Travel and Mobility – Page 3 – Leith Links Community Council

Leith Links Community Council meeting, Monday 27th March, 6:30pm, online (Teams).

26th March 2023

The special guest speakers at our meeting tomorrow asked for questions to be sent to them in advance, so we have done that. We are listing those questions here below, so that members of the community can also see them in advance.

Gavin Brown and Gavin Graham of the City of Edinburgh Council have agreed to share information and answer questions about the Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ) that are about to be introduced.

Members of the public from Leith and North Leith are welcome to attend Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will be sent a link for the meeting. (Please do this BEFORE 12.00 on 27th March. Last minute requests are difficult to fulfil.)

YOUR QUESTIONS

CPZ Questions from Leith Links & Leith Harbour & Newhaven Community Council residents

General

How do we know if we need a permit or not? How / where/ when do we apply?

When will permits come into action and how much will they be?

Can we get permits for visitors and guests?

Will parking permits be needed at night time and weekends, or are they only for 8-5 or 9-6 (or whatever) hours?

I have carers coming to the house three times a day. Two carers on the morning and evening slot. How are they supposed to park? They already are very low paid and can barely afford to work, so I don’t think they can afford to pay big parking fees (and I can’t afford to pay them for them) and also, they are not paid for their travel time, so if they have to spend ages searching for a parking place it will eat into the time they have to give me the care I need. I am very worried.

Why can’t we have parking control only at times that will stop commuters parking all day (like they have at the Grange)? Why does it have to be so all encompassing?

With reference to the above subject and the meeting on Monday 27^th March I would like to ask why CEC have made it so difficult to clearly determine what the full proposals are? With some information being provided on maps and other information provided elsewhere it’s virtually impossible to obtain an accurate understanding of the full plan.

What levels of revenue CEC expect to raise from the introduction of these new CPZ’s and what will this extra revenue be spent on?

What exactly are the proposals to deal with displaced parking should this become an issue? Merely the introduction of further CPZ’s, or are other potential solutions available?

My family often come up from England to visit me, and stay a couple of days. Can I get a Visitor permit for them?

I have an AirBNB in the area. How will my guests be able to park?

When will the controls be implemented? I see yellow lines going in right now, but I don’t think they are ‘live’? How will people know when they start and how long they can continue to park there without fines, meanwhile?

I am a business owner. I am interested to know what we are expected to do about our employees and customers’ parking, since most of Leith parking is for permit holders only. I have a few employees, one of which has to run off to pick up her children from school, she cannot get a bus as timing is unpredictable due to the north bridge closure/consistent changes of leith walk bus stops, and is not on a tram route, and has to park her car. She has expressed an idea that she might have to look for another job due to her not being able to park anywhere. How is it fair that I might lose an employee due to parking restrictions? This is only one of my employees. There must be hundreds of employees in the same situation, let alone customers who will stop coming to Leith to use our businesses. We have already had clients complain that they cannot park. We are not commuters. We are only trying to park our cars and run our businesses. Finally we are getting somewhere with the trams, we’ve survived 16 years of roadworks and mess and now we can’t even park to come to work.

More Specific

Elderly and disabled people who live in a PoLHA block at 133 Constitution Street are ‘marooned’ in their homes as there are no spaces for parking or loading / unloading bays near their door, for taxis and relatives to pick them up and drop off. (Not to mention ambulances etc.) What can be done to help them?

The Better Day supermarket on Salamander Place is a lifeline for the many residents who live around this area and don’t want to enter the congested areas of Duke Street/Leith Walk and Commercial Street etc. for shopping. It needs a loading bay outside and a few parking slots for shoppers (maybe restricted to 30 minutes and No Return within X hours.

I’d like to know if the CPZ people have liaised with Lothian Buses? There are ongoing discussions about the route of the 34 bus and the location of permanent bus stops (Constitution Street/ Links Place / Links Gardens / Salamander Place), and I am concerned that road markings for the CPZ will not be coordinated with the new plans for the bus stops.

Police officers – Given the representations made to the consultation by a number of police officers about the impact on them, is there no way the Council can provide them with permits in conjunction with their employer? A sort of essential worker with ‘anti social working hours’ permit? Many start and finish work at times there is no or very limited public transport and may live quite a way from the Leith station where the Police vehicles are parked. Was this issue even considered?

