Help us stop ANOTHER Cammo housing development

Sign our petition to stop even more building at Cammo here

Cllr Kevin Lang, Christine Jardine MP, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP and Cllr Louise Young want to stop the loss of even more greenbelt at Cammo.

Housing developers are pushing Edinburgh Council to turn over more greenbelt land at Cammo for even more new housing.

This would on land just to the south of where hundreds of new homes are already being built next to Maybury Road.

Sign our petition to stop the loss of even more Cammo greenbelt to housing

Local Liberal Democrats opposed the first Cammo development. We think it would be madness to turn over more local greenbelt land for even more housing at this location. Additional housing should be focused on the many brownfield sites sitting empty or unused.

Edinburgh Council will have to agree a new local development plan later this year. This will decide what areas are kept protected in the greenbelt and what areas are released for more homes.

We think it is critical this area at Cammo is kept in the greenbelt. Please sign OUR PETITION today to add your support to our campaign.

Help us protect this local greenbelt by signing our petition.

Good news on the Barnton junction

Back in March, we brought forward a motion to an influential new committee of the Council, calling for action to tackle the congestion at the Barnton Junction.
We know the junction is already gridlocked at peak periods and this is before the plans for almost 700 new homes at Cammo.
At this month’s North West Locality Committee and in response to our motion, Council officials agreed to look at a series of improvements and changes to try and improve flow.
Yellow “no waiting” hatching paint marking will be painted on the junction to try and prevent vehicle blocking.  Officials will also look at the option of building in a third southbound lane on Whitehouse Road and a third northbound lane on Maybury Road.
We are pleased that Council officers have now agreed to consider a number of changes to the junction. These could certainly help to ease some of the congestion in the short term. However, we know there are much bigger and wider issues that need to be addressed and before potentially thousands of new homes are built nearby.
It is clear we need a proper strategic plan for the whole A90 corridor. It must look seriously at public transport improvements and how current and new bus services can be prioritised along the A90. We also need to open discussions with other councils like Fife where decisions around charging for park and rides will only add to the congestion we face.
We also want to say a huge thank you and well done to the chair and secretary of the Cramond and Barnton Community Council who attended the committee and gave a presentation on why action at the Barnton junction is so desperately needed.

Major road works for Queensferry Road / Quality Street, Davidson’s Mains

A major programme of road works are due to start from Monday 18 June affecting Queensferry Road and much of Davidson’s Mains village.

The works by Scottish Power and their subcontractor Clancey Docwra are part of a major project to upgrade their power cabling. To do this Scottish Power need to open cut the road from their substation on Quality Street to another substation on Clermiston Road North.

Traffic management will be placed on Quality Street from early on 17 June in preparation for the work starting the next day.  (The work has been moved back from the original 16 June date in order to avoid any impact on the Davidson’s Mains Gala Day).

  • First phase (Two weeks from 17 June) – Quality Street will be closed northbound.  Traffic will not be able to exit onto Quality Street from Queensferry Road.  Southbound traffic will continue to be able to access Queensferry Road from Quality Street.  This will impact on the eastbound Lothian 21 and 41 bus services which will be diverted (details still be to published).
  • Because of the diversions along Corbiehill Road, there will be three way temporary lights at the Main Street/Corbiehill Road junction to assist traffic and public transport.

  • The second phase (likely starting from 30 Jun / 1 Jul) – The contractor will work along Queensferry Road from Quality Street heading westbound towards Clermiston Road North. Queensferry Road will be down to a single lane in each direction with Clermiston Road North closed to aid traffic. The pedestrian crossing at Davidson Mains park will remain in operation.
  • Scottish Power have four weeks to finish their works in Queensferry Road and must be off the road by the end of July. If Scottish Power has not completed their works they will return during the October school holidays.

Even with the traffic management arrangements, we know this work will cause significant delays and inconvenience.

We have been assured that Scottish Power will be working on site seven days a week and working long shifts to get the works completed as quickly and safely as possible.

