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Scott Arthur Latest

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  • Started 2 years ago by chdot
  • Latest reply from chdot
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  1. chdot
    Admin

    Ok, not The Gyle

    “

    Ownership[edit]
    Gyle Shopping Centre opened in October 1993. The centre began as a joint development between Edinburgh Council, Marks and Spencer and Asda, although by the time of opening, Asda was replaced by Safeway. In 1997, Gyle was purchased outright by Marks and Spencer, who then sold the centre to USS in March 2000.[8]

    Ownership of the centre changed again in late 2020 or early 2021. A failed planning application to expand the food court and add a cinema to the centre has hit the complex hard, along with the pandemic. [6]

    In August 2023, the centre was acquired by Capital & Regional for £40 million.[9]

    “

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gyle_Shopping_Centre

    “

    Capital & Regional plc is a large British manager of property assets - mainly shopping centres - for funds in which it has a significant stake.

    “

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_%26_Regional

    “

    The centre will be accretive to income from day one, with the agreed price representing a significant discount to the replacement cost and providing us with a highly attractive entry point from which we can create value. In addition, we have arranged terms with Morgan Stanley to staple debt to the acquisition at a 40% LTV capped at a cost of 6.5% fixed for 5 years.

    “

    https://capreg.com/media-centre/news/acquisition-of-the-gyle-shopping-centre/

    So, in short, it’s about money.

    Might be reasonable to speculate/suggest they could make more money with a housing development, but more effort.

    A significant tax on parking spaces might help change their minds.

    BUT

    ‘Think of the hard pressed motorists who can’t understand a bus timetable’.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  2. Frenchy
    Member

    Cameron Toll is going to be building housing (and a hotel and maybe a cinema) on some of their car parking.

    There were murmurs a few years ago of Morrison's apparently trying to sell some of their Moredun store car park to a housing developer. Never figured out if it was true, though. It'd be a fantastic idea, I've never seen it even close to half full.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  3. gembo
    Member

    Bit of ocean Terminal going to be Housing?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  4. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Officials are seeking a new strategy for the area amid a change in retail trends and the need to repurpose vacant buildings.

    Glasgow City Council’s long-term vision includes bringing back more city centre living, increasing footfall and establishing a more European café culture.

    “

    https://news.stv.tv/west-central/first-look-at-golden-z-plans-to-transform-glasgow-city-centre

    Posted 1 year ago #

  5. ejstubbs
    Member

    @chdot: Lines are finally being repainted and the lane protectors are being marked up for return.

    Proceeding westwards along Lanark Road yesterday, 31st July, I did spot a crew installing wands to protect the eastbound cycle lane, starting from the Gillespie Road junction. Still no DYLs for most of the length of the cycle lanes, though, or marked parking spaces or bus stops.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  6. chdot
    Admin

    “

    I had a really positive discussion with @limebike this afternoon about the possibility of bringing their bikes to Edinburgh

    “

    https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1697633907343008071

    Posted 1 year ago #

  7. Morningsider
    Member

    Dockless e-hire bikes are really not what Edinburgh needs. Our narrow pavements have enough clutter as it is. They are also expensive to use - a half hour trip on a Lime bike will likely set you back a fiver.

    Has the city learned nothing from the former Serco ran scheme? You get what you pay for. Lime will introduce bikes, they will annoy lots of pedestrians, service will be patchy and quality low, plus the whole scheme could be withdrawn at any time Lime fancies.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  8. chdot
    Admin

    WHAT???!!

    “

    A few people have been in touch about notice TEMP/23/200. This is in relation to works in the Braidburn Area which I have just found out are due to start on Monday(!).

    This scheme, although intersecting the Quiet Route, is separate and has been developed over a number of years with input from the local community (I attended a community workshop in 2017 IIRC).

    “

    https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1698011856495906888 (with drawings)

    Posted 1 year ago #

  9. toomanybikes
    Member

    Easy to list the downside of lime bikes vs some theoretical optimum scheme, but they're pretty popular amongst my pals in London. They do have some benefits too.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  10. Yodhrin
    Member

    "Dockless" is one thing, "just dump them anywhere you like" is another. If the council are willing to give up a decent number of parking spaces(with physical measures to make sure entitled drivers don't just park there anyway) around town & properly mark out bays in pedestrian areas *only where there's tons of excess space*, so there's somewhere specific to leave them AND Lime are willing to use the geolocation functionality to *enforce* the use of marked bays by disabling accounts and locking out phone numbers/credit card numbers(to avoid people just signing up for a new account) for people who ignore them, then the fact they don't have a physical dock won't be a problem(or at least, it will be a problem for Lime, assuming the council don't completely flub the contract negotiations).

