A public consultation will help inform the Strategic Business Case for a tram route from Granton to the BioQuarter and beyond, if approved by councillors next week.
This would run through the city centre via Roseburn then on to North and South Bridge, Clerk Street and Minto Street to Cameron Toll, before following the A7 to the BioQuarter. Further consideration is being given to potential future routes into neighbouring local authorities.
If members agree to proceed, a 12-week consultation in spring 2024 would show participants the recommended route across the four sections (Granton – City Centre; through the City Centre; City Centre – BioQuarter; and BioQuarter and beyond) and explain why it has been chosen. It will include details of alternative options that have been explored and the reasons why these have been discounted.
Engagement builds on a consultation on the City Mobility Plan (CMP) in 2020/21, which found that 62% of respondents would like to see tram network expanded, and 89% desired general improvements to public transport. Exploring the expansion of the tram network is outlined in the CMP and supports aims to both reduce car kms travelled by 30% and become a net zero city by 2030.
Future plans would build on the success of Trams to Newhaven, which was completed on time in June 2023, and has contributed to the award-winning Edinburgh Trams service carrying more than 9 million passengers in the last year.
Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said:“Like cities around the world we’re challenged by poor air quality, congestion and carbon emissions relating to transport.
“This, paired with a rapidly increasing population – projected to grow at three times the rate of Scotland’s – demonstrates the pressing need to rethink the way we move people and goods around the Capital.
“By improving public transport, we want to provide safe, efficient and affordable travel in Edinburgh, and expanding the tram network is key to this. It’s clear that the public support it too, with almost two-thirds of respondents to our CMP consultation in favour of more tram routes. Of course, we know how disruptive a project of this scale can be to residents and businesses, but the success of the recently completed line to Newhaven is proof that we’re well prepared.
“Our recommended route for Granton to the BioQuarter and beyond links key areas of growth and development to the city and will more than double the capacity of our tram network. Not only would this support local regeneration and the delivery of much-needed affordable homes, but it would help create new jobs, boost economic growth and link to educational and cultural venues along the route.
“We’re already engaging with Transport Scotland to explore financial options, and it’s encouraging that mass rapid transit in the area has been highlighted as an investment priority by the Scottish Government. We’ll continue to work closely with them and other stakeholders as we look to progress this major project.
“Alongside the existing line between the Airport and Newhaven, a Granton to BioQuarter tram service would also improve transport links to four priority investment zones identified in the City Plan 2030 – Waterfront, West Edinburgh, City Centre, and South-East Edinburgh – connecting major development sites, employment centres, retail hubs and educational facilities.”
If approved, the public consultation will run in spring 2024 and feedback received, along with a draft Strategic Business Case, would be reported to committee in autumn.
West Pilton Park is undergoing an exciting, new development after receiving a significant amount of charitable funding.
The Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council would like to share with you the latest design proposals, to raise awareness of the development and build enthusiasm for the new park plan.
The aim is to make West Pilton Park the beautiful, bustling centre of a thriving neighbourhood community.
The Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, Robert Aldridge said: “Holocaust Memorial Day is an important reminder for us all of the millions of people who were murdered or were impacted by the Holocaust.
“We can also use this as an opportunity to remember all victims of genocide around the world. This remains a key chapter in our collective global history that we must learn from and together work towards a more tolerant and peaceful future.
“This year’s theme, ‘the Fragility of Freedom’ highlights how we can never become complacent about erosions of freedoms and the dark path that this leads down.
“This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi people in Rwanda, this had been preceded by years of tension, violence and curtailing of freedoms.
“On behalf of the city of Edinburgh I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the victims of the Holocaust and all genocides, to the survivors who bravely shared their stories with the world, and those who are still impacted now.”
The City of Edinburgh Council is asking residents to give their feedback on a long-term plan for decarbonising heat in buildings and improving energy efficiency.
