More parking restrictions?

It seems that ‘Phase 2’ – the move to introduce further controlled parking zones in our area that had been paused – because the first consultation showed that local residents were against it and did not agree that there were parking problems in their streets – is now set to be relaunched.

The areas in question are the Bonnington Road and Easter Road areas and  – closest to Leith Links – the area inexplicably called ‘West Leith’ which incorporates the area between Lochend Road and Restalrig Road.

The argument is that the recently established controlled parking zones on Leith Walk and in North Leith – plus the ban on pavement parking? – have pushed parking problems into the neighbouring areas and are now causing pressure on nearby streets.

The Council is about to instigate monitoring and consultation with residents. Do keep your eyes open for this and be sure to make your views known.

Meanwhile, read more details here:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/edinburgh-parking-areas-where-controlled-parking-zone-plans-paused-now-moving-forward-again/ar-AA1owUw4

 

Controlled Parking Zone (Zone N8), Leith & North Leith

Everyone is scrabbling for information about the new parking controls coming in.

At our LLCC and LH&N CC meeting a few weeks back, Council Officers Gavin Brown and Gavin Graham kindly attended and provided the Community Council and local residents with a range of information about the impending Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in Leith is available via the links below*.

However, some of that information is already out of date. Here is the basic key information, updated as of 17 May 2023:

PERMITS

You can apply for a Residents Parking Permit from 5th June. You need to set up an ‘Account’ and a Password first, and your permit will be electronic, not ‘paper’. Start here:

https://edinburgh.nsl-apply.co.uk/

When you apply, set your start date for the permit as 26 June 2023, to get best value.

GO LIVE DATE

The CPZ will actually go ‘live’ on 26th June 2023. That means parking charges will be enforced in all marked bays, whether for Residents’ Permit Holders Only or Pay and Park .

(The double yellow lines are already live, the moment they are painted, so you can get a ticket if you patrk there.)

PRICES

The actual parking charges and the cost of permits has gone up since the presentation in March. You can find the correct current prices for residents permits here.

There are separate price schedules for business permits, visitors permits, etc. here https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/parking-permits

You can find the ‘Pay to Park’ prices here, although unfortunately the website has not been updated to include Leith (Zone 8), but we’re guessing it counts as a ‘Peripheral’ zone, therefore might be £3.40 per hour.

* For more background and some specific details, follow these links and have a read of the information provided at the March Question and Answer session:

  1. The presentation on the CPZ from Council officers.
  2. The questions that residents asked, and answers to each question,  from the Council officers.

 

CONTROLLED PARKING ZONES ABBEYHILL, LEITH WALK, PILRIG, LEITH AND NORTH LEITH NORTH

Important! The City Council have reached the next step (Traffic Regulation Order, consultation stage) in the introduction of Controlled Parking Zones for Abbeyhill, Leith Walk, Pilrig, Leith and North Leith, which were first proposed and discussed back in 2019.  This covers some (but not all) of the Leith Links area (which apparently counts as ‘Leith’ in this scheme) see map below, and will definitely also affect other parts of our area that are just on/beyond the boundary, as parking will ‘migrate’ from the controlled zone to the nearest free parking. The boundary is along the edge of the Links, so there will be increased demand for parking on Vanburgh, Hermitage & East Hermitage Place, Gladstone Place and Claremont Park, and other streets nearest these.

NB. This is different from and not to be confused with the proposed CPZ for our area earlier this year (for the area inaccurately referred to as ‘West Leith’) which has been paused / postponed until later in 2022. Final plans and consultation of that are still to come, next year.

Comments on this first TRO/21/03ADY have to be made in writing by 12th November so there is not much time.

INTRODUCTION OF NEW CONTROLLED PARKING ZONES (CPZ)

AREA 1 ABBEYHILL, LEITH WALK, PILRIG, LEITH AND NORTH LEITH

AREA 2 GORGIE, SHANDON, MOAT, CHESSER AND HUTCHISON

To view detailed plans and further information regarding the proposals, please visit the consultation website:

http://pclengagement-hub.co.uk/en-GB/folders/parkingreviewph1

With comments on the proposals or any details of them, please email by 12th November the team at Edinburgh.Consultation@projectcentre.co.uk 

Click on the project link and then scroll down and click on EDINBURGH AREA N8

This takes you to the ’tile’ maps which shows existing and proposed changes

It’s not easy to drill down to the important pages, and then you have to look at each numbered tile, then look at existing and proposed for each section

For example tiles 930,989,871 and 830 are closest to my house on the LEITH map tile grid for Links Gardens. (There’s also a North Leith tile map)

Having looked at each section you have to print off the legend map at the top of the page so you know what each colour indicates. For example pink is resident parking, brown is pay and display/resident parking, shared  – and on and on it goes.

Finding the pages to make comments is not easy and may put people off commenting. (I’m sure the City Council will deny that it has deliberately made it complicated to put people off commenting. However, I feel that  it could have been much better designed IF the council really wanted local people to engage…).

But please do try to have a look and make comments, it’s our only chance to affect the final decisions.