West and South West Edinburgh Area Board

South West Neighbourhood Partnership Transport Forum

Friday 30 January 2009 Chesser House Level 4 Conference Room

In Attendance Keith Bell (Chair) Sighthill, Broomhouse and Parkhead Community Council Cllr Donald Wilson CEC Cllr Jim Lowrie CEC Louisa Jeffrey Stenhouse Community Council Hellen McDonaugh Longstone Community Council Alex Paton Longstone Community Council AD Mitchell Hutchison/Chesser Community Council Harry Sutherland Hutchison/Chesser Community Council John Moore Lothian community Transport Services Lynda Haughney City Development, Public Transport Unit Max Thomson City Development, Public Transport Unit Gordon Drysdale SfC, Environment Diana Potter (minutes) SfC, South West Neighbourhood Office

Apologies Cllr Coleman CEC Cllr Gordon Buchan CEC Cllr Andrew Burns CEC John Bird Lothian Buses Ann Royden Merchiston Community Council Rena Linton Dumbryden Neighbourhood Council Jim Hall

1. Welcome 2. Apologies

Chair Keith Bell opened the meeting and read the apologies as above.

3. Minute of Previous Meeting/ Matters Arising

Minutes The minutes were accepted with two minor amendments: 1. Item 8 referred to Rina Limont; this should be Rena Linton. 2. Item 8 referred to pavement gritting in Parkhead; this should read Saughton Mains.

Matters Arising Bus boxes outside the Corn Exchange: Keith Bell asked a related question on the process of replacing road markings. Gordon Drysdale advised that road markings are replaced on an “as needed” basis, identified by regular inspections, to allow for variation of wear. Markings are replaced with reference to a map of the intended markings.

Winter maintenance: Gordon Drysdale advised that Alan Simpson will attend the next meeting and give a presentation on winter maintenance, including gritting of roads and pavements. Members are asked to bring along a written note of All any key areas for discussion to assist Alan and his team.

Notifying Community Councils, etc of local roadworks: Gordon Drysdale advised that Community Councils will be informed of roadworks in their area by his team.

Coaches on the Western Approach road: Gordon Drysdale spoke with Gavin Brown, Parking Operations Manager. Patrols have been asked to monitor the area.

Joint meeting with West Neighbourhood Partnership re the Gyle bus interchange and taxi rank: a letter has been sent to the West NP convener requesting a joint meeting, to be coordinated by the relevant Partnership Development Officers. DP/Jim Conner

4. Introduction – Max Thomson, Public Transport & Accessibility Manager

Max Thomson introduced himself and gave some information about the future development of his section. His remit includes public transport and accessible transport. The section is undergoing recruitment - Lynda Haughney is currently seconded until the end of March. Members of the Forum were invited to continue bringing any transport-related issues to Max or Linda.

John Moore questioned whether there any plans in place to start charging for blue badges. Max Thomson advised that while the Budget has not yet been set, there are no plans to his knowledge.

Alex Paton asked about events planning with Lothian Buses, citing travel difficulties during the Twilight Procession and Hogmanay. No bus stops were provided on Queen St and no information on rerouted buses was made available to the public. Police on duty had not been briefed and bus inspectors were not sufficiently visible.

Max Thomson advised he would take this feedback to the events planning team and investigate the decision not to provide stops in Queen St during Hogmanay. Donald Wilson remarked that Councillors are given comprehensive information by email and that it should be possible to disseminate this more widely. Keith Bell asked if the BusTracker screens could be used. Max Thomson advised that they are but are limited in the amount of information that can be effectively posted. Alex Paton pointed out that bus drivers use their intercoms to keep passengers advised of changes and that the buses have “Diverted Route” signs on their fronts. It was agreed that a variety of communication channels need to be utilised to inform the public.

5. Closure of the Guided Busway

The guided busway was taken out of commission earlier this month. The infrastructure now passes to TIE as part of the tram works. A number of TROs have been proposed to give buses priority along Broomhouse Drive.

Keith Bell queried when the plans for the guided busway were finalised, noting that he wrote to TIE in March 08 asking for proposals and none were available at this time. The TROs for the busway then went to TIE in November 08, at which time Keith raised a motion asking that these be remitted to the Transport Forum for consideration. The motion was defeated on the grounds of time pressure. Keith expressed his disappointment that the local community were not sufficiently engaged in the process.

He further noted that some work has already begun in the area. Max Tomson advised that this work does not require a TRO to go ahead, and that none of the work being conducted would provide a reason for Councillors to approve or reject the proposed TROs.