Council officers will be closely monitoring the works throughout but especially during the first few days of each phase when traffic is adjusting to the traffic management arrangements.  They will look to make whatever changes that are necessary.

You can see the letter which Scottish Power are delivering to those living closest to the affected areas.

Letter for letter drop Davision mains project

Davidson’s Mains Park improvements

Council officials are now consulting on final plans to improve walking and cycling in Davidson Mains Park.

The existing path between Queensferry Road and East Barnton Avenue, which is part of the John Muir Way, is narrow, only partially surfaced and poorly lit. This makes it substandard and unattractive for people to use for walking, cycling and wheelchair access.

The project will improve the width, surfacing and lighting of the path in the Park between Queensferry Road to East Barnton Avenue.

You can see a summary of the project and what is involved on the link below.

Davidson Mains_summary sheet_Final

The full design proposals can be found on the Council’s active travel homepage, via this link:

https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/copy-of-cycling-and-walking-grange-rd-fd/consult_view/

Residents can submit views by 14 April 2018. Officals are currently aiming for construction of the proposals to commence Autumn 2018.

Resurfacing works to the Silverknowes-Blackhall path

Major resurfacing and drainage works are to take place on the cyclepath connecting Silverknowes and Blackhall.  The work will commence on 7th March and will last for approximately three weeks until 23rd March 2018.

The working hours will be between 0730hrs and 1730hrs Monday to Friday. There is no planned weekend working.

Potential path closures

Due to the nature of the works, officials have told us it will be necessary to  include footpath closures. Local diversions around work activities (may require dismounting and walking on verges)

  1. Path closures – with diversion routes taken between accessible ramp accesses.  Please see this diversion map 
  2. Information boards will be displayed at closure points with maps of the diversion routes for onward journeys.  Please note that some diversion routes may require cycling on trafficked roads and dismounting for crossings.

Getting action on pot holes and broken pavements

Today was budget day in the Council. Along with our fellow Liberal Democrat councillors, we proposed an extra £4.5 million to sort out the disgraceful state of roads and pavements in the city. This was 5 times what the SNP/Labour administration were proposing in terms of additional investment.

Kevin used his budget speech to talk about why this investment was so important to sort out pot holes and broken pavements in many of the areas we represent.

Unfortunately, SNP and Labour councillors running the city rejected our proposals. We will keep fighting to get action in our communities but that job has been made more difficult by the refusal of the administration to invest the money needed.

Major roadworks planned for Barnton junction and Queensferry Road (Feb/Mar 2018)

We have been informed of major road works to resurface parts of the Barnton junction and Queensferry Road.  These will start on 26 February and involve closures, temporary traffic lights and diversions so it is important for people to plan ahead.

The works will take place in the evenings and at night in order to avoid the busy peak traffic periods.  The roads should be open as normal during the day.

Details of local bus diversions can be found here

 

  • 26 February – 11 March: Barnton junction resurfacing

 

The junction carriageway on the Queensferry Road at the junction with Whitehouse Road is to be completely resurfaced. These works should take around two weeks to do but could be completed earlier if there is good weather.

The works will start at 7pm each weekday evening with the noisier operations stopping at 11pm.  Quieter work will continue into the early hours of the morning. This will allow the works to be carried out during times of low traffic volumes and therefore reduces the risk of congestion and delay.

The junction will be open to traffic from 7am-7pm each day as normal.  However, when work is being carried out in the evening and at night, the junction will be closed to east bound traffic along Queensferry Road.

A diversion system will therefore operate along Whitehouse Road, Gamekeeper’s Road and Cramond Road South when the east bound part of Queensferry Road is closed.  Residents here should therefore expect a significant increase in city bound traffic during this time.  You can see a detailed map showing the diversion arrangement here.

Map showing the diversion during Barnton junction works

  • 12 – 25 March: Queensferry Road surfacing

The second part of the resurfacing works will take place on Queensferry Road near the Parkgrove shops.

These are due to start on 12 March and will take two weeks, subject to weather.  Just like the Barnton junction works, the resurfacing will take place each weekday evening from 7pm and with the noisier operations stopping at 11pm. Again, this will allow the works to be carried out during times of low traffic volumes and therefore reduces the risk of congestion and delay.

