Edinburgh councillor warns Spaces for People could be open to legal challenge as Covid restrictions lifted

Controversial Spaces for People measures could be open to legal challenge once Covid restrictions are lifted next month, a Tory councillor has warned.

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Jason Rust claims the decision to end all legal requirements for pandemic precautions calls into question the continuing validity of the temporary traffic orders used to bring in road closures and cycle lanes to assist physical distancing.

The city council has agreed to retain some of the Spaces for People (SfP) schemes and is processing experimental traffic regulation orders (ETROs) to keep them in place.

The closure of Braid Road has been one of the most controversial Spaces for People measures. Picture: Lisa Ferguson.

But that takes time and many schemes, including some of the most controversial like those on Braid Road and Lanark Road, are still operating under the original temporary traffic regulation orders (TTROs).

Councillor Rust, who represents Colinton/Fairmilehead, said: “If all legal restrictions are being lifted from March 21, it makes the justifiable legal basis for keeping the TTROs more and more tenuous.

“The council is still arguing it's for public health, but it would be a bit odd to carry on with them when the Scottish Government is saying we've now got this ‘living with the virus’ plan.

"It must be time for the government and Transport Scotland to update their guidance to fit in with the government's own announcement. There are now serious questions about the legitimacy of the Spaces for People TTROs.”

He said the situation with Covid and the traffic measures was now somewhat removed from the original basis and advice two years ago.

“My concern would be if it opens up the council to legal challenge because obviously a lot of these schemes are very controversial and the council seems to have acted against the majority will of communities. The extent to which they have been able to fall back on official advice now seems to be changing. It would be odd if traffic regulations were seen in complete isolation from the wider reality of where we are with the virus.”

The closure of Braid Road has been blamed for increased congestion on parallel Comiston Road while campaigners against the temporary cycle lane on Lanark Road claim there have been more collisions on that stretch of road than before the lane was installed.

The council said, under the regulations, the TTROs were introduced in order to “facilitate improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists during the current Covid-19 pandemic, supporting social distancing so that people can safely walk, wheel or cycle”.

Transport convener Lesley Macinnes said: “There has been no change in national guidance with regard to temporary traffic regulation orders introduced on public health grounds during the pandemic.

"As the First Minister stated this week, the pandemic is still very much with us and in response to the current situation it’s appropriate to continue with these measures to facilitate safe travel for pedestrians and cyclists.

“As was agreed at the council’s June Transport and Environment Committee, we’re in the process of progressing Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders for all the current schemes introduced under Spaces for People, now Travelling Safely. This will mean we carry out an extended trial so that more people can gain from them, on a trial basis, as we recover from the pandemic.”

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