Edinburgh North-South tramline: Over 7,000 responses to public consultation
More than 7,000 people have responded to the consultation on Edinburgh council's plans for a new North-South tramline from Granton to the Royal Infirmary.
The deadline for people to give their views is midnight on Monday, November 17.
Transport convener Stephen Jenkinson has welcomed the scale of the response and believes it could be a record. "It's certainly heading towards it," he said.
"I want to encourage as many people as possible to take part in the process. With a week to go, we had over 7,000 people filling in the consultation form.
"And you often get a push at the end as well, when some of the big organisations put in the submissions.
"I've asked what numbers we normally get for big infrastructure projects, but this is pretty strong.
"Compared with projects of equal size, as an engagement exercise this has been positive.
"We asked people for their views and it is encouraging that so many people have taken that opportunity. It shows the consultation has been accessible and we've done a good job in encouraging people to tell us what they think. From a democracy point of view, that's positive."
The results of the three-month consultation will now need to be analysed and there is no date set yet for when there will be a report back to the transport committee.
It is understood a large number of drop-in sessions held along the route as part of the consultation exercise has left council officials with a lot of feedback to process. And the large response to the online survey will mean it takes longer to collate the results.
The council says the new North-South tramline is needed because of Edinburgh’s rapidly expanding population - the Capital and the surrounding region are projected to grow three times as fast as the rest of Scotland, with the waterfront at Granton one of the key areas for new housing.
Trams are seen as providing high-capacity public transport with frequent services and reliable journey times.
And, according to the council, studies have shown tram is the best option for North-South transport across the city, supported by further use of bus priority and bus rapid transit schemes.
The most controversial aspect of the council’s proposals is the choice to be made on the best route between Crewe Toll and the city centre.
Two options are included in the consultation - using the Roseburn Path, a former rail line which has now become a popular pedestrian and cycle path; or going via Crewe Road South, Orchard Brae and across Dean Bridge, which is seen as a major engineering challenge.
But heritage groups have also raised concerns about taking the tramline along South Bridge. They say the structure, dating back to the 1780s, is a key feature of Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site, and without reliable information on its condition there are doubts about whether it could take the strain of trams.
The Scottish Government has not committed any funding for the new tram project, which is estimated to cost between £2 billion and £2.9bn. And Cllr Jenkinson has said Edinburgh’s council tax payers will not be asked to meet the cost directly.
But the Evening News revealed on Friday that the council has been in discussion with the UK Government’s National Wealth Fund on finance for the project, though it was emphasised the fund’s role at this stage was purely advisory.