The Council has prepared the Edinburgh LHEES, along with a Delivery Plan, in response to the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (Scotland) Order 2022. The policy requires all Scottish local authorities to publish a LHEES, and a Delivery Plan, by the end of 2023.
The Edinburgh LHEES sets out a strategic approach which aims to improve the energy efficiency and decarbonise the heat supply of buildings. It also plans to eliminate poor energy efficiency as a driver of fuel poverty.
Using an area-wide approach, the plan addresses all buildings in the Edinburgh area, not just the Council’s own building stock.
The Delivery Plan, which focuses on actions between 2024 and 2028, sets out short to medium term actions associated with the implementation of the strategy. It prioritises areas where actions may be easier, cheaper, or have a known outcome. For example, adding loft insultation means less heat escapes through the loft.
Councillor Cammy Day, Council Leader, said: “My thanks go to everyone who has taken the time to share their views with us so far. The unfortunate reality is that we are in a climate emergency.
“There is still time to avert disaster if we take bold and immediate action at the speed and scale necessary. That’s why we have set the ambitious but necessary target for Edinburgh to become a net zero city by 2030.
“Whilst we continue to lead the way in our efforts, we still have a long road ahead to reach our goal in addressing the climate and nature emergencies. As part of our work, I am pleased to welcome the Edinburgh Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy and Delivery Plan which sets out how our buildings can move to net zero.
“The plan is relevant to all owners and occupiers of Edinburgh’s buildings, but it can only be delivered by the combined effort of all of us. I’m very keen to engage with our residents on this important plan and hope this consultation allows them the opportunity to have their voices heard.”
The consultation closes on Sunday 3 March. Find out more and share views here.
Key stakeholders from across Edinburgh have come together to address the issue of graffiti in the Capital.
The graffiti summit held on Thursday (18 January) was chaired by Council Leader Cammy Day and included representatives from Police Scotland, parliamentarians, business leaders, heritage organisations, residents’ groups and members of the street art community, as well as local elected members and the Council’s street cleansing team.
Participants in the round-table event discussed the current picture across the city and the Council’s role tackling graffiti on public land, though acknowledged that the vast majority of graffiti is on private property. Key to the debate was the difference between vandalism and street art, and how ‘tolerance zones’ and murals like Colinton Tunnel and Marine Parade could be part of the answer.
Potential solutions considered at the summit are the provision of a specialised graffiti removal service provided by the Council for city stakeholders and property owners, funded by the Council and private landowners, and sharing Council data with the police. Participants also discussed the impact of graffiti, and its removal, on historical buildings and structures.
Councillors and officers will now consider options for expanding the Council’s graffiti removal service in partnership with Police Scotland, heritage groups and community representatives before reconvening the wider group to discuss next steps.
Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “I’m really grateful to all the people who came along to the graffiti summit. It’s clear from our discussions that we all share the same aim – we want to be proud of the city we live in and for people who come here to love it as much as we do.
“It’s clear from speaking to people today that there’s a real spectrum of ‘graffiti’, from formal murals like Colinton Tunnel which have the consent and support of the community, through to offensive tags. I know many of the complaints we receive are about the latter.
“One of the key outcomes today was to work with both the private and public sector to solve this problem, whether that’s sharing data with the police to help them to identify the extent of the problem or working with stakeholders to provide an enhanced service.
“This adds to the £0.75m investment we’ve already made this year, which is allowing our excellent cleansing and graffiti teams to use specialist vehicles to focus on removing graffiti from public buildings and infrastructure, as well as power washing areas such as streets, pavements and steps which need it most.”
Liz McAreavey, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said: “I came along to the graffiti summit to find out more about what’s happening across the city and was really interested to learn about the differing perceptions of graffiti. There’s clearly a vast difference between graffiti as street art and as vandalism.
“When street art is approved and in an agreed space it’s an opportunity for young artists and I think harnessing that could potentially be a good way of reducing the incidence of vandalism and recognising young talent.
