I’m pleased to say that the Council has finally, after 11 weeks obfustication (it should have been just 7 days) agreed to open our Council petition for signatures. Please sign it at http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/directory_record/1095784/call_for_independent_air_study_analysing_the_likely_impact_of_ccwel_road_layout_changes_on_roseburn_terrace_no2_pollution_levels
It is open until 10th July. (If you want to tell others, the tinyurl I have made to get to it is at www.tinyurl.com/roseburnplea )
It has suffered numerous revisions, but thanks to pressure from local Councillor Scott Douglas, the officers finally agreed. The new Roseburn Vision 5-minute video at www.tinyurl.com/roseburnplume explains why action is needed. Homes and shops on the south of Roseburn Terrace will be facing levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution far above the legal maximum of 40 µg/m3 if the cycle track goes ahead. A 9 year old girl died in London through asthma attacks brought on by levels of 56 µg/m3 . We believe Roseburn will get the same.
We note the Council removed the air monitoring device in 2009 there and only replaced it in 2017. We lodged an FOI on this on 4th April (see it at www.tinyurl.com/roseburnair); the Council’s response was so laughable (they said smokers from the pub made the data collected unreliable!) that, after getting an Internal Review that changed nothing, we have asked the Information Commissioner to examine it.
At Transport Committee on 16th May, in response to a direct query from Cllr Gillian Gloyer, Council officer Ewan Kennedy lied to the Cllrs when he claimed an air study had been carried out already. The study to which he referred was a study on traffic flows looking at whether signalling at the traffic lights would ease fears of increased congestion. See the video of the meeting at www.tinyurl.com/pollutionscandal
Traders met with MSP Ruth Davidson on 10th June and showed her the signatures from 60 residents and traders whose health will suffer (her office is directly affected); she is considering raising concerns with the Environment Minister.
The Murrayfield Community Council (MCC) support the petition and voted to call for an air study on 14th May. It will be discussing the air pollution at its forthcoming meetings; to find out when they are and to keep up to date on developments, go to www.kidsnotsuits.com/roseburnvision
Other news is that the notices have come through for the traffic regulation orders. Those who objected last year will have the chance to make their case to the Government Reporter in early August. Most objections are about the removal of parking and to elements of poor road re-design. Some are about pollution. The Reporter (I think he is a retired planner, who was appointed in January specifically to adjudicate on this matter on behalf of the Scottish Government Transport Dept) will hear our pleas in early August. We will be pressing him on the pollution matter, as we believe the CCWEL now, at Roseburn Terrace South, represents a risk to our health. You can read all the objections at http://www.kidsnotsuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Objections-by-Category_588990.pdf (there are 60 pages!)
Finally, it would be good if you could respond to the Council’s “Transformation” consultation. You may have heard of plans to ban all diesel cars older than 5 years from parts of the city. At the May Transport Committee I reiterated the case that SEPA had made last November when they observed this was unlikely to be effective in tackling the real pollutant, NO2. Cars made 4 years ago (under Euro 6) are not really any better than cars made 6 years ago (under Euro 5), so the Council is putting city diesel drivers to a lot of unnecessary fear and possible expense. I made the point to the Committee that what the Council should be doing is sensitive congestion charging, bikes on buses, free travel for children, etc (it’s in the meeting video above), but they ignored me.
Please contribute your views to the consultation– some fear that banning vehicles from the city centre will just lead to more cars driving through Roseburn, so you might like to make that point. See it at https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/ce/edinburgh-city-centre-transformation-proposed-stra/ It closes in one week’s time, on the 28th June.
A Council officer from the Transport Dept will be attending the MCC meeting on Tuesday 25th June – please come along and hear it from the horse’s mouth. The meeting will be at Murrayfield Church Hall, starting at 7.30pm
Best wishes
Pete Gregson