Cramond Campus Update

We were pleased to meet with Michael Ramsay, chair of the Friends of the Cramond Campus.

10 years on the from the development on the old Moray House site, it’s frustrating that the promised sports facilities, health clinic and shops have still not been provided. The community was promised these improvements which were part of the basis of the original planning consent for the new housing.

The Friends group has been doing great work – creating some exciting suggestions for how the southern fields could be used for the benefit of the wider community, including our local schools. As new councillors for Cramond, they have our full support.

We will raise this with the new convener of planning (once they are appointed). We intend to make it clear that the developer must deliver what was promised to the people of Cramond.

Liberal Democrats score HUGE victory in Almond ward

New councillors, Kevin Lang and Louise Young want to say a huge THANK YOU for the fantastic support they received in the recent council election. The result was pretty overwhelming – just look at the party first preferences totals:

Liberal Democrats – 7,217 (51%)
SNP – 3,211 (22%)
Con – 2,395 (17%)…
Lab – 786 (6%)
Green – 375 (3%)

Kevin and Louise said, “During the campaign, we promised to be a hard working and effective team of local councillors. That’s why we are getting straight to work, holding our first meetings in the City Chambers.

“We will be getting our telephone, email and surgery details all confirmed over the coming days. We will also start work on the issues we campaigned on so strongly over the last few weeks. As promised, we will keep in touch through regular newsletters and email updates.

“We are honoured to be your voices on Edinburgh City Council. We will now work as hard as we can to repay the trust which local people have placed in us.”

Why the SNP are wrong on their plans for Cammo

barnton-junction

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been inundated with letters, emails and phone calls from people angry at the Council’s decision to turn over the Cammo fields for up to 700 new houses.

People are dismayed by the decision of SNP and Labour councillors, a decision described to me as “outrageous”, “senseless” and “deeply damaging”.

Residents are rightly concerned about the traffic impact on the Barnton junction and Queensferry Road.  They are worried about the effect on schools and GP services.  They also don’t understand why so much greenbelt would be turned over for housing when brownfield sites continue to sit unused.

Even worse was the decision of the local SNP councillor for Cramond to actually vote in favour of the plans, despite huge local opposition.   It is astonishing that he didn’t even speak during the Council debate to highlight local concerns.  It’s just not good enough.

We are now just a few weeks away from the Council elections when many current councillors have said they will retire. It means the new Council could look very different from the one which took the decision to approve the Local Development Plan.

On too many occasions, Edinburgh City Council has voted to approve new housing without the proper infrastructure being put in place.  We need to stop them making the same mistakes all over again.

That is why I will, if elected your new councillor, seek to table a motion to the new Council to overturn this decision and reject the Local Development Plan.

Street light out in your area? – let us know

streetlights

The local Lib Dem team always work to ensure broken street lights are replaced as quickly as possible.

Click here to report a broken street light in your area

Lib Dem council candidate Kevin Lang said, “I’ve already managed to get a number of broken street lights fixed by the council.  I report lights and ensure that they are monitored until fixed. Street lighting is important for safety and security of road users and pedestrians. For street lamp repairs it helps to know what address the lamp is located by, or the number from the lighting column.”

You can report street lighting by filling in this form and Kevin will make the report.

Kevin said, “If you notice a problem in the local area then please report it. It takes just a couple of minutes to let us know and it helps us look after the area.”

Edinburgh Airport publishes new Master Plan

Edinburgh Airport has just published a new master plan with a deadline of 23 December for making comments.

The master plan sets out how the airport plans to grow over the next 25 years. It is separate to the airport’s recent flight paths consultation where local MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton and I are campaigning strongly for changes to route aircraft further away from Cramond and Barnton on departure.

Most of this new master plan document covers future traffic projections and how land around the airport will be used in the years to come. However, it also looks at road access, public transport as well as how the airport will manage noise and other impacts.

Importantly, the airport now says it plans to close the secondary (cross wind) runway at some point in the future. This is to make way for an expansion of the terminal and new aircraft parking stands.

