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Today's Nick Cook frothing

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  1. chdot
    Admin

    “Jim Sillars took a stance against the party line in 1976 when he set up the Jim Sillars party“

    That’s not thread drift that’s ‘thread dragged over a cliff’.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  2. gembo
    Member

    Sorry @chdot, I admit attempting massive unsubtle derail

    Posted 5 years ago #
  3. crowriver
    Member

    Transport $ Environment Committee papers include this clearly strategically essential item, courtesy of Cllr Cook's question:

    Item 7.11 - Urban Gull Control Options - Version 2

    I particularly enjoyed this pithy paragraph at the end, which handily signals the futility of gull control measures:

    ---

    3.32 The example of Dumfries is often put forward as an example of gull de-nesting and control for Edinburgh to follow. But the human population of Edinburgh is 15 times that of Dumfries and housing style is often four to six storey tenemental rather than single or double storey. The evidence from Dumfries would suggest that if considerable resource was expended over a significant time period the number of gulls in North Merchiston could be reduced a little but the gulls would relocate to other parts of Edinburgh instead.

    ---

    Posted 5 years ago #
  4. gembo
    Member

    Do the French still call us Les Ros Bifs?

    Gulls very adaptable.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  5. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Do the French still call us Les Ros Bifs?

    I can confirm that Brexit has sorted that.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  6. crowriver
    Member

    In fairness to Cllr Cook, he gave a creditable performance at the T&E committee meeting in response to a delegation from Leith Central CC and Abbeyhill Colonies Residents Association on parking controls in Leith Walk/Abbeyhill areas..

    Caveat of course that parking problems are an issue close to Conservative councillor's hearts, and indeed he is apparently dealing with similar issues in Morningside.

    Still, he did a decent job with an eye for detail. As did the Green councillors I must say. Good to see.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  7. crowriver
    Member

    I'd forgotten about this one. A classic.

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Flash Video

    Posted 5 years ago #
  8. crowriver
    Member

    From the EEN (where else?)

    ---

    Tory transport spokesman Councillor Nick Cook said it was positive to see the city mark Clean Air Day, but added: “Set against the council’s recent posturing on a Low Emissions Zone which would ban vehicles from our city centre, some might see these road closures as little more than a smokescreen to test such a scheme.”

    ---

    Really his paranoia about secretive, underhand Council plans to ban cars is completely unjustified. Perhaps events like the approval of the Picardy gyratory and associated mass parking, plus the half-hearted parking restrictions on Sundays, have given him hope that Edinburgh's motor-centric approach will be expanded?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  9. dougal
    Member

    I would posit that marking Clean Air Day is more of a smokescreen to mask the general trend of more inner-city vehicle emissions to come. Any city that was committed to low emissions would not be produce the plans for Picardy Place.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  10. Roibeard
    Member

    I don't think it's a smokescreen at all - in the same article, Lesley Macinnes says "Over the two days we will be monitoring the impact the road closures have on the environment, in particular air quality and noise."

    There isn't a subtext that this closure will shape thinking on the LEZ, it's a stated benefit!

    Robert

    Posted 5 years ago #
  11. Morningsider
    Member

    To balance things out, William Street will be shut on Saturday for the Edinburgh West End Classic Car event.

    http://www.edinburgh-westend.co.uk/edinburghs-west-end-classic-vehicle-event/

    Posted 5 years ago #
  12. Ed1
    Member

  13. crowriver
    Member

    @Ed1, that was Miles Briggs MSP, not Cllr Cook. They may share an office at Hloyrood but no mild meld yet as far as can be determined by science.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  14. jdanielp
    Member

    Today on Twitter, Nick Cook is championing Park and Rides: https://twitter.com/CllrNickCook/status/1009358375723859968

    Posted 5 years ago #
  15. Stickman
    Member

    But not, it would appear, the dedicated bus lanes on routes into town that make them effective...

    Posted 5 years ago #
  16. Rosie
    Member

    @Stickman - indeed - has anyone pointed that out to him? More Parks and Rides seems okay to me.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  17. Morningsider
    Member

    Obviously an omission from their 2017 manifesto. So easy to overlook this, when four of their 10 listed priorities were transport related:

    Scrap tram extension.
    Scrap plans for Sunday parking charges.
    Stop roll-out of 20mph zones.
    Reduce congestion by improving road works co-ordination, prioritising traffic flow and improving traffic light responsiveness.

