CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
Council elections 2022
(520 posts)- Started 2 years ago by Stickman
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Posted 2 years ago #
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It was disappointing (but not surprising) that the SNP-led council with their loyal Green supporters voted for a small low-emission zone (LEZ) only to operate in the city centre.
Inevitably this will push air pollution and congestion onto the streets surrounding the city centre LEZ area and do nothing to reduce air pollution in the most polluted streets of the city. Simply shifting pollution onto surrounding streets is not a solution.
But the refusal to tackle congestion does not stop there. They voted against a Park-and-Ride scheme at Lothianburn to reduce congestion in the south of the city and have done nothing about extending Ingliston’s Park-and-Ride to reduce congestion in the west of the city by linking with the efficient tram service to the city centre.
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Posted 2 years ago # -
They voted against a Park-and-Ride scheme at Lothianburn
What exactly was this about? The proposed site is in Midlothian, I think, so it's obviously not something that's entirely in CEC's gift to deliver.
Posted 2 years ago # -
But as traffic returns to normal, congestion is starting to increase and air pollution is reverting to the unacceptable levels previously seen on arterial corridors like St John’s Road and Queensferry Road, with all the serious health risks that involves.
Is the LibDem Gas Mask due for another photo-op?
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Here is what the report by Council officers concluded on a Park and Ride at Lothianburn:
The findings indicate that developing a park and ride facility at Lothianburn would not be well used, it would only impact marginally on parking in and around Morningside, and it would not reduce congestion or air pollution on the A702. It is recommended that the Council does not progress with development at this time.
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Yeah but
It’s election time
Spin spin spin
Posted 2 years ago # -
it would not reduce congestion or air pollution on the A702.
This much is probably true. The majority of drivers coming into Edinburgh on the A702 actually turn left for the A720 westbound, and often the M8 beyond that, and are therefore not very interested in taking a bus into town. It is actually quite rare to have long queues northbound towards Fairmilehead.
A P&R facility for Edinburghbound drivers would only work if the ride took them towards the Gyle, not just Morningside.
The barrier is really the Pentlands, and a public transport tunnel between about West Linton/Carlops/Nine Mile Burn and Livingston/Kirknewton/Balerno might be more useful.
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Labour noticeably don't mention reducing travel by car or commit to introducing any demand reduction measures. Cycle lane commitments are a vague:
Improve and extend a network of safe and protected cycle routes, filling current significant gaps.
Even the commitment to a cycle hire scheme is qualified:
Restore a cycle hire scheme, if sponsorship can be found
And I think we all know what this means:
Fully involve local communities in planning traffic calming and management schemes
How did it come to this from the party that kept Lothian Buses in public ownership, introduced the bus Greenways and developed the NEPN?
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@arellcat - a public transport tunnel between about West Linton/Carlops/Nine Mile Burn and Livingston/Kirknewton/Balerno might be more useful.
Tesla could do a hyperloop?!
@Morningsider - How did it come to this from the party that kept Lothian Buses in public ownership, introduced the bus Greenways and developed the NEPN?
Forum @Dave is right as the current policy of endless peripheral estates either houses people with a car habit or means they end up getting one. Solution was to make developers pay for connectivity with public and active transport.
Just done the ScotGov 'how to reduce car use' survey but feel the gap between what is required and what people will accept is broader than ever.
Posted 2 years ago # -
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Edinburgh Conservatives have been accused of failing to promote diversity in the City Chambers as only four of their 20 local election candidates are women.
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The Lib Dems say they would review existing Spaces for People schemes and work with communities and active travel groups to deliver higher quality projects more sensitive to local concerns.
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That should cover most things, nice coded phrases and ‘reassurance’ that everyone will get what they want…
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The manifesto says: "We will seek to expand the planned low emission zone so it covers buses, coaches and goods vehicles across the whole city, not just within the core city centre."
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Ignoring the word “seek” that’s quite a reasonably plan.
Presumably the current coalition parties intend to expand the zones - they just started too timidly(?)
