Taylor Wimpey plans for housing at South Scotstoun

taylor-wimpey-presentation

I was pleased to see so many people at Taylor Wimpey’s presentation on plans for over 300 new homes on the South Scotstoun fields.

Whilst the latest plans are an improvement on what was suggested before, there is still a fundamental lack of support infrastructure proposed. In particular, I’m concerned about the impact on the GP practice as well as the traffic at Ferrymuir. Whilst the developers say they will contribute to the expansion o…f schools and Dalmeny train station, there appear to be no firm commitments.

Taylor Wimpey now say it will submit a formal planning application before Christmas. Both Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP and I will make sure local residents know when and how to make objections when the time comes.

Thanks again to the dozens and dozens of residents who came down to make their concerns known.

Updates on proposed Queensferry housing developments

builyeon-road

Given the concern across Queensferry about proposed greenbelt housing developments, I wanted to make sure residents are aware of two important updates on Builyeon Road and South Scotstoun.

SOUTH SCOTSTOUN
Taylor Wimpey has organised a new public event on its proposed new housing development at South Scotstoun.

This will take place at the local community centre on School Lane, just off Kirkliston Road, 4-8pm on Tuesday 15 November.

Taylor Wimpey has said it will soon apply for planning permission to build on the fields south of South Scotstoun, Provost Milne Grove and Sommerville Gardens. The original designs included 470 new houses and apartments and involved a new access road from the B8000 and secondary access from Provost Milne Grove.

Local MSP, Alex Cole-Hamilton and I will be attending and hope to meet other local residents.

BUILYEON ROAD
A revised masterplan document has been submitted to Edinburgh City Council on the proposed development at Builyeon Road. This includes up to 870 houses. The Council is currently assessing the application and the formal period for commenting and objecting will come in due course.

You can view the proposals by visiting the Council’s planning portal and entering the application number 16/01798/PPP into the search function.
https://citydev-portal.edinburgh.gov.uk/idoxpa-w…/search.do…

Your local Member of the Scottish Parliament, Alex Cole-Hamilton and I have been concerned for some time about further major housing developments in Queensferry. Every week, we hear from local residents who are worried about the ever-increasing number of homes and the impact on the town.

We know local schools and GP services are coming under strain. The local roads network can be gridlocked at peak periods and public transport is nowhere near what it should be.

We are clear that Queensferry needs and deserves better infrastructure before major new housing can and should be considered. This is the case we will continue to make to the Scottish Government and Edinburgh City Council.

 

Massive response to ‘fairer fares’ bus campaign

Over 1,000 local people have already signed up to local Lib Dem bus campaign to get a new direct Lothian Buses service between Queensferry, Kirkliston, Dalmeny and Edinburgh city centre.

Kevin said, “Alex and I have had an overwhelming response to this campaign. Local people are frustrated that despite being full council taxpayers to Edinburgh city council, there is still no direct Lothians service to the city centre.

“It all means local people often have to pay twice as much to get to Edinburgh than compared to people in Dalkeith, Musselburgh and Penicuik. It’s just not fair.”

You can add your support online here.

This week’s Queensferry Gazette has covered our local campaign.

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.”

 

 

20mph rolled out across West Edinburgh

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Virtually all roads in Queensferry, Kirkliston, Dalmeny and Ratho Station will become 20mph from tomorrow (Sunday 31 July) as part of the roll out across Edinburgh.

As part of the effort to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety, 20mph is being introduced across the city in stages over the next 18 months.

The first stage includes rural West Edinburgh.

Loca council candidate Kevin Lang said, “It’s important for the council to learn lessons from these early stages of the roll out. Local residents can let me know about any wrong signage. I’m also keen to hear how they effective they think the new 20mph areas are working.”

You can find out more information at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/20mph

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.”

Alex and Kevin launch “fairer fares” campaign

The local Liberal Democrat team has launched a major new “fairer fares” campaign to get Lothian Buses to start new direct services from our area to Edinburgh city centre.

Despite growing populations in Queensferry, Dalmeny and Kirkliston, there are still no direct bus services to the centre of Edinburgh from the council owned bus company, Lothian Buses. Other areas, including Penicuik, Musselburgh and Dalkeith, all of which are outside of the City of Edinburgh Council area already benefit from cheaper direct Lothian Buses to the city centre.

It all means bus fares to Edinburgh city centre from Queensferry, Dalmeny, Ratho Station and Kirkliston can cost TWICE as much as fares from parts of Midlothian and East Lothian.

Local MSP, Alex Cole-Hamilton said, “With more and more people living in Queensferry, Dalmeny and Kirkliston, now is the time for Lothian Buses to start new direct services to Edinburgh city centre. We need to redouble our efforts and get the council owned bus company to listen to local people.”

Local Lib Dem council candidate Kevin Lang said, “It’s simply not fair that local people here have to pay so much more to travel into the centre of Edinburgh than in places like Penicuik and Musselburgh which aren’t even in the City of Edinburgh council area. The Lib Dems believe people deserve better than this.”

You can support Alex and Kevin’s campaign by signing and returning petition using the following link.