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Glasgow Times
21 hours ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
We have been working hard to become 'Glasgow's Best Takeaway'
Umair Vaseem, owner, says they are 'excited' to be one of the finalists. Umair Vaseem aand dad Mohammed (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) He said: 'We give good service and good food quality so that's the main reason we've been nominated I think. 'It's a family-run business and we've been working hard on it.' The takeaway opened just over a year ago and is Umair's first in East Kilbride having previously owned business in Edinburgh. He said: 'I've been in this trade for 25 years. 'I serve Indian food, pizzas, kebabs and we've got a lot of desserts. 'The Indian kebab is a favourite, and then the specialities and curries.' Speciality dishes include durries such as makhani masala, masaledar and pardesi. (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Umair says their food quality is something that sets them apart from other takeaways in the area. He said: 'We don't compromise on quality. 'We have good quality food and good service.' The 40-year-old says winning Glasgow Times Best Takeaway would be great for the business. He said: 'I'll be happy if we win, it will help with the growth of my business as well. 'I've not been on the street long but people like the food.'
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
What is life like in Scotland's most 'popular affordable town'?
Earlier that afternoon, around two and a half miles away in the Macedonia area, Scott Hume is drinking tea in the sunshine outside of his new, temporary flat. Dandelion clocks the size of baseballs rise up from the unkept garden in front of the brutalist concrete cube of the council property. The retired army veteran, 59, narrowly escaped placement in a homeless hostel by the council. It came down to the wire, but a veteran's charity stepped in at the last minute. They helped him secure the temporary council flat in three hours, he tells me. He moved in last night. The idea that Glenrothes is the 'most popular affordable town for families' is a lie, Hume claims, his tone indignant. 'This is a bad place to try and get accommodation.' Welcome to Glenrothes (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) Scott Hume in his rented accommodation (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) The affordable tag was placed on the town in the heart of Fife by Zoopla in early May. The property website measured affordability by looking at the ratio of average three-bed house prices in locations across the UK, compared with average earnings in the local authority area. The popularity ranking was based on the average number of Zoopla listing views for a typical three-bed home in each area, with the research based on the first quarter of 2025. Glenrothes topped the list (which was dominated by Scotland and Wales) with the average price of a three-bedroom home listed as £136,900 and the house-price-to-earnings ratio at 1.8. Wishaw, in North Lanarkshire, was second in Scotland and fifth on the list with £168,600 for the average three-bed and an earnings ratio of 2.1. Leven, a seaside town in Fife where a three-bed is £164,600 on average, came in at third for Scotland (eighth in Britain) with an earnings ratio of 2.1. 'The willingness of many to consider different regions or compromise on property features further highlights the adaptive strategies families are employing in today's market,' said Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla. READ MORE: Glenrothes 'UK's most popular location for family house-hunters' Glenrothes is within commuting distance of several Scottish cities. It's just over 30 miles to Edinburgh, and a train from nearby Markinch Station will get you into the capital in just under an hour. By car, you can commute to Glasgow in about an hour, Perth in 40 minutes and Dundee, about 35 minutes. Family house hunters and first-time buyers from the city might migrate to a commuter town like this, where they can stretch their deposit further and get more space for a growing brood. 'We came from Kirkcaldy, but we liked this area better than some other areas,' Mounsey says. 'It's quieter and it's very handy to everywhere.' The commute from Glenrothes to Edinburgh Airport, where she works, is only around 40 minutes, she adds. Basically, the same time it took from Kirkcaldy with traffic. Mounsey's fiancé is training to be a police officer. They don't know where he will be stationed yet, but the ease of access to the motorway means they do not have to worry too much about it. 'We would like something bigger, maybe when we do start a family,' she says. 'Maybe just a slightly bigger garden, but we're not fussed about leaving here.' 'In Glenrothes, you get a lot more for your money than in cities,' explains Dylan Kimmet, a local property partner at Purple Bricks. 'You'll get more garden space, a bit more room. I think overall it's quite a nice place to live. It's got a really good community vibe and a lot of people know each other on a community level.' Kayla Mounsey in her Bellway home (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) Bellway advertisements (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) A general view of Glenrothes (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) Glenrothes was Scotland's second new town (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) Glenrothes was designated as one of Scotland's first post-war new towns in 1948, with most of its housing built by the Glenrothes Development Corporation and later managed by Fife Council. From the 1950s through the 1970s, large council estates were built in areas like Auchmuty, Macedonia, Pitteuchar, and Collydean, their curved roads complemented by the clean lines and flat roofs of modernist housing. At the time, renting your house from the council was commonplace. But by the 1980s, the attitude towards council housing shifted. Margaret Thatcher's Right to Buy scheme, founded on the idealisation of home ownership and the ideological idea that it would shrink the need for social housing, forever changed the make-up of towns like Glenrothes. As in many other places, it created a two-tier housing market that separated new homeowners with equity and renters grappling with a dwindling supply of housing options within their means. Now, 10 years on from when the SNP ended the Right to Buy scheme, its legacy still haunts those who were left behind. The affordability touted by Zoopla's figures makes sense on paper, but when I put this to people in Glenrothes, many asked, affordable to whom? Inside his new temporary flat, veteran Scott Hume explains he has been struggling to access accommodation in the town since the breakdown of his relationship during the pandemic. His things are piled around him, brought over from his former flat with the help of the Armed Forces charity SSAFA. Hume retired from the army in 1996 but has kept close links with the Services. Scott Hume has kept close links to the army after retiring (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) A playful grin flashes across his face when his satirical t-shirt is pointed out (it reads, 'Royal Engineer (Rtd) – responsible adult supervision is required at all times.'). He's a proud man, but the distress of coming so close to being placed in a homeless hostel is ever-present behind his eyes when we speak. Last February, Hume fell off a roof. The accident left him with a disability, unable to work and with new accessibility requirements for accommodation. 