Edinburgh North-South tramline: 'Multiple other routes to assess' say Roseburn Path campaigners
Campaigners fighting to save the popular Roseburn Path from becoming part of Edinburgh’s next tramline claim there are ‘multiple’ other routes that could be used instead.
The Save Roseburn Path campaigners insist there are plenty other alternatives for the new line from Granton to the Royal Infirmary and beyond which would not mean taking over one of the Capital's most-used pedestrian and cycle paths.
The recently-closed public consultation on the proposed new North-South tramline offered two options for the northern part of the line - Roseburn Path, with the loss of greenspace, or Orchard Brae, with the challenge of taking trams across the narrow A-listed Dean Bridge.
But Euan Baxter, a leading member of the Save Roseburn Path campaign, claims there are "many other options".
The campaigners argue that urban green space and the natural environment is important for people's physical and mental health. They describe the Roseburn Path as "a little slice of calm right at the heart of the city".
As well as a place where people "walk, jog, wheel, cycle and sit", they say it is a safe haven for wildlife, including several protected bird species, and home to 3,500 trees which reduce carbon dioxide, improve air quality and mitigate flood risk.
And for residents in areas such as Drylaw, Gorgie and Dalry, the campaigners say Roseburn Path is a local park.
The council proposals on the Roseburn Path option include an active travel route alongside the tramline and a stretch of single-track tramline to "minimise land take and the impact of the scheme on landscape and ecology".
But Mr Baxter says: "They're trying to cram too many things into a small space. We've looked at the plans in detail and we don’t believe there's a workable compromise here.
"The council documents state there would be significant tree and habitat loss and that's something we're obviously not up for."
The council has said 70 per cent of the trees would be retained. But Mr Baxter is dismissive.
"We dispute that based on what they’ve put forward. It doesn't take into account the noise mitigation fencing they have to put in place along the sides of the route, which was a condition of the original planning permission. We don't believe they have factored that into their plans. Trees and hedges would have to go."
So do the campaigners believe the trams should follow the Orchard Brae route, with all the challenges of the Dean Bridge? Or would they rather not have a North-South tramline at all?
Mr Baxter says: "Our campaign is to save the Roseburn Path so that's our focus, making sure the tram doesn't take away this green space.
"Our point would be we think there are multiple road options for the tram across the city, in the north and the south.
“If they believe Orchard Brae is a viable option they should put it there or if they think it's going to be too costly or not viable for whatever reason they should find a different road option.
"Our campaign is not an anti-tram campaign. But it's not for our campaign to find a different route for the trams. The council has had decades to come up with a good route."
Pressed on his claim there are "multiple road options", Mr Baxter says: "The big challenge Edinburgh has is how to get people in from Fife, West Lothian, Midlothian and East Lothian - that’s the mass transit challenge for East Central Scotland.
“For me, we should be exploring a tram that goes along the front, into Portobello, into East Lothian.
“If you look at the South Sub proposal that's potentially quite a credible proposal that looks at how people travel around the south of the city but also how they could potentially get to East Lothian and how you could link the city out to the west as well.
“There are many other options to explore. You could look at linking North Edinburgh round to the west; bringing the tram through and up to George Street in a different way; different options in terms of where trams used to go - there are certain ways trams used to go through Stockbridge and so on. There are multiple routes that could be assessed."
The Roseburn Path was earmarked to serve as a tramline when the original scheme to return trams to Edinburgh were first drawn up.
“This plan is 20 years old,” says Mr Baxter. “But a lot has changed in 20 years - particularly how people use green spaces and what we understand about the value of those green spaces. This is like the destruction of your local park, wherever it is.
“We need to be standing up for these spaces. This is one of the most popular cycle paths in Edinburgh - if you look at the heat map, this is the most used bit of Edinburgh's cycling network.”
And he makes clear the campaign’s determination to carry on the fight.
“We're not going away - we’ve been here for almost two years so far, and we'll be here for the next 20 if required.”
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