Edinburgh residents question Jenny Dawe

Tom Allan, Guardian beat blogger for Edinburgh took questions proposed by Edinburgh residents to the leader of the council. Amongst them were questions on the proposed Biomass plant, cycling, school closures and, of course, trams. We thought these ones were particularly relevent to Leith, so we thought we'd reproduce them here too.

Tracy Griffen, Leither, Blogger, Fitness instructor and regular contributor to the Leither Magazine asked this question:

Unfortunately the provision for cyclists in Edinburgh is abysmal. The roads are pot holed and the cycle lanes that do exist on roads are either blocked with parked cars or mysteriously end whenever a road narrows.

Given that the number of cyclists in Edinburgh is increasing year on year, what is the council doing to provide for us? And also educate motorists and the general public about cycling for health and the environment?

Former Leith resident, Suitably Despairing asked a question about the Biomass plant:

Does Jenny think it is environmentally sustainable to ship woodchips all the way from America to Edinburgh to throw into a big fire to provide power?

Lisa Later asked:

Edinburgh's population is booming. The number of 0-15 year olds is predicted to increase by 11% between now and 2023. How does Cllr Dawe think the downsized school estate will cope with the likely surge in school rolls? Right now many city primary schools are bursting at the seams and have been unable to maintain class sizes of 25 in P1-3.

And last but not least, Babytiger asked:

Jenny, given the difficulties faced by Edinburgh businesses and infrastructure, as caused by the ongoing tramworks, is there a clear path forward to ensure further disruption is kept to a minimum?

There are more questions and answers on the Guardian Edinburgh blog.