Edinburgh people asked for views on 'new vision' and manifesto for Capital

Campaign group The Citizen Network are looking for suggestions on how the city could look post COVID-19
Edinburgh residents are being asked for their opinions on how the Capital should look by a grassroots campaign.Edinburgh residents are being asked for their opinions on how the Capital should look by a grassroots campaign.
Edinburgh residents are being asked for their opinions on how the Capital should look by a grassroots campaign.

Edinburgh residents are being asked for how they want the Capital to be run as part of a grassroot campaign’s appeal for help creating their manifesto.

Citizen Network, which was set up in 2019, are vociferous critics of the tourist industry in Edinburgh and have previously criticised Edinburgh City Council for not focusing on residents.

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The group are taking responses of up to 800 words from members of the public to then publish on their website and form the basis of discussion for the planned manifesto.

Mike Small, founder of The Citizen NetworkMike Small, founder of The Citizen Network
Mike Small, founder of The Citizen Network

Key points for the campaign group include promoting community-led development, improving the public environment, promoting fair rents and defending the city against over-tourism.

Their website calls for the diversification of Edinburgh’s economy away from a “single one-dimensional industry” and adds that it is looking at ways to ensure overtourism is avoided in the future.

Co-founder of the group, Mike Small, said the coronavirus crisis provided the organisation with the perfect opportunity to ask the public for their ideas and input.

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He said: “The coronavirus crisis is like nothing we've ever seen before in our lifetimes.

“The idea that we will or should just "go back" to the way thing were after lockdown finishes is incredible.

“We need to rethink how we run our cities, and Citizen is inviting anyone who wants to take part to offer their ideas, their imagination to the process.

“What kind of city do you want to return to? Reimagining the capital of Scotland as a place for people not profit and for the future not the past."

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On Citizen Network’s website, Sean Bradley writes that the group’s manifesto is simply a “first step” in forcing change.

He writes: “Calls for no return to unequal and unjust normalcy following Covid-19 have come from many quarters, some of them quite unexpected, and there’s no doubt that many of the persistent problems of city life will be reassessed by those who govern us, whether that be Westminster, Holyrood or Edinburgh City Chambers.

“But let’s not fool ourselves, what’s promised by politicians now may never transpire. Real change will not happen without direct action by citizens; for Edinburgh, Citizen’s Manifesto is the first step.”

In January, Mr Small hinted that the group may stand candidates at the local elections which are due to be held in 2022.

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He added that he believed anger surrounding the actions of the council in the city was being underestimated by politicians in office.

He said: “We've kept [standing in 2022] open in our aims. It’s something people have talked about.

"We’d rather our council was accountable and we would rather create more democracy in the city, but it's something that we've kept open. We’re not ruling it out."

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