Controlled parking is coming in on Tower Place, against the wishes of the residents (who all have allotted parking spaces with their flats). There will now be no free parking in this area as double yellows all along this section of Ocean Drive due to trams. Where are delivery vans going to park? They have already started parking on the pavements… sometimes blocking dropped kerbs (and we have a few wheelchair users) and there are huge numbers of pedestrians using the road constantly due to the Victoria ship (plus many of them have cars parked in Tower Place). Could we at least have a couple of loading bays?

I’d like to know if the council will repaint all lines /add new lines on Tower St. It’s devoid of ANY road markings. Also George Brown & sons park big vans in 2 disabled spaces on Tower St alongside the Malmaison – and this must stop.

Parking bays being put in the entrances to the garage businesses on Manderston St and Gordon St, why? We will be fighting just to get parked at our own entrance! Bad enough when the double yellows got put in deterring customers parking up for quotes, advice etc! Some thoughts for local business wouldn’t go amiss.

I have a permit for my own home address (Links Gardens), will I also be able to park near my work if I need to at times (Commercial Street)?

I don’t really understand the zones – both North Leith and Leith seem to be numbered N8 – are they covered by the same permit? With a permit for Links Gardens, will I be able to park in the North Leith zone, eg, away along at Newhaven?

I had a walk round the block this morning and counted 7 cars in permit holder parking areas. Obviously not in use yet but they all had school parking permit holder badges. St Mary’s school parking area is full so I assume these are teachers cars on the street. A question for Monday. Will these cars be allowed to use the permit parking spaces? Or is their permit just to use the full school car park?

Monitoring

I’d like to know what the arrangements are going to be for monitoring in the adjacent areas and how long the monitoring period will go on for. Will there be a baseline established to monitor against? If that is done during school holidays it will show a significantly lower number of cars parked in Duncan and Wellington Place and Links Place.

Having seen the painting for ‘Permit Holders only’ has just gone in on Links Gardens and assume the double (?) yellows will go in next I would expect to see immediate displacement effects to other areas. In the absence of signage to show the controls do not apply as yet people will avoid risking a parking fine.

Can I therefore ask the CPZ speakers to tell us more about how they will actually monitor displacement from now- not just when the controls actually come in which looks to be likely in six months time? For example are they setting up monitoring points/positions and doing parked vehicle counts at specific times/days of the week? Do they have people living in certain streets to report in to them? How will ‘monitoring’ actually work and when will it start?

I live just outside the CPZ, and am anticipating a huge problem of displaced parking in my street and immediately surrounding streets. What ‘monitoring’ will be done exactly? When will it start? How will the level of displaced parking be measured and recorded?

***

This next list, compiled by Councillor Chas Booth, are questions that he has received from community councils and others:

General questions or process questions

1) Where can we see the map tiles of the final version of the restrictions, as they will be installed? Page 3 of the Strategic Review of Parking website shows maps, but it’s not clear if these are the final version, as they will be installed?

2) Where can we see a detailed list of all the comments received during the consultation and the council’s response to each one? In many cases it looks like the council has ignored comments submitted during the consultation, and I’d like to know why? If it’s not possible to see each comment and response, is it possible to see common themes and the council’s response to these?

3) When will the controls come into force?

4) What communication with residents will there be before the controls come into force? Specifically, will I receive a letter giving me sufficient warning to allow me to get a permit?

5) Zones N7 and N8 don’t appear to be listed on the council’s list of residents’ parking permit charges on the council website. Why not? When will they be listed? What will the price of a permit be in zones N7 and N8?

6) Why are you introducing these changes? There is no problem with parking in my area.

7) What consultation was carried out prior to this work starting? Where can I read the consultation reports?

8) Some of the map tiles I have seen do not appear to have been updated with the results of the tram work. What coordination happened between the CPZ team and tram team? For example some sections immediately adjacent to the tram line only have restrictions until 5.30pm, whereas any parking at that location is likely to stop tram operations?

9) Are these changes consistent with the proposed cycle lane along Lindsay Road, Commercial Street, Baltic Street etc as part of Leith Connections phase 3? Will the whole thing need to be ripped up if that project is approved? What coordination happened between the CPZ team and Leith connections team?

10) What are the hours of operation of the new restrictions?

11) If people act as paid or unpaid carers for somebody living in the new zone, how do they go about getting a permit? Is there a charge for carers to get a permit and if so what is it?

