Update on Antisocial Car Driving in South Queensferry
I’ve been working with the community to address the problem of antisocial car racing in the Ferry which is blighting the lives of residents and harming local business, I wanted to update you on a couple of developments:
Working with Police Scotland
I met with Chief Superintendent David Robertson, who is the divisional commander for the whole of Edinburgh. He advised that following the crackdown of increased police activity in late summer (after our public meeting), from a point where they were getting dozens of calls each night this has dropped off to 5 calls in the past 4 weeks.
He emphasized that their understanding of the problem relies on calls from the public so if you are being disturbed by anti-social car use of any kind, please do call it in on 101.
I asked that the multiagency response to the car problem in the ferry, be officially brought under the co-ordination of Police Scotland, under the guise of a named operation. The focus and multiagency co-ordination brought by Operation Soteria 7 years ago all but ended illegal motorbike racing in the Northwest of the city. Chief Superintendent Robertson has agreed to take this on.
Meeting with the First Minister
I then met with First Minister John Swinney following my question to him in Parliament last month. We explored a number of areas including the possibility of allowing councils the power to install speed cameras independently- in known hotspot areas. DVLA requirements would still require these cameras to be operated by Police Scotland, but there doesn’t seem to be legal impediment to that. His officials are looking into this further.
Following my question to him, John Swinney agreed at our meeting to establish a National Task Force on antisocial car racing to be headed up by community safety minister– Siobhan Brown MSP, representatives from all parties (including myself), Police Scotland and a range of other stakeholders.
Next public meeting in the Ferry
As agreed at the last public meeting, we will have a follow up event on the 18th of December in Roseberry Hall- 17 West Terrace SQ. between 7pm and 9pm
Debate in Parliament
On Tuesday I led a debate in the Scottish Parliament focused on the problems in South Queensferry, but which other MSPs used to explore the wider issues of anti-social driving. You can watch the full debate by clicking here.