Edinburgh’s citizens want ‘radical’ changes to city centre

Edinburgh residents would like to see ‘radical’ change in Scotland’s capital city, according to a major council consultation.

A majority of respondents (51%) to the city’s ‘Connecting our City, Transforming our Places’ consultation, which took place last year, said they wanted to see a more radical approach to making sure the city is fit for the future, while three quarters of respondents supported the idea of reducing traffic in the city centre.

88% of the 5000 people who took part in the consultation – which will shape the council’s visions for Edinburgh – said they wanted to see changes to how the city centre is managed.

Responses to the public consultation will now be used by the council to draw up its future plans for the city, with suggestions for interventions in three areas of the city set to be reported to its Transport and Environment Committee tomorrow (Feb 28).

Cllr Lesley Macinnes, convenor of the Transport and Environment committee, said: ‘Our vision for the city’s future is ambitious and it’s clear from the recent consultation that the people of Edinburgh share that ambition.

‘There is not only a demand for change, but recognition that this needs to be significant in order to achieve an inspiring, healthier and more inviting city in which to live, work and play.’

The results of the consultation will shape the development of the three projects that make up the City of Edinburgh Council’s ‘Connecting our city, transforming our places’ programme: the Edinburgh City Centre Transformation, the City Mobility Plan and Low Emission Zones.

The council plans to present a report containing its final set of proposals and an overall business case to its Transport and Environment Committee this May. The report will be the subject of another public consultation once it has been approved.

Particular questions the council hopes to tackle are how the City Mobility Plan will handle the movement of people and goods, what the boundary of the possible LEZ will be and how it will be delivered.

Cllr Karen Doran, vice convenor for the council’s Transport and Environment committee, said: ‘This is about creating a co-ordinated, strategic approach to managing our city, safeguarding the centre for the community and creating a safer, more secure and healthier atmosphere for everyone.’

Starting from May this year, the City of Edinburgh Council will launch an 18-month trial of its Open Streets Edinburgh scheme as it bids to make Edinburgh more ‘people-focused’.

During the trial, a small number of roads in Edinburgh city centre will be closed to motor vehicles between the hours of 10am and 5pm on the first Sunday of each month.

The full report outlining the findings of the City of Edinburgh Council’s public consultation can be found on the council’s website here.