Fireworks – local team push for action

Earlier this month, we received many emails and telephone calls from constituents concerned about the misuse of fireworks over the Guy Fawkes weekend.

People told us they were petrified to leave their houses. Local newspapers described some communities we represent as being like “war zones”. One local police officer even had to be rushed to hospital after being injured from a thrown firework.

Of course, the vast majority of local residents buy, use and enjoy fireworks in a safe and responsible manner. But a small minority are causing damage, distress and misery for many.

That is why we brought a motion before today’s meeting of Edinburgh City Council calling for action. It was passed unanimously and means the Council Leader will now write to both the UK and Scottish Governments calling for a review and changes before next November.

Here is our full motion passed today;

FIREWORKS

Council;

1. recognises that the vast majority of Edinburgh residents enjoy fireworks responsibly as part of the annual Guy Fawkes night celebrations,

2. commends those working in Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and other agencies for their commitment, bravery and professionalism in seeking to protect our local communities from harm,

3. condemns the reported acts of violence which took place in some parts of Edinburgh around 5 November, including fireworks being thrown at emergency service staff, and expresses its sympathy and support to those who suffered injury,

4. acknowledges motion S5M-08695 which was recently tabled to the Scottish Parliament and which has received cross party support, calling on (i) the UK Government to review the rules governing the sale of fireworks, and (ii) the Scottish Government and its partner agencies to investigate and address the antisocial use of unlicensed fireworks,

5. agrees for the Leader of the Council to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills to express the Council’s support for both reviews so new measures can be considered and, where possible, implemented before 5 November 2018.”

Consultation on new high school arrangements for Kirkliston pupils

The replacement Queensferry High School currently awaiting planning permission will be built to a capacity of 1,200.  Due to the growth of Queensferry through the housing sites allocated in the Local Development Plan (which local Liberal Democrat councillors opposed), a catchment review is required to reduce the number of primary schools feeding into Queensferry High.

Without a catchment review the projections for the new Queensferry High School suggest a capacity of up to 1800 would be required.  This is significantly more than the largest high schools in the city and would be too large a school to establish on the available school site.

The report to the Council’s education committee stated the catchment review would most likely involve the transfer of Kirkliston from the current Queensferry High School catchment area to the catchment area for the new High School which is proposed in the west of Edinburgh.

The Council also agreed that discussions should take place with West Lothian Council to determine whether an alternative option would be for Kirkliston Primary School to feed into a new nondenominational high school planned for Winchburgh.

Council officials have been running an informal consultation on the options.

Two presentation evenings were recently held at Kirkliston Pimary and Queensferry Secondary.  The Parent Councils of both schools worked hard to hear the views from members of both school communities in order that a detailed response could be submitted
to the Council as part of that informal consultation process. The consultation ran until Friday 24 November and Council officials have been considering the responses received.

You can see the full details through the letter which was issued to parents below along with a map showing the location of the new Winchburgh school and possible sites for the new West of Edinburgh High School.

As your local councillors, we are not yet taking a position on the options available but are keen to hear local views.  The final decision will be taken by the full Council and a further update is expected this month.

We will keep residents posted as these matters move forward.

Kirkliston Primary – consultation (letter)

Kirkliston Primary – consultation (map)

Burnshot bridge to be demolished 24 November

We have now been informed that work to demolish the Burnshot Bridge will take place from 8pm on Friday 24th November, until 5.30am on Monday 27th November.

The A90 will be closed for this entire time, with all traffic being diverted onto the adjacent on- and off-slip roads. Routes for pedestrians and cyclists will not be affected during the works, however bus-stops will be temporarily relocated.

The demolition will be undertaken by a sub-contractor called Beattie Demolition, who are experienced in this type of work having recently demolished the B800 bridge as part of the south approach to the Queensferry Crossing.

Council officials have also organised two information events at Kirkliston Library where representatives from the Council and Contractor will be available to answer any questions from members of the public. The dates for these events are:

  • Tuesday 7th November 2.00pm-4.00pm, and
  • Wednesday 8th November 5.30pm-7.30pm

These are ‘drop-in’ sessions, so the public can arrive at any time, but there will be no formal presentation or meeting as such.

Here is the full report we received from officials.

A90 Burnshot Bridge
Progress Update No 6
27 October 2017

Introduction
This note provides an update to Progress Update No 5 (attached for ease of reference). This will be the final update prior to demolition of the bridge.

