An Update From Councillor Jim Campbell Over the last few days and weeks, local residents in Trinity, and round the country, have eased their way back towards a more normal routine. Many more people are feeling comfortable getting out and about again, though, no doubt, some are still very apprehensive of the risks. The re-opening of local businesses is welcome, and I very much look forward to the return to full time schooling in August, assuming we continue to contain the Cornonavirus. Reasserting the overriding importance of education to Edinburgh was a bit of a fight in the Council; the financial support from the Scottish Government to help cover the additional costs is still uncertain, as are plans to recover any lost classroom time. Of course, Cornonvirus remains a real threat. We are going to have to adapt to living with this new risk. Our critical workers are still out working on the front line, and their employers are still contingency planning for the weeks and months ahead. Health services are focusing back towards routine ailments, and are emphasising how important it is that we do contact our GP if we feel something is wrong – early diagnosis of potentially serious diseases have dropped significantly during the emergency. Many of us are still working from home, and might be to a much greater extent than anyone thought possible at the beginning of this year.
Edinburgh or along our Waterfront. But the Councils approach to this has been somewhat disappointing, and the few changes we have seen seem to satisfy no one. I’m pleased our closest local centre, Stockbridge, is now being considered for improvement, following pressure from all the local Councillors. The stop go consultations on the Open Spaces initiative in general have not built confidence in the Council’s ability to deliver rapid improvements, any more than its ability to find and fill potholes. The rush to ban cars lead to the suggestion that North Bridge and The Mound both be closed, until it was realised this risked cutting our city in half, and that a proper study of journeys across Edinburgh was needed first.
Edinburgh continues the uneasy relationship it has had with the car since the time of David Begg. But the public highway remains the Public highway, and legislation sets a high bar for its closure. Our roads are the key network that keeps us connected as a city. Like any network, the value of whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Closing roads needs to be done with great care; imagine if all our roads were dead ends, we would be living in a maze not a city. I suspect the decade ahead will be a race between technical innovation and regulation. But that’s not new: around 100 years ago the big issue on our roads was Traffic is returning to Scottish roads slightly the storage of, and emissions from, horses. faster than the rest of the UK. The use of The internal combustion engine made public transport remains very low (I welcome those concerns redundant within a decade. the return of the 23 bus). The Council is Some pundits believe electrification and hopeful that more of us will walk or cycle as automation could do the same by 2030! we rebuild our economy, and that car use As ever, I can be contacted at the City will moderate. I would encourage as many Chambers on 0131 529 4235, residents as possible to use “active travel”; or better still, by email at we are very lucky to enjoy such pleasant jim.campbell@edinburgh.gov.uk scenery on a walk or cycle into the centre of 8
