Greener Leith

Leith Walk might feel almost grid locked at the moment thanks to the tram works, but some help may be at hand. The area could receive around £4.5Million extra investment over the next few years if a bid to turn Leith into a sustainable travel demonstration community is successful. The project would see a package of proposals implemented that aim at reducing car use, and encouraging people to make more sustainable transport choices like using public transport, cycling and walking.

What does this mean?  The package includes proposals for organising more 'walking buses' to local schools, marketing the city car club better, and local 'path rangers' to improve the maintenance and safety of the off road path networks. The package also includes proposals for investment in the physical infrastructure of the area. This could include improvements to the off-road path networks (something Greener Leith  has campaigned on) ,an extension to the bus tracker bus stop information panels and work to implement a 'free bike hire' scheme, similar to the ones active in other European cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Oslo.

Car use should be reduced in Leith for lots of reasons. For example, air quality is particularly poor in some parts of Leith like Leith Walk, where the intensity of car use there presents a hazard to health. It is an unfortunate fact that the good people of Leith are statistically more unhealthy than the Edinburgh average. The CEC bid proposes to set up a scheme which would encourage doctors to prescribe 'active commuting,' to people where they would benefit from the exercise. This not only reduces the number of cars on our roads, improving air quality, but it also helps people to live longer and happier.

Greener Leith has wholeheartedly given their support to the Councils first stage application, and we hope that the Scottish Government will choose Leith as the perfect place to pioneer a sustainable travel demonstration community.

The design proposals for the Leith Links Seaward Extension (LLSE - OS7) have been released for consultation by the City of Edinburgh Council this week and Greener Leith is encouraging everyone to have a look and make a comment. You'll be pleased to know that it is a relatively small file to download (1.7MB), and that is not particularly lengthy or technical.

To help with this we thought we should explain some more about the proposals. First of all, we should make it clear that this is a 'Design Study', which aims to set out how the proposed Leith Links Seaward Extension (OS7) will be structured and how it will relate to other land uses. More detailed landscape designs will follow for different parts of the extension as it is implemented. It is estimated this could take as long as 20-30 years to complete. 

The Design Study is not a planning application, nor is it supplementary planning guidance. As we understand things, this means that it will not be legally binding on anyone. However, it will inform the development of the seaward extension, and on this basis it is worth commenting on. 

We should also point out that there are 'unofficial' alternative proposals for extending Leith Links, although these are currently unavailable on-line. These alternative proposals suggest extending Leith Links into the area currently earmarked for light industrial/commercial uses between the Eastern boundary of the LLSE OS7 proposal and the Seafield sewerage works further east.

The alternative proposals are officially outwith the scope of this consultation, as they would require a considerable change to the recently adopted Edinburgh City Local Plan. We understand from the planning officers involved that there is now little scope to modify the local plan (and consequently the current Leith Links Extension OS7) until it is next up for consideration. Work to develop the next Edinburgh City Local Plan will not begin until 2012 at the earliest.

This said, Greener Leith has already voiced concerns that the Leith Docks Outline Planning Applciation does not contain a suitable amount of new Green Space, particularly with regard to sports facilities. If the planning committee do not act to remedy this deficit, then Greener Leith hopes that the Scottish Government will 'call in' the Leith Docks Outline Planning Application for a rethink.

If you're finding it hard work understand the planning process and how it relates to the Leith Links Seaward Extension proposals (we certainly feel like we're on a steep learning curve!) then you can attend a public meeting scheduled for Tuesday the 13th of May, at St Mary's Primary School, Links Gardens between 7pm and 8pm. Planning Officers will be there to answer any questions about the LLSE-OS7 design study proposals.

If you can't make this meeting, you can submit your comments, in writing, to:

Noami Sandilands, City Development, G:1, 4, East Market Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8BG by 9th June 2008. Alternatively you can email naomi.sandilands@edinburgh.gov.uk

Greener Leith will submit the response below to the Design Study consultation. If you aggree with us, you are welcome to use these points as an inspiration for your own letter.

1. Greener Leith is concerned that the OS7 Leith Links Seaward Extension, when considered in combination with other existing and proposed green spaces in the area, does not provide enough publicly accessible, free sports facilities. Greater thought needs to be put into this in order to meet the likely demand. Will one extra football pitch be sufficient to cope with demand from all the new residential development in Leith Docks?

2. Greener Leith questions whether more thought to the distribution of land uses may be required. Is it more appropriate to move the area designated for sports further away from the coast, and closer to the existing links, using the space currently allocated for 'community facilites and civic space,' and/or 'passive recreation and community education.' This would ensure that the sports areas are at least sheltered somewhat from the sea winds, by the orchard, allotments and surrounding buildings. In turn, this would allow space for more informal uses closer to the coast, where a larger number of people may wish to gather on days when the weather is conducive to sunbathing, and taking in the view across the Forth. Careful landscaping may be required to mitigate against the potential for the whole extension to turn into a 'wind tunnel' when the wind is from the North.

3. Greener Leith is concerned that the proposed land uses adjacent to the Seaward Extension proposals often present 'passive' frontages on the eastern edge. In addition, there is little natural surveillance from the eastern side of the extension - a greater proportion of residential land uses on both sides of the extension would provide this. As things stand, the pathways through the proposed new allotment sites, and most of the eastern edge of the new park have the potential to become frightening places in the evening. If the allotments were sited along this eastern edge, with no publc pathway through them, this may help to 'design out' potential anti-social behavior.  