12) What does the council intend to do to publicise the details of the new zone to residents and visitors, to ensure everyone is aware when it goes live?

13) If changes are needed to the scheme as installed, for example because parking bays are causing an obstruction, or if unrestricted roads in the area suffer from uncontrolled parking, what is the process and timetable for remedying this? What review processes are in place to ensure these issues are picked up and acted upon?

Queries related to specific streets / locations:

a) Why is there pay-and-display parking at Salamander Street next to the junction with Salamander Place? This is the narrowest part of the street and likely to lead to problems. It should be double yellows.
b) There should be a loading bay outside the convenience store on Salamander Place, why is this not included?
c) What is the council doing to address parking pressure around the Links on match days and other days when events happen? Why are the restrictions not 7-days?
d) What are the proposals within the new Ropeworks development?
e) On Mill Lane there is a short section of residents parking shown. This is visitor parking for the former Leith Hospital, and should not be covered by restrictions.
f) Salamander Street on the south side appears to show parking restrictions, but this is where phase 3 of Leith connections intends to put the cycle lane?
g) What are the details on Portland Street? Will the end-on-parking be retained or not? If this is to be unrestricted, how will the council respond to parking problems as they arise?

—

Next Meeting of Leith Links Community Council – your questions about parking!

20th March 2023

The next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council will be held on Monday 27th March at 6:30pm, online (via Microsoft Teams). The meeting will be held in partnership with our neighbour Community Council Leith Harbour and Newhaven.

March Agenda and Previous Minutes (February) are here.

We have special guest speakers attending, Gavin Brown and Gavin Graham of the City of Edinburgh Council, who have agreed to share information and answer questions about the Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ) that are about to be introduced to Leith and North Leith.

Members of the public from these areas are welcome to attend – we are hoping for a large attendance. Please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk and you will be sent a link for the meeting. (Please do this BEFORE 27th March if possible as ‘last minute’ requests are difficult to fulfil.)

Our speakers have asked that your questions about the CPZ be sent to them in advance of the meeting so that they can be prepared to answer them.

What would you like to know about the imminent Controlled Parking Zones?

Please send your questions in (fairly briefly worded please) as soon as possible, either via the Comments below, or by email to contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk
and we will forward these to our Council speakers for next week.

Please note that the topic of this meeting does NOT cover the whole Leith Walk area, but only Zones N8 (and by implication, adjoining ‘grey zones’) on the map below.

The 34 bus route, and bus stop location

16th March 2023

The Community Council recently asked Lothian Buses what their plans are for the No. 34 bus.

In September 2022, the new bus route taking the 34 down Restalrig Road, through Links Gardens, and down Salamander Place before proceeding along to Ocean Terminal was introduced. For some reason, it was described as having been ‘re-routed’ or ‘diverted’ from Constitution Street due to the tramworks (although in fact there never was a 34 on Constitution Street, though there was at one time a 12, and of course the 16).

We were initially told that the 34 would eventually travel via Queen Charlotte Street and the north end of Constitution Street once the end of the tramworks made that possible. Now that the works are nearly over and the roadway is clear, we wondered if the route of the 34 would change?

A number of local residents have been asking about this. Some are keen to see a bus on Constitution Street again, while others have pointed out that the Salamander Place route actually delivers a much needed service to the large population of people who live in the new homes (e.g. the RopeWorks) around Salamander Place, with many more new residents set to move into the new flats being built on Salamander Street / Baltic Street.

Below is the reply we received from Lothian Buses:

34 Bus – Leith Links

Lothian service 34 continues to be diverted via Salamander Place.

Lothian have not been advised of a date when Constitution Street will be suitable for buses. The route via Salamander Street has proven to be popular with customers and Lothian is in discussions with the Council’s public transport team regarding the possibility of permanent bus stops that would allow the service to operate via Salamander Street in the future. Lothian do not have a timescale or any further detail on this at present.

Lothian is committed to delivering for all of our customers – we will publicise any changes as soon as we are in a position to do so.

