East Craigs traffic saga was so unnecessary - Steve Cardownie

The saga of the imposition of traffic initiatives which has incurred the wrath of residents of East Craigs is set to continue and may even end up in the Scottish Courts if the city council does not back down.
One of the roads proposed for low traffic zonesOne of the roads proposed for low traffic zones
One of the roads proposed for low traffic zones

After their pleas fell on deaf ears, residents in the area sought legal advice and were informed “it is difficult to escape the conclusion that City of Edinburgh Council has used the pandemic as a pretext to introduce a change that it might otherwise have found difficult to implement if it had to follow the procedure for making a temporary traffic regulation order”.

The advice was clear that there was a case to answer and that the council should not use the pandemic as an excuse to circumvent the procedures that would have had to be followed in normal circumstances when introducing major traffic changes such as those earmarked for East Craigs. Whilst widening of pavement areas and the introduction of cycle lanes could be justified under emergency procedures, the more intrusive measures proposed for East Craigs might not.

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The council then sought its own legal advice which it has now received and I bet that it does not make for good reading. I would hazard a guess that the advice admits that East Craigs residents may have a case and one that the council may have difficulty in successfully challenging.

The next move is up to the council but one cannot help wondering why this has all come about, if the residents concerns had been taken on board in the first place this would have been all so unnecessary.

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