Executive Summary

As noted below, the New Town and Broughton Community Council (NTBCC) considers the consultation to be deeply flawed. The inclusion of questions about measures not yet implemented is highly questionable. Until there has been an opportunity to evaluate the success or otherwise of any particular measures, it is impossible to make any valid judgment on whether they should be retained or removed. Many of the questions group cycling and walking together but the needs of these two groups are quite different making it impossible to properly judge the merits of specific measures for each of these groups. The survey is designed to encourage simple yes/no answers to questions about whether measures should be retained and does too little to obtain any insight into the consequences both favourable and otherwise from the implementation of the measures. The Commonplace Mapping tool would have been a far more effective means of obtaining genuine and considered feedback on the various measures that have been introduced. This lack of qualitative feedback will hamper any decision making by Council officials and Councillors. Edinburgh Council and its citizens deserve better than this hastily prepared and poorly designed survey.

With regard to the specific schemes already implemented in our area:

• We are in favour of continuing with the changes to The Mound and Princes Street East with some provisos.
• We are opposed to the measures on Waverley Bridge and London Road being retained and indeed believe that they should removed before the end of the current TTRO’s.
• We do not agree that any of the measures yet to be introduced in our area including those to Broughton Street, Broughton Roundabout, Bellevue, Rodney Street or Canonmills should be considered for retention until there has been an opportunity to better assess their effectiveness.
• We are also very concerned about the impact on traffic in our area of the planned changes to South Bridge and would urge that implementation is delayed until the consequences of the planned restrictions to vehicular traffic can be better understood. 

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