“A total dog’s breakfast”: City council publishes Spaces for People feedback

60% of residents AGAINST Spaces for People

Responses to a major consultation and market research exercise on perceptions of Spaces for People measures, and whether they should be retained, have been published by the city council. Lothians MSP Miles Briggs says the results show the SNP-Labour ‘Capital Coalition’  has made a ‘total dog’s breakfast’ of the Spaces for People scheme

More than 17,600 people responded to our public consultation in March, which asked respondents about their familiarity with schemes introduced to help people walk, cycle and wheel safely during the COVID pandemic, and whether they would like to see them kept longer-term.

Alongside this, market research was carried out by independent market research consultants on our behalf, providing a statistically representative sample of opinion from a cross section of residents.

Officers are assessing each scheme for retention using a set of criteria agreed at January’s Transport and Environment Committee, including whether they encourage walking and cycling, how they impact businesses and whether they affect public transport. The longer-term contribution to the Council’s strategic transport objectives will also be considered.

Feedback gathered through consultation and market research will be taken into account as part of the assessments and will help guide recommendations on which schemes to keep beyond the pandemic, which will be considered by Transport and Environment Committee on 17 June.

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “Firstly, I want to thank all those who took the time to complete the consultation. The changes we have introduced reach across Edinburgh, so we wanted to hear from as many different people in communities around the city as possible.

“Officers have been assessing each of the schemes for retention using a set of criteria agreed by committee and responses to the consultation and market research will be part of this process, helping to form recommendations for the best way forward.

“I look forward to constructive debate with fellow councillors on the future of these schemes, and how they can benefit residents and visitors to Edinburgh longer term.”

Transport and Environment Vice Convener Councillor Karen Doran said: “Over the last year we’ve introduced many measures to help people physically distance and travel safely during the pandemic, and there have been a range of opinions shared on their effectiveness and impacts on the people who live here.

“Thanks to the feedback gathered in March, we’ll now be able to take people’s comments and ideas into account as we assess each scheme, meaning a rounded approach as we move beyond the pandemic.”

Far from a ’rounded approach’, Tory Lothians MSP Miles Briggs has branded the council’s handling of the scheme ‘a total dog’s breakfast’.

Miles Briggs said that 60% of Edinburgh residents are opposed to the scheme, and added: “The people of Edinburgh have spoken and it is clear that residents across the Capital have lost confidence in Spaces for People.

“From the outset many local representatives have expressed concern at the total lack on consultation and the introduction of schemes which have had a negative impact on all road users – yet the Council knowns best approach has prevailed.  

“It is inconceivable for Edinburgh Council to continue with Spaces for People with a significant majority of people against the scheme.

“There have been countless issues and risks with Spaces for People and Edinburgh Council must now start to listen and reverse these changes immediately.  

“There has been an overwhelming amount of opposition and the plan to make Spaces for People permanent must be taken off the table.

“It is clear that the SNP / Labour coalition running Edinburgh City Council have made a total dog’s breakfast of the Spaces for People scheme and if they will not act this is set to become a major campaign issue at the Council elections next year.”

Questions in both the consultation and market research focused on how much people supported or opposed retaining changes in place, what they considered to be the main benefits or disadvantages of retaining measures and which schemes people would especially like to see retained or removed.

While there were differences in the level of support or opposition for schemes between consultation and market research results, in general, for both, participants shared the strongest support for measures at schools, followed by schemes in the city centre.

Both reported lower rates of support for town centre interventions and protected cycle lanes, with the lowest levels of support for leisure connections and Quiet Connections, with many market research respondents saying they weren’t aware of these changes.

The council began introducing Spaces for People measures in May 2020 in order to ‘help people physically distance, travel safely and exercise during the COVID pandemic’.

In January 2021 it was agreed to explore the potential for retaining some of the schemes longer-term, in recognition of their impact on Council objectives to encourage walking and cycling, improve air quality, reduce congestion and achieve net zero carbon emissions, amongst other commitments.

Three separate surveys aimed at residents, businesses and stakeholders were conducted for the consultation. This was made available in a range of formats including regular print, large print, braille and translation into other languages. A British Sign Language video was also displayed on the project website to further widen access to people with hearing loss.

Transport and Environment Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes has written in yesterday’s Edinburgh Evening News (Wednesday, 2 June) on the aims of Spaces for People, and plans to move forward with the programme – see below.