Gaynor Marshall
Communications Director

***

The mention of bus stops raises a new and important question. If the current route is kept, and bus stops are to be made permanent, we want to be sure the stops are in the ‘right place’ to be most useful to bus users. If you have views on the best location for 34 bus stops around the Links, please let us know in the Comments below, or in an email to contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk

Councillor Katrina Faccenda speaks up for Leith

8th November 2022

Leith Ward Councillor Katrina Faccenda spoke up last week in the Council Transport and Environment Committee about the awfulness of life in Leith in recent years / months / weeks, due to the Tramworks. Her words were polite, but her message was frank and very clear. As a result, she has been invited to attend the Tram All Party Oversight Group (APOG) (a role usually not open to Ward Councillors).

Her words are below. If you want to be sure that she is aware of issues that affect you, when she attends the Tram APOG meetings, you should contact her at cllr.katrina.faccenda@edinburgh.gov.uk

My statement to the Transport and Environment Committee on the Trams to Newhaven Update

Councillor Katrina Faccenda

I want to congratulate the team – lessons have been learned from Phase 1 and to see that the project remains on schedule and within budget is a remarkable achievement

However, I am concerned that we underestimate the impact that the ongoing works have on the residents of my Ward.

As a city we recognise the importance well-maintained public spaces, this committee spent the whole morning discussing one street in the new town where very few people live permanently.

and the importance of the lived environment for people’s well-being – yet residents in Leith have for years had to live in building site

Building sites which are not always kept as clean and tidy as they should be – which become litter traps and are used as yards for long-term storage

Many businesses have asked me why the street in front of their business a storage yard for materials is which will not be need for many months – surely there are alternatives to this.

I have also had many letters regarding the steepness of the dropped pavements at junctions like Constitution St/Bernard St and the mismatching/confusing nature of the tactile paving which are meant to help the visually impaired – I do hope that these as well as some of the poorly laid and cut paving will be made safer, but it would be better for this not to happen in the first place.

The now infamous new crossings like the one at Brunswick Street are out of my ward but due to bus issues more Leithers than ever are walking up Leith walk to get into town.

I appreciate that the Trams team are responsible for delivering a project and it falls on other parts of the council such as Lothian buses to deal with many of the other inconveniences.

I am not sure that anyone who does not regularly travel to and from Leith can appreciate the level of stress that people are enduring daily – and negotiating public transport has become almost impossible if you do not have access to a smartphone and the bus App but even that is of limited use as it doesn’t keep pace with diversions.

Buses are changing route on an hourly basis, changes in bus stops being serviced and we are now going into the winter without bus shelters at many bus stops and ironically lovely shelters at tram stops on Leith Walk

Leith lost the 22 service – a lifeline service for many and one of the reasons is reported to be reduced use – we know that many of those who are able to walk, or wheel have stopped using buses due to unreliability caused by traffic and diversion – and those who still need buses struggle to find one.

Lastly, the Support for Business package has been welcomed by many businesses but hasn’t been enough for others – well established businesses are closing and only last week another business, a bar on Bernard St announced its closure – cash flow is vital to small businesses and an evening of customers paying by voucher is not ideal.

I appreciate that the pandemic and lockdown make measuring business impact difficult, but I do hope this will be looked at in planning future large scale infrastructure interventions across the city.

Summing up – everyone appreciates that life in a city will involve road works and occasional disruption but for one part of the city to have to put up with so much for so long has become intolerable for many – and please do not forget that many of the future beneficiaries of the trams are not those putting up with this – they are still to move to Leith into new housing accessible by tram.

I think the council must acknowledge the level of disruption and stress the people of Leith have endured and to publicly thank them for persevering and recognising that our strategic plans for the city should be balanced with the wellbeing of our citizens

2022, Leith area, Trams

The bus saga –

26th September 2022

It seems clear by now, from the many responses sent back in via this website, and FaceBook, ‘I Love Leith’ etc. that NOBODY received a leaflet about the bus route changes. A mystery.

So this is the latest message that Leith Links Community Council has sent to Lothian Buses. We are still awaiting a reply.

23 September

To: Lothian Buses

Dear Ms Marshall

Thank you for your most recent message.

I wonder if I could ask for clarification?

You say “We appreciate that some of our customers are unable to access our digital platforms and so in addition to bus stop information being refreshed to reflect the changes we reached out to approx. 22K households (in the EH6 6. EH6 7, EH6 8, EH7 6) areas with detailed information on Monday 12 September and Tuesday 13 September.”

May I ask you to clarify exactly what “reached out…to..households” means? On a first reading, we understood you to mean that you had leaflets delivered through the door of 22K households. However, this does not seem to be the case. Have we misunderstood you? Did you reach out in another way, and if so, can you explain precisely what form this took?

