Political jostling over Edinburgh trams decision 'has locked out deprived community for a lifetime'
A local councillor has expressed worries she might not see trams travelling to Granton in her lifetime
Political jostling over the decision to shelve the northern leg of Edinburgh’s tram network has been blamed for locking out one of the city’s most deprived areas “for a lifetime”.
Community leaders and politicians have expressed deep disappointment following last Thursday’s vote by councillors to halt the proposed extension to Granton.
The decision followed intense controversy and public outcry over plans to route the new line along the Roseburn Path, a popular green corridor.
Granton and District Community Council chair Fred Marinello said politics played “too big a part” in the decision, which he said reversed two decades worth of development projects planned in preparation of the construction of the tramline.
Thousands of new homes are set to be built as part of a £1.8bn project to improve the area’s waterfront, which has been described the largest regeneration project of its time in Scotland.
“The community in the North, including three of the highest areas of poverty and deprivation, have not been heard,” said Mr Marinello. “Nearly three decades of master planning, public consultations, public meetings and general participation has been ignored throughout this process.”
He added that the local community, who had strongly supported the plans were “now effectively locked out for probably another 20 years”.
Scottish Green councillor and MSP Kayleigh Kinross-O’Neill said the decision to not press ahead with new public transport for some of Edinburgh’s most deprived areas like Granton and Pilton was “premature” and “just feels a bit off”.
Cllr Kinross-O’Neill said: “Developers who are building houses and other infrastructure were kind of counting on the tram coming, so to have it cancelled for another 20-30 years - if there is ever political will to bring it back - is a bit sad. We'll keep pushing for it, but I think this fumble, or this issue is either going to delay it for a very long time.”
The 27-year-old councillor added: “I don't know in my lifetime if I'll see it, and that's that's disappointing."
I don't know in my lifetime if I'll see it, and that's that's disappointing
Mr Marinello noted that buildings, road routes and parking provisions were designed with a view to trams infrastructure being built in the area.
Councillor Kinross-O’Neill said the polarisation and politicisation of the issue made it difficult to balance strong local support with other residents who were “absolutely distraught” about the loss of greenspace that the Roseburn route could entail.
The public consultation provided to councillors found that those in the vicinity of the proposed routes were strongly opposed while there was stronger support in Granton and the city’s Southside.
She said: “From the start of the campaign, when Save the Roseburn Path had hundreds if not thousands of responses in a matter of weeks, it was very clear to us that this was bigger than a community council being against the planning permission.
“If I had a magic wand and could change anything it would’ve been to let the Roseburn debate breathe and get more campaigners and politicians involved in the process.”
The councillor, who sat on the Transport and Environment committee at the time, said this could have made space for a more thorough conversation on how to address the environmental concerns and get trams back on track.