Time will tell on Spaces for People - Steve Cardownie

The raising of a petition against the city council’s plans to make some traffic measures introduced on an emergency, temporary basis, permanent, was inevitable but will nevertheless be problematic for the city’s administration.

The Spaces for People project has proved controversial

The Spaces for People programme introduced new traffic schemes funded by the Scottish Government, ostensibly to provide safer, more spacious routes for pedestrians and cyclists to help reduce Covid-19 transmission.

The normal consultation requirements were dispensed with in order to speed matters up and restructure some routes and areas quickly whilst the pandemic was at its peak.

This was not met with universal approval and objections were raised to specific aspects of the programme, some of which were backed up by the threat of legal action such was the level of discontent. Now the move to reclass parts of the scheme as permanent has raised the hackles of objectors and one petition in opposition has attracted more than 4,500 signatures and rising.

One issue that will have to be addressed however, is the legality of making some aspects of the programme permanent without going through the normal Traffic Regulation Order procedures which would entail further, statutory consultation with the public.

It could be that the council fully intends to go down this route but if it is, it has not said so-yet.

The current consultation exercise may well generate a greater level of opposition than support giving the council a bit of a headache. Intent on seizing the opportunity that has been presented to reconfigure city traffic routes, it might well argue that the “silent majority” have not objected - so must be content with the proposals.

Time will tell.