will be a nice cycle path on a summers day
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Campaign for Drem to Gullane path
(61 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
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A 12-YEAR fight to introduce a path between Drem and Gullane has taken a major step forward, after campaigners agreed to back a landowner’s offer to provide access on part of his land.
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http://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/14975817.Agreement_over_plans_for_path_between_villages
Posted 7 years ago # -
Respect for their KBO.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Posted 6 years ago #
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Sounds like good progress although it's slightly concerning to see Cala mentioned. Their track record on providing access through their developments is poor. Although they have been known to reluctantly build shared use paths they will more likely than not install more chicanes than there are roads.
Take a look at Donaldsons or Dalmeny Park if you want to see what they are (in)capable of.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Posted 5 years ago #
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It'll be nice to see this completed.
Developers in East Lothian (I don't know which ones) sometimes put in the paths first. There's now a paved surface from the back of the new development in Pencaitland across the field to the railway path.
And in Dunbar a path now links the back of the big Asda (by the A1) to the new development at the east end of the town. It's not easy to find though.
Posted 5 years ago # -
15 year campaign achieves one mile path built by Cala presumably as part of a sweetener to allow them to build the estate that is one mile from Gullane.pronounced Gillan.
Posted 4 years ago # -
It's certainly the war of micro-attrition. Respect to anyone who gets a success - but it is so heart-breakingly slow.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@rosie, yes well done to the campaigners for digging in for the long haul and pushing the council to extend it to Drem
Posted 4 years ago # -
It's great news. Sad that a right of way can't be agreed for the whole route yet.
Not sure about the 'Gillan' bit though. Never once heard my school pals refer to it as Gillan. East Lothianers tend to say Gullin with emphasis on the first syllable. But I suspect it's of more interest to people who've moved there :)
There are definitely some interesting East Lothian vowels though - like 'warm' being rhymed with 'far' rather than 'war'.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@snowy - how posh were these school pals?
Posted 4 years ago # -
Gillan, or perhaps even Gilln, is definitely a contrivance.
Never sure if anyone really used it for real or whether it was people who thought they were mocking those who they thought pronounced it something like that...
Posted 4 years ago # -
The Drem path saga is a disgrace.
Precisely the sort of thing where LAs should compulsory purchase.
OR SG wade in and fix it in the name(s) of sustainable development, road safety, health and wellbeing, common sense etc.
But that would upset various status quos.
Posted 4 years ago # -
If only someone was proposing a dual carriageway.
Current MSP is of course a former minister in a previous Gov of party currently in Gov.
Perhaps that’s where the sustained pressure should be.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Current MSP is of course a former minister in a previous Gov of party currently in Gov.
Not sure who you're meaning here. Constituency MSP is Iain Gray, who is obviously a Labour MSP. None of the three SNP list MSPs are former ministers, as far as I can tell. Kenny Macaskill is the new MP.
One of those SNP MSPs is Paul Wheelhouse, though. Whose ministerial brief is "Energy, Connectivity and the Islands". Which seems relevant.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@frenchy, my guess is he meant big Kenny. When he retired before i thought he meant it.
Hard to keep away from the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd. maybe.
Wheelhouse is already a promising name. Connectivity might be his game?
Posted 4 years ago # -
Oops, yes -
Kenny M is of course now an MP not MSP!
Party allegiance and (potential) influence still apply.
Might be more useful for him to spend time talking to former colleagues than hanging around at Westminster.
Though I suppose he might be able to persuade Boris to find a small bit of infrastructure cash (not that cash is the only issue here) for the far north...
Posted 4 years ago # -
Re-read thread.
Campaign previously agreed to farmer’s offer of (less direct) route.
What’s the holdup now?
Posted 4 years ago # -
@gembo: I'm not sure that "connectivity" in this case doesn't just mean, basically, wires (and possibly other types of digital infrastructure) carrying information. The SG web page for the post lists that particular responsibility as "connectivity including 100% broadband". He does support the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity - but note again the separate mentions for connectivity and transport. However, Mr Wheelhouse's list of responsibilities does include "ferries" (just that - and a classic example of nominative determinism if ever there was one). Unfortunately I don't think a ferry is going to help much with a Drem to Gullane path...
There did used to be a railway that ran from the ECML at Spittal just east of Longniddry, via the outskirts of Aberlady to Gullane. Apart from the Aberlady station site (which is now a caravan park) much of the solum appears to be largely intact - or at least readily traceable on OS maps and aerial photos. Not much use as a route for folks in Drem, though.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Yes i doubt he will be any cop Wheelhouse, also Islands probably not Inchmickery etc probably islands as far away from E Lothian as you can get and still be in Scotia.
Posted 4 years ago # -
There is a nice ,heart-warming story in The Guardian about how the writer cured her despair at the state of the world by starting a local cycle campaign. So while being unable to do anything about Brexit, she can achieve a dropped kerb or two.
This is in Manchester, where Andy Burnham is handing out money for local infra.
I did think, good for her, but cycle campaigning can bring its own sense of Sisyphan futility, angst and despair.
Posted 4 years ago # -
"cycle campaigning can bring its own sense of Sisyphan futility, angst and despair."
Tell me about it!
The Powderhall Waste Depot closed at the end of 2016.
After more than three years of gentle lobbying by community groups (and the coming and going of several Active Travel Officers), City of Edinburgh Council are in the process of appointing consultants to undertake a feasibility study for converting the disused railway line into a shared use path.
Posted 4 years ago # -
It’s complicated....
https://sites.google.com/site/dremgullanepath/east-lothian-council-letter-2
Posted 4 years ago # -
Posted 4 years ago #
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“
One of the longest-running disputes in modern Scottish legal history, for 15 years politicians and campaigners struggled to obtain permissions from landowners for the final mile of the route into Gullane, with East Lothian Council saying it lacked the power to compel them to grant access.
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However, the final report (link is external), delivered to the council in August but only published last week, advised the authority that although it is possible to create a potential solution at this time, “all options have failed on the deliverability criteria and are therefore considered unfeasible due to land assembly constraints.”
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Publishing the report’s findings, East Lothian Council said in a statement: “The combination of projected traffic impacts and unavailability of additional land means that East Lothian Council cannot pursue this project any further at this stage.
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In a response to the council’s statement, Drem-Gullane Path Campaign spokesperson Iain V Monk said: “This report puts vehicles at the top of the priority list, rather than the safety of pedestrians and cyclists above those of drivers.
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https://road.cc/content/news/bike-path-campaigners-slam-vehicle-friendly-report-297649
Posted 1 year ago # -
Being a bit greener at the whole cycling thing than most, I'm honestly a bit shocked that Sustrans would apparently sign off on this absolute mockery of a report. The council have clearly and deliberately set preconditions - don't inconvenience motorists in any way, pretend we don't actually have compulsory purchase powers because we don't want to upset the landowners either, don't bring up national guidance - that they knew would result in the project being declared nonviable, the idea that the body supposedly responsible for delivering cycle infrastructure(putting aside why an NGO is involved at all) would rubber stamp such a cynical farce is deeply disturbing.
Is there no recourse to appeal this nonsense, either to the Scottish Government or through the courts? And at this point, is it not time to think about how to push the Scottish Government to stop issuing "guidance" and start issuing instructions on when, where, and how this kind of infrastructure should be built? They're happy enough centralising power in other ways, the people who're upset with them for that are already upset, so they've little to lose by doing so.
Posted 1 year ago # -
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Campaign's disappointment at vehicle friendly report
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https://dgcorepath.wixsite.com/website/post/campaign-s-disappointment-at-vehicle-friendly-report
Posted 1 year ago #
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