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[Please object by 30 Jan] The cycling future of Leith Street is up for grabs in the St James Quarter proposals. A segregated cycleroute up from Picardy Place will end at Calton Road, with no connection to Princes Street…
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http://www.spokes.org.uk/2015/01/leith-street-cycling-future-or-not
The spokes site seems to be down. Does anyone have more details of where to object?
You can object by emailing david.givan@edinburgh.gov.uk . It's very easy and worth doing! I wrote this on the train home last night.
Just to bump this up, it's incredibly easy to object to the St James Quarter plans, the proposal has good elements but the plans for Leith street ignore cycling entirely.
Some two line emails to david.givan@edinburgh.gov.uk expressing opposition to the plans on the grounds that there's nothing for cyclists on Leith street would be great. Not sure if it's necessary, but the planning application number is 14/05263/AMC, responses need to be in before Friday
Done!
What I wrote (feel free to copy & paste)
Dear Mr Givan,
I am writing to object to the St James Quarter plans. Planning app 14/05263/AMC.
I object because
- cyclists have been neglected on Leith St, planned segregated cycle lanes will stop half way up Leith St and leave no connection to Princes St. Cyclists will be dumped out into a 'noxious canyon' of 4 lanes of traffic.
- the proposed 1800 car parking spaces is counter to the councils own policy of reducing car use, this space could be better used for money generating outfits like shops, offices. It will also attract more cars into the centre, increasing congestion & pollution.
- Clear plans have not been submitted for cycle routes through the development. Many of the drawings, sketches and figures only show pedestrians. It is clear that cyclists have not been considered by everyone working on the design.
Regards
Done.
Sent an email last night, focused on Leith Street issue - it really needs a segregated lane right to the top if there is to be a direct/manageable route from Leith/Broughton to Princes St/The Bridges. Little chance of a parent letting a child cycle up Leith St in the proposed configuration...
Also pointed out opportunities of linking to Abellio's proposals for a cyclehub at Waverley via the Calton Road entrance to the station.
I logged on to the planning portal and was suprised to see only 4 comments regarding this application.
I have submitted comments in line with Spokes recommendations.
Contribution done!
mine too. hoping that 'before 30 jan' actually means 'ends 30 jan'.
duh. just realised it's still only thursday.
hard week.
done
Done
done..
Done
Done. Cribbed yours, Eddie H.
"1800 car parking spaces" - what dead spaces car parking buildings & car parks round supermarkets are compared to train and bus stations, which are useful & even pleasant places in their own right, where you can buy a newspaper or a cup of coffee. And always ugly.
Done (yesterday). Synthesised replies from eddie_h (thanks) and Spokes.
Booga booga. Missed this one! :-(
I must be missing something with the application. Recent press articles have said how much more pedestrian friendly the development would make on Leith Street.
Looking at the plans the "cavern effect" will increase as the buildings move closer together. The footbridge will be removed but will not be replaced with any new crossings. Between the top of the Leith Street and the bottom there will only be one existing pedestrian crossing. The existing pavement from Omni to Calton Road will be narrowed to allow for a cycle path.
Car park entrances and exists will remain basically where they are, but all parking will be underground over 3 levels.
iiiiiinteresting....
I've not read through but appears to be pics of proposed hotel at St James centre
Yip. Lightning-conductor orange-peel thing. 03 Proposed Site Plan shows that it includes street-level bits between Elder St and James Craig Walk on one side and back-of-John-Lewis-to-Cathedral-Lane Little King Street on the other. Hard to tell from the drawings but it looks like Elder-JamesCraig will be level-with-some-steps-down-beside-it. Trying to get the more detailed plan to render at the moment - it looks like there'll be an arc of big-steps (like Dynamic Earth) to the north-east around the entire hotel site.
Interesting indeed.
The "public realm" looks every bit as bland, soul-less and unpublic as Multrees Walk or that great lump of empty space between the EICC and the Sheraton. The streets and lanes look liek they'll feel just as claustrophobic as they currently do, sitting in shade most of the time and dominated by overly-large structures looming over them. St. Jame's "square" is so entirely filled by the hotel that it will feel a bit like being in a copper-panneled cave.
The Terry's Chocolate Hotel is certainly striking but totally alters the view down George Street past the Melville Monument. This may be good or it may not, depending on how good the finish of the building actually is. The rest of the buildings are incredibly dull, predictable and of-the-moment as every other steel frame slab-fronted with glass and sandstone panels that has popped up in Edinburgh in the last 10 years. It risks looking as tired and out of place in 30 years as the current lot.
The glass canopies have something of the Livingston shopping centre about them.
You can find the proposed cycle routes on page 53 of the Design Statement, see:
Don't look great to me. Shared use, indirect, unconnected to proposed nearby cycle routes. Everything that the Dutch Design Manual for Bicycle Traffic says that a cycle route shouldn't be.
That's part 3 of the design statement if you are navigating there. On page 49;
"7. Cycle Parking
Cycle parking opportunities at the edge of the space promote sustainable transport
modes."
On page 52 a fashionable looking young lady pushes a bike through the square.
On page 53, there would appear to be 2 shared cycle routes only, one from James Craig Walk to Elder Street and with no obvious connection to St. Andrew Square. The other from Little King Street (with all the amusing fun oft getting to/from it from Picardy Place) to the first route, diverting around the Chocolate Orange. It's nota very useful connection in isolation as it would only take you from Little King Street to either James Craig Walk or Elder Street, neither of which are connected to anything else useful.
The current subterannean service yard with entrances from Elder Street and Leith Street are maintained. I wonder if pedestrian crossings in front of these entrances will be every bit as appallign as they currently are.
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Planned demolition of the centre to make way for a £850 million new development will now not take place this year, despite being slated for autumn.
Shops will remain open through the busy Christmas and January sales period.
Martin Perry, development director for TH Real Estate, said: “We have been working hard behind the scenes to progress the redevelopment of Edinburgh St James, however because of a change to timings related to the compulsory purchase order public inquiry the centre will remain open until early 2016 and not September as planned.
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