Alex Cole-Hamilton and I are looking carefully at the 50 page document and will be submitting a response. However, several things already stand out to us;

* The need for a tougher attitude on excessive noise. The noise thresholds for fining aircraft need to be lowered and the fines increased.
* The need for a greater commitment to limit night time flights and introduce similar restrictions already in place at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.
* There is insufficient commitment to improving public transport to and from the north west of Edinburgh where we know there is demand for new bus links.

These are just some of the points we will be making in our response.

You can view the master plan document an details of how to respond here

http://www.edinburghairport.com/about-us/airport-expansion

Please remember that all comments have to be submitted by 23 December.

You can also get in touch with Alex and I with any specific comments by 15 December. This will ensure we can consider how we can incorporate your views into our own response.

Fresh doubts over Gogar ‘Garden City’ development

Fresh doubts have been raised over the proposed 1,300 homes ‘Garden City Development’ at Gogarburn.

It follows the decision of Scottish Government Ministers to review and decide on the proposal following an objection to the plans from the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (Sasa) agency.

City councillors passed the planning application last June, despite the land rejected in the Local Development Plan which zones land for housing. Liberal Democrat councillors voted against the proposal because of the impact on traffic and the local greenbelt.

It is now thought that a final decision could take another 9 months, continuing the uncertainty for those who would be affected by the development.

Shock as new report finds 40% of Edinburgh roads in need of repair

A major new report has found that almost two in every five roads across in Edinburgh are in is in need of repair.  The report also found that the Labour/SNP administration running the Council has allowed the position to get worse over the last three years.

The report from Audit Scotland found that nearly 40% of streets should be considered for maintenance.

Local council candidate, Kevin Lang said, “This is a damning report for those running Edinburgh City Council.  Maintaining the roads is one of the most basic services which a Council can provide.  Yet Labour and the SNP have let the position get worse over the last three years.

“Every week, I hear from local residents fed up with the pot holes, broken kerbs and faded markings which plague their area.  It’s simply not good enough – we deserve much better than this.  We now need to review budgets and find new money to fix our broken roads.”

 

 

Edinburgh Airport Flightpath consultation

imageLocal residents should have received Edinburgh Airport’s leaflet explaining the current consultation on possible flight path changes.

Most of the impacts are expected to be in West Lothian. However, the local Lib Dem team has already contacted the airport to say how important it is to maintain the current “left turn” before Cramond when aircraft depart to the east.

There is also an opportunity to make this left turn sharper to route Kevin and Alex outside Edinburgh Airport aircraft further away from local residential areas. You can find out more at the airport’s dedicated website www.letsgofurther.com.

The deadline for responses is 12 September 2016.

Local MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton said, “With more and more flights coming into Edinburgh, it is vital that the Airport act as responsible neighbours and act on the wishes of local people. Please make sure your voice is heard in this important consultation.”

You can add your support for the campaign by printing off the form below and sending it back using the freepost address.

airport petition

Outrage over Cammo housing plans

The local Lib Dem team, Alex Cole-Hamilton and Kevin Lang have promised to keep fighting after a report from the SNP Scottish Government supported turning over the Cammo fields for the buildings of hundreds of new houses.

After a year long review of the council’s Local Development Plan, officials for the SNP led Scottish Government backed the inclusion of the Cammo fields for the city wide housing plan.

The government recommended that separate plans for housing at Craigiehall opposite the Cramond Brig should be delayed until the next planning review.

The Council is now set to consider and agree a final plan by the end of the year. Local MSP,

Alex Cole-Hamilton said, “I’ve been proud to stand with local residents against the loss of greenbelt land at Cammo. The situation has already changed since the plan was handed over to the Scottish Government last year. The Council recently approved the first stages of the Garden City housing development at Gogar to help respond to the city’s housing shortfall. This means the fight must go on to save the Cammo fields from development.”

Council candidate, Kevin Lang said, “Local people are right to feel to angry. There is an overwhelmingly view within the local community against the loss of the Cammo fields. Everyone who knows our area understands how our local services and transport infrastructure simply cannot cope with a massive housing development on this site. It will only cause further chaos to roads and junctions which are already gridlocked at peak periods.”