“Today I wanted to get a better understanding of how much of a problem this is for the city, the strategies in place and how the private sector can contribute. It’s very much a ‘Team Edinburgh’ approach. This isn’t something that can be solved overnight but we need outcomes that will support the visitor experience, support the private sector who are having to deal with this and understanding the value that creative street art can bring to the city as well.
Ross Blair, Founder and Creative Director of creative agency TrenchOne Industries, said:“We were really happy to be invited to the summit, and we welcomed the discussion with all the partners.
“I think there needs to be education across the board about what constitutes graffiti. People use graffiti as a catch-all term that covers vandalism, tags, murals and art on walls, but it’s more nuanced than that.
“We’re getting some great talent in the city and I think we should be celebrating that. We should focus on young people, educating them and encouraging them to become artists. It’s about having inclusive discussions, between all council areas, local groups, artists and other stakeholders to understand different points of view.”
The Council recently invested £0.75m to give the Capital a deeper clean and enhance its graffiti task force, all with the aim of improving the look and feel of Edinburgh’s streets.
The dedicated graffiti task force is on street daily, using specialist vehicles with fully trained operators to power wash landmarks such as the Scotsman Steps, closes in the Old Town and other priority areas across the city.
Council Leader, Cammy Day looks to the year ahead – and beyond
Starting the year on a high
2024 is upon us and, with 40% of the world’s voters heading to the polls in the next 12 months, it promises to be a fascinating year of political debate – and change.
Here in the Capital, we’ve already enjoyed a great start to the year, welcoming in 2024 in style with our world-famous Hogmanay celebrations – bringing great pride to our residents and an estimated £48m to the local economy.
Overall, our Winter Festivals proved once again to be a great draw and the city centre welcomed a 6.4% increase in footfall in December 2023 compared to the same period the year before. In fact, we bucked the national trend, with the Capital the only city in Scotland to register an increase and the top performing city in the UK. Add to that hotel occupancy rates of well over 90%, shows just how attractive Edinburgh is and how far we’ve come since the pandemic.
Striking the right balance
But with this success, comes the other side of the same coin: the pressure on our core services and on the people who live and work here. Of course, we’re glad that so many people want to visit our beautiful city and recognise the importance of tourism to our economy. But we also acknowledge the impact this has on residents and that we have a responsibility to manage that impact.
One way we can do this is to introduce a visitor levy, which would present a major opportunity for us to generate millions of pounds in additional revenue to support, sustain and develop the city and this visitor economy – just as so many other major cities do so successfully. With MSPs endorsing the principles of the Visitor Levy Bill in Holyrood, I look forward to progressing our plans this year and keeping Edinburgh on track to become the first city in Scotland to introduce it.
Another way in which we can relieve this pressure is to better manage the number and quality of Short Term Lets in the city and I remain convinced this is the right thing to do – both for our residents but also for the businesses running them. Following the recent Judicial Reviews, we now have greater clarity on the legislation, and its application, and will publish a report outlining our next steps in the coming weeks.
Working towards net zero
Sticking with our business plan priorities in 2024, we remain determined to play our part in the global fight against climate change. We’re sticking with our bold and ambitious target to be a net-zero city by 2030 and, as our Climate Strategy and city-wide carbon emissions report demonstrates we’re continuing to make progress against these targets.
Coming on the back of a series of national and international awards and other accolades recognising our action on climate – most recently being named the world’s most sustainable travel destination and featured on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Global A list – we’re at the forefront of driving the change we need to make real and lasting difference.
We’ve also published a new Climate Ready Edinburgh strategy to address the impacts of climate change on the city. This new strategy will address issues around flooding and overheating whilst supporting the city to protect and enhance our beautiful greenspaces and biodiversity.
Cleaner, greener transport
Did you know that 91% of travel emissions in the UK are caused by road traffic? That’s why creating a better connected, environmentally friendly transport system is a must and, in the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing a major package of proposals for the way we move people and goods around the city. These will include recommendations for a consultation on a north–south tram line between Granton and the Bioquarter for public consultation and first sight of our new circulation plan, Our Future Streets.
