Hansard

First, I refute utterly the suggestion that the council has been irresponsible. Ensuring the safety of pupils in the wider local community is of paramount importance to everyone who is involved in the project, and the allegation that councillors either failed or refused to consider traffic and road safety issues is simply incorrect.Ian Ross asked for clarification of roles and responsibilities, so I will try to provide that. My role and the role of the children and families department as the sponsor is to ensure that the new school that is delivered is the best that it can possibly be, and to ensure that it accommodates all the necessary statutory and planning requirements, including on road safety.For that purpose we employ a professional design team, which is led in this case by JM Architects, and AECOM acted as our professional design team on traffic matters. The planning authority is entirely separate from the children and families department, and is independent in that regard, as is the transportation department.The design team takes its guidance from the transportation department to determine the scope of what is required—I will come to that in more detail—in properly considering road safety and traffic matters. The design team then undertakes an assessment and submits it as part of the planning application, and it is considered as part of the planning process, not just by the planning authority but by the transportation department, which is entirely separate. There are no Chinese walls: we are entirely different departments that fulfil entirely different roles. Transport Scotland is involved separately as a consultee on any proposals with regard to the impact or otherwise on the trunk road network or adjacent receptors.As with any new planning proposal, a transport assessment was submitted as part of the application for planning permission for the new school building on Portobello park, both in the first instance and in the recent resubmission. We brought in a professional traffic consultant, AECOM, and its engineers carried out that work for us.In addition to carrying out audits of existing transport levels at the existing school site and at Portobello park, the AECOM engineers reviewed existing travel patterns for pupils and staff and how those could change if the location of the school was changed.AECOM’s mitigation proposals include plans for a 20mph zone outside the school at appropriate times; a new pedestrian crossing on Milton Road; and improved access to the sites and pathways within the eastern boundary adjacent to Hope Lane and in the park area itself to draw pedestrian flow away from any pavements adjacent to roads such as Hope Lane and Milton Road. There are also provisions for a new cycle path.Those elements have all been incorporated into our final plans. I should have added at the start that I assume that the objectors will correct the error in their submission if it is going to be taken as evidence. The entrance to the school has never been where it is suggested to be on their map.The transport assessment was then prepared in accordance with Transport Scotland’s guidance on transport assessment implementation, which is the fundamental guidance document that is associated with transport assessments. Transport Scotland was consulted as part of the planning process and on the objectors’ comments about the wider road network. The response that was submitted on Transport Scotland’s behalf by JMP Consultants stated that“they accepted that there would be no significant traffic or environmental impacts on the trunk road network or its adjacent receptors.”They also confirmed that they did not require any further information in relation to that issue. We would be happy to furnish the committee with the link to that document should it wish us to do so.We note the independent road safety assessment that some of the objectors have apparently commissioned. I can confirm that the majority of issues that were raised in the assessment were identified and considered by the traffic consultant, AECOM, and the mitigation measures that AECOM proposed were independently assessed by the council’s transportation department and approved as part of the planning consent.The objectors did not offer any equivalent independent assessment during the planning process, which would have been the appropriate forum for that. They certainly had the opportunity to do so, and indeed several of the objectors in groups 2 and 4 submitted objections that refer to traffic and road safety issues.As matters stand, we had no notice of the existence of that report, having first received it on Friday. We note that the report’s author has not made himself available for cross-examination as we believe would be usual with expert witness evidence in such a situation.In any event, the council disagrees with the opinion of the assessment’s author that a road safety audit should have been undertaken by this stage of the project. 11:15 The suitability of the road network to support the new school was reviewed by AECOM as part of the transport assessment, which includes an operational assessment of the network, prepared on an industry-standard basis. The transport assessment met all relevant statutory requirements for a development of this nature. The underlying approach to the transport assessment was in line with statutory guidance and industry practice and was agreed by the council’s transportation department. The final version of the assessment was then submitted as part of the planning application and was reviewed and approved by the council’s development management sub-committee. There are therefore no significant or fundamental reasons to suggest that the current outline design for the project would not be appropriate or deliverable.On the specific matter of a road safety audit, as we said in our written submission—before we were made aware of the existence of this new report—we accept that if the bill is enacted and the project proceeds, a road safety audit will need to be undertaken as part of the design development and before the construction phase. However, it would be premature to carry out an audit at this stage. The correct time to carry out an audit is after the main contractor has been appointed. The contractor will be responsible for progressing the design and the development and construction stages of the project, including changes to the local transport infrastructure. However, based on the transport assessment, it is unlikely that significant changes will be required to transport infrastructure as a result of the council’s proposals.For that reason, and in line with standard industry practice, if the bill is enacted and the project proceeds, a combined stage 1 and 2 road safety audit will be carried out as part of the main contractor’s design process. The audit process will be led by a suitably qualified road safety auditor. The purpose of road safety audits is to ensure that operational road safety experience is applied during the design process and implemented in the construction process in order to ensure that the number and severity of accidents is kept to a minimum both during the construction phase and once the development is operational.Portobello is no different from many other schools in the city. Many are on or close to busy roads. It is inevitable in a city such as Edinburgh that that is the outcome. Given the mitigation measures that have been approved and will be put in place, we do not believe that there will be a high risk of accidents on Milton Road. It should be noted that pupils who live to the south of Milton Road already have to cross it at peak times to reach either the park or the existing school site. The proposed measures, such as the reduced speed limit and new crossing, will therefore make Milton Road safer for those pupils who currently need to cross it at peak times. The crossing will also mitigate risks that might otherwise have risen at other times of the day.In relation to concerns about pupils being dropped off, council policy is not to have formal drop-off areas, drop-off in the vicinity and increased traffic resulting from that. Portobello high school strongly encourages sustainable travel patterns and an estimated 80 per cent of its pupils walk to school every day. The school’s eco-schools project encourages those who do require transport to use sustainable transport and the school has seen a reduction in the number of pupils travelling by car, which it continues to encourage. The school’s most recent travel survey showed that only 9 per cent of surveyed pupils were dropped off by their parents. I am not sure of the relevance of the Scottish statistical average of 21 per cent in the context of a specific school such as Portobello. I would presume, although I have not seen the data, that the Scottish average would include a significant number of rural areas, where you would expect drop-off to be significantly higher. Drop-off occurs at varying times and locations, not simply directly outside the school or in the streets closest to the school. It is also important to recognise that the park is close to the existing school site and it is likely that Milton Road is already used for the school run by some existing parents and staff. Some changes in traffic patterns can nevertheless be expected, but those were fully taken into account in the transport assessment that was produced by AECOM and the accompanying mitigating measures, which have been approved as part of the planning process.During both planning processes, we met local residents to discuss traffic issues. We found that a very useful experience, and any issues that local residents raised were thoroughly considered by our traffic consultants. Feedback on that was provided in the pre-planning consultation report and as part of the planning process. At the most recent residents workshop, there was a suggestion that a crossing would be required at Hope Lane, but when that was discussed with the council’s transportation department, it advised that the impact on the area was such that it considered that an additional crossing would not be required.Again, it would be helpful to get feedback from the objectors about what, if any, alternative or additional measures they believe would address their concerns about traffic and road safety.I will stop at that.