    But if they're just left to be dumped wherever, or Lime are lax in actually enforcing a marked bay policy, the downsides outweigh no scheme at all, nevermind a theoretical optimum one. Edinburgh already has a lot of very loud, influential voices that are vehemently opposed to cycling(or affect that attitude for votes/clout), the last thing we need is to hand them a perfect tool to make their puce-faced ranting seem legitimate to the generally-disengaged average voter.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Have Your Say - Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Connection

    The Council have developed options in partnership with Councillors representing Morningside and Fairmilehead to address feedback from residents while retaining a safe route for walking, wheeling and cycling.

    These options are now ready to be shared with the public. Local residents will have a say from Tuesday.

    “

    https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1698246571484151960

    Posted 1 year ago #

  12. neddie
    Member

    We were promised one of the options to be a “full LTN” - yet all the designs leave Braid Rd (south) / Hermitage Dr / Midmar Dr open as a “primary traffic route” aka rat run

    Posted 1 year ago #

  13. chdot
    Admin

    “

    We are giving the residents on those residential streets a say on what happens next.

    “

    https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1698268623867961676?s=20

    Posted 1 year ago #

  14. pringlis
    Member

    I am once again baffled by what they're trying to achieve here. Putting aside the lack of ambition on the plan (though one positive is that there is no "rip everything out" option), there doesn't seem to be a coherent way to make a decision. They said they're asking local residents to choose but what that appears to mean is that

    1) They'll send leaflets to a seemingly arbitrary set of people who live near the Quiet Route. Not sure how they worked out the map for this, attached below.
    2) They'll open a consultation available to everyone ( https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1698305546036596962 )
    3) A report will be prepared which somehow weights "local residents" over others and makes a recommendation based on that
    4) Councillors will vote on that in February ( https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1698308532716581299 )

    I can't see how any consultation which is open to anyone can avoid vote-stuffing from around the city, such as the Corstorphine anti-LTN groups. If officers make a recommendation other than what the consultation results are, there'll be outrage, but how do they filter and weigh up residents opinions vs opinions of those who use the road vs those who are just anti-LTN? I'm on Cluny Gardens, outside the highlighted area on the map by about 20 meters, but our family uses the Quiet Route at least four times daily on foot/scooter/bikes for the school run so somehow our opinion has less weight? They'd have been better just sending ballot papers to all houses with X meters of the route.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  15. chdot
    Admin

    Selective democracy or just more tedious/destructive smoke and mirrors??

    Wot Climate (add relevant word)?

    Wot ‘traffic reduction target’ policy/plan/law/fantasy/joke?

    Wot a waste of CEC resources - staff/consultants.

    Wot a lack of serious leadership.

    “

    All are welcome, but the focus is local residents.

    “

    https://twitter.com/cllrscottarthur/status/1698305546036596962

    “

    There will be a report to TEC in Feb and Cllrs will then decide based on the comments received.

    “

    https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1698308532716581299

    P.s. is this just a perversion of policy and/or process, or is this sort of ‘consultation’ actually unlawful?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  16. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Joined up thinking needed - we can't reduce car use without investing in walking, cycling and public transport.

    “

    https://twitter.com/cllrscottarthur/status/1698405916054360189

    So is he two people or just ‘two brains’?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  17. LaidBack
    Member

    He seems to be constantly in opposition to himself and reflects the fact that people say they want green policies as long as they are invisible and cause no disruption.

    The council have moved all the planters off Lawnmarket - but still marked one way. I thought it might have lasted longer. Pedestrians still think street is mainly closed.
    Residents here don't generally have or need cars. Not that we were consulted.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  18. chdot
    Admin

    “

    My wee blog on the forthcoming consultation on the future of the "Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Connection" -

    https://t.co/x5Y2FwtiKw

    “

    https://twitter.com/cllrscottarthur/status/1698414724428247119

    Posted 1 year ago #

  19. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    Apropos of nothing:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/04/leadership-followship-sadiq-khan-ulez

    Posted 1 year ago #

  20. ejstubbs
    Member

    @chdot: WHAT???!!

    https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1698011856495906888

    First I've seen of that. So bikes heading west along Braidburn Terrace will now have to take to the footway before the Comiston Road junction and cross at the Toucan. Hmm. Might not actually be any worse than the setup at the roundabout on Colinton Road, which I use quite a lot - and might actually be better than waiting for the westbound traffic light phase to exit Braidburn Terrace, especially since the sensor for the lights seemed to fail to detect bikes a lot of the time.