This work will complement significant investment in active travel routes too and, in the coming year, we’ll see the completion of both the City Centre West to East Link, a major walking, wheeling and cycling route between Roseburn and Picardy Place, and the Roseburn to Union Canal route, which will transform public spaces and bring disused areas back into community use. The introduction of our LEZ from 1 June, meanwhile, will not only improve air quality in our city centre but is expected to have benefits citywide. For our part, we’re continuing to improve our own council fleet and 30% of our vehicles will be upgraded to electric by the end of 2024.
Over the coming years, through schemes like Meadows to George Street, we’ll significantly improve walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport, and reduce the dominance of cars on city centre streets. We’re already making great strides towards delivering our flagship city centre transformation project, George Street and First New Town,and this year will see us engaging in our final designs before beginning construction in 2025.
Of course, 2023 was a hugely significant year for trams, with the completion of the line to Newhaven and passenger numbers already well ahead of expectations. Taken alongside the outstanding work of the team at Lothian Buses in returning patronage to almost pre-covid levels, the future looks bright for our transport companies, not least as we continue our work to bring them together as one. This can only be good news for Edinburgh’s travelling public – better integration, better service and better value for money.
A catalyst for sustainable growth
The development of our tram network has been – and will continue to be – pivotal to the city’s evolution. From the huge and growing investment in the west of the city – think Edinburgh Park and the potential for an 8,000 capacity music venue or the £2bn West Town development, to the transformation of Haymarket and the West End. The ever-changing face of Princes Street – book-ended by the Johnnie Walker Experience in the west and ambitious restoration of the former Jenners building in the east. The latter sitting proudly on the corner of St Andrew Square, which has itself been completely transformed and rejuvenated.
Then, in between, we have a boutique Red Carnation Hotel due to open in the former Royal Overseas League building later this year, a £100m redevelopment for the luxury Ruby Hotels chain planned for the former Zara, Next and Russell and Bromley stores and Japanese clothing retailer, Uniqlo, moving into the former BHS building in the spring.
Not forgetting, of course, the unbridled success of St James Quarter – whose £1bn investment depended heavily on tram and significant support from the Council, the regeneration of Leith Walk and the Waterfront, with the long-awaited £250m reinvention of Ocean Terminal set to bring 500 much-needed homes and a direct pedestrian link to the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Just along the coast, the £1.3bn transformation of Granton Waterfront into Europe’s first net-zero coastal town, complete with 3,500 new, sustainable homes, will rely heavily on tram, while the prospect of taking the line south past the Cameron Toll to the Royal Infirmary, Sick Kids and beyond will be truly transformational for that part of the city.
I’m eagerly anticipating the completion of the Granton Gasholder refurbishment by spring 2025, which alongside the improvements to the public spaces surrounding it, will be a great resource for the local community and a beacon of hope for a bright future for North Edinburgh.
Like many in the city who spend their very first hours and days in the old Royal Infirmary, I’m also really looking forward to seeing inside the Edinburgh Futures Institute when it opens later this year – the latest product of the £1.3bn City Region Deal. And then there’s the Usher Institute at the Bio Quarter, ensuring we stay at the forefront of Life Sciences innovation in the UK and internationally.
Elsewhere, work is also beginning on designs for hundreds of new homes at the site of the old Liberton Hospital and good progress is being made on new housing at the old Sick Kids site. Having declared a Housing Emergency at the end of last year, we’re continuing to create as much new affordable housing as we can afford, from Pennywell to Greendykes and Wester Hailes, and buying homes that are already built at scale while turning empty homes around to help increase our housing supply.
