CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
CEC election 2017 (May 4th)
(1269 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
-
@crowriver: PG Tips is hardly a new generation: he's been in the party since their Edinburgh heyday in the mid-1980s. He was friendly with Cllr Cardownie back in the early 90s I recall.
The colourful Mr Cardownie? With his links to the taxi trade? The taxi trade that oppose the cycle track?
My tinfoil hat is getting a bit tight.....
Posted 7 years ago # -
I wonder if it's too early to start asking candidates who their party would/wouldn't be prepared to go into coalition with(?)
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
North Edin&Leith LDs (@enelLibDems)
16/12/2016, 17:12
Today, Edinburgh LibDems joined CEC colleagues in backing the progressive #OptionA cycleroute from Leith to Roseburn"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-38341627
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
SCOTTISH Labour is braced for a near wipe out in its heartlands at next year’s local elections with the party trailing the Tories in many of its core constituencies
"
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
But there is a chance for change in May at the local council elections. These issues can be sorted, but not overnight. As leader of the Conservative Group on the council I relish the opportunity to reverse the effects of an exhausted and fractious Labour-SNP administration which is looking for excuses.
"
Posted 7 years ago # -
'The Path not Taken: City Region Deal and Active Travel' by Fountainbridge-Craiglockhart Green councillor Gavin Corbett and Sighthill-Gorgie Green candidate Dan Heap.
http://www.edinburghgreens.org.uk/site/blog/canal-city-deal/
Posted 7 years ago # -
The thing with the canal is surely its status as a historic monument? The bridges really need rebuilt to get the towpath up to a width of, say, five meters.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"The thing with the canal is surely its status as a historic monument? The bridges really need rebuilt to get the towpath up to a width of, say, five meters."
Yes, but.
This is about alternatives to the canal - basically what Spokes has been calling for.
"
However, the canal towpath is also a victim of its own success – with more bikes and pedestrians competing for narrow shared space. Simply loading more people onto that narrow space is a recipe for conflict. So what is needed is bold and imaginative thinking about how the towpath will function in the next 10 or 20 years. Creating safe and usable parallel routes – for example, Lanark Road, Slateford Road and Gorgie Road is one part of it, particular for faster cyclists. But we also believe that transforming the canalside so that it benefits both cyclists and pedestrians by giving them separate space, on a wider path, should be on the horizon.
"
Posted 7 years ago # -
Tarmac the whole thing and build a
wallcycle path.Posted 7 years ago # -
Yes.
If I was Mayor of Edinburgh I'd ban cycling on the towpath. Well actually I wouldn't, I'd make the alternatives so much more attractive that no one who wanted to go at any speed would use it. Why do battle with dogs/joggers/toddlers on balance bikes when you have a nice, wide, direct, cycle track, separate from traffic and pedestrians, that goes where you want to go?Well, we can dream. The thing is, routes parallel to/replacing the canal will be really low priority precisely because the canal is there.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"The thing is, routes parallel to/replacing the canal will be really low priority precisely because the canal is there."
Depends.
I think the opening of Boroughmuir will cause chaos/crisis.
Of course if all current canal (cycle) users start & finish close to the canal then alternatives won't attract. But that seems unlikely.
Needs a proper survey - but rush hour cyclists are notoriously reluctant to stop!
Spokes has already commissioned/done a LOT of work -
"
This document focuses on the Union Canal towpath along the Edinburgh section of the canal outlining further improvements for access and surfacing. It further outlines supplementary/alternative cycle routes in order to minimise conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists.
"
http://www.spokes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/UnionCanal_DRAFT_13may_lrs.pdf
Posted 7 years ago # -
@IWRATS I'm not entirely sure what's being suggested in terms of towpath widening - I will enquire next time I see Gavin or Dan.
The comments following the Scotsman Greens article are depressingly similar in nature to those following a typical bike article.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"The comments following the Scotsman Greens article are depressingly similar in nature to those following a typical bike article."
That's good, keeps the out of touch minority in their place.
Perhaps the new editor will have a different line on the 'value' of the comment strands.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
@EdinburghGreens @gavincorbett @danheaped presume you'll be working up @SpokesLothian @UPioneers plan
citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.…
@SustransScot"
"
Gavin Corbett (@gavincorbett)
06/01/2017, 12:36
@CyclingEdin @EdinburghGreens @danheaped @SpokesLothian @UPioneers @SustransScot Yes. Read all that and met about it."
Posted 7 years ago # -
The Ruth Davidson Party have published their thoughts on healthy lifestyles for Scots;
The words 'cycle' and 'bike' do not occur in the document. No cycling or active travel organisation was consulted in connection with its drafting, but Waitrose, Asda, Tesco and Lidl were consulted. Full funding of elite sport is required. Redistributive measures seem not to be required.
Posted 7 years ago # -
"Redistributive measures seem not to be required."
Hardly surprising given the source...
Posted 7 years ago # -
@crowriver
You could argue that 'given the source' expressing any concern for anyone else's health is surprising. Are we not free to do with our sovereign flesh whatever we will?