4. Greener Leith is disappointed that the LLSE OS7 extension proposals have such a negative impact on the existing Leith Links allotment site. This site is much valued by the plot holders, and the association has done a good job in recent years to reach out and work with the wider community in Leith. Furthermore, this site has been in existence for many years. It is unfortunate that greater weight was not placed on preserving this site, when the initial proposals for a Leith Links extension were first mooted. It is also unfortunate that there is potential for some allotment holders to have to move not once, but twice as this project develops.

5. Greener Leith is pleased that the number of allotment plots is set to increase, and that the proposals give a commitment to ensure that the soil they are situated in is treated to mitigate against any residual industrial contaminants. Greener Leith also welcomes the proposals for an orchard, and would hope that this could be an opportunity to expand the newly established Edinburgh Childrens Orchard project into Leith. 

6. Greener Leith also notes that the creation of significant cycle route will eventually have an impact on the existing Leith Links and therefore extra investment, and careful design, will be required in the park to cope with this increased through flow of cyclists.

Councillors in North and East Edinburgh are being urged to back a bid for cash from a new Scottish Government initiative. The cash, which has been made available to establish "Travel Demonstration Towns", could be used to support improvements to the Leith Links - Portobello Cycle Path, an issue that Greener Leith has been campaigning on for some time. It could also support a whole host of other activities from 'Green Travel Maps' to improving pedestrian walkways and greenspaces.

There will be a huge amount of competition for the money from other local authorities, so we're really hoping that our elected officials will agree to support a bid for Leith and that the City of Edinburgh council officials will work with local groups throughout North and East Edinburgh to put together an exciting proposal.

At this time of year the council meets to approve its budget for the forthcoming year, and this year, the process is much more important because the SNP have removed lots of the 'ring fenced' money the council used to receive from central government. Why does this matter? Well, for example, money that used to be given direct to local transport bodies like SESTRANS to fund transport improvements in this region, is now given direct to the council - and they can decide to spend it on whatever they want. They don't have to spend it on transport.

Therefore, if you support our campaign to improve the Leith - Portobello cycle network, now would be a really good time to write to your local councillors to remind them of this campaign, and ask them to support an increase in funding for cycle routes. When you're writing to the Liberal Democrats, it would be helpful to remind them of their manifesto promise to make Edinburgh a 'Model Cycle Friendly City'.

Even if you're not a cyclist we hope you'll write in support of improving these paths, as they bring a huge range of benefits, for joggers,  walkers, commuters, school kids and wildlife. Everyone needs access to good quality Green spaces.   

You don't need to go to the hassle of writing a paper letter and sending it by snail mail. You can email your local councillors (you'll have 3 or 4 of them, depending on which ward you live in.) You can get the contact details for all the Leith Harbour and Leith Walk councillors from our Useful Contacts page.  

 SPOKES and Friends of the Earth Scotland are also urging their supporters to take action. If enough people contact their councillors then I hope we can really swing it.

We're grateful to the Evening News as they've really picked up on our cycle campaign recently with two articles:

• Wheels Turn In Campaign For Cycle Path
  
• We Must Help Bike Bike Projects Step Up A Gear
  

 The second post was modified a wee bit by the Scotsman editorial staff, so we reproduce the original below for your reading pleasure:

I'm delighted to see that the Scotsman has enthusiastically embraced the 'Go Green' message. Among the things we are being asked to do by our local paper and indeed our new government is to try to leave the car at home. Afterall, a large proportion of journeys we undertake are less than a few miles, so why not cycle or walk the kids to school, at least when it isn't raining?

In North Edinburgh the decline of the railways has been the pedestrians gain. We have a fantastic network of green paths connecting Leith with Bonnington, Cannonmills, Pilton, Granton and even Fife if you're feeling keen. Take a walk on any sunny Sunday afternoon and the paths are teeming with kids learning to ride their bikes, dog walkers and joggers, co-existing for the most part, fairly well. Not only do good quality paths get out us out of cars – they keep us healthy and happy. They do all this whilst somehow providing a valuable habitat for wildlife at the same time. In many parts of North Edinburgh it is really possible to leave the car at home for all those short journeys.

Yet the story is not the same for everyone. Between Leith and Portobello, there lies a neglected bit of path that could provide a valuable Eastward extension to this network. Raised up above the pedestrian nightmare of Seafield Road there is another disused railway line with a path running along it. Except this path is overgrown, hard to access for those of us on wheels, and unlit. By day, it is inhabited by keen joggers and determined bike commuters – who despite the hassle of carting their bikes up onto the path, still prefer it to jousting with the juggernauts on Seafield Road below. At night, I just wouldn't go there.

Three years ago a small group of SPOKES volunteers cut a ramp into the embankment at Seafield Street, and since then they've worked to improve the path surface and keep the vegetation back. Is it really the case that a route with such potential is open only because of the goodwill of a few volunteers? Sadly, yes it is. Last September, Greener Leith organised a cycle ride along the route to highlight how near, and yet so frustratingly far, we are from having a usable path. You can see the photos on our website.

Since then the campaign has garnered the support of SUSTRANs, SPOKES and some of the local councillors. The Council has told us that it will cost at least half a million pounds  to make the route accessible for wheelchair users, and much more to upgrade it to the same standards as the rest of the  path network. This sum is certainly beyond the means of Greener Leith, but, just as the best way to eat an elephant is one mouthful at a time, we will keep to trying to get funds, and support for improvements to this route.

At a time when England has massively increased spending on cycle projects, it is unfortunate that the Scottish Government seem set on reducing the already paltry amount available to bodies like SUSTRANS, who would normally work with local authorities to fund these projects. In the meantime, we should all thank those volunteers who continue to maintain the path so that others can keep using it.