Getting the basics right for our communities
As our city continues to grow, we must provide the right infrastructure and amenities in our local communities, and our 20-minute Neighbourhood Strategy will help us develop places where everyone can meet most of their daily needs within a short walk or wheel from their home. We’re approaching the next stages of exciting town centre improvement programmes in Dalry, Portobello and Craigmillar and are due to consult on our proposals in the spring.
This extends of course to the ‘everyday’, but no less important, services we provide, such as fixing roads, keeping streets clean and collecting waste. And the evidence tells us that these services are improving thanks to the additional investment we’ve put into them.
For instance, we’ve doubled the amount of money we put towards roads and pavement projects and, having delivered approximately 420,000m2 of carriageway improvements and 170,000m2 of footway improvements in 2023/24 – the highest ever delivered in one financial year in Edinburgh – our Road Condition Index (RCI) has improved yet again over the period 2022/24, having also improved in the two years before that. The investment is clearly paying off.
Likewise, we’ve seen year on year improvements in our street cleanliness scores. This is thanks to investing £3m towards keeping the city in a good condition, including £750,000 to give the city a deeper clean, tackling problem areas like fly-tipping and graffiti. Added to that the similar £3m boost we’ve given to our beautiful parks and open spaces, recognising their importance to everyone’s wellbeing, we’ve helped to keep Edinburgh’s 38 Green Flags flying – which is more than anywhere else in Scotland.
Tackling inequality and giving our young people the best start in life
Turning now to another key priority: tackling poverty. Over the past year we’ve doubled our homelessness budget, helped over 4,000 people into work or learning, and, through our advice partnerships, helped put more than £20 million directly into the pockets of residents who need it most. We’ve also begun to narrow the poverty related attainment gap in our schools and recorded the best performance we have ever seen on the proportion of leavers moving on to positive post school destinations.
Despite all this hard work, I remain deeply concerned that one in five children in this city still grow up in poverty. The cost of living crisis means that the wealth divide continues to widen and it will take urgent and consistent action from us and from both governments to meet this challenge. This year, we’re committed to carrying on our work with partners to deliver our End Poverty in Edinburgh plan, help people keep their family’s heads above water and ensure the very best future for Edinburgh’s children and young people.
We also have big plans for new schools and early years centres taking shape. The new Maybury Primary School will open its doors in October with new early years centres opening this year in Kirkliston and Ratho. Development is progressing at a pace on the replacement Currie High School and construction work on new schools and teaching blocks at Liberton, Wester Hailes and Trinity Academy has started in earnest.
Alongside delivering the best start to our young people in school, we also have a huge responsibility as corporate parents. All children deserve to have a safe place to live, where they feel loved and supported and, following recent inspections, I’m encouraged by the progress we’re making in our children’s and residential services.
We also have the responsibility of supporting our older residents in care homes and in receipt of at home care and everyone in between. We need to prioritise health and social care services across the city, ensuring faster and more effective early intervention – and, following a challenging period for the service, I’m heartened by the steps being taken under the new management team.
Fighting for fairer funding for our Capital City
To finish, then, 2024 promises to be yet another exciting and rewarding year for the Council and for the city; a year full of opportunities – but also of challenges.
For our part, we’ll continue to focus on our key priorities for Edinburgh: to face into the climate emergency, tackle poverty once and for all and to consistently deliver high quality services for our residents and businesses. With Chief Executive, Andrew Kerr, leaving us in June to enjoy his well-earned retirement, I look forward to working closely with his successor (once appointed) to build upon the progress we’ve made so far.
What’s clear, however, is that we can’t do this alone. As a Council, we can shape and influence change through our policies and plans, but this needs to be a team effort, a pulling together of resources and plans across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Where we’re lacking commitment, unfortunately, is from the Scottish Government who, rather than backing our plans, are systematically stripping away their support. You need look no further than December’s budget announcement, where, once again Edinburgh remains the lowest funded local authority in Scotland.
We will, of course, continue to develop sustainable financial plans for the future, but It’s imperative that we find a better way to work together more collaboratively, and my first big task this year will be to fight for fairer funding for our Capital City.
