The winds at the weekend blew over barriers shielding open trenches and the excavations on pavements at East Claremont Street. This happened on both Saturday and Sunday, exposing the works an open hazard to pedestrians and other road users.
Local resident Shane Carter had already reported this as a problem to the council in September and is upset that the issue persists. He said: “What concerns me most is that I complained to the council about cordons that were not sturdy enough to withstand high winds back in September. A council official wrote to me then stating that the site was inspected every day. I knew then that this claim was patent nonsense, and the prevailing situation over two consecutive days this weekend proves my point.”
Mr Carter has also pointed out to the council that if they used sturdier barriers then there might not be such an issue in bad weather.
The works began in July or August, and very slowly the paving stones, and some of the cobbled road surfaces there are being replaced at long last. This is very welcome to locals but the work is being conducted in a piecemeal fashion. Mr Carter established by speaking to the contractor at the end of September that ‘ the works were on hold because the contractor was waiting a delivery of paving stones‘. When the contractor began the works they apparently did have enough flagstones but they were not of satisfactory quality. Apparently due to Covid-19 the production schedules for any slabs of this kind have been affected.
Following a long gap when the works were on pause at the end of September, which in itself might not be a problem, but the traffic on this street, a major thoroughfare to and from Leith, is regulated by temporary traffic signals, and any damage caused by winds is not subject to regular inspection.
Another issue earlier in the construction works centred around the lack of safe access to homes here when the contractor put a cordon in place and appeared to forget about the residents.
We have asked The City of Edinburgh Council for comment.
UPDATE: A council spokesperson confirmed to The Edinburgh Reporter that contractors are planning to bring more robust barriers on-site which are less susceptible to windy conditions.
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