Edinburgh’s Roseburn traders complain for months but work only speeds up for Scotland rugby match

‘Kick in the teeth’ for local businesses, says councillor

Traders who have endured months of disruption and lost business because of roadworks outside their shops in Roseburn were glad to see activity suddenly speed up this week with extra workmen drafted in.

But their delight turned to anger when the workmen said the spurt in re-laying the pavement had been ordered not in response to the pleas of the local businesses but because of the Scotland v Australia rugby match on Saturday.

Niall Menzies, of Roseburn Shoe Repairs, said: "We've been at them since January to speed it up. I was chatting to the workmen today and I was commenting how far they'd got this week and they said they had to do it because the rugby was on. I thought they were taking our plight to heart and getting it finished for us, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

"I feel really angry because the council said they would see if they could speed things up for us and I was a bit more enthusiastic when I did see a lot more workers. For two weeks they maybe did 10-20 metres but this week they've done about 100 metres. They said they had to get on because there's going to be thousands of rugby fans walking up the street."

The traders in Roseburn Terrace have been badly hit by the works for the £19.4 million cross-city cycle route known as the City Centre West to East Link (CCWEL). One business has already closed and others have laid off staff.

The council agreed in September to look into a compensation scheme, but Mr Menzies said they were still waiting to hear of any progress. He said: "This work has been going on in Roseburn since January and all of us who rely on footfall are really struggling. We've had one of our worst weeks trading in years."

Marie-Clair Munro, Tory transport spokeswoman on the council, said it was frustrating for the traders that the work had been going on so long and only now was there action to speed it up.

The barriers in front of the Roseburn shops has put customers off and resulted in lost trade for local businesses.

She said: "I'm a rugby fan myself and my son will be going. People have to get their safely, but it's a bit of a kick in the teeth that it's only been speeded up because of Scotland v Australia. It's so unfair to the traders when they have been suffering for such a long time."

The council insisted it was working to complete the works at Roseburn Terrace as soon as possible, regardless of the rugby or any other events taking place, and was making good progress. It expected work to be finished on the north side of Roseburn Terrace in front of the shops by the end of November as planned.

But it added: “However we do need to ensure that particular sections are complete and cleared in advance of the rugby to ensure that the crowds can safely access and egress from the stadium – there will be potentially 60,000 people walking through the site and it’s a matter of public safety we can’t ignore.”