Controlled Parking Zone – Proposals for B1 area (Grange)

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

This thread is cross-posted from the old Grange Association forum and only a few of the posts , describing the proposals, are carried across to this new forum.  You can view the full previous discussion from April 2021 in this transcript from the old forum.  Please post any new comments on this new forum below.

 

Most residents in the southern half of the Grange will have received this leaflet explaining that the Council is looking at measures to address parking pressures in this area. As part of early engagement, it wants to know what difficulties you experience with parking in the area, as well as your views on what is being proposed. Feedback from this engagement will inform its decision making and designs. Amendments, where possible, will be made to reflect these comments.

 

The consultation web page explained the process and included this detailed map of the proposals.

 

Virtual meetings will be held over Microsoft Teams on the following dates and times:

• Monday 26th April 2021 at 1pm
• Wednesday 28th April 2021 at 6pm

 

You will need to register for a ticket via Eventbrite for either of these events.

 

The proposals would essentially turn the B1 zone into an area similar that to the north in the S1 zone, where there is no uncontrolled parking during the controlled hours. All parking during those periods would require a permit or a payment (“pay-and-display”). This would discourage the long-term parking of vehicles by non-residents. Visitor permits would be available for residents and regular traders can apply for a Trades Permit.

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

The Grange Association Committee met on 17 May 2021 and considered the proposal for a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) in the B1 area. Taking account of:

• The Objectives of the Association;
• The diversity and strength of opinion among members and other residents (as shown in this forum thread); and
• The ongoing engagement by the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC),

the Committee decided not to support or to oppose the principle of a CPZ for the B1 area. Rather, the Committee encourages all members to participate in the current engagement by CEC to ensure all views are represented. The Association will wish to work with members and other residents, CEC, the Community Council and other stakeholders, once the engagement has concluded, to tailor the resulting proposals in line with the Association’s objectives and the interests of its members.

 

You can record your general views on the proposals on the Council’s general survey form (which includes an option to leave a comment up to 255 characters) and any specific comments on the detailed proposals for the B1 area on the interactive map which lets you drop a pin on a specific proposed parking bay or yellow line to leave a comment or suggestion (up to 255 characters).

 

The engagement closes on 30 May 2021.

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

The Council’s Strategic Parking Review is being carried out in four phases.  The area of the Grange covered by the B1 zone falls within Phase 3.   The “latest progress” for Phase 3 is stated as:

 

“An informal consultation took place in April and May 2021. The results of this consultation will be reported to an upcoming meeting of the Transport and Environment Committee.”

 

The “informal consultation” was the engagement exercise referred to in the posts above, which closed on 30 May 2021.

[Grange PlanningKeymaster]

The initial results of the consultants’ review had been reported to the Transport and Environment Committee (TEC) at its meeting on 12 September 2019, with this report.  The recommendations were accepted, as recorded at page 11 in the minutes of the 12 Sep 2019 meeting.

Following the informal consultation or ‘engagement exercise’, the fuller analysis of the responses to the engagement exercise was finally reported to the TEC at the meeting on 8 December 2022.  This is the public reports pack and the section on controlled parking in the B1 area starts at page 191.  The meeting was made available as a webcast and can be viewed with this link.  The relevant items start from 3h 20min into the meeting.  The meeting agreed the motion which accepted the recommendations in the report including:

1.1 It is recommended that Transport and Environment Committee:

…………………………………………………

1.1.3 Having considered the contents of Appendices 1 and 2, in conjunction with the findings contained in Appendix 3, agrees to:

1.1.3.3 Commence the statutory process to introduce controlled parking into the following areas: B1, B3, B4, B5 and Fettes, as is detailed in this report;

The details of the discussion and the voting on proposed amendments is recorded in the minutes of the 8 Dec 2022 meeting (from page 9).

The motion was modified by line 3 of the LibDem amendment, which adds further areas for ‘monitoring’ to check for the effects of displacement of parking into other areas. No other amendments were agreed.

 

This means that the Council officers will proceed with drafting up the TROs for issue for formal consultation in the usual way.  We monitor all TRO proposals and post them on the Roads page on our website and we will update this thread, to alert those who are subscribing to it, once a TRO is issued for comment. When this B1 TRO appears it will also be publicised on our website with the dates for comments to be submitted.  That will be the formal consultation period.  The exercise that was reported on at this TEC meeting was the ‘informal consultation’ or ‘engagement exercise’.

We would expect the TRO to be issued for comment in the late spring or summer of 2023, with a view to implementation in 2024.

[sl318aParticipant]

I’ll be the first to comment here … I recall a few years ago the Grange Association (in conjunction with the Council) went to a lot of trouble getting the street furniture rationalised / changed / removed i.e. as many pole signs changed to railing / wall signs etc.

There are bound to be some new items required (pay machines as an example)

I hope the Council with take heed and not put things up in the first place for the GA to ask for removal!

 

[Fiona9876Participant]

We live at 89 south Oswald road. We are happy to have yellow lines down our road but please leave the small parking zone at the end of the culdesac. I am very disabled in an electric wheelchair and need to have numerous people to visit

Judith Steel

[MembershipKeymaster]

Judith – we sympathise with your situation. I think that when the consultation opens you should comment to them about that.

 

Thanks

 

Richard

[B HosieParticipant]

I agree with the comments made by participant sl318a about the excessive street furniture associated with the parking restrictions.  A 50 yard section on Grange Loan, west of the junction with Findhorn Place has 6 posts associated with parking restrictions plus a pay machine.  Not only are these posts an eyesore, but they cause inconvenience for pedestrians.

More fundementally I question whether an extention of the parking restrictions is still required given the marked decline in the numbers commuting to work as a consequence of so many employees working from home on a regular basis.  The cost of extending the parking restrictions fall heavily on the residents, most of whom would require to pay an annual fee for parking outside their homes.  What benefit is there for residents in return on their annual parking permit?

 

[MembershipKeymaster]

B Hosie … here is a link to the flyer we used a number of years ago (I’m not saying they’d still do it).

Here are details of this and other Roads items.

 

 

 

 

[B HosieParticipant]

Thank you for sight of the flyer.  I recall it was issued many years ago when the council erected a graet may parking posts without consulting the residents.  Fortunately a lot of people responded to the flyer and a lot of posts were removed.  Would it be possible to publish the flyer in the Grange Newsletter as it might well be that new residents in the area are unaware of the opportunity to remove a post outsde their home?

[MembershipKeymaster]

B Hosie … remember that the newsletter is only published less than a handful of times a year. Yes, I’m sure it could, but we’d need to check whether the Council are still “Up for it” ..

[Author]

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