An Update By Coucillor Jim Campbell

Forgive me for writing about transport again, but it is a big month for roads in Council. The recent ‘Living in Trinity’ survey by Scotinform for Trinity Community Council (TCC) did echo my correspondence confirming roads as being the thing residents would most like to see improved in our area, so I think we have a shared concern. But first, what a wonderful tribute to the volunteers and Friends of Starbank Park to host a visit by Prince William and Kate last month. It’s a reminder of all the work local people contribute to making our area such a popular place to live (as the TCC survey confirmed). Secondly, work progresses more or less on schedule to complete phase 1 of Trinity Academy - building the new sports facilities at Bangholm. Phase 2, the rebuild of the main school site, is still in planning. It is likely this will now include the demolition of the mid-century modern tower block as well as many of the low rise buildings that are considered to be in poor condition; the main Victorian building will be kept and refurbished. I’m sure most residents will be familiar with the Spaces for People (SfP) and all the plastic bollards, kerbs and ‘floating’ parking bays & bus stops it has spawned round our city. It was to be a temporary 18 month response to the Public Health Emergency we faced. We are now asked to accept that most SfP schemes will be kept, with some modifications, for an additional 18 months. The intention being, legalities allowing, that they then be made permanent. The extension of SfP beyond the ‘temporary’ basis on which they were legally implemented thus far is through the use of Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders. I very much support experimentation in Local Government. In this case, I fear, it looks more like a case of Gerrymandering in our streets. It doesn’t seem to matter that emergency vehicles response’s are compromised; that our buses are getting stuck in traffic; that the needs of the less-able are ignored; that congestion & resulting pollution are increasing; and all without any data to show what a successful SfP scheme looks like! But SfP is not the only significant transport change we face. In addition, much of the city centre is set to become a Low Emissions Zone in 2024, with penal fines should any drivers enter in vehicles that don’t meet modern emissions standards: Euro 6 for diesel (around September 2015) and Euro 4 for petrol (around January 2006). Edinburgh’s air is now clearer than its been since before the industrial revolution, cleaning our Auld Reekie moniker. The concern with restricting access to our city centre is that it will displace traffic onto other routes, potentially including Ferry Road and Lower Granton Road. Indeed, it is expected to reduce air quality for residents around the edges of the zone. It will certainly curtail the ability of residents with older vehicles to travel North / South through the city centre. We could see Lothian Road, the Mound, the Bridges and east to Abbeyhill all inaccessible to drivers that can’t afford a new vehicle. And then we have proposed City Centre Transformation (closing George Street et al, apparently promoting tourism over locals), the City Mobility Plan (Panglossian vision on the Council website) and emerging proposal to tax work place parking. It’s all very reminiscent of the ambitious plans put forward by David Begg some years ago. Back then, Cllr Begg put the plan to a City wide referendum, where it was overwhelmingly rejected. The Council seems less open to listening to citizens today. Almost 18,000 individuals and businesses responded to the Council’s recent survey on retaining SfP measures. A huge response to a Council survey. A significant majority were opposed, and duly ignored. It’s certainly an impressive act of political courage for the Council administration to promote such ambitious plans again with such little apparent support so close to the next Council Elections in May 2022.

Although the City Chambers remains closed, I can still be contacted on 0131 529 4235, or better still, by email: jim.campbell@edinburgh.gov.uk.