The pavements in Leith Walk ward are in a disgraceful, dangerous, and dilapidated condition.
Last year, I reported to the Council the badly broken pavings on both sides of East Claremont Street from the junction at West Annandale Street all the way along the street to Broughton Primary School. These are badly broken, full of cracks, and in some places move when a person’s weight is placed upon them.
It should be cause for serious concern that the Council has not attended, over the last twelve months, to filling in the many craters that exist in order to improve pedestrian safety albeit on a temporary basis; especially when it has been recently reported that the Council's budget on pavement replacement works is underspent.
I am at a loss to understand why the pavements in Morningside and Ravelston Dykes are satisfactory and why the condition of the pavings in Leith Walk ward have been so seriously neglected.
A by-election to elect a City councillor will be held in the Leith Walk ward on Thursday 11 April. Voters might do well to ask canvassers exactly what their candidate, if successful, will do to make sure this longstanding, disgraceful, and potentially dangerous situation underfoot is remedied and treated with the seriousness that it deserves.
It is high time that councillors of all political parties investigated the operational failure of the Council's inadequate footpath maintenance programmes and accepted responsibility for the situation prevailing.
The Council has a number of choices to make when determining its budgets each year. I am sure that the current Administration would contend that it commits adequate resources to maintain footpaths and roads throughout the city. If the Council were to say otherwise, it would be admitting a dereliction of duty.
Telling residents that the Council has no money will not wash when it is clear that the Council can find money when it needs to do so; including finding large sums for the tram link extension to Leith and Newhaven.
Surely, the Council should ensure that footpaths and roads are satisfactory before it undertakes large-scale infrastructure projects.
Shane Carter
East Claremont Street