Roseburn Path is, quite literally, priceless
A week from the publication of this piece, Edinburgh City Council’s consultation on the proposed north-south tramline will open. One of the proposed routes includes the Roseburn Path – a much-loved walking and cycling route through the city.
Putting aside the delay of over a year in getting this consultation ready to go, and indeed the fact that the Scottish Government has said there’s no money coming to pay for it – arguably rendering the whole exercise pointless anyway – we are left with the reality that for some at the council a tramline is worth destroying this precious green corridor.
I frequently get emails asking why the council is spending X huge amount of money on a big shiny project. George Street would be the classic example. Without Government funding, a new tramline could well be the biggest and shiniest of them all. All projects have a price tag. The Roseburn Path does not. It is, quite literally, priceless.
The council has spent vast sums of money on segregated cycle lanes and widening pavements – yet here is a route already fully separated from the road network, which is always busy and provides vital links across the west of the city, and apparently we’re content to bulldoze it. Mature trees and wildlife be damned. So much for the nature emergency.
Well, not on our watch. The Liberal Democrat group said at the start we could not support the destruction of the Roseburn Path, and that has not changed. Over a thousand people supported our petition to remove the path from the suggested routes for the tram, hundreds more have been in touch since. The council’s own assessment shows that other feasible options exist. So, what is the cost of a tram? For us, and for Edinburgh, it must not be at any cost.
Ed Thornley is Liberal Democrat councillor for Drum Brae/Gyle