Transport Convener: ‘I am working to ensure we continue investing in roads and footpaths’
The City of Edinburgh Council is on track to carry out improvements on the largest area of roads and pavements in one financial year, thanks to £11m of additional capital investment.
Around 420,000m² of road and 170,000m² of pavement improvements will be carried out in 2023/24, compared to pre-Covid yearly averages of 225,000m² for roads and 30,000m² for pavements.
Amongst the work completed is the resurfacing of Greendykes Road, along with active travel upgrades, improvements on Waterloo Place and Princes Street and the resurfacing of a large section of the A90.
Projects underway include the London Road placemaking improvement scheme, which will result in pavement improvements such as widening, cycle segregation, new traffic signals and pedestrian crossings and road resurfacing. This is due for completion in March 2024.
Most budgeted capital schemes will have been delivered in the first three quarters of 2023/24. By taking advantage of warmer weather, teams reduced the amount of material being laid in colder conditions and thereby the likelihood of material failure.
Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “The effect of this additional £11m of capital investment is clear in the numbers – in 2023/24 we’ll improve more square metres of roads and pavements than in any other financial year.
“Of course, concerns around the condition of our roads and pavements remain and are justified, and we’re listening. By significantly increasing the number of improvement schemes we’re working towards a safe, usable network.
“That said, like any other city we continue to work to a tight budget, in the face of increasing labour and material costs. However, this investment, along with prudent planning and delivery of schemes, is helping the situation to improve. The work undertaken in 2023/24 will help get our city back on track, but I am working to ensure we continue investing in roads and footpaths.”
The main focus for the final quarter of 2023/24 will be pavements, with plans to resurface almost 100 footways in residential streets, amounting to more than 86,000m² of coverage.
Capital improvements will also be supplemented by work carried out by the Council’s Roads Operations team, in addition to its role providing day-to-day revenue maintenance. In 2023/24 Roads Operations will deliver improvements to 45,000m² of the city’s roads, bringing the total area covered in 2023/24 to over 460,000m².
This has been aided by the Council’s new Pothole Pro machine, which ensures a higher level of quality control and reliable repairs. This machine has now fixed around 8,000m² of potholed road surfaces.
A Labour MSP for Lothian has rung alarm bells about the barriers to funding for small, community-based organisations.
Foysol Choudhury yesterday (17th January) hosted a roundtable at the Scottish Parliament for third-sector community organisations to discuss the current funding model, barriers to access for smaller organisations, and what lessons could be learnt.
The roundtable attendees and MSPs heard from Citadel Youth Centre, Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC), EVOC, North Edinburgh Arts and The Larder.
Mr Choudhury is Chairperson of ELREC and will be well aware of the challenges faced by third sector organisations.
Following the roundtable, Foysol Choudhury praised the work of these third-sector organisations in working so closely with, and to benefit of, local communities. He said, however, that more could be done to support these vital organisations to be more included in the funding process:
“The third sector in Scotland is a vital contributor to both the economy and society as a whole.
“The recent Scottish Budget announcements have left many organisations in the third sector unable to be sure of secure funding for the year ahead, directly impacting on their ability to provide vital services to communities when they need it the most post-pandemic and during the cost-of-living crisis.
“It was made clear from today’s discussion that sustained, long-term and fair funding is needed for the sector.
“Some third sector organisations may be smaller, but they have a big impact and they must be consulted with and represented in the Scottish budget.
“This is especially true where they cater to minority communities and exclusion from the budget may increase inequalities for those communities.”
Mr Choudhury says that the conversation at the table today was positive and collaborative but that the organisations were also “crying out for more support and recognition of their vital work”.
Organisations at the roundtable raised how many smaller organisations were in competition with each other for grants and core funding, so the system should facilitate more collaboration.
