Cockburn Street: Resident of 'lawless' Edinburgh street demands council take action

Illegal parking and dangerous driving on a historic Edinburgh street will lead to a child getting knocked down and seriously hurt, a resident has warned.

The woman, who asked not to be named, runs a Twitter page called SOS Cockburn Street, where she posts videos and photographs of dangerous driving on Cockburn Street.

She has recorded drivers parking and driving on the pavement, as well as incidents where cars and lorries have driven or reversed the wrong way up the one-way partially-pedestrianised street.

She said cars are unable to park on the street without blocking the road due hospitality ‘huts’, which “take up half the carriageway”, according to the resident. She added that she has witnessed countless drivers disregard the law, and park on the pavement.

She believes it will not be long before somebody gets hurt. She said: “Some poor kid running up Fleshmarket Close will run out onto the pavement and get hit, in a place that should be safe for pedestrians.

“Something has to be done before that happens”.

Despite reporting several incidents of dangerous driving to the police, she has been told by officers that they do not record retrospective events.

The temporary structures in Cockburn Street will be allowed to stay in place until October.

Edinburgh City Council have recently implemented loading restrictions and parking measures in response to complaints received from locals living on the street.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “We’ve been listening to concerns around inconsiderate parking on Cockburn Street and we’re acting on this.

“Loading has been prohibited between the junction of the High Street and Fleshmarket Close on the south side of Cockburn Street, covering the footpaths at this point too, and we’ve increased parking attendant presence to make sure these new restrictions are being adhered to.

“We’ve written to businesses to update them on the changes, and encouraging them to urge suppliers to behave responsibly.

Cockburn Street is a pedestrian priority zone, however, vehicles frequently park on the pavements.

"We will also be keeping the existence of temporary structures for hospitality businesses on Cockburn Street under review during this time.”

While the resident is pleased with the employment of a parking attendant, she has not seen a significant improvement in drivers behaviour on the “lawless” street.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.