Consultation on citywide car parking ends on 28 March

The council is consulting on the need for the Controlled Parking Zone in several areas of the city including Easter Road, West Leith, Bonnington, Willowbrae North, Murrayfield, Saughtonhall, Corstorphine and Roseburn and has extended the time limit for comment until 28 March 2021.

A petition to stop the council creating unnecessary parking zones in Saughtonhall/Balgreen had 375 signatures on last examination.

Some locals do not believe that there is any problem in the area with commuter parking, and object to the council imposing yellow lines and paid for parking bays outside their homes. They insist that the council is creating a problem where none exists and is simply creating a money-making scheme.

We reported that some residents in Saughtonhall had not received some of the 17,000 leaflets which the council say they distributed to every property in the area. The council also say that every ward councillor and community councils were issued with an email before the consultation began.

In a 2019 report prepared for the council Project Centre identified problems in various areas of the city including Saughton which “recorded varied levels of parking pressure”. The highest level of pressure was near the Saughton tram stop and the local shops on Saughton Road North. Despite noting that other areas had only medium levels of parking pressure the recommendation was that the area should be considered for the introduction of a Controlled Parking Zone.

Murrayfield Community Council has issued a response to the consultation which you can read below urging that an appropriate solution is found for each area rather than imposing “a one size fits all approach”.

Elderly residents told The Edinburgh Reporter they felt excluded as the leaflets which were received referred to a map which could only be viewed online.

Daughter of the former Lord Provost, Elizabeth Irons, told The Edinburgh Reporter: “My elderly parents live in Saughtonhall, one of the proposed CPZ areas. They were only recently made aware of this by a neighbour and had received no information. They subsequently checked with a number of neighbours and they were also unaware of this consultation.  To date we are only aware of one neighbour who has received the leaflet.

“It is simply unacceptable that the Council will conclude a consultation and implement changes without ensuring that all those affected have an opportunity to review plans and provide input.”

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “This review responds to the concerns of residents across the city, many of whom have told us that they want to see controls introduced to help limit the impact of non-residential parking. As part of this, officers have carried out an in-depth, citywide analysis to identify the areas that may be most in need of restrictions.

“Proposed controls are about helping residents to park near their homes, so of course we want to know what the people who live here think about them. Our suppliers have delivered over 1600 leaflets in the Saughtonhall area to try to reach every property in this area and around 17000 as part of this phase of wider consultation. We also have physical copies of the surveys available for those that may need them.”