    But I fail to grasp the reasoning behind the "pinch point" half way along Braidburn Terrace. OK there's going to be a crossing there - but is it really needed? Is the one way flow of motor vehicles ever so heavy as to require special measures for pedestrians - especially now that that street is part of the quiet route?

    I rather get the impression that the design, which supposedly started to emerge significantly before the pandemic, hasn't been revisited to account for the quiet route. And it seems to me that there can only be yet more uncertainty due to the 'consultation' about the further messing around with the "Braid Estate" sort-of-but-not-really? LTN.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  21. ejstubbs
    Member

    Brief update on Lanark cycle lanes: looks like the wands have been installed eastbound as far as a somewhere between Spylaw Bank Road and Hailes Gardens. And that's it. Not exactly what you would call rapid progress, and there was no sign of any bodies working on it when I passed by this morning.

    You can bet your life that infrastructure for motor vehicles wouldn't have been left unusable for this long.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  22. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Many folk have been in touch with me about the engagement for the Greenbank-Meadows Quiet Route which goes live tomorrow

    I have a number of concerns about the process surrounding the development of the engagement options and have written to @CllrScottArthur about this.

    “

    https://twitter.com/CllrBenParker/status/1698727496991092917

    (Letter in tweet)

    Posted 1 year ago #

  23. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Despite these concerns, I encourage all residents to complete the consultation which will go live at this link tomorrow: https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/sfc/greenbank-to-meadows/

    I have specific thoughts about the options being brought forward which I will share in due course, before the deadline in October.

    “

    https://twitter.com/CllrBenParker/status/1698727500489101709

    Posted 1 year ago #

  24. Stickman
    Member

    When did reopening Whitehouse Loan become part of the consultation?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  25. neddie
    Member

    Reopening Whitehouse Loan to cars would dilute the aims of the Quiet Route. Councillors literally voted and agreed back in July’s TEC meeting “not to dilute the aims of the scheme”.

    So surely reopening Whitehouse goes against what they agreed? How can this even be on the table?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  26. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Edinburgh's refreshed 20 minute neighbourhood strategy is now online:

    https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/33790/20-minute-neighbourhoods-strategy-august-2023

    These updates show different examples how the 20-minute neighbourhood concept is currently being embedded into key projects across the city. Following initial engagement with communities earlier this year, proposals are currently being developed to make it easier to access Gorgie Dalry, Portobello and Craigmillar town centres by walking, wheeling cycling and public transport while improving the quality of local streets and public spaces. See: https://edinburgh.gov.uk/future-council/need-20-minute-neighbourhoods/6

    “

    https://twitter.com/CllrScottArthur/status/1698757992198394311?

    Posted 1 year ago #

  27. chdot
    Admin

    “

    It's good to see that work has started on Braidburn Terrace - it has been a long time coming!

    “

    https://twitter.com/cllrscottarthur/status/1698954920949395464

    Posted 1 year ago #

  28. chdot
    Admin

    “

    We now have the power to vary Council tax, but that's an unfair tax. Our second biggest income stream after that is parking.

    “

    https://twitter.com/cllrscottarthur/status/1698938439595385280

    Posted 1 year ago #

  29. Dave
    Member

    Full on doublespeak gaslighting from Scott and the council. It's like watching someone pouring a glass of diluting juice and then turning around and saying that it's not diluted because... just "because".

    I posted at the time that Labour would make a bad job of this, but somehow they are doing wildly worse than I could have possibly imagined.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  30. Dave
    Member

    The design approved when the SNP/Greens won the vote to reopen Braid Road to two-way traffic has left virtually nobody feeling happy with the scheme

    I keep feeling Scott ought to be referred to the standards commission for this persistent misleading way of presenting events. Would you be surprised, reading this, to learn what the minutes of his committee show that Labour wanted? (Hint: it wasn't to keep Braid Rd closed to two way traffic)

    Posted 1 year ago #

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