Its aboot time

Illegal parking is rife - that is a problem
Illegal parking is rife – that is a problem

It did not take Police Scotland long to review traffic warden services, and the plan, entirely expected, is to remove them as a police responsibility, with in all likelihood the local authority taking on the role. If you were paying attention you may have noticed that parking offences were decriminalised in 1997 only 6 years after the Road Traffic Act 1991. This simplification means that the police are no longer required to enforce parking legislation and local councils can either directly or indirectly carry out the enforcement. This move has to be welcomed as it allows the police to focus resources on priority issues, like catching real criminals. That said certain traffic and parking offences are deemed criminal, but I am not sure what dangerous parking actually is. I am sure our local police officers will be telling us pretty soon.

Continue reading Its aboot time

Destination Dunbar

Have we been missing a trick?

My presentation notes.

The fortunes of High streets have always waxed and waned, but the most recent decline of high streets seems inexorable and attempts to reverse it labelled by some as “mission impossible”. But the decline started long before the rise of the internet and comparison shopping, or out of town shopping became a popular pass time, but I am not here to give you a history lesson, except to say that the reasons for the decline are complex and not simple. They are rooted as much in changing attitudes and behaviours – the way we shop, work, play and holiday, as in changes in the economy, and for the that read also changes in technology, in the widest sense.

Continue reading Destination Dunbar

RESIDENTIAL PARKING FOR ABBEYLANDS: KEEP THE CUL DE SAC QUIET & SAFE

test-cardPetition to formalise residential parking and establish an attractive street scheme in the Abbeylands cul de sac.  Say no to a public parking lot. We’ve moved the petition to Change.org. If you only signed a paper version, it won’t harm if you sign online again.

Only complete this form if you have a High Street address, or expect that new restrictions will have an impact on you (e.g. you live on Church Street or Woodbush.) If you’re sympathetic to the cause give it a thumbs up! The original petition was the following:

We residents of South High Street and Abbeylands, Dunbar request that the long term car parking be retained in the cul de sac and formalised as resident only parking. We also request that a scheme is designed to improve the safety of the junction, the attractiveness street scene and enhance the feeling of quiet and safety.

The new petition (since ELC is seeking planning permission to develop a car park on the neighbouring site):

Abbeylands is a quiet cul de sac off the High Street and within the Dunbar Conservation Area. Plans to create social housing that could have benefited the old or the infirm have now been shelved. The residents of South High Street and Abbeylands, Dunbar request that only the long term car parking be retained in the cul de sac and formalised as resident-only parking. We also request that a scheme is designed to improve the safety of the junction, the attractiveness street scene and enhance the feeling of quiet and safety.

The old yard site should not be developed as a public car park, but it could be a good location for a pocket park. The old Empire cinema site should be developed as a community garden, along the lines of Lady Kitty’s in Haddington.

These sites may lack the emotional appeal of “Coos Green” (North Berwick) also threatened with a car park proposal, but have a fascinating and rich history. Dunbar’s so-called backlands are an important part of the heritage and landscape of Dunbar and should not be developed any further.

If the council create another car park here it will only attract pointless speculative traffic (paradoxically it will be filled by mainly residents and local businesses), create noise for neighbours, reduce safety near the Parish Hall and further reduce the quality of this part of the town.

Please say no.

East Lothian Council: Halt plans to develop a car park on the old yard at Abbeylands, Dunbar

Or pop round to number 29 High Street and sign up the old fashioned way.

[update: 70+ positive responses so far by the old fashioned route, never knew so many lived within just 100 yards!]