Here is my latest e-Citizen newsletter.

Council Services

The latest advice on Council services is available here.  With the latest guidance to stay at home, the Council has changed or suspended a number of services including some related to schools, community centres and libraries (read more here), while re-instating the Shielding/vulnerable people helpline.  The arrangements for schools have also changed – see more here.  Changes have also been announced by Edinburgh Leisure and Lothian Buses.

Here is my latest e-Citizen newsletter.

Christmas and New Year - information and updates

With just a few days to go until Christmas, I would like to provide some information and updates for the festive season. 

I hope the following is helpful.

Bin collections

If your bin day is a Friday, please note there will be no recycling or waste collections on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.  Instead, put your bins out on Monday 28 December and 4 January.  You can read more here.

Recycling tips for Christmas here.

Edinburgh Lib Dems are calling on the SNP/Labour Council administration to get its act together for the expected start of licensing for short term lets.  It is expected that from the spring of next year, every short term let will need a licence and the Council will have the power to insist on planning permission for lets in new ‘control areas’. 

The Council made the following decisions on Thursday -

• Braid Road will remain closed. It will continue to be monitored and a proposal for a way forward will made at the next review on 28 January.

Click on 'Read more' below for the rest of the news in my latest email newsletter.

The Council decided on Thursday to give the go ahead to the Greenbank to the Meadows cycle route but, disappointingly, without consulting affected local residents. 

The Council’s Transport & Environment Committee meets on Thursday 12 November and is expected to discuss the temporary Spaces for People measures, including the closure of Braid Road and the pavement widening on Morningside Road and Bruntsfield Place. 

So far as Braid Road is concerned, I have presented my petition to the Council to re-open the road and make the planned improvements and I will continue to call for more traffic calming in the immediate vicinity.

As for Morningside Road and Bruntsfield Place, many of the measures seem dis-proportionate now while a few, such as the widened pavement from the Merlin to Morningside Place, have long term merit.  Let me know if you can think of any others that should be retained?

The meeting will also consider implementing a quiet route scheme from Greenbank to the Meadows.  Whether the SNP/Labour Council, supported by the Greens, can use emergency powers to impose this scheme without consulting residents is now open to question, following a strong legal challenge to the similar East Craigs scheme.  While I support making walking and cycling more attractive and reducing unnecessary car use, for big changes to the way roads are used, I think residents should be consulted.  If you agree, please sign my petition here.

Click on 'Read more' below for the rest of the news in my latest email newsletter.

I have been growing increasingly concerned about the economic impact of the Spaces for People measures on the survivability of shops and businesses in Bruntsfield and Morningside, some of whom are back to normal trading levels but others, especially some independent shops, are finding it much harder.  So, I organised and hosted a meeting for Morningside and Bruntsfield traders to raise their concerns directly with the Council Leader and his Deputy.  As a result, although requests for changes are yet to bear fruit, trading data has been supplied to the Council and promises to visit local shops were made.  I encourage everyone to support our local shops if they can.

Click on 'Read more' below for the rest of the news in my latest email newsletter, issued yesterday.

Request for a Public Consultation on the Greenbank to Meadows Cycle Route

I made a request to the Council for a public consultation to give residents a chance to express their views on the plans for a Greenbank to Meadows Quiet Route. I put forward a constructive motion for debate at the meeting of the full Council held on Thursday and made the case for a public consultation.  My motion also included an alternative plan, without road closures but including a segregated cycle lane on Whitehouse Loan, road re-surfacing, traffic calming and an option to re-open Braid Road along with the planned improvements.  Although it secured Tory support, my motion did not succeed as the SNP, Labour and Green councillors didn’t agree. Instead they choose a private briefing of ward councillors on the proposal, including clarification on community consultation, followed by further discussions at a meeting of the Council’s Transport & Environment Committee on 12 November.  You can read my motion at item 9.3 on the agenda and watch the debate on webcast here

Click on 'Read more' below for the rest of the news in my latest email newsletter.

Morningside Lib Dem Councillor Neil Ross is calling for consultation with local people about the plans from the SNP/Labour run Council for a Quiet Route for cyclists from Greenbank traffic lights to the Meadows.  The administration's plans involve six road closures including a ban on motor vehicles using the northern section of Canaan Lane.  The SNP/Labour run Council has no plans to seek residents’ views in a public consultation.  It intends to use its emergency powers to implement the scheme. 

The SNP/Labour run Council has published proposals for a quiet route for cyclists from Greenbank traffic lights to the Meadows, via Hermitage Drive and Gardens, Braid Avenue, Canaan Lane and Whitehouse Loan.