Monthly Inspections
These inspections are ongoing to closely monitor the condition of the bridge soffit. The next inspection is on Wednesday 1st November. Depending on the weather in November, this may be the final inspection prior to demolition.

Structural Health Monitoring
The bridge joints may be prone to damage from freeze-thaw action during November and so Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) equipment will be installed by a specialist contractor on 1st – 2nd November. This will enable the Council’s engineers to remotely monitor the temperature within the joints, and any movement of the central span, in the lead-up to demolition.

Traffic Diversion
Installation of the new semi-permanent signage is almost completed on site, and so much of the temporary signage has now been removed. The pedestrian/cyclist barrier on the Northbound slip road will remain until such time the permanent footpath/cycleway is installed.

Site mobilisation
The Contractor, Balfour Beatty will be starting on site on Monday 30th October. Initial work will be to secure the site with fencing, provision of welfare facilities, installation of site cabins and some further site clearance.

Following this will be the installation of a temporary steel service bridge, on concrete foundations. To facilitate these works, there will be some single-lane closures during the day, in addition to night-time carriageway closures. Daytime closures will be timed to avoid the morning and evening peak traffic. Approximately 2000 tonnes of crushed rock will be delivered to site which will be used to protect the carriageway during the demolition.

Once the temporary bridge is installed, the public utilities ducts/cables currently crossing the A90 will be moved from within the existing bridge, to the temporary bridge. There should be no disruption to residents’ power, phone or broadband during this work. This work will take place between 10th and 24th November. The temporary bridge will not be accessible to pedestrians, and will be closed-off to prevent any unauthorised access.

Demolition Works
The demolition weekend has now been confirmed. Demolition works will take place between 20:00 Friday 24th November, and 05:30 Monday 27th November.

The A90 will be closed for this entire time, with all traffic being diverted onto the adjacent on- and off-slips. Whilst the diversions will not add any additional distance to journeys, motorists should allow additional time during the day on Saturday and Sunday. Routes for pedestrians and cyclists will not be affected during the works, however bus-stops will be temporarily relocated.

The bus-stop on the A90 northbound will be relocated to the junction at the end of Burnshot Road.
The demolition will be undertaken by a sub-contractor called Beattie Demolition, who are experienced in this type of work having recently demolished the B800 bridge as part of the south approach to the Queensferry Crossing.

Beattie Demolition will close-off the entire site and no access will be available for members of the public. The concrete and steel reinforcement will be ‘munched’ using specialist machinery. It will fall onto the protective layer over the carriageway below, and be transported away from site.
The road will be open to traffic for the Monday morning rush hour and over the subsequent days, the contractor will demobilise from site.

Community Liaison
Open events will be held in Kirkliston Library where representatives from the Council and Contractor will be available to answer any questions from members of the public. The dates for these events are confirmed as follows:
Tuesday 7th November 2.00pm-4.00pm, and
Wednesday 8th November 5.30pm-7.30pm

These are ‘drop-in’ sessions, so the public can arrive at any time, but there will be no formal presentation or meeting as such.

We will be delivering a letter to residents living in the vicinity of the bridge, with some further information for them.

Dalmeny Station motion success

We proposed our motion at today’s meeting of the Council, calling for action on the parking and other access problems at Dalmeny Station.

We are delighted to say the motion has was passed unanimously. It means Council officials must now develop a specific action plan for consultation with residents by next spring.

We are very grateful to all the councillors from the other parties who supported our motion.  After all, getting action on Dalmeny Station was one of our key promises at the recent council elections.

The station is a critical part of our local public transport system. Passenger numbers having increased significantly over the last 10 years.

However, we know there are many problems being faced by those living close to Dalmeny Station because of the current levels of car parking, with significant commuter parking on nearby roads and in spaces created for residents in new developments.

Worse still, there appears no clear plan from the Council to begin to address these issues. That is why we  tabled our motion at the  full meeting of Council.

Here is the full text of our motion passed today.

Dalmeny Station

Council notes;
1. the importance of Dalmeny Station as part of the City’s public transport system, with over 100 train services between Fife and Edinburgh city centre each day,
2. how the station provides an important alternative to private car journeys into the city, particularly for those residents who work in the centre of Edinburgh,
3. the growth in the populations of Dalmeny, Queensferry and Kirkliston following major programmes of house building which has led to a substantial increase in the numbers using Dalmeny Station, from 361,000 in 2005/6 to 500,000 in 2015/16,
4. the Local Development Plan which designates significant land in rural west Edinburgh for new housing and which is likely to lead to a further increase the number of passengers using the station.