We understand that the period since the Queen’s passing has, unexpectedly, been a very demanding period for Lothian Buses across the city and that it may take a while before things get back to ‘normal’, so we do not wish to be overly demanding. However, we would like to reiterate our request / invitation to meet with someone representing LB at some point soon, to discuss constructive ways in which we (i.e. the community council, as members of the local community and representing the local community) can collaborate and work with you and help to monitor the new services over the next few months, as you have stated you intend to do. You will obviously have access to passenger numbers and other objective data. And presumably, reports from drivers. We have access to ‘soft data’ in the form of the views of passengers as to how well the services are functioning, and meeting peoples’ needs, any important needs that are not being met, and so on.

Thank You

Sally Millar

Secy, Leith Links Community Council

_____________________________________________

Leith Links Community Council received the following message from Lothian Buses, in response to our earlier email correspondence.

16.09.22

From: Gaynor Marshall, Communications Director, Lothian Buses

Thank you for your further email. All comments and feedback are duly noted.

In terms of our communicating the change I can advise that information was published in advance of the changes on 11^th September. We appreciate that some of our customers are unable to access our digital platforms and so in addition to bus stop information being refreshed to reflect the changes we reached out to approx. 22K households (in the EH6 6. EH6 7, EH6 8, EH7 6) areas with detailed information on Monday 12 September and Tuesday 13 September.

Attached is a copy for your reference – it may be helpful for you to host it on LCC website.

I can also confirm that all decisions were made with the information available at the time following dialogue with colleagues at CEC (TTN).

The changes that came into place on 11th September will be monitored over the next few months with our immediate priority being stabilising the longer term commercial viability of the network and subsequent economic recovery of our business.

In terms of your further comments I refer you back to all previous communication which has provided our rationale and reasoning underpinned by commercial data and operational feasibility.

In closing I would add that Lothian strive to deliver for customers in continuing exceptionally challenging circumstances. We pride ourselves in being a part of the communities we serve and we will only endeavour to engage in meaningful and relevant dialogue when conducted in a professional and constructive manner.

Kind regards

Gaynor Marshall
Communications Director, Lothian Buses

***

We will be responding in due course.

In the meanwhile, we would be interested –

to know more about the leaflets. Please can you let us know if you got a leaflet through your door (or if you didn’t, but you think you should have, as you live along the bus routes). It would help if you added your street name and/or postcode.
to hear more about your experiences with the new bus routes. Last week was highly untypical, but starting from this week – how is it going for you, so far?

Please write a comment below or email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk

2022, Leith Links area, Lothian Buses

More about Buses

17th September 2022

Leith Links Community Council has just received the following message from Lothian Buses, in response to our earlier email correspondence.

16.09.22

From: Gaynor Marshall, Communications Director, Lothian Buses

Thank you for your further email. All comments and feedback are duly noted.

Attached is a copy for your reference – it may be helpful for you to host it on LCC website.

I can also confirm that all decisions were made with the information available at the time following dialogue with colleagues at CEC (TTN).

In terms of your further comments I refer you back to all previous communication which has provided our rationale and reasoning underpinned by commercial data and operational feasibility.

Kind regards

Gaynor Marshall
Communications Director, Lothian Buses

***

We will be responding in due course.

In the meanwhile, we would be interested –

to know more about the leaflets. Please can you let us know if you got a leaflet through your door (or if you didn’t, but you think you should have, as you live along the bus routes). It would help if you added your street name and/or postcode.
to hear more about your experiences with the new bus routes. Last week was highly untypical, but starting from this week – how is it going for you, so far?

Please write a comment below or email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk

6 Comments 2022

Buses at Leith Links

12th September 2022

Monday 12th September – Due to the momentous events today, causing massive traffic congestion, buses are being delayed all throughout the city.

We have so far still not been able to meet with Lothian Buses to discuss our local bus route changes, but have continued to press for a meeting. UPDATE – new Managing Director Sarah Boyd has now been in touch to indicate that a conversation may be possible next week sometime, after this period of exceptional transport arrangements, in which Lothian is heavily involved of course, surrounding the death of Her Majesty the Queen.

