Following pressure from me at the Policy and Sustainability Committee on the 11th June Gorgie Dalry has been moved up to top priority for Spaces for People. The background to this is that it had been given a low priority in spite of a robust input from the Gorgie Dalry Community Council and myself as the only local member on the Committee. Pressure also from other local members such as Cllr Fullerton and Cllr Dixon and together we have managed to get the priority raised to top with an immediate start date. See below an extract from the letter that went out...
' Covid-19 Emergency Road Measures
Proposed– Local Town Centres - Gorgie and Dalry Town Centres
In Edinburgh, shopping and leisure uses are mainly provided in a network of centres distributed across the city. Out with the City Centre, town centres serve as a focal point for local communities providing a diverse mix of shopping facilities and other commercial and community services.
On 18 June the Scottish Government confirmed that, from 29 June, shops with outdoor entrances can reopen. To support this positive change, we are proposing an initial phase of measures targeted to quickly address some of the most pressing issues that people and businesses have told us about. These relate to the narrowness of pavements and street clutter which cause difficulties in achieving safe physical distancing.
In this first phase of proposals we aim to create additional space on routes within Gorgie and Dalry town centres by widening footways, removing guardrails and street clutter. To widen footways we need to suspend all parking places (apart from loading bays and Disabled persons’ parking places). The streets being considered for these proposals are illustrated in the attached map.
The second phase of proposals, which we will share in the coming weeks, will focus on more strategic and complex measures relating to traffic reduction and aiding cycling and public transport provision. Proposals will also align, where possible, with further announcements around the opening of food and drink establishments. We will continue to work with business representatives and individual businesses on how measures can best support town centres as part of the city’s economic recovery. It is essential that the needs of residents and businesses are taken into account as we progress measures benefiting the health, wellbeing and prosperity of the city and region.
The proposed measures are part of an overall emergency requirement to re-designate key parts of the road network to facilitate safe travel while meeting physical distancing requirements. Such measures are required urgently to help prevent people from becoming ill or coming to harm by infection from COVID-19 whilst implementing physical distancing requirements. '
This represents a great victory for the area which those of us a bit longer in the tooth will remember has been an aspiration since the building of the Western Approach Road (when these exact same measures were promised). See map for details....