We’re working to get the balance right

It’s now more than a year since we began introducing Spaces for People measures to help people to make journeys by foot, bike and wheelchair safely while physically distancing. 

It was inevitable that introducing changes in so many parts of the city would give rise to differing reactions, with people expressing both concerns and positive comments.

We’re now considering the results of a major consultation and market research on the changes we’ve made, and whether people would like any of them to be kept more permanently. Before we move to the next stage, I want to take this opportunity to comment on some of the key issues that have arisen since the start of the pandemic.

Some people have asked us why we’ve been making these changes. Last year, in the depths of lockdown, we had very little choice. As the nation came to terms with a ‘new normal’ where 2m physical distancing is needed, the way we moved around the city changed drastically. People were stepping on roads to give one another space, cycling along busy routes to avoid public transport or squeezing onto narrow pavements to take daily exercise.

Throughout the course of the last year our approach has evolved with the changing situation, and strands of the programme reflect that. From the beginning, when we created Spaces for Exercise, so people could get to places like Silverknowes prom safely (and they did, in great number), to our city and town centres schemes to add space on busy high streets. Restrictions outside schools helped limit crowding as pupils returned to full-time learning and Travelling Safely measures provided much-needed cycle space on busy roads as alternatives to congested off-road networks, along with a scheme to remove obstructive street clutter from our streets.

Both the Scottish and UK Governments have encouraged and funded local authorities across the country to make temporary changes to facilitate active travel. Through the Scottish Government, via Sustrans, we’ve been awarded £5.25m in total specifically to provide additional space for physical distancing in the pandemic – and I want to be clear that we can’t spend this money on filling potholes or elsewhere. 

To those who question Sustrans’ influence over our decisions – Sustrans is a respected, national charity and we value their input highly. But these decisions are very much our own. It’s our responsibility to protect citizens’ safety, to support businesses to thrive and to give children and families space to enjoy safe, pollution-free routes.

This is an entirely new situation, and I know that some of the road layouts have taken time to adjust to. But we’re also in the midst of a crisis. We’ve followed guidance set by the Scottish Government to help us get these emergency changes to protect public health on the ground quickly – in fact, we’ve gone further than expected to engage with key stakeholders on every single scheme. As a result, we’ve tweaked and improved many of the measures along the way.

It’s thanks to the efforts of our dedicated Spaces for People team that we’ve been able to respond to community concerns. Each intervention is carefully risk assessed, taking blue badge parking and loading into account, and is closely monitored once in place. People’s safety is our priority, and we notify emergency services about every intervention, addressing any access issues if necessary. 

As restrictions are eased alongside the rapid rollout of vaccinations across the population, some may ask why we still need interventions like these in place. While there is much to be grateful for, we’re not out of the woods yet. The fast-spreading Indian variant of the COVID virus still threatens to set back best laid plans to fully exit lockdown. Large sections of society, many of whom don’t own a car, still feel nervous to set foot on public transport. And as businesses reopen with restrictions in place, queues will become commonplace on our streets.

That these changes are helping to people to walk, cycle and wheel more easily aligns with our strategic policy goals too. Our ambitious ten-year City Mobility Plan focuses on sustainable travel, while projects like City Centre Transformation will facilitate travel by foot, wheelchair or bike. Our commitments to become carbon neutral by 2030, to significantly improve air quality and to encourage healthy, active travel will benefit from people choosing to walk or cycle over private car journeys. 

Of course, we recognise some schemes have caused disruption and we want to minimise that for residents and businesses. This is a difficult balance but we’re trying again to get it right.

We have no intention of pushing through any permanent schemes under the cover of Spaces for People. We want to bring the people of Edinburgh along with us. That’s why we would be using Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders to implement any longer-term changes, meaning we can continue to involve local people in their operation and evolution once in place. 

Many of the changes we’ve made, it’s worth noting, are as a result of our Commonplace consultation last year and have been informed by residents’ suggestions for improvements. The 17,600 responses we received to the latest consultation, along with the findings of in-depth marketing research conducted with a representative cross-section of residents, will be invaluable as we progress to the next stage of the programme. 

This insight, along with the expertise of our officers, who are working to a defined set of criteria approved by elected councillors in committee, will help us to understand where we can make schemes better, how they can be changed to suit more people and where, in some areas, they can be scaled back.

Find out more about the market research and consultation responses online.