What we know –

The changes did start on Sunday 11th September – i.e. the 25 and 21 using Lochend Road, and the 34 and 49 using Restalrig Road. The bus stops reflect this change and provide some basic paper-based information.
For the moment, the 34 will go from Restalrig Road to Ocean Terminal (and same route coming back from OT into town) via Links Gardens, Salamander Place, Baltic Street, Bernard Street, Commercial Street.

See https://www.lothianbuses.com/live-travel-info/service-update/?alert_id=22a9ec20a664161cd55de74b43ab75f9

Apparently Lothian Buses DID NOT CHECK with Trams to Newhaven that the route they wanted to use, i.e. Constitution Street and Queen Charlotte Street, would be open for traffic on 11th September. (Of course, those of us who live here always knew it would not be ready.) In our view, this reflects a shocking lack of coordination between key transport operators (and overseers) in our city.

The Salamander Place route will be used until Constitution Street is available, which Trams to Newhaven tell us may be some weeks away.

Since congestion on Baltic Street (& Bernard Street, Commercial Street) is already horrendous, and the road surface in Salamander Place is in extremely poor condition (understatement!), passengers are in for a slow and bumpy ride. We also feel that the junction at the top of Salamander Place, turning in and out of Links Gardens, is potentially problematical, even dangerous.

So how’s it going so far? One day into the new service, we’ve seen buses letting passengers off on Links Gardens (presumably because the bus stops at the top of Salamander Place are awkwardly placed), and several occasions of buses stopped at the junction, ‘negotiating’ with other drivers as to who would go first through the narrowed turn. And the poor lollipop man at this junction has seen his job suddenly get a lot more complicated!

We’ve also seen at least one No, 21 sail on down Restalrig Road as previously, instead of crossing into Sleigh Drive, much to the distress of passengers waiting to board the new service along Lochend Road, who had a very long wait for the next bus. Was the driver not told about the change?

And we have received a number of emails from members of the local community finding the changes difficult.

We would be grateful to hear from any of you (in the comments below) of any problems you experience or observe in that area, and/or photos, so that we can pass these on to Lothian Buses (in Comments, below, or send to contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk).

Death of Her Majesty the Queen: Disruption in city centre

9th September 2022

Good morning,

Buckingham Palace announced the death of Her Majesty The Queen yesterday. A range of ceremonial events are planned to take place in Edinburgh and the Royal Household will confirm plans for events in the coming days.

We’re working with The Scottish Government and Police Scotland on plans to accommodate large crowds of visitors to the city who wish to pay their respects and attend the events.

We expect significant disruption in the city centre, and we want to advise you, and the residents and businesses in the Old Town, about road closures and changes to some services that may impact you, and your stakeholders, and access for deliveries to businesses and homes in the area.

Some of the services that will be affected include changes to parking, public transport, bin collections, some city centre school closures and diversions. Please visit our website to find out which services are impacted and how this will impact you and your stakeholders. We will keep it updated with the latest information as it becomes available. Please check it regularly for updates.

City of Edinburgh Council

2022, City of Edinburgh Council, Leith Ward 13, September

Bus Update

9th September 2022

We are disappointed to report that Lothian Buses have so far not agreed to meet with us to discuss the fast approaching bus route changes, but we continue to press for a meeting. Lothian buses have so far merely referred us to their website, which we think is pretty dismissive.

We have learned – and feel it is important to pass on to the local community:

The changes will go ahead as of Sunday 11th September – i.e. the 25 and 21 will use Lochend Road, and the 34 and 49 will use Restalrig Road. The bus stops reflect this change.
For the moment, the 34 will go from Restalrig Road to Ocean Terminal (and same route coming back from OT into town) via Links Gardens, Salamander Place, Baltic Street.

See https://www.lothianbuses.com/live-travel-info/service-update/?alert_id=22a9ec20a664161cd55de74b43ab75f9

We have been told that Lothian Buses DID NOT CHECK with Trams to Newhaven that the route they wanted to use, i.e. Constitution Street and Queen Charlotte Street, would be open for traffic on 11th September. (Of course, those of us who live here always knew it was not). In our view, this reflects a shocking lack of coordination between key transport operators (and overseers) in our city.

The Salamander Place route will be used until Constitution Street is available, which Trams to Newhaven tell us may be some weeks away.