Council recognises;
(A) the problems being faced by those living close to Dalmeny Station because of the current levels of car parking, with significant commuter parking on nearby roads and in spaces created for residents in new developments,
(B) the difficulty created by the limited parking arrangements, which risks creating a disincentive towards using the station, forcing more commuters to choose to use their car to travel into Edinburgh via the busy and congested Barnton junction and Queensferry Road.

Council welcomes the recent improvements at the station, such as an increase in bike storage facilities, but believes this is insufficient in addressing the wider access issues around the station and that further significant action is needed.

Council therefore instructs officials to engage with Scotrail and Transport Scotland and seeks a report to the Transport & Environment Committee within three cycles. This report should set out an action plan for addressing these issues, including proposals to further maximise sustainable transport options to and from the station along with improved parking arrangements which benefit passengers and local residents.

You can hear our speeches proposing and seconding the motion here.

Almondhill Road street light problems

After being told by the street lighting team to say the temporary lighting measures were in place on Stewart Place and Allison Place, we were assured all lights around Almondhill Road in Kirkliston were working properly.

However, after Kevin did a full walk around, he found no fewer than 10 lights still out as follows

In front of

  • 11 Dudgeon Place
  • 3 Dudgeon Place

On footpaths behind

  • 16 Dundas Place
  • 37 Dundas Place
  • 38 Dundas Place
  • 44 Dundas Place
  • 63 Dundas Place
  • 3 Dudgeon Place
  • 9 Dudgeon Place

On footpath next to 23 Almondhill Road

We have reported all of these to the street lighting team and explained how this situation is wholly unacceptable.  We are going to keep up the pressure until these are fixed.

Virgin media works in Kirkliston – pain but no gain for newer developments?

We only recently became aware that, despite all the road works going on through Kirkliston, some of the newer parts of the village may not benefit from the new Virgin super fast broadband services.
The problems stem from the fact many roads in the newer parts of the village are yet to be adopted by the Council.
The adoption process doesn’t start until 2-3 years after the last house is built and roads are not normally adopted until all remedial works are complete and in compliance with the council requirements. There are still disputes outstanding in parts of the village.
Virgin Media cannot lay cabling unless they have permission from the road owner. In many parts of the village, the roads are still owned by the housing developers.  The developers often don’t give permission because of problems in getting a road adopted if they have allowed additional works over and above the original build.
We have confirmed with Virgin that they would lay cables in newer areas off the village if they get permission from developers as land owners.  We have also had confirmation from one of the developers – Barratts that they will give permission if the council confirm it won’t detrimentally affect their road adoption.
We are now working with the Council roads officials to try and get that reassurance.
We have made it clear how the issues should have been flagged to us earlier as councillors so we had more time to try and develop a solution and before.

Important update on Foxhall housing plans – new petition launched

  • Click here to sign our petition against the Foxhall planning application.
  • Click here to get a standard letter/email which you can use to lodge a formal objection.

Earlier today, we received an important update from Council officials on the planning application to build up to 100 homes at Foxhall, just to the east of Kirkliston.

The officials have now confirmed the application will NOT go to the full Council as previously suggested. It will be taken to the planning committee for a decision.

Taking the application to the full Council meant we were not able to comment on it.  If we did speak out then we would not have been able to vote on the matter when it came to Council.  However, the decision to take the matter to the planning committee means we are now free to say what we think.

That is why we want to make our position clear.  We are completely opposed to this development and will be lodging our own objection.

Now only does the plan go against the Council’s stated planning policy, it risks adding further traffic and congestion to the Kirkliston cross roads.  This is why the application must be opposed.

It is crucial that as many people as possible lodge objections before the deadline of 10 November.

We have worked to make it as easy as possible to lodge an objection.  We have created a standard email/letter which people can use.  You can find this here.

We have also set up a petition for people to add their names in opposition to the plans.  You can add your name here.

Please take the 5 minutes it needs to lodge an objection and sign our petition.  It is vital that local voices are heard.

Kevin and Louise table Council motion in push for action on Dalmeny Station

One of our key promises at the Council elections was to get action on the problems around Dalmeny Station.

