Roseburn Path offers oasis of calm, but not for much longer if city planners get their way - Susan Dalgety

The Roseburn Path. (Photo by Lisa Ferguson)

The sun was shining, we were surrounded by nature and it was hard to imagine we were in the heart of a congested city where traffic grinds to a halt on a regular basis and pedestrians take their life in their hands simply crossing the road.

The pathway is one of the few truly peaceful places left in Edinburgh. One of the downsides of the city becoming such a draw for international tourists and inward investment is that it has become so much noisier and congested than it was even a decade ago. Roseburn Path offers an oasis of calm, but not for much longer if city planners get their way.

Parts of the route have been earmarked by the city council as the "preferred option” for the new tramline proposed between Granton and the city centre. The other route under consideration is via Orchard Brae. Don’t get me wrong, I love Edinburgh’s trams. In fact, I jumped on one after I finished the Kiltwalk on Sunday, and it is by far the best way to travel to the airport from the city centre. But surely we need a balance in our city’s transport infrastructure, with our few remaining green spaces protected.

And do we really need another tram route? Wouldn’t a fleet of electric buses be just as convenient and a lot cheaper? Sometimes, progress is about protecting what you already have instead of creating something new, and Roseburn Path is far too precious to our city to sacrifice. The city’s former transport chief, Scott Arthur, now an MP, was a big fan of the new tramline. Hopefully his successor, Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, will take a different view.

By the way, the Kiltwalk was a fabulous experience. Congratulations to the 9000 people who took part and to the organisers who put on a tremendous event. I will definitely do it again next year. Let’s hope it is along the same route.