Since congestion on Baltic Street is already horrendous, and the road surface in Salamander Place is in extremely poor condition (understatement!), we fear that passengers are in for a slow and bumpy ride. We also feel that the junction at the top of Salamander Place, turning in and out of Links Gardens, is potentially problematical, even dangerous. So we would be grateful to hear from any of you (in the comments below) of any problems you experience or observe in that area, and/or photos, so that we can pass these on to Lothian Buses (in Comments, below, or send to contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk).

You can read the entire correspondence here (start from the bottom and read upwards, to get correct order) between Leith Links Community Council and Lothian Buses. All correspondence has been copied to our Leith Ward Councillors, and Craigentinny / Duddingston, and to the Convenor of the Transport and Environment Committee. No written response so far from any of them, although there were supportive comments made orally from Leith Councillors at our recent Community Council meeting.

2022

Reply from Lothian Buses

29th August 2022

It appears that Lothian Buses will not take up our invitation to attend tonight’s Community Council meeting. Discussion of the matter will remain on the agenda however, as we continue to collect the views of the local community on the bus route changes. If you wish to attend the meeting, please email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk to get the link.

We have however today received the following letter, in response to the letter we sent last week (see below). Please feel free to add any comments you may have below, and we will collect these and forward to Lothian in due course.

29.08.22

From from Gaynor Marshall, Communications Director of Lothian Buses

Thank you for taking the time to write to Lothian.

As we recover from the impact of the pandemic, we acknowledge that there have been fundamental shifts in societal working trends and corresponding shifts in travel patterns. It is critical that Lothian continue to review and adapt your bus network to reflect current travel habits, match supply and demand and maintain commercially viable services to allow us to deliver a service for all of our customers.

As we move toward the cessation of Scottish Government financial support in the autumn it is vital that we stabilise our network and form a solid foundation on which to base our next steps in economic recovery. With these challenges in mind, it might be helpful for us to provide some background around the process for the changes in Lochend, Restalrig and Leith Links.

With regard to Leith Links, the situation back in November 2019 was that the 12 had been diverted away from Leith Links due to the closure of Constitution Street as part of the tram project construction. This left service 1 which had been operating a one way loop via the Links since the removal of the roundabout at the foot of Easter Road. As part of the next round of closures in the Leith area that were planned to be put in place from Spring 2020 most bus services were planned to be diverted or altered. For Leith Links this would have seen service 1 extend to Seafield via Vanburgh Place/East Hermitage Place to replace then service 12, which was curtailed in the city centre. Immediately prior to this change the Coronavirus pandemic broke out and the city’s bus network was hastily adapted to run as a skeleton service during the initial lockdown period. Subsequently the Spaces for People project closed a number of roads in the Leith Links area which prevented any bus route from operating across the Links.

Service 12 was not ‘summarily removed’ from Leith, the original and indeed Final Business Cases for the Tram project have always assumed that service 12 (along with service 22) would no longer operate via Leith Walk and would be curtailed to the city centre. The northbound closure of Leith Walk from Spring 2020 led us to anticipate a significant reduction in demand for bus travel based on our experience with previous longer term closures for tram related works on Leith Walk. As a result a number of changes were implemented to reduce excess capacity and reduced costs which included curtailing service 12 at the start of the project rather than on the introduction of trams in service.

When looking at reinstating a bus service across Leith Links we were faced with the lack of additional resources and a need to not increase operating costs, whilst at the same time remaining cognisant of the need to retain as many existing bus links as possible. The only option to serve Leith Links under these circumstances was to re-route service 34 between Sleigh Drive roundabout and Ocean Terminal. In order to provide a reasonable journey time (please see below) the new route would be via Restalrig Road the Links Gardens, Bernard Street and Commercial Street. This led us to consider the provision of buses on both Restalrig Road, Lochend Road, East Hermitage Place which have links to Leith Walk and the city centre. By swapping both pairs of services (34 49 to Restalrig and 21 25 to Lochend) both corridors retain their links to the city centre (25 and 34) and to Leith Walk (25 and 49) and to, whilst services 1 and 49 provide the same links on East Hermitage Place.

Journey times to and from the city centre will change slightly with most journeys being timetable to be quicker. Current journey times and new journey times are shown below along with a comparison with service 12 for Leith Links from 2019.