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
Cycling Edinburgh (@CyclingEdin)
11/01/2017, 18:11
@ScotTories missed opportunity leaving out everyday #activityDo you have policies on #ActiveTravel?
@BrianWhittle @RuthDavidsonMSP
"
"
Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonMSP)
11/01/2017, 18:23
@CyclingEdin @ScotTories @BrianWhittle yes - laid out on page 47 of last year's manifesto. Available to view here http://www.scottishconservatives.com/policy/manifestos/"
Posted 7 years ago # -
laid out on page 47 of last year's manifesto
Literally the last paragraph of the manifesto (save some summary bullet points on the next page). Make of that what you will. Text here:
Investing in active travel and supporting walking and cycling brings multiple benefits - health as well as environmental ones. It is the most affordable and accessible form of travel, with clear impacts on our quality of life. The Scottish Government should work with local authorities and third sector partners on improving our walking and cycle path network. We will press the government for an additional £5m to be invested in the Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets local authority capital grant, which is the most direct way of supporting active travel infrastructure. As an overarching aim, we should work towards providing at least one segregated cycle route in each of Scotland’s seven cities, linking from outer city limits through city centres.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I must have missed the Tories pressing for that extra £5m for the CWSS budget. It clearly just slipped their mind during the debate on the budget in the Scottish Parliament on 15 December 2016 - when they welcomed the cut in air passenger duty and asked for further tax cuts.
Trouble sleeping, details at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28862.aspx?r=10693&mode=pdf
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
An SNP source in the Capital says there has already been an informal approach from the Tories here, asking the Nationalists’ likely attitude after the elections. But the informal answer was there was little likelihood of the SNP working with the Conservatives.
Indeed, when it comes to coalition only a limited range of options look acceptable. Labour could go in with the SNP again. Greens and Lib Dems could help out if they had the numbers.
But having campaigned on the promise of strong opposition to the SNP, it would be difficult for Ruth Davidson’s Tories to cuddle up too close to the Nationalists – or Labour.
"
Posted 7 years ago # -
Also from above link -
"
Labour is widely predicted to perform poorly in the May elections, though the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system – where voters rank candidates in order of preference by marking the ballot paper 1, 2, 3, etc – should serve as a brake on any landslide against them.
STV, used for council elections in Scotland since 2007, make it very difficult for one party to secure a majority of seats, making a coalition of some sort almost unavoidable.
"
There will be more seats with four councillors this time, which ought to help the Greens get more seats.
It seems likely that Labour will have fewer seats than at present, and possibly the SNP too - or at least a lower proportion.
The Tories seem likely to get more, whether they are at the expense of Lab, SNP or LibDem remains to be seen.
Interesting times.
What is certain is that there will be a LOT of new faces and quite a few people destined for key committee positions without much (council) experience.
Well worth asking candidates for their views on your favourite subjects...
After the election, and coalition carve-up, some people may need 'support' to continue with established policies or reminded that a trend towards better conditions for pedestrians and cyclists is popular (in spite of what some ENews commenters wish to believe).
Posted 7 years ago # -
"
A leaflet delivered to thousands of nearby homes criticises the new bar for making this corner of the Capital look like America’s Deep South. In the flyer, which also highlights other local issues in the area,
Conservative council candidate John McLellan says: “Jock’s Lodge is not the Mississippi Delta and to throw up what looks like a shanty hut is a missed opportunity to bring a real improvement to the area. This is one shack I don’t love.”
The former Evening News editor is standing in the Craigentinny/Duddingston ward in May’s local elections.
"
Posted 7 years ago # -
More free PR for John McLellan from his former colleagues. I suppose Craigentinny/Duddingston is a pretty safe Tory seat, but goodness me what a sour faced whinger their candidate is!
Posted 7 years ago # -
Local businesswoman creates successful and popular business out of the ashes of a blight on the local community - bad.
International business proposes despoiling internationally recognised A-listed Royal High School in face of huge opposition - good.
Always interesting to get an insight into how other people see the world, I suppose. Having had this opportunity through his regular chipwrapper column, I wouldn't trust this guy to run a bath - never mind the city.
Posted 7 years ago # -
It's clear JM has no problem with pubs per se, to judge by his Herald column.
So what's going on? Local vendetta? Edinburgh businesswoman not supporting the Tories? JM barred from her establishments for rowdy behaviour? The truth will out...
Oh, he's also Director of the Scottish Newspaper Society: http://www.scotns.org.uk/about/
Posted 7 years ago # -
Oh, a journalist becoming a politician. What could possibly go wrong?
Posted 7 years ago # -
"I suppose Craigentinny/Duddingston is a pretty safe Tory seat"
Not exactly -
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Edinburgh_Council_election,_2012#Craigentinny.2FDuddingston
Will now be a seat with 4 councillors, (almost) anything is possible.
http://www.lgbc-scotland.gov.uk/reviews/5th_electoral/edinburgh
Posted 7 years ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.
posts