    Nothing like a positive strategy for improving the city (and this really is nothing like...)

    For those with a robust constitution: https://www.edinburghconservatives.org.uk/sites/www.edinburghconservatives.org.uk/files/2017-04/Manifesto2017.pdf

    Posted 5 years ago #
  18. acsimpson
    Member

    @Rosie, he responded to Frank Ross to say he supports bus lanes "Wherever practicable" but is refusing to say which arterial routes he thinks are not suitable for bus lanes.

    That's Nick's Twitter version of fingers in the ears shouting I can't hear you. Presumably he doesn't want bus lanes on any arterial routes because they would get in the way of his chums Mr Private and Mrs Motorist.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  19. chdot
    Admin

  20. Stickman
    Member

    @Morningsider:

    "Reduce congestion by improving road works co-ordination, prioritising traffic flow and improving traffic light responsiveness"

    They want to reduce congestion by prioritising reducing congestion?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  21. chdot
    Admin

    “They want to reduce congestion by prioritising reducing congestion?”

    Useful summary.

    Unfortunately that is also the policy of some senior CEC officials.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  22. Ed1
    Member

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14291465.MoD_accused_of_putting_secrecy_before_safety_over_unmarked_nuclear_convoys/

    https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/mark-ruskell-there-s-too-much-secrecy-about-nuclear-weapons-convoys-1-4732731

    Well to be silly the council could take a stronger approach againt mod driving around edinburghs roads with unhazzard marked uninsured vechiles carrying radioactive material-)

    Posted 5 years ago #
  23. chdot
    Admin

    Conservatives at City Chambers want the administration to consider reviewing its 20mph zone policy. The party’s transport spokesman, Cllr Nick Cook, said: “These figures again demonstrate that the council’s lazy one-size-fits-all approach to road safety is doing little to make our streets safer.

    “The council should review the whole scheme without delay to ensure 20mph limits are targeted where most needed, for maximum effect.”

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/our-region/edinburgh/20mph-limit-review-call-for-edinburgh-over-low-fine-numbers-1-4773399

    Posted 5 years ago #
  24. HankChief
    Member

    Eh! Doesn't a low level of fines mean that it is being adhered to?

    So it is working*...

    Or would Cllr Cook want there to be lots of fines on hard pressed motorists to show it is being ignored.

    *I appreciate that anecdataly there is still a significant number who don't keep to 20mph, but wasn't the whole point to bring the average speed down from something like 33moh to 25mph rather than precisely 20mph. Logically Cllr Cook's statement makes no sense given the data released.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  25. Frenchy
    Member

    "Figures from Police Scotland found that only 31 drivers were handed speeding tickets for breaching 20mph limits between 5 March and 30 June."

    "These figures again demonstrate that the council’s lazy one-size-fits-all approach to road safety is doing little to make our streets safer. The council should review the whole scheme without delay to ensure 20mph limits are targeted where most needed, for maximum effect.”

    Without knowing where those tickets were issued (which Cllr Cook might well do), I don't follow this logic.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  26. HankChief
    Member

    Did he ever say that bus lane cameras were bad because they caught too many drivers?

    I also wonder what his quote would have been had the number of fines been large...

    Posted 5 years ago #
  27. Stickman
    Member

    I'm going with the @IWRATS view of Scottish Conservatives: it doesn't matter whether there is any logic or evidence for the position as long as there is no chance of ever having to implement it.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  28. steveo
    Member

    Did he or his pal ever confirm which roads they'd like to see the 20mph restrictions lifted?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  29. Stickman
    Member

    No, he doesn't want to prejudice a "review". This allows him to keep complaining and getting his name in the papers without actually committing himself to anything specific which may prove unpopular. Great politics.

    I'm pretty sure he lives on a 20mph street. Maybe he could put his money where his mouth is and explain why it's suitable for where he lives and not elsewhere?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  30. Frenchy
    Member

    Did he or his pal ever confirm which roads they'd like to see the 20mph restrictions lifted?

    I've seen them directly asked this on twitter several times, but only seen one answer. That was that the 20mph limit on Slateford Road (junction with Appin Place) should start 50m further east.

    EDIT: I may have misremembered the conversation, it's possible that they think the whole of Slateford Road should be 30mph. https://twitter.com/SJWebber_PHW/status/938538983524577281

    Posted 5 years ago #

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