	12 (2019)	25 (current)	25 (new)	34 (current)	34 (new)
Leith Links to Leith Street/York Place	18 minutes				17 minutes
Restalrig Road to Leith Street		18 minutes			15 minutes
Lochend Road to Leith Street			13 minutes	16 minutes

Lastly, regarding a link from the Leith area to the Western General Hospital, we understand the continuing desire for such a link, and indeed would be supportive of such an initiative in the medium to longer term, however given current pressures we are unable to commit to such a service at this time.

I hope that this gives a bit more background information and context.

Lothian is absolutely committed to delivering for our customers and I know the significant role we play in a sense of community I appreciate and acknowledge all that you state and I’m sorry that these changes have caused concern amongst some of your constituents. However the (harsh) reality as previously mentioned is that as we move toward the cessation of Scottish Government financial support in the Autumn it is vital that Lothian take the necessary steps to stabilise our network and form a solid foundation on which to base our wider economic recovery.

Gaynor Marshall

Communications Director

***

From Leith Links Community Council, 22.08.22

Dear Sirs

I am writing on behalf of Leith Links Community Council, with regard to the imminent proposed changes to bus services in our area.

As you are aware, we have been campaigning for a new bus service to run through Leith Links to serve the large population in the growing number of new housing developments on the north side of the Links. We were looking for a new service, to replace the No. 12 service that was summarily removed a couple of years ago. We were NOT looking for a revamp of several well-established and well-used bus services in the wider area beyond the Links – that, while it could benefit some residents (nearest to the Links), could significantly disadvantage many others in our community (residents along the Restalrig Road and Lochend Road corridors).

In the discussions we have had most recently, with Ian Bieniowski and later John White, and Ben Ritchie, we were led to believe that prior to a new service being, hopefully, introduced in due course, Lothian Buses would continue holding discussions with the community, as regards the needs of local people. Also we were expecting to see proposals that would be presented with a view of how local bus routes are expected to link to / work with the tram service, and with some data on actual and projected usage, and catchment area, including the catchment numbers still to be built along Seafield Road.

So while we appreciate that Lothian Buses has, in one sense, ‘listened’ and been willing to act promptly, we are however very disappointed, that you have autocratically introduced sweeping changes without any consultation with the local community, and with no transparency, or presentation/communication of evidence. Also with very little notice and a lack of information about the existing and proposed new frequency of the relevant services.

Can we meet as soon as possible, please, to discuss this? And please will you send a representative to our next meeting of the Leith Links Community Council, which will be online on Monday 29 August at 6:30 pm, to explain the proposed changes and to answer questions? That meeting will be open to the public.

The immediate response to the proposed changes from our local community has been mostly negative, as far as we can establish so far. (Our efforts at consultation will continue.)

On the positive side, a bus running through the Links, and access to Aldi and Ocean Terminal, will be welcome, so thank you for that. But overall the 34 is probably the least popular bus that could possibly have been chosen, as it is relatively infrequent and a very slow route into town because it follows a circuitous route. Therefore it is perhaps not likely to attract much of a ridership going south into town (which may be used as an excuse to later axe it again…?). However the wholesale swapping over of Lochend Road buses with Restalrig Road buses has met with some horrified hostility. Why is this necessary? The 25 and 21 are both much needed routes, well-used by residents around the Links as well as further up Restalrig Road, and losing those is a very high cost for the local population.

This is not just a minor adjustment, though it may look like that to fit young people sat in front of a big map onscreen. On the ground, in real life, the distance between Restalrig Road and Lochend Road is too far to ‘just walk through’ for older and less able people. People adapt and develop their lives – and often make momentous decisions about their jobs, and house purchases – around the bus services that are available to them. Sudden changes to bus services can be traumatic and life changing. Also, having to take two buses instead of one can be unaffordable for many, especially in the current cost of living crisis.

The changes you are proposing (swapping 25 & 21, for 34 & 49 which, aside from their routes, are both less frequent services), seem to be maximally disruptive to both local communities (Restalrig Road and Lochend Road) without actually addressing any of the other main issues with bus services in Leith (no bus to Western General, concern over the loss of the No. 22, traffic congestion in Great Junction Street etc.).

We look forward to hearing from you, urgently, on this matter.

Sally Millar, Secretary

On behalf of Jim Scanlon MBE, Chair

Leith Links Community Council

Scott Arthur, Transport for Edinburgh, Convener, Transport & Environment Committee

Elected Councillors

(Ward 13) Booth, Faccienda, McVey

(Ward 14) Aston, Griffiths, Staniforth, Whyte

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