Category: News

Not content with allowing the otherwise attractive cobbled sets forming the crossings on Dunbar’s Historic High Street to fall into disrepair, East Lothian Council have finally decided to remove them. The reasoning is a bit opaque. No doubt pedestrians were asked about this in an unrepresentative vox pop survey of resident’s views – would you like the cobbles removed? Option 1: YES Option 2: YES. Or – perhaps it was the quiet lobbying by the local Police, Taxi companies and other clubs who, tacitly supported by the Roads are for Cars Department, and hated the very idea of granite sets all along?

Just recently, the Roads Department of ELC felt it important that residents of Parsons Pool be consulted on a minor road improvement scheme. I say minor, it was pretty important to the residents, who rolled up their sleeves and got very much involved in redesigning their own street. Top marks to the council and to the residents for bothering. The roads were seemingly in a poor state of repair, and the greens looked like they needed beating up / replanting – along with some of the front gardens!

Continue reading Dunbar High Street Crossings – another win win for drivers

Here is a copy of the unedited letter sent to the East Lothian Courier, a testy but otherwise balanced protest against the increasing inconvenience of so-called convenience stores. Just in case you missed it, here is what was hastily sent. Little wonder that our High Streets have a poor reputation.

I am a long-standing supporter of the Co-op and the Co-op movement. Business generally has a lot to learn from the original 19th century co-op model, which has been a continuous source of innovations to this day.
Continue reading An Inconvenient Store

There is a view that folk that live in rural towns or perhaps by the sea, don’t need trees lining their streets. For these folk probably have large gardens or can within short walking distances – or more likely these days a car journey – take a stroll in real countryside. People that live in cities often have better and more accessible amenities and parkland to enjoy. But that misses the point, as urban trees, greens and parkland are not a substitute for countryside amenities. Cities very often have well-managed and long established street planting schemes along main streets and side streets, within low or high rise residential areas, and including pocket parks. New plantings are increasingly commonplace. A new report out ‘Trees in the townscape‘ renews the case for urban trees, and while it is not the most inspiring read it inspired me to write this. Continue reading Trees are not just for city folk