The station is a critical part of our local public transport system.  Passenger numbers having increased significantly over the last 10 years.

However, we know there are many problems being faced by those living close to Dalmeny Station because of the current levels of car parking, with significant commuter parking on nearby roads and in spaces created for residents in new developments.

Worse still, there appears no clear plan from the Council to begin to address these issues. That is why we are tabling a motion at the next full meeting of Council on Thursday 26 October.

If approved, it would require Council officials to engage with Scotrail and Transport Scotland and develop an action plan for addressing the issues around the station.

We hope councillors in other parties will back our motion and ensure we get action for those who use and live around Dalmeny Station.

Here is the full text of our motion.

Dalmeny Station

Council notes;
1. the importance of Dalmeny Station as part of the City’s public transport system, with over 100 train services between Fife and Edinburgh city centre each day,
2. how the station provides an important alternative to private car journeys into the city, particularly for those residents who work in the centre of Edinburgh,
3. the growth in the populations of Dalmeny, Queensferry and Kirkliston following major programmes of house building which has led to a substantial increase in the numbers using Dalmeny Station, from 361,000 in 2005/6 to 500,000 in 2015/16,
4. the Local Development Plan which designates significant land in rural west Edinburgh for new housing and which is likely to lead to a further increase the number of passengers using the station.

Council recognises;
(A) the problems being faced by those living close to Dalmeny Station because of the current levels of car parking, with significant commuter parking on nearby roads and in spaces created for residents in new developments,
(B) the difficulty created by the limited parking arrangements, which risks creating a disincentive towards using the station, forcing more commuters to choose to use their car to travel into Edinburgh via the busy and congested Barnton junction and Queensferry Road.

Council welcomes the recent improvements at the station, such as an increase in bike storage facilities, but believes this is insufficient in addressing the wider access issues around the station and that further significant action is needed.

Council therefore instructs officials to engage with Scotrail and Transport Scotland and seeks a report to the Transport & Environment Committee within three* cycles. This report should set out an action plan for addressing these issues, including proposals to further maximise sustainable transport options to and from the station along with improved parking arrangements which benefit passengers and local residents.

*Post Council update – in order to maintain support from other parties, this was amended from two cycles to three cycles.

Burnshot bridge update – October

We have received the following update from officials on the Burnshot Bridge.

Progress Update No 5
4 October 2017

Introduction
This note provides an update to Progress Update No 4 (attached for ease of reference).

Monthly Inspections
These inspections are ongoing to closely monitor the condition of the bridge soffit. Inspections will continue until the bridge is demolished.

Traffic Diversion
Installation of the new semi-permanent signage is currently taking place on site and this will continue over the coming weeks.

Demolition Works
Plans for the demolition are now well underway. Following market testing to ensure value for money for the Council, the Contractor has now made preliminary arrangements with Subcontractors for traffic management, site clearance, temporary service bridge installation, and the actual demolition Works. Whilst still subject to contract, preliminary work is expected to commence in late-October, with the demolition of the bridge in November.
Public Utilities (PUs)

The Council and the Contractor have now met with all utilities companies on site and agreed the methodology for suspension or diversion of the affected services; these include Virgin Media and Vodafone ducts, and a Scottish Power cable. These Works have all been planned so that there should be no disruption to customers’ services.
Vegetation Clearance

As reported in the interim update via email on 30th August, in preparation for the demolition works, it will be necessary to complete some vegetation clearance either side of the bridge to facilitate:
a) Installation of the service bridge, and
b) Access for demolition equipment

No disruption to residents or road users is anticipated.

Community Liaison
Plans have been made to hold an open event for residents in close vicinity of the bridge who may wish to find out more about the demolition. The date for this is to be confirmed; affected residents will be notified by a letter drop in the coming weeks.

Conifox Development Plans

Conifox Nurseries has submitted a planning application for a major extension to the existing adventure park in Kirkliston. 
The new activities would include: a dog agility area, fortress, petrol go-karts, mini quad bikes, tractor and quad bike trailer rides, crazy golf, remote control cars, laser tag, jump pillow and a flying fox.
Comments must be submitted by Thursday 12 October.  You can see the complete plans here.
 
There is also a separate application for a new multi purpose activity centre and sales office at the nursery.  You can view and comment on this application here.  Comments must be submitted by 20 October.