CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
"pity we don't have a local newspaper that could look into these things."
Some of it has made it into the Sunday Herald.
You'd *hope* the police were investigating.
Seems one reason that this is coming out like this is because JO was having a hard time trying to get the SNP interested.
People have been suspended after less serious allegations.
I believe some of these claims being investigated by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life
Currently 'politics' is about Brexit, 'Europe' and independence. Some people think they voted for the latter on Thursday!
In addition there are - primarily at UK level - vast uncertainty about the future of party leadership and indeed the actual future of some parties.
Meanwhile one (near) certainty is that there will be LA elections in Scotland next May. It is possible there will be a UK General Election before then.
Generally active travel is not an issue that divides opinions along party lines.
In Edinburgh of the two main parties (currently) it's clear that Labour has more councillors supportive of improving cycle infrastructure than the SNP.
The SNP wants to stay in the EU and generally improve its relations with mainland countries. Perhaps they will notice that some of those countries do things differently from the prevailing UK car-centric model. I wonder how many SNP MPs have noticed that London - another pro-Remain area - is actively improving things.
I think the "we want to be with Europe, let's be more like Europe" argument should be used to cajole the local SNP (and other) parties at every possible opportunity.
Next time some Nimby says "but we aren't Copenhagen!" we can counter with "yeah but turns out we wish we were".
Post script. Even if we (Edinburgh) had voted overwhelmingly for remain, we could counter with the "turns out we want to be more like 1950s Britain, let's be more like 1950s Britain" as a pro-mass cycling argument.
Jim Orr's latest:
https://cllrjimorr.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/on-jazz-and-blues/
@SRD: I would say that's shocking, but his previous blogs have set us up to expect that kind of behaviour.
Jim Orr should get an investigative journalism award. He's worth 10 Chipwrappers when it comes to probing council sleaze.
Why don't we have a CCE election or award ceremony as an excuse to go to the pub? I won several trophies at our pretend staff awards at the end of term, including one for best catchphrase (away and raffle your donut) which I only coined the day before but the judge liked it so much it scooped the cup upon which she had stuck wee eyes which fell off in the voodoo rooms
The cups are solid plastic
We need an excuse ? Oops.
Cloisters?
Dagda?
Akva?
Ventoux tonight, oh wait, they are stopping 3 Kms short of the summit. So long as it hasa European name I don't mind. (Assuming will be a little while in the organising as still in Norfolk).
Akva?
Given that or Hemma is the go-to choice for parents of young children meeting for something a little bit wetter and stronger than coffee, I do kind of feel Akva-d and Hemma-d out and would politely request slightly more traditional surroundings.
I have always fancied going to The Artisan which is trad. Maybe too trad?
The Arty is just along the road from me. It's alright. The left hand side of the bar is less football and racing post than the right hand side (as viewed from the front). But it's not really craft beer territory, more half and a half sort of place.
Safari Lounge just along the road from there is also good if there's a bigger crowd as there's a room through the back that can be reserved.
The Hoppy is at the end of our street. It's got the vibe of a boolin' club social. They love their karaoke. It's got a loyal clique of customers but doesn't seem to attract passing trade or outsiders. The sign outside offers "Orkney Beers". The bar inside begs to differ. My Uncle Joe used to be the publican back in the day when it was called the Hop, Step and Jump.
Prefer artisan as duke of Edinburgh is drinking in the safari lunge just now
@kaputnik I know what you mean, but Akva did work well last time in terms of a long table we could all sit at. potting shed has similar.
Now that Laidback has moved we need to investigate locals - golden rule, Akva or fountain probably most convenient ? First is via bike permeable infra, latter two off-road infra.
I wonder what Jim Orr will have to say about this? The leaseholder features heavily in his recent blogs.
"
THE Capital’s Conservatives may seek to scrap the 20mph speed limit that was rolled out last week.
Councillor Nick Cook said his party could include a pledge to repeal the measures as part of their election manifesto.
"
"may", "could"
Well that shows the courage of their convictions.
So, if (potential) voters like the idea (a lot did during the consultation phase) the Tories will support 20mph?
Or is there now a subtle shift in the politicians' belief that motorists = voters to motorists = Conservative voters?
(And/or that motorists/voters/Conservatives don't care about road safety, nice-place-to-live etc?)
“The London Film Museum should be selling its wares in London and should leave Edinburgh traders to get on with their business in what is the only indoor market in the city.” - D. Coutts.
Well I suppose corruption is a kind of local patriotism isn't it? They might be dodgy business deals, but at least they're our dodgy business deals. Right Cllr Cardownie?
'Stuart Hay, director of pedestrian campaign group Living Streets Scotland, said the Tory proposals amounted to “political opportunism of the worst kind”.'
Come on, Stuart, this is the Tory party we're talking about. Y'know, the party that gave us Brexit as part of an idiotic game of Russian roulette with the right wing? That one.
Principles? Schminciples.
@ stickman, you mean thr 'colourful mr coutts' ?https://cllrjimorr.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/the-colourful-mr-coutts/
Edinburgh's budget remake of classic West Wing episodes: Nick Cook's secret plan to fight congestion.
Andrew Burns not standing for reelection
http://andrewburns.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/thank-you-edinburgh.html?m=1
"
Cllr Burns – who was brought up in the west of Scotland – said he would not be leaving the Capital.
“I absolutely adore this city,” he said. “It has its challenges like any city but it is one of the pre-eminent cities in the whole of Europe.
“I love it and I’m sure I will be here for the rest of my life.”
I hope I'm wrong about this, but I suspect Andrew Burns' departure marks the end of any consensus for supporting cycling investment. Public transport will slip down the list of priorities too.
Some predictions if that scenario turns out to be the case:
- SNP minority administration will take the reins. Supported on cases by case basis by Tories/Lib Dems.
- Guaranteed % for cycling will be dropped in favour of 'fixing potholes'.
- Roseburn to Leith corridor will be axed.
- Some cycling officers will depart due to lack of budget for their salaries.
- 20mph zones will probably continue.
- Electric car charging points and hybrid buses will become transport priorities.
- Tram to Newhaven will finally be shelved in favour of other priorities (see above).
- Edinburgh will still be 'cycling friendly' compared to most other Scottish cities, but progress will stall, and Glasgow will start to catch up.
Basically, abandon all hope, all ye who view the election results in May...
I think a lot will depend on how many existing councillors stand/get elected.
Some voters will be 'loyal' to (some) individuals above party, though the fact that the election is by PR for 3 or 4 candidates per ward gives lots of scope for 'tactical' voting - which Edinburgh has become quite good at!
I'm sure Spokes/WeWalkCycleVote will list candidates and whatever they say about ActiveTravel.
I'm also sure candidates will get lots of emails from potential voters...
@chdot, aye but I think Andrew Burns will not be the only long serving Labour stalwart to stand down.
I suspect we'll see a similar pattern to the Edinburgh elections for Holyrood. SNP will do well overall, Tories and Lib Dems will do well in certain areas, Greens will do well in certain areas, Labour will not do well overall. Maybe not quite as badly as Lib Dems did last time around, but still pretty poor showing.
SNP form minority administration, with support from slightly bolstered Tories and Lib Dems voting through budget (extracting concessions along the way). Larger contingent of Greens in opposition, Labour reduced to a rump.
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