Council elections 2022 – Claire Miller – City Centre Ward

What is your story?

I have always been an environmentalist at heart, studying biological sciences at university and finding peace in nature (even urban gardens). When I learned more about man-made climate change and the risk of going beyond the tipping point where we could not undo the damage, I wanted to take action and so I became more politically active.
I’d never been a member of a party before, and I joined the Greens in 2014 after the Scottish independence referendum because there were huge number of people joining and I realised that I could be part of a large cohort who all had to learn the ropes together and it would be easier to get involved.

I stood for election in 2017 and was successfully elected on first preference votes, pushing Labour into fourth place in the city centre ward.

I’m the transport spokesperson in the group of Green councillors and I focus on the issues in transport which I think will make the biggest difference in terms of reducing our climate impact – helping people to walk, wheel and cycle or take public transport instead of relying on cars to get around, and focusing on the needs of marginalised groups of people by prioritising accessibility and personal safety.

I’m also the Co-convenor of the group of Green councillors, partly I think because I’m a hyper organised person and very handy with a spreadsheet and a list of action points for our group!

What are the main issues you will campaign on – both as a party and personally?
For me climate change is the biggest issue. This decade we have to reduce our climate emissions drastically in order to play our part in the global challenge. There is a huge amount to do, from electrifying our transport and changing transport from powered to active travel, to insulating our homes and workplaces and planning zero carbon new buildings. I’m standing for re-election to represent people whose top priority for the 2022-27 council will be slashing our carbon emissions.

What do you consider to be your or your party’s achievements or legacy during the last council session?
For city centre residents, I’m delighted that we’ve finally got the ability to bring in a control zone for holiday lets. One of the key issues for me in 2017 was to take action to make the city centre more residential again, to help people who were being priced out and evicted from homes which were being converted into holiday lets.

I did a huge amount of work in the council to make our case to the government for planning and licensing regulations, and this is finally going to be implemented. In the transport committee, I can see that we are making progress towards creating a network of safe and segregated cycle routes which will mean more people feel able to get around by bike.

Construction has just started on the city centre west-east link, from Roseburn to the top of Leith Walk. It’s been years in the making, and although I am campaigning for a better process in future, cycle routes like this are an essential part of our work to tackle climate change for the whole city.

In our parks and green spaces, I’ve been backing residents who want lower impact events and less commercialisation, and a recognition of the value of parks and gardens. I was able to get far greater control over the policies and processes for events in parks and we are also doing a major review of the contract for Christmas and Hogmanay events. 

What is the thing that few people would know about you?

That I’ve been a championship level highland dancer? I am guessing most of my colleagues and constituents probably don’t know that!