The Community Council has just received official notification from the Council (Spaces for People team) that Links Gardens is due to be re-opened to traffic on Monday 9th August.
Below is a copy of the email received. It seems obvious that the re-opening is not permanent but conditional on matters relating to the tramworks and to the proposed Low Traffic Neighbourhood. So monitoring of traffic flow, safety issues, collection of evidence, and feedback of local views will continue to be very important.
In the meanwhile it is not entirely clear from the Council’s email exactly what conditions are to be placed on the reopening. A key sentence seems to be: “Measures are going to be considered by the Tram team to mitigate the impact of traffic using local diversion routes near the school.” We will try to find out asap what this means in practice,and will keep you informed.
So all local residents will want to keep an eye on how the re-opening goes, and please keep taking photos, when relevant, and feeding back on what effect (positive and /or negative) you feel the re-opening has on pedestrians, cyclists, school children, buses, cars, deliveries, traffic congestion on nearby roads, etc. Comments are open below – do tell us how you think it’s going.
Opinions are mixed on this issue, overall, but the one thing none of us want, probably, is the return of the densely parked (dumped?) camper vans, trailers and caravans etc., along Links Gardens. We will be asking (again) whether signs can be obtained, to discourage this.
COPY
From: spacesforpeople <spacesforpeople@edinburgh.gov.uk>
Sent: Monday, August 2, 2021 4:43:21 PM
Dear Councillors and Stakeholders,
I refer to the ongoing closure of Links Gardens which was implemented as part of the Spaces for People programme of works in response to the Covid pandemic. The Links Gardens scheme is an initial Spaces for People project, originally implemented during the early stages of lockdown when restrictions limited the duration/method of exercise people could undertake. The original objectives of the project were to provide increased safe space for socially distanced exercise and to link together both sections of Leith Links.
It was agreed at the Transport and Environment Committee on 17 June that the closure of Links Gardens will be removed during tram construction in the area, but the reinstatement of the closure will be considered again in the future, subject to consultation with local people as part of proposals for a Leith Low Traffic Neighbourhood.
Accordingly I am writing to notify you of Links Gardens being reopened on Monday the 9 August in advance of the Tram works commencing at the Foot of the Walk. Measures are going to be considered by the Tram team to mitigate the impact of traffic using local diversion routes near the school.
I trust that this updates you on the current position however if you require any further information or clarification please do not hesitate to contact Barry Clarke, Senior Project Manager at barry.clarke@edinburgh.gov.uk
Regards
Andy Edwards
Dr Andy Edwards | South West Locality | Place | The City of Edinburgh Council | 10 Westside Plaza, Edinburgh EH14 2ST | email: andy.edwards@edinburgh.gov.uk |
