Lib Dems save Leith & Broughton's 13 bus route

Cllr Caldwell was shocked to learn last Friday that there are plans tabled to cut the Leith and Lochend leg of the Number 13 Council-supported bus service.

Liberal Democrat colleagues jointly wrote to the Committee ahead of tomorrow's meeting to scrap the idea.

Dear committee,

In report 8.6, both Supported Service Options 1 and 2 cut the entire eastern leg from Edinburgh Service 13, currently tendered to Edinburgh Coach Lines. The impact on the communities we represent will be large and detrimental to our city’s mobility and our residents’ confidence in our public transport. We believe it would not be within the city’s best interest to cut the 13 from communities that rely on it and have surmised our concerns into the following five key points.

1) Connecting communities

Connecting our non city-centre communities through sustainable and just public transport is a core tenant all five Groups have signed up to, and the City Mobility Plan further emphasises the need to connect our communities “If we are to encourage people to travel more sustainably and contribute to reducing carbon emissions and congestion, public transport needs to be fast, affordable, reliable and convenient”. This same Public Transport Action Plan even identifies this route as a “High Concentration of People With Low Levels of Access to Public Transport”. This proposal will ultimately contradict these tenants of the City Mobility Plan.

While it may be expedient for us to highlight the connections between Restalrig, Lochend, Leith, Broughton, Stockbridge, Ravelston Dykes and Craigleith and speculate how our residents move about, the point is that it is their choice. Our residents in areas that commercial bus services won’t serve must have the freedom to move from east to west and vice versa.

2) Lack of notice

An alarming aspect of this report that we would like on the record is that there was no notice of this decision coming. This is in contrast to previous tenders which were based on dialogue, including the last contract in 2020.

3) Lack of Integrated Impact Assessment

We believe this is a social-justice issue as well as a transport issue. The current 13 route serves two SIMD areas which are in the top 10% most deprived in Scotland and has poor alternative public transport options. Removing a supported bus service from those two areas is not justifiable.

4) Robbing Peter to pay Paul

While we are fully supportive of a supported bus service in Dumbiedykes, as demonstrated by our respective voting records on it, it is a fundamental truth that this proposal would actively remove provision from one community to serve another. It is particularly unjust for that choice to be made while one community is currently receiving said support.

5) Impacts on individual areas

Craigleith Retail Park could become significantly harder to access for many residents on the eastern half of the route (Restalrig, Lochend, Leith, Broughton, Stockbridge). This is significant due to the Council’s commitment to reduce the need for cars to reach retail parks outwith the city centre. It should also be noted that the current route currently goes through the most densely populated area of Scotland, the between Leith Walk and Easter Road. By removing this leg, and Princes Street, over 20,000 people in Broughton and Leith Walk and thousands along Ravelston and Craigleith could also

have much reduced public transport options to and from the city centre. Craigleith particularly already lost the 41 earlier this year. This has a material adverse affect on residents with mobility issues who benefit most of all from direct buses that don’t require interchanges.

Signed

•   Cllr Jack Caldwell Leith Walk ward, Edinburgh Liberal Democrat Group

•   Cllr Hal Osler Inverleith ward, Edinburgh Liberal Democrat Group

•   Cllrs Alan Beal, Fiona Bennett & Euan Davidson, Corstorphine/Murrayfield ward, Edinburgh Liberal Democrat Group

At the meeting, Cllr Caldwell joined Lib Dem, Labour and Conservative colleagues both in Leith Walk ward and neighbouring wards to vocally oppose the change.

The Liberal Democrats on the committee were the only party to table an option to outright retain the route without tendering any competetive routes;

The Liberal Democrat addendum in full read;

Adds:

1.2 Committee agrees to the proposed routes, except for the 13 (as proposed in paragraph 4.4.3) and instead agrees that the existing 13 route should form part of the tender package.

1.3 Committee agrees that officers should, as part of the budget setting process, provide political groups with the necessary financial information that would allow the Council to consider funding an additional service to/from Dumbiedykes.

1.4 Committee agrees that, once tenders are appointed and bus services are operational, officers should return to an appropriate committee in 2024 with a ‘lessons learned’ report, which sets out an improved process for agreeing supported bus routes in future.

Committee members of all parties backed these proposals.

The 13 route will now go out to tender along the current route.