Almost 2,000 locals so far have signed a petition to stop Edinburgh City Council's Spaces for People scheme from becoming permanent.
In May 2020 the Scottish government announced funding for Spaces for People programmes, which aimed to provide safe options for essential journeys during the coronavirus pandemic.
But now Edinburgh City Council has approved the first steps towards making its controversial Spaces For People traffic management programme permanent and many locals are not happy about it.
A petition entitled "Stop Edinburgh council making dangerous road changes, cycle lanes & parking cuts permanent" slams the plans, branding them "unlawful."
The petition reads: " Under the cover of COVID, Edinburgh Council spent over £5m experimenting with our communities' roads, our safety, and our business access by forcing through road closures, barrier cycle lanes, in-road bus stops and removing parking.
"They did this with inadequate safety assessments, no thought for disabled and elderly people, and ignoring over 10,000 objections. They promised these “Spaces for People” were temporary, but now plan to make them permanent.
"Legal opinion suggests this is unlawful."
Edinburgh Live previously reported how at a meeting of the council’s transport committee on Thursday January 28, councillors approved plans to launch a city-wide consultation on which traffic measures and road closures residents may wish to keep.
Almost 100 changes were implemented under the Spaces for People scheme, including in Corstorphine, Silverknowes, Ferry Road, Leith, Stockbridge, Duddingston, Portobello, Newington, Causewayside, Fairmilehead, Braids, Morningside, Bruntsfield, Tollcross, Lanark Road, Longstone & Gorgie, with more planned for the future.
A start date for the consultation, or the means of consulting, have not been published but the transport committee is expecting the results of the consultation to be presented at the committee’s meeting in April.
You can read the petition here.
