A version of this comment piece by Chair of Greener Leith, Charlotte Encombe, was originally published on STV Edinburgh on Thursday. On Friday, the council voted once again to build the tram line St Andrew Square. Leith was barely mentioned at all in the meeting.
Many people more knowledgeable than I am have been making valiant efforts to explain the complicated manoeuvres by the various political parties in last Friday’s vote over the tram.
I, for one, am less interested in who did what and why, than what is going to happen in Leith. As far as I am concerned, it seems that that whether the tram goes to Haymarket or St Andrew’s Square, the bottom line is Leith is losing out yet again.
In the beginning, while the tram was still going all the way to Newhaven, where it was to be the main public transport mode for the 15,000 or so new houses that were going to be built there, the mood was reasonably optimistic. 2-bedroom apartment blocks were going up like the clappers and Leith did catch the attention of a number of commercial developers, who put in planning applications for hotels, housing and student accommodation.
In their enthusiasm to get going, they pulled down Shrub Hill Bus Depot, a petrol station, removed stone by stone the gardener’s cottage that went with the original botanical gardens and half destroyed Shrub Hill House, creating a total of some 6 acres of flattened land, more gap than site. It didn’t matter too much, the tram was coming!
The less said about the tram works on Leith Walk the better, although the most poignant illustration of the desperation of its shop keepers must be the poster that was made announcing a birthday party for a hole in the road surface that had been open for a year.
Slowly, as the economic climate turned colder, developers initially wanted to renegotiate, put pressure on the Council saying that no longer could they afford to pay their contribution to the tram. Next, they quietly slunk away, leaving behind desolate wasteland, while Leith, pock marked and stunned, has been trying to work out how this could have gone so wrong ever since.
Local small businesses have taken a big hit. In Constitution Street they were forced to move because the loading bays were being removed to make way for the trams. Others saw their takings halved because of the tram works. The wonderful aquarium shop, with rooms full of exotic creatures, read the signs early and relocated to Prestonpans, while its recent replacement, Aquatic Rooms, has now also decided to call it a day. So another bit of local colour disappears from Leith that cannot be replaced by a few cheery banners from the lamp posts.
The fact that there won’t be a tram going to Newhaven, that all this public money spent has not benefited Leith one bit, is a disaster for Leith. Particularly as no one seems to think it necessary to invest into its future and carry out some extremely urgent and essential repairs beyond the paltry £2 million that has been set aside for ‘public realm improvements’.
Because even if Leith Walk gets a quick makeover with a coat of asphalt and a couple of planters, what about the rest of Leith; Constitution Street, Junction Street, the Kirkgate, or even the roundabout at the top of the Walk where there used to be that lovely clock? Will we ever see the Elm Row bronze pigeons again? If the sad reality is that there won’t there be any trams on Leith Walk, is it right that we should also wave goodbye to the prospect of underground bins, replacement trees or pavements and be content instead to ignore the potholes and the proliferation of rubbish bins?
My argument is that we shouldn’t. Because, despite the economic downturn, there is money in the public kitty for public infrastructure. Only a few months ago the government allocated £84m to improve exactly that; the public infrastructure of Leith Docks, which belongs to Forth Ports. Even though it now appears that Forth Ports has lost interest in developing Leith Docks, the irony remains that the government was fully prepared to subsidise the largest private enterprise in Leith, whereas it seems far less interested in helping to develop small private businesses in Leith.
Apparently there is a ‘vision’ for Leith Walk, variously described in terms of ‘the Ramblas’ or the ‘Champs Elysees’. However, what is urgently needed is not more pie in the sky, but a coherently worked out investment plan to kick start the sustainable, resilient, regeneration of Leith which has to include a complete upgrade for all of the shopping streets in Leith.. Comprehensive subsidies will be needed for some of the more badly degraded retail premises as very soon only the mighty chain stores and super markets will be able to take on such investments.
I am not a visionary, but, if the ‘Vision’ for Leith Walk is to retain its independent retailers and the vibrant and diverse character they bring to the City; if we want to keep some of the most interesting shopping streets in Edinburgh going and prevent creating another series of monotonous ‘clone’ high streets, something needs to be done right now.
April 16, 2012 by 
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