Hello everyone,
I want to say a sincere "thank you" for signing the petition I started on 8th October 2020. I'm not a political activist, just a resident and Council Tax payer like you, who is frustrated by the undemocratic way the Council is conducting its business.
The petition has now been signed by 1368 supporters and I have passed on the comments and signatures to Edinburgh City Council Transport and Environment Committee.
The committee met on Wednesday 28th October to review feedback following "consultation" (although whom they consulted is far from clear!). A very readable summary of the meeting has been posted by Cllr. Scott Arthur on his blog:
It is obvious that the Council intends to push on with these proposals, regardless of opposition from the majority of those it consulted. This will result in work beginning in January 2021.
The Transport and Environment Committee will meet on 12th November to make a final decision on the proposals.
Even if you emailed them previously, now would be a great time for you to email the councillors on the committee to remind them of your concerns.
The committee's membership is:
lesley.macinnes@edinburgh.gov.uk (Chair)
karen.doran@edinburgh.gov.uk
Scott.Arthur@edinburgh.gov.uk
eleanor.bird@edinburgh.gov.uk
gavin.corbett@edinburgh.gov.uk
david.key@edinburgh.gov.uk
kevin.lang@edinburgh.gov.uk
C.Miller@edinburgh.gov.uk
stephanie.smith@edinburgh.gov.uk
susan.webber@edinburgh.gov.uk
iain.whyte@edinburgh.gov.uk
Please include each member of the committee in your email.
Points to make might include:
· challenging their mandate for these invasive changes to residents' neighbourhoods without consultation.
· challenging the justification for bringing in these measures under COVID powers (so called TTROs or temporary traffic regulation orders, which allow normal consultation to be bypassed).
· challenging why they are set on pushing forward despite clear opposition from residents and business owners.
· explaining the impact it will have on you, e.g. losing parking outside your home; increasing standing traffic outside your home (think delivery vans and buses); making it more difficult or even dangerous to enter / leave your property, or to access leisure facilities or shops at peak times.
· challenging the "green credentials" of this move. There's going to be more standing traffic, which means more air pollution. Not to mention the large volume of plastic to be used in creating the infrastructure of this "temporary" scheme.
· challenging them to explain what are the quantitative measures of success for the scheme -- fewer accidents? lower air pollution? more cyclists on the road? They should be able to give some impressive numbers if they believe this scheme will make a difference, otherwise why are they doing it?
· asking them about the reversibility of the scheme. It's meant to be "temporary", so will there be money set aside to remove the new infrastructure at the end of the temporary period? If not, then how can it be genuinely temporary?
So what's next? If the decision on 12th November goes in favour of the proposals then there is only a short window for action. Would you consider crowd funding a legal challenge to the Council? Let me know what you think about this idea by emailing me here:
derryckreid "at" gmail.com
My understanding is that East Craig residents are going down a crowd-funded legal route. Legal opinion which they have already obtained shows that the Council is on shaky ground with their proposals.
Thanks for your support.
Prof. Derryck Reid