BROUGHTON 2001 BY-ELECTION - Questions by Pilrig Residents Association

 

Replies by GEORGE REISS, Scottish Liberal Democrats (8 October 2001)

 

PILRIG PARK AND PLAYGROUNDS

If elected, how would you deploy Council resources to improve park and playground/s - and use of both - substantially? What other resources would you be able to find?

Living next door to the park I am often in there with my children and feel strongly that it could be so much better. The residents’ concept of a Robert Louis Stevenson play area for older children is excellent; and I would work with them to push this forward. The residents should be consulted about changes as they are best placed to know what is needed.

I would ask the Environmental Wardens to target the park to reduce dog mess by cracking down on offenders …. Ditto the police in terms of vandalism to trees, benches and play facilities which has gone on far too long.

It may well be the case that the Community Council or the Resident’s Group could get resources the Council is barred from. As a Community Councillor I am currently working with residents at Hopetoun Crescent to get improvements there and we hope to get money from developers as well as the City Council.

SHRUB PLACE

Do you think the present proposals for the redevelopment of the site are adequate? If elected, how would you deploy Council resources to ensure the best possible solution is found?

No, they’re very inadequate, which is a shame as the would-be developers seem to have virtually ignored the residents’ views despite the long consultation process.

The Wimpey plans are bad for the colonies, miss an opportunity to do something good on Leith Walk, and are based on putting in to many houses. Lothian Buses need to bring down the price of the land to a more realistic level.
Back in May I wrote in the Broughton Focus that "Pilrig needs a plan" - particularly now in the light of news that Shrubhill House is coming onto the market eventually. From 1996 onwards I helped get a plan for the Hopetoun area across the railway. This helped rein in the developers and landowners and made the community’s voice heard. A similar project with an independent architect should involve local people and could make use of the consultation data which has been collected so far for the Shrub Place site.

ROSEBANK WORKS/BROWN BROTHERS

Do you think the proposed re-development is suitable for the site? How would you ensure the proposed development adds maximum value to Pilrig?

I opposed this application, and helped coordinate resistance to it. Something similar in scale to the Blandfield site across the railway would have been very acceptable, but this application is too high, too large and should never have gone through.

I suspect there is little we can do as the application has gone through – but would of course be open to suggestions.

PILRIG STREET TRAFFIC

Do you support reduction and slowing of car traffic through Pilrig Street? If elected, what measures would you support and actively promote?

Yes! Barratts must put in their proposed pedestrian crossings on time – and not be allowed to delay as they have elsewhere.

When I lived in McDonald Road I worked hard to get good traffic calming into the plans – not the Annnandale Street kind which I see as something of a botched job.

Across the City I would promote Public Transport, Cycling and Walking as an alternative to cars. I also find it hard to believe that the Powderhall Railway could not be profitably redeveloped as part of a wider rail scheme. Although I am aware this has been turned down previously I would look into it again and review the research that was done with the hope of reviving it.

URBAN DESIGN

Do you think bland design can ever be justified? If elected, how would you ensure that future new buildings in Pilrig and its periphery add value in urban design terms?

Very Hard! My experience of reviewing many applications tells me that big developers tend to like bland safe developments that are guaranteed to sell.

City Planning Policy should do more to promote excellence and not just be about trying to weed out dross. In Hopetoun we tried to promote better energy efficiency standards and the developers simply turned round and said that they were meeting UK standards and that was as far as they would go.

What one can do is to insist that new developments provide new amenities. For this the community needs to be proactive with a consensus as to what is needed. This is what has been lost from the Hopetoun developments. In the early years under Cllr Macgregor we had a proactive team and we got amenities; Cllr Lazarowicz let it become merely reactive and the energy and drive has been lost and the team has almost disappeared.

MOST PRESSING ISSUE FOR PILRIG

What do you think is the most pressing issue facing Pilrig and how would you solve it if your are elected; how would you tackle it, if you are not elected?

New Developments are the biggest issue. They affect people’s lives for years to come and once they are built there is so little you can do. Beforehand you can get big changes by working with local groups to get a plan as I’ve outlined above.

If I’m not elected? I expect to carry on campaigning through the Community Council as I have for the last seven years.

PUBLIC SERVICES

Do you subscribe -without qualification - to the following principles? If not, why not?

Yes. I think these are things that the Lib Dems are widely seen as standing for. Inevitably one can think of sitiuations where things will not work out as well you’d like in a perfect world – but at least you can aim high. In the long run good quality pays for itself.

 

Biography

George