City clears way for snow plan

A report by Mark Turley, director of the council’s services for communities department, had proposed using the new measures – which will give the council the power to remove parked cars on selected routes in order to ensure bus and emergency services continue to have access – from this winter.

Councillors approved the proposal without debate at a meeting of the policy and strategy committee yesterday.

It was warned that the measures could have to come into force soon, with council roads official Tony Lear saying long-range forecasts from the Met Office have suggested there could be “severe snow snaps” from early November. The A71, from Gorgie Road to the city’s boundary with West Lothian just past Hermiston, will be designated a new “snow clearway” this winter, while nine residential streets will also be given the special designation when heavy snow occurs.