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seek
** weasel word klaxon! **
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May or may not apply to local elections -
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Anyone know what this sentence means...
"Liberal Democrats believe that not every service has to be delivered by the council itself. Where appropriate, we will explore further options for service delivery with the voluntary, social enterprise and private sectors."
& why aren't we being consulted on it...
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Not every service IS provided by council!
But as they are not(?) specifying, they might mean emptying the bins, or teaching children or designing cycle infrastructure (oh, that’s already…).
So more insecurity for staff.
Nice.
That said, I’m always reminded of this -
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The city of Portland is governed by the Portland City Council, which includes a mayor, four commissioners, and an auditor. Each is elected citywide to serve a four-year term. Each commissioner oversees one or more bureaus responsible for the day-to-day operation of the city.
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland,_Oregon
Only a bit bigger than Edinburgh.
Posted 2 years ago # -
If you haven't done so already, it would be useful if everyone here asked their local candidates to sign up to Walk, Wheel, Cycle, Vote's three clear pledges to make Scotland a country where everyone has the choice to walk, wheel or cycle in safety for their everyday journeys.
Then post up what response, if any, that you receive. It makes the candidates aware that there are votes in this.
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Also, on the subject of making politicians aware that there are votes in being cycle-friendly, it would be great if people could invite all of their elected representatives (and those standing for election) to come along to PoP on Saturday 23 April.
Past experience is that politicians who haven't been to a PoP ride before say things like "I never expected it to be like this", as the penny drops that these are normal people with votes, who want a better future for their families. Getting policymakers to attend PoP makes a real difference.
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Posted 2 years ago #
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The Scottish Labour leader will formally launch his party's campaign today with a plan to save every Scottish household up to £1,000.
The surging cost of living in the UK looks set to be a key topic for the parties as they campaign ahead of next month's poll.
In order to mitigate the issues caused by the crisis, Sarwar’s party would introduce a windfall tax on oil and gas giants in a bid to reduce household bills by £600 for millions of Scots.
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https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/labour-council-election-pledge-save-26650937.amp
All well and fine but really not much to do with electing councillors, or even (he wishes) Labour administrations at local government level.
Posted 2 years ago # -
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On transport, the party gives a guarantee that no changes would be made unless they were shown to have public support through consultation.
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And as well as scrapping Spaces for People schemes where they were opposed in the public consultation, the Tories promise to “fix the disgraceful condition of our roads” and innovate for cheaper and better road repairs. “We will prioritise road repairs by ending the arbitrary ring-fencing of 10 per cent of the roads and transport budget for cycle lanes, instead allocating resources to projects which benefit all road and pavement users.”
They would also oppose more controlled parking zones where there is no demand; stop the workplace parking levy; and reintroduce a cycle hire scheme.
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Of course the last bit is nothing to do with ‘oh well we’d better balance it all with a positive policy’.
Just about ‘see how baaad the SNP/Lab lot are, they let the wonderful hire scheme end’.
Undoubtedly the ending of the hire scheme - and especially the lack of a plan for speedy replacement - is not a great success for the current administration.
It’s also true that Conservatives Councillor Iain Whyte was advocating a cycling hire scheme for Edinburgh long before it happened, but this is just the usual ’populist’/out of touch posturing.
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Is the Conservative candidate for Leith Cllr Whyte’s partner? Suggests, like all parties, they are struggling for candidates.
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“Is the Conservative candidate for Leith Cllr Whyte’s partner?“
Presumably
https://www.edinburghconservatives.org.uk/events/north-and-leith-barbecue
Posted 2 years ago # -
@Stickman, I'm not seeing the SNP or Greens struggling for candidates. I have heard from people in the know that Labour had a difficult time finding folk willing to stand this year. Possibly also Tories, Lib Dems in places.
Posted 2 years ago # -
@crowriver: ah, fair enough. I had seen that there are parts of the country (eg Highlands) where the SNP struggled to field candidates.
I know that the Greens have always been selective where they stand so the fact they have more candidates than ever should have alerted me to that!
Posted 2 years ago #
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