Update From Councillor Jim Campbell

Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion

March Council included an unusual debate on the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion, Chalmers Street. This fantastic facility, described as a “Jewel in the Crown” of NHS Lothian, was due to move to a new facility at Little France. This makes perfect sense: reuniting a world renowned specialist unit with the Royal Infirmary and Medical School, not to mention the BioQuarter’s research. This plan was thrown into doubt when the Scottish Government seemed to withdraw a previous offer of funding. What made this unusual was a desire of Councillors to speak with one voice. All too often, Council ends up polarised between different groups taking one absolute position or another. After some debate (and a couple of breaks for back room negotiations) it was agreed the Council Leader, Deputy Leader and all the Group Leaders would write to the Jeane Freeman, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary, making plain the support for the Eye Pavilion and, critically, calling on her to restore the budget for the project. Bismarck is sometimes quoted comparing democracy unfavourably to the making of sausages. That may be true, but the search for compromise seems to me to be a worthwhile approach to decision making in Local Authorities.

City Mobility Plan

The Transport and Environment Committee recently approved a new City Mobility Plan, which can be found on the Council website. Some Edinburgh residents might spot a certain familiarity with similar plans for Edinburgh going back at least 20 years. I certainly have some concerns about what it will mean to residents on the North side of the city. How easy will it be for them to travel north/south through the city centre. Our predecessors went to great efforts to overcome the Waverley Valley, taking great pride in the mounds and bridges they built. It would be a real shame to lose easy access to those connections. Similarly, for traffic heading east/west, there is a real concern if it is simply to be displaced from the central routes onto the likes of Ferry Road or Lower Granton Road. In addition, the movement patterns of people in a post pandemic world are quite uncertain, and we seem to be on the brink of what could be significant disruption in the way things move due to innovative technologies. Time will tell if this latest iteration makes much difference to the state of our roads, pavements and paths, which remain the issues that most locals contact me on. A few readers might remember the 1949 Abercrombie Plan with its grand ‘paper’ visions; sometimes incremental improvements can deliver more on the ground.

Scottish Parliamentary Elections, 6 May 2021

Spotlight readers will know there are few public services I would consider of greater importance than education. One is maintaining our democracy: something the Council has a key role in. Our Chief Executive is the local Returning Officer, many Council Officers help to support the election, and many Council buildings are used so citizens can cast their votes in a suitable place in person. I am glad to report the number of schools that need to be closed to become Polling Places is significantly lower than in previous years, following strenuous efforts to find alternative venues. But some schools will not be open for students on the day of the election, 6 May 2021, as things stand. If you would rather avoid going out to cast your vote, there is still a little time to apply for a Postal Vote. You can find the forms to register to vote (if you are not already on the Electoral Role) or to apply for a postal vote to the Lothian Valuation Joint Board website https://www.lothian-vjb.gov.uk/electoralforms/. The deadline to return applications is 6 April. I would encourage everyone to vote.

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