Since launching the Commonplace platform at the end of May along with a dedicated inbox, the city of Edinburgh received 4105 comments and ideas for making streets more accessible and welcoming. This will help to inform existing measures and those coming forward over the coming weeks and months.
Officers have been monitoring feedback and identifying trends, with key issues highlighted including traffic speeds, traffic volume and the need for wider pavements and cycles lanes to support easier movement by foot, bike and on wheels while physical distancing remains in place. People clearly want to see measures which focus on these areas and officers are working hard to design proposals which reflect this.
In the town centers,residents and businesses have called for wider pavements, parking restrictions and the reduction of street clutter to support the reopening of shops and other businesses. Plans will soon be coming forward which directly respond to these overarching issues, and any specific ideas will be used to refine projects where possible.
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Finlay Turnbull
October 27, 2020 at 12:30 am
“In the town centres, residents and businesses have called for wider pavements, parking restrictions and the reduction of street clutter to support the reopening of shops and other businesses.”
As an Edinburgh resident I can tell you that is categorically untrue. In Morningside, dozens of shops have had the parking spaces removed outside their stores to create ‘extended pavements’. Angry at this decision, affected Morningside businesses spoke to the press and asked for the ‘extended pavements’ to be removed. The council didn’t listen, refused to remove the cones that formed the ‘extended pavements’ and spent tens of thousands of pounds upgrading the cones first to red traffic cylinders and then to concrete blocks with black thin cylinders on top. Morningside businesses have presented the loss of income to the council caused by the ‘extended pavements’ and asked for the ‘extended pavements’ to be removed but the council won’t budge. Thousands of angry Edinburgh residents have signed a petition asking for the Morningside ‘extended pavements’ to be removed. In contrast, not even 100 supported the Morningside ‘extended pavements’ on the Commonplace tool you mentioned in your article. To make matters worse, the Leader of The City of Edinburgh Council’s boyfriend said on Twitter he would boycott a businesses who’s owner spoke out against the new ‘extended pavements’.
Maybe you should ask businesses for a comment before you write misleading information.
Here is a link to a BBC News article from July which contains businesses speaking out about the new parking restrictions the City of Edinburgh Council has subject them to. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-53584305
Here are links to 2 articles from this month which explains the devastating impact the Morningside parking restrictions are having on businesses. https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/lifestyle/food-and-drink/controversial-road-revamp-having-detrimental-impact-edinburgh-businesses-2994812
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/we-begged-not-it-lucas-19055255
Here is a link to an article which details how the Morningside parking restrictions caused an elderly person to badly injure themselves. https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/controversial-morningside-covid-parking-restrictions-19040539
Finally, here is a link to a petition signed by over 4,000 people calling for the City of Edinburgh Council to remove the parking restrictions. https://www.change.org/p/edinburgh-city-council-stop-edinburgh-council-killing-the-high-street-parking-removal?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_23027517_en-GB%3A0&recruited_by_id=00164b80-d3f9-11ea-a916-59d5633d8c77&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial
Pablo Valerio
October 28, 2020 at 10:45 am
Thank you for your comment, and sharing your views.
This news article was entirely composed with information from the City of Edinburgh press site. We have not changed any relevant details. Also, we’d be happy to publish your views on a separate article if you can share your contact information with us.
Thanks again,
the editors.