Other groups also raised how smaller organisations are missing out on funding because they don’t meet criteria, or don’t have the experience and funds to hire fundraisers to make applications like many bigger organisations do.
Mr Choudhury says he will continue to build on this constructive conversation and represent small third-sector community organisations in the Scottish Parliament, pressing for more funding and consultation wherever possible.
Budgets are about spending priorities, and Labour trails both the SNP and the Conservatives at Holyrood. Elections to the Scottish Parliament will not take place until May 2026.
Of more immediate concern for voluntary sector organisations is the current budget process. The city council (a Labour-led coalition with Lib-Dems and Conservatives) is looking at further cuts as it sets it’s budget for 2024 – 25.
Councils blame the Scottish Government for funding cuts while Holyrood in turn blames the UK Government at Westminster. It’s a blame game that’s gone on for as long as I can remember, and while the politicians bicker, the poorest communities – and the charities and voluntary sector projects that support them – bear the brunt and feel the pain of service cuts.
That’s got to change – but sadly change, if it comes, will come too late for many – Ed.
Available to take part in online, the consultation findings will be used to finalise the policy before it is presented to Councillors in the Spring.
If adopted, the Climate Ready Edinburgh Plan is expected to become one of the city – and country’s — leading climate action plans, bolstered by ambitious work that is already underway in Edinburgh to tackle carbon emissions and head towards net zero by 2030.
It comes after Councillors considered the second annual 2030 Climate Strategy and city-wide carbon emissions report, which measures progress against agreed actions to reduce emissions and help the city achieve its net zero target by 2030.
Much climate adaptation work is already underway in Edinburgh, which this draft plan aims to build on. Its primary aim will be to guide changes to the city to safeguard people and wildlife from the risks posed by climate change.
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “Climate change will affect everyone in Edinburgh, there is no question of that. Some residents and communities will be more vulnerable than others to these changes and it is our duty to defend them from risks such as the sea level rising and threats to biodiversity.
“We know tackling climate change and poverty go hand in hand and this Plan aims to ensure we are adapting in ways that benefit all citizens and communities equally.
“It is bold and ambitious in its approach and aims, but much like our net zero goals for Edinburgh, this is absolutely essential if we are to properly confront the climate emergency. It is undoubtedly the key existential challenge of our times.
“I’m very keen that we engage with communities, ensuring we are inclusive in our decision making and all voices are represented. Listening to our communities will be a key focus as we adapt to climate change.
“What’s clear, however, is that we can’t do this alone. As a Council, we can shape and influence change through our policies and plans, but this needs to be a team effort, a pulling together of resources and plans across the public, private and voluntary sectors. That’s why I’m so grateful to the Edinburgh Adapts Group for jointly developing this plan with us. It has involved climate experts and industry from all of the city joining forces.”
Gordon Reid, Scottish Water General Manager for Zero Emissions and Chair of the Edinburgh Adapts Partnership Group, said: “We are already seeing the impact of climate change in Edinburgh, so its great to see this consultation start on how we adapt Edinburgh to climate change.
“It will affect us all and we will have to act. In my own organisation, we are already investing in Edinburgh to deliver climate change adaptation and are working closely with the council on this. However, we need united action and funding from many partners.”
The draft plan priority themes are in the following eight areas:
Planning and the built environment: actions that will help to mitigate the effects of climate change by making our buildings and infrastructure more resilient.
Water management and resilience: actions to tackle flooding and associated impacts from severe weather events.
Coastal adaptation: actions to manage sea level rises and the impact to our coastline and surrounding communities.
Sustainable transport: actions to support a well-connected city.
Safeguarding and enhancing our natural environment: actions that will support our natural environment and biodiversity.
Strong, healthy community and economy: actions to support our communities, addressing climate justice, to create a thriving city.
Building understanding of climate risk: actions to continue to ensure our understanding of how the climate is changing and the impacts of this to the city are based on the latest climate science.
Governance and risk: actions to drive delivery and partnership working.
