Donald Turvill

3 weeks ago | heraldscotland.com | Donald Turvill

Plans for the contemporary five bedroom house were approved last month after councillors overturned a planning decision (Image: Richard Murphy Architects) An Edinburgh planning meeting where councillors  controversially gave permission for a house to be built on greenspace at the foot of Calton Hill should be rerun amid concerns over "serious procedural failures", local residents have said.

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Donald Turvill

Pupils' phones are stored in the pouches until the end of the school day (Image: City of Edinburgh Council) It is the first day back at school after the May bank holiday weekend. But for pupils of Portobello High in Edinburgh, this is not only the start of a new, truncated week, but also a new approach to tackling a problem we're increasingly warned is eroding the quality of education in classrooms and learners' mental health.

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Donald Turvill

The number of second homes has dropped according to new figures (Image: Newsquest) A council tax surcharge on second homes in Edinburgh has raised an additional £2.7m for the city in its first year. Edinburgh City Council introduced a double council tax charge for second homes last April, bringing the rate in line with that charged to owners of long-term empty properties.

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Donald Turvill

It's been over a year since Edinburg's pandas returned to China. But visitor numbers remain steady thanks to new viral additions to the zoo (Image: Damian Shields) In the ever-toxic world of social media, disinformation, culture wars and extreme content can make being online a minefield of misery at the best of times. But since almost the dawn of the internet there has been one antidote to the chaos that's never faltered: amusing videos of cute animals.

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Donald Turvill

There have been increasing complaints about class and background-based discrimination at the University of Edinburgh (Image: Damian Shields) The University of Edinburgh has withdrawn guidance urging students from privileged backgrounds to not be “snobs” which has been criticised for undermining efforts to tackle discrimination on campus.