It was agreed to invite the Communications officer for trams, Amanda Marshall, to a future meeting, and to have a trams DP update as a regular agenda item.

6. Consultation: Number 20 Bus

Lynda Haughney advised that the Council is currently investigating options to replace the services cut in November and January. A number of route options are being examined, which will go to tender and be evaluated on price and social value before a final decision is made. It is hoped that any new service would be operational in July.

Three routes are being considered, and details of these are appended to the minutes.

The group advised that frequency was less important than coverage. Keith Bell suggested that Option 2 be amended to include the ASDA store, providing access to a supermarket.

In a related discussion, Keith Bell asked if Max Thomson could provide information on the dividend paid to the Council by Lothian Buses and how this money is used. He noted that community councillors have an opportunity to debunk myths about Lothian Buses and especially supported routes, and additional information would help them to do this. Max Thomson advised that approximately 50% of the income stream generated by Lothian Buses goes to supported services. Other uses of the income stream include bus shelters not paid for by AdShel. Max Thomson will investigate what MT figures can be made available.

Keith Bell asked how the social value of the supported routes will be measured. Lynda Haughney advised that the criteria LH and factors would be publicised.

Alex Paton requested that all Councillors for the South West give their support to the proposals.

The group welcomed the consultation and expressed their appreciation that consultation was more open and inclusive. Lynda Haughney was thanked for her hard work.

7. Nomination & Election of Chairperson

Max Thomson counted the votes. The vote was returned as:

Keith Bell: 4 votes Cllr Andrew Burns: 6 votes

Cllr Burns will chair from the next meeting.

The group thanked Keith Bell for his hard work as Chair.

8. Local Community Issues

Harry Sutherland raised the issue of wear on the dragons’ teeth on Hutchison Crossway. Gordon Drysdale will GD investigate.

Donald Wilson raised an issue regarding blue badges, where a constituent was ticketed twice after being parked outside the box in a residents’ permit zone, despite having a blue badge as well. It was agreed that Max Thomson would contact Gavin Brown to clarify the guidance given to parking officers on blue badges. Jim Lowrie asked a question about revised parking in Coates Gardens, where residents’ bays have replaced single white lines and there are no pay and display bays in easy reach. This affects his constituent, who is unable to park outside his business. It was agreed that the best solution was to confirm whether the constituent was eligible for a residents’ permit.

Keith Bell asked about refuse bins being replaced carelessly by bin staff and blocking the footpath. Gordon Drysdale will GD investigate.

Harry Sutherland asked about the possibility of installing bins for dog dirt at Hutchison Crossway. Walkers use the communal bin which gets extremely smelly. There may be scope to use the Community Grants Fund to assist and Diana Potter will DP/SF liaise with Environment Manager Stewart Farquhar.

8. AOCB

Alex Paton noted that Lothian Buses have updated the timetable board at the stop outside the old B&Q. In a related discussion, it was noted that a proposed change of use from non-food retailer to food retailer has been put in for the old B&Q. Diana Potter to write a submission of support on the Transport Forum’s behalf, welcoming the proposed change of use, asking that transport to and from the site be considered, and inviting a planning officer to discuss the proposal with the DP group.

Hellen McDonaugh noted that the Pentlands Neighbourhood Partnership have established a Transport and Environment subgroup. Diana Potter advised that this group is still very new. As Diana facilitates both groups, any crossover should be easy to manage. Minutes can be circulated between the two groups. The Transport Forum will continue to monitor any issues arising in the Clovenstone area.

Lynda Haughney advised the group of a proposed cycle link at Hutchison Crossway. Information on the proposal is appended to the minutes.

Hellen McDonaugh raised a query about taxi cards and national travel concession passes. Max Thomson confirmed that any taxi card holder would be eligible for a national concession pass.

Keith Bell asked a related question about taxi card fraud, and the monitoring of the allotted 104 free journeys. Max Thomson advised that his unit includes a fraud officer, who would be pleased to investigate any issues raised. Keith Bell suggested a two-part taxi card, with the second part consisting of a printed card with a box for each journey that the taxi driver can stamp/cross off as the journeys are used. Lynda Haughney advised that Gillian Anderson, an officer in the Public Transport & Accessibility unit, maintains a database of journeys taken. While taxi card fraud is not a big problem, any identified journeys over the limit are deducted from the following year’s allowance. Max Thomson added that he has seen a reduction in the use of taxi cards, possibly due to increased use of the national concession pass. DP/GD Donald Wilson suggested that maps, etc should be provided as a resource at each meeting and this was agreed.

9. DOMN

Friday 3 April 2009 Friday 19 June 2009