Tag: Cllr Chas Booth

Green Councillors demand action on Kinauld Tan Works Footbridge

Edinburgh Green councillors have tabled an emergency motion to Full Council following the sudden closure of the Kinauld Tan Works Footbridge on the Water of Leith.

Earlier this week, local councillors and stakeholders were informed that the bridge would be closed for a “substantial period” until “substantial repairs or bridge replacement is undertaken”. The update was shared by Currie Community Council on their facebook page.

Edinburgh Greens Transport Spokesperson, Cllr Chas Booth, said: “Kinauld Tan Works Footbridge facilitates the only safe and accessible active travel route between Currie and Balerno and is an integral part of Cycle Network 75.

“The signed diversion sends people along an extremely dangerous and congested section of Lanark Road. It’s outrageous that issues with such a vital link haven’t been picked up until this point. I

“’ve tabled an emergency motion to Edinburgh Council to ask for urgent action to repair or replace the bridge, with a temporary structure put in place if required. I’ve also asked to see copies of previous structure inspection reports to find out why this was not picked up earlier.”

Cllr Booth continued: “Following the unexpected closure of St Mark’s Park bridge earlier in the year, this incident raises serious questions about whether this council administration is doing enough to ensure our vital network of pedestrian and cycle bridges is being given the maintenance and inspection is deserves.

“Green councillors will continue to press this administration on this issue.”

The bridge was closed temporarily in June 2026 after a hole appeared in the summer but was deemed safe to reopen last month. The recommendation to close the bridge comes after investigatory works that included roped access to assess the underside of the bridge.

Shocking new analysis reveals the scale of Edinburgh’s Short Term Let legal loopholes

Shocking new analysis carried out by Living Rent and Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council on data obtained by Edinburgh Green Councillor Chas Booth reveals that only three in ten licensed Short Term Lets in the capital have planning permission.

Meanwhile a quarter have withdrawn a planning application and just under a quarter have not even applied for planning consent at all.

The analysis covers secondary lets only – in other words letting an entire property that is not someone’s home, and does not include people letting out a room in their own home. The research was released more than four years after the introduction of Edinburgh’s Short Term Let control area, in September 2022, which declared that a Short Term Let in the city was “a material change of use requiring planning permission”.

The analysis was based on comparing the publicly available register of short term let licences with data on every short term let planning application made in the city since 2018, obtained by Cllr Chas Booth.

This analysis shows that:

1,225 (69.84%) of Edinburgh’s 1,754 licensed Short Term Lets do not have planning permission (secondary letting)

465 (26.51%) licensed Short Term Lets have applied for planning permission and then withdrawn the application before it was determined (secondary letting)

425 (24.23%) licensed Short Term Lets have never applied for planning permission (secondary letting)

Commenting on the analysis, Cllr Chas Booth, who obtained the data, said: “Edinburgh’s short term let control area was meant to ensure every STL in the city had planning permission. Yet four years on from its introduction, it clearly isn’t working. Residents living next to unregulated lets have to put up with the disruption that brings, and every STL is one fewer home in a city with a housing emergency.”

“This analysis shows two things. First, the Council isn’t doing enough to enforce the planning and licensing system, and that must improve. But more importantly, it shows the Scottish Government’s legislation is not fit for purpose. There is a loophole as big as a barn door that hundreds of STL owners are exploiting, and residents are paying the price.

“Ministers need to wake up and smell the coffee and act urgently to close it.”

Booth added: “I’m very grateful to Living Rent and Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council for carrying out this detailed analysis. If community volunteers can establish the scale of the problem, the Scottish Government has no excuse for not acknowledging it and fixing it.”

Jon ‘Geo’ Camp from Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council, who undertook the analysis, said: “Our community council has heard from many residents concerned about short term lets, and this analysis shows why. 

“A significant number of licensed lets have no planning permission, and many of them applied for it and then withdrew before a decision was made. 

“Residents need to know the system that regulates these lets is working properly, and too often they don’t believe that it is. 

“We will keep listening to our community, and keep working with councillors and MSPs to make sure these issues are heard and resolved.”