The junction will be open to traffic from 7am-7pm each day as normal.  However, when work is being carried out, the entrance to Barnton Park Drive from Queensferry Road will be closed off.  Access to and from the Barton Park estate will have to be via Barnton Grove and Whitehouse Road.

The flow of traffic along Queensferry Road will be controlled using temporary traffic lights and a contraflow.  You can see a detailed map showing some of these arrangements here.

Map showing works and contraflow arrangements on Queensferry Road

Whilst we are pleased to see that works are being timetabled to try and minimise disruption, the nature of the junction and the Queensferry Road means we still expect delays.  We would encourage all our constituents to plan ahead and allow more time for their journeys.

Kevin and Louise help force action on gritting

At this week’s meeting of the full Council, we were pleased to work with other Liberal Democrat and opposition councillors to ensure there is a proper review of the Council’s gritting operations.

The whole gritting and winter resilience plan has caused a huge amount of frustration amongst our constituents over the last two months. The colder weather created treacherous conditions in many parts of the city and the response from the Council was wholly inadequate.

However, Council officials admitted the online gritting map is completely out of date. Grit bins have been left empty, days even weeks after being reported. Requests for new grit bins appear to go into a big black hole and school bus routes were left ungritted, forcing pupils to miss school. That is why we thought it was so important for lessons to be learned and big changes made for next winter.

In the end, the Council voted unanimously for a motion to review the priority routes.  The motion also included our own amendment to improve the whole system of requesting new grit bins which is cumbersome, difficult and also ensure the online grit bin and prioriy route map, which so many people rely on, is kept properly up to date (currently, many grit bins and priority routes are missing from the map).

Here was the full text of the motion passed:

“Council

Acknowledges the good work carried out by Council staff in servicing Priority 1 routes during the recent snowy and icy weather, to keep the city moving and minimise accidents and injuries;

However, recognises that a significant number of roads and pavements outwith Priority 1 – across large swathes of Edinburgh – received no gritting treatment and that many suburban grit bins were empty or not refilled in a timely manner, creating hazard for many people such as the elderly, disabled and active travellers.

Calls for a report to the Transport and Environment Committee within three cycles reviewing the continued suitability and responsiveness of the current priority system, including, but not limited to, consideration of how the council can better service suburban and other ‘non priority’ areas; give due consideration to the divergent topography and thermal make-up of the city; make better use of technology like ‘routesmart’ to improve response times; and better advertise, service and encourage safe use of grit bins by local residents in their community.

  • Council further:
    • recognises the importance of providing residents with accurate information via the online
    winter road and pavement maintenance map and notes that officials have admitted the
    current map does not include all grit bin locations or show all current priority gritting
    routes.
    • acknowledges the current difficulties in obtaining information on the status of new grit bin
    requests and the decision making processes involved in the siting of new grit bins

Council therefore agrees that the report to Committee should also cover:
• how the updating of the online map will be made a priority for next winter.
• the potential to develop the online map in order to provide real time information on
planned and completed gritting of priority routes.
• the improvements that can be made to the processes for requesting new grit bins and the
information that is available on the status of new grit bin requests.

Demolition of Silverlea Care Home, Muirhouse Parkway


The demolition of the former Silverlea residential care home on land at Muirhouse Parkway is due to start on Monday 15th January and will last for approximately 14 weeks.

These works will include demolition of the main care home structure and garages/outbuildings and clearance of the site. The demolition will be carried out by Daltons Demolition, although sub-contractors may be used for some parts of the work. Site security will also be provided by a private security contractor for the duration of the works.

All works will be contained within the care home site and there will be no impact on Muirhouse Parkway itself.

As councillors, we have also pressed officials to make sure the work is carried out in a way which minimises the noise impact on those living nearby.

We have had it confirmed that the contractor’s standard working week will be Monday to Friday, however on occasion there may be works carried out on Saturdays (8am-3pm) if
required.