Edinburgh Airport update

One of our first acts as your new local councillors has been to submit our response to Edinburgh Airport’s second consultation on flight path changes.

During our campaign, we promised to do three things;
1. To oppose the changes towhich would see aircraft routed over Queensferry when departing to the west,…
2. To push for changes to the easterly departure route so aircraft are flown further away from Cramond and Barnton,
3. To campaign for the same kind of night time flying restrictions which already exist for Stasted, Gatwick and Heathrow airports.

We have worked with Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP and submitted a detailed response on these points.

We have explained how horrified we and the local community is by the airport’s U-turn. This came after earlier assurances that Queensferry would not be impacted by the flight path changes. We have submitted our petition of over 1,000 names against the propose new route.

On Cramond, we have worked with the Cramond Noise Action Group and endorsed their constructive ideas for changes which could also help reduce noise from arriving aircraft from the east.

We will be looking to meet with the airport in the coming weeks to discuss all these issues.

Barnton – proposed retirement development

We called in on the public information event which was organised today by McCarthy & Stone. This was to present their proposals for a retirement housing development on Barnton Avenue West.

Their plans include 12 cottages and 36 apartments, which are all designed for those over 60.

No planning application has been submitted but McCarthy & Stone plan to submit one to the Council later in the summer.

If you have views about the development then let us know by emailing kevin.lang@edinburgh.gov.uk and Louise.young@edinburgh.gov.uk

You can read more about the plans via this link.

http://mccarthyandstoneconsultation.co.uk/barnton/proposals/

Burnshot Bridge Update

One of our big priorities is trying to get progress that will allow the Burnshot Bridge to be re-opened.

Councillors got a detailed update this week. Council officials have now engaged a contractor to agree a works programme and a cost for safely demolishing the current bridge. This is a considerable exercise given the utilities which run along the bridge as well as the volume of traffic which passes underneath every day.

It is expected that the demolition work will commence before the start of winter. The Council is also seeking cost estimates to replace / refurbish the bridge. As mentioned before, money has been allocated both in this year’s and next year’s budget for the bridge.

We will keep passing on updates when we get them. This is also the very first issue which we plan to raise with the new Convener of Transport when they (finally!) get appointed.

Edinburgh Tower Blocks

Following the tragic incident at Grenfell House in London yesterday, Edinburg Council has rightly been reviewing the conditions for tower blocks here in the city, including those in our ward.

Based on their understanding of the materials reportedly used in Grenfell House, Council officials tell us they are satisfied that the same types have not been used in over-cladding blocks in Edinburgh. Officials are keeping this under review as information is upda…ted.

We know that officials have made an effort to be visible around local tower blocks and to reassure residents regarding the approach being taken to fire safety in their buildings.

Officials are also commissioning a full review of fire safety in tower blocks. This will include evaluation of all cladding materials and methods, but will further include fire safety procedures, fire prevention and fire suppression.

If you have any concerns then don’t hesitate to get in touch with either of us.

In the meantime, all our thoughts, sympathies and prayers go to those who were caught up in such a terrible tragedy in London.

Update on the 42 bus service

Since we were elected local councillors, we have been working with our colleague Cllr Hal Osler on the the issue of the 42 bus.

The bus route was recently cut back so it terminates at Craigleith Retail Park rather than the Tesco in Davidson’s Mains. It has caused all kinds of difficulty for those who relied on the bus and further reduced our local public transport options.

After Lothian Buses’ decision to cut back the route, Council officials wrote to the company and offered direct funding to reinstate the changes for six months. This would have allowed Lothian to work with the local communities and properly monitor passenger usage.

Unfortunately, the Managing Director of Lothian Buses did not support the reintroduction of the Craigleith-Davidson’s Mains part of the route, even with this subsidy. This was obviously a very disappointing and frustrating decision.

We always believed that, rather than reducing the route, the 42 should have been extended out to Cramond. We know there are many residents who are keen for a reliable bus service between Cramond and Davidson’s Mains which avoids the Barnton junction. We felt this kind of extension would have significantly increased passenger numbers on the 42 and made it more viable.

As councillors, we will continue to make this case to Lothian a part of our package of suggestions to improve public transport in the north west of Edinburgh. We’ll work to try and make sure this is considered in next route review.

Foxhall Update – Kirkliston


We attended tonight’s ‘drop in’ event from GVA on proposals for housing at Foxhall.

Unfortunately there is no online version of the materials which were on display. GVA has promised to provide us with a PDF of the presentation and we are happy to share this. If you’d like a copy then just email us at kevin.lang@edinburgh.gov.uk or Louise.young@edinburgh.gov.uk

THE BASICS
GVA are looking to bring forward a formal planning application for up to 100 homes on the Foxhall site just to the east of Kirkliston.

There would be one access road into the development from the Foxhall/Conifox road with other pedestrian access points to the north and south.

The application will be for approval in principle for a housing development on this site on behalf of the land owner. The detailed planning application (which would include road layouts, housing designs etc) would come later.

THE PROCESS
GVA will likely undertake another period of formal consultation over the summer before the application is submitted. They are then aiming for a decision from the Council (again, on the principle of housing) by the end of 2017. That planning process would allow people to make objections as usual.

MAKING YOUR VIEWS KNOWN
The presentation boards from today are available to view in Kirkliston Library. As mentioned, you can email us for a PDF copy which we’ll happily pass on.

Frustratingly, there are only paper feedback forms and no electronic versions to share. You can however email comments to oliver.munden@gva.co.uk by 19 June.

WHAT WE SAID
We were clear in expressing our views to GVA tonight and explained the huge pressures which already exist in the village.

After running an initial consultation event last January, it was disappointing that GVA did not appear to have any detailed answers to the issues which were raised by residents five months ago.

In particular, we highlighted the problems we are seeing today in terms of school capacity. We also focused on the gridlock already experienced at the village cross roads. We explained how we had been elected to try and resolve that congestion, not make it worse. Again, at this stage, there was no solution offered in terms of the impact of another 100 houses within just a few hundred yards of the crossroads.

There is clearly a long process to go through before any decision is taken. We will work hard to keep folks informed as this proposal moves forward.

Again, if you’d like PDF copies of the GVA presentation, just email us at Kevin.lang@edinburgh.gov.uk or Louise.young@edinburgh.gov.uk

 

Cramond Primary


The Council has now written to parents of children at Cramond Primary School about remedial works which are required following a survey across all city schools.

The good news is that the school can remain open with the affected areas fenced off as a precaution. The repairs will be carried out over the summer holidays.

We realise this news will be of concern to parents. We’ve asked council officials to keep us fully informed as the work is completed.

Success as new Lothians service to Queensferry and Dalmeny gets underway.

It’s great to see the new Lothian 43/X43 bus up and running in Queensferry and Dalmeny.

The whole community fought hard to get this new service. We want to thank the thousands of people who signed our petition and the hundreds who joined us in writing to the Council and Lothian Buses. It’s now important to make the new service a success.

You can see all the route and timetable information here.
www.lothiancountry.co.uk

…and to our constituents in Kirkliston, our fight to get a new service to the village continues. We’ll be meeting the Lothians Managing Director to make the case for this over the next few weeks.