains

Following our recent formal enquiries to the council leadership warning them about the fragile, 250-year-old artificial drainage network under Site R26, the Roads Department sprang into action. They scrambled heavy excavation machinery to the ditch line across from Laverock Drive to try a rapid, emergency clearout.

Their heavy machinery has completely crushed and smashed the historic sub-surface clay land drains, physically plugging the underground groundwater channels with mud and broken tile. Furthermore, they stripped the banks of vegetation, leaving raw, vertical mud walls that face an immediate landslide risk during the next rain. This visually proves our exact point: if the council's own maintenance team cannot navigate this slope with a single digger without fracturing the underlying drainage system, the ground is completely structurally unviable for a heavy, 222-home concrete housing estate. 

🏛️ 3. Packed Town Hall Needed: Special Meeting (Monday 14 September)

This Monday night is our biggest opportunity to show our collective community power. The Community Council has suspended all other business to give our town the floor.

When: Monday, 14 September from 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Where: Penicuik Town Hall (Downstairs Main Hall)
Who: Ward councillors have been invited to attend.
 
🗣️ 4. Turn Up, Voice Concerns, & Share Info!

This is a vital opportunity for the community to speak up. There will be an open floor for you to share information, ask questions, and voice your personal concerns directly in front of our attending ward representatives. Your local knowledge and real-world experiences are our strongest weapons.
 
✍️ 5. Log Your Submissions on the Spot!

Monday night is a hands-on action night. Alongside the open discussion, we are running a Community Submissions Workshop inside the hall to ensure our voices cannot be ignored before the 25 September deadline.

We will be sharing our newly updated, fact-backed Technical Objection Guides.
There will be dedicated Scribe Tables with laptops and volunteers ready to help you cleanly type and structure your personal objection letters on the spot.

Pack the hall out, bring your neighbours, and let’s make it completely clear that Penicuik will not allow flawed data and destructive planning choices to destroy our green spaces. ❌🚜🌲