'Being out of work destroyed me,' he says. But his journey through the housing system started four years prior, this is just the latest knock in his quest to find a home. When Hume first reached out to the council for help with accommodation, he says he was advised to secure a private let and told the waitlist was 'about 16 months'. As part of Fife Council's Covenant Commitment, the local authority allocates a minimum of 40 properties annually to Armed Forces personnel. But this is 'ideally at the point when they leave the forces,' according to Gavin Smith, Fife Council's access service manager. Hume says: 'After 16 months, I inquired about it and [they] said, 'you're not on the list, you've got a roof over your head'. So, I was stuck then,' he says. His private rental was around £500, and Hume enjoyed a good relationship with his landlord. But a few years after he moved in, Hume's landlord broke the news that she had to sell the flat so she could retire. She gave him as much notice as she could, around 15 months. The last time he had to look for a flat, Hume says there were 'hundreds' on the private market. 'Now you're lucky if there's a couple.' And the rents have jumped from £500 per month to between £750 and £850 for a flat the same size. 'That's not affordable,' he adds. Glenrothes is close to Scotland's major cities (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) He and his landlord have been navigating the Scottish Government's eviction process since. Landlords must go to the First-tier Tribunal to legally evict a tenant, and the whole process can take weeks or months. But councils do not treat someone as 'homeless' until they are formally evicted, leaving vulnerable people like Hume in limbo. 'How long is temporary? Not knowing is worse than anything,' he says. He claims the temporary council flat is costing £623 a fortnight, £1246 per month. "The council's rent policy is reviewed annually, but the costs of temporary accommodation are higher than standard council rents,' says Smith. 'Where households have no choice but to enter temporary accommodation, we'll make arrangements with them to pay what they can afford based on an income and expenditure calculation. We always try to ensure that people aren't negatively financially impacted because of homelessness and charges.' Hume's landlord, who didn't want to be named, says the decision to sell up was not one taken lightly. The stress of making someone homeless is clearly eating her up. 'It's not as stressful as the risk of being homeless, obviously,' she says firmly. I ask her what she thinks has been the biggest contributor to the housing crisis. 'Right to Buy,' she replies quickly, acknowledging that is how she came to own two properties in the area. 'If you look online at what's to rent in Glenrothes for the price, they're like pigsties,' she says. 'It may be, in comparison to the rest of Scotland, a relatively so-called 'cheap place to live', but I would say rents are quite high for the standard of the properties.' 'Glenrothes is by no means a mecca for getting a house,' she adds. Glenrothes (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) Kayla Mounsey with her dog (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) 'When the Right to Buy came on the scene, it allowed people who had council homes to buy them at a heavily discounted rate,' explains Dr Kim McKee, a professor of housing and social policy at the University of Stirling. 'But the issue was that we never really replaced these homes. We lost tens of thousands of homes in the social rented sector in Scotland, but we've not replaced them.' Mortgages became more affordable during that period, and home ownership boomed. But in the last 20 years, Dr McKee says, the private rented sector has grown exponentially. 'If you look back 20 years ago, the private rented sector was mostly for students, and perhaps migrants and professionals who had to move around for their jobs. But that's not the case now. 'It's now housing a really wide cross section of society, with one in seven households in the private rented sector, and that's one of the real difficulties. The affordability of rent is very different between social and private, but you also have different housing rights in terms of security of tenure as well. It's very difficult for people.' The three leading contributors to the current housing crisis are fallout from the Right to Buy scheme, a broken allocation system for social housing, and a lack of investment in new council houses. 'In the 1980s, it was pretty common to rent from a social landlord,' Dr McKee explains. 'Big urban centres house a lot of the population, but now it's more difficult to access social housing if you're not coming through the homeless system. If you're applying for a general waiting list, you can wait a very, very long time.' 'It's very difficult for people, they're stuck,' she adds. 'They're languishing on temporary accommodation lists and often the only option they have is to rent privately, which obviously, budget-wise, can be more expensive for them than renting from a social landlord would be.' Those who do not have the means to save for a deposit are shut out of the housing market. Bad credit, precarious work, disability and rising rents can make climbing the property ladder inaccessible to many. Wider shifts in the economy related to the cost of living crisis (rising energy bills, inflation, surging cost of food) have also contributed to the trade-offs young families are making to stretch their budgets. Hence, the uptick in first-time house hunters seeking out communities like Glenrothes. Peter Gulline, 59, moved to Glenrothes aged 13. The Conservative politician was elected councillor of the Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch Ward in 2022. He says wherever new housing estates are built, the properties are always 'gobbled up'. A lot of the market is people in Glenrothes moving to another property, he claims. The current strain on services is temporary. 'We just have to get through this hiccup of everything being really, really busy and weather the storm,' he says. The private rental market has also 'gone through the roof', but councillor Gulline does not see that as a 'bad thing'. He does not agree that the Right to Buy scheme has contributed to the housing crisis. 'People say we've lost 40,000 houses because they were sold off,' he says. 'Well, actually, we haven't lost 40,000 houses. We've lost the responsibility of having to maintain 40,000 houses, but they are still houses. 'There is still somebody living in them. They've not been bought, bulldozed and replaced with a car park.' He describes the wait for social housing as a game of snakes and ladders when I ask about the backlog for council homes. 'Everybody thinks there's a list. And the list has got 17,000 people on it,' he says. 'There are actually multiple lists.' He rattles off some of the categories: homelessness, disability, domestic abuse, and prison leavers. 'It's not a list that you just crawl up. It's a list you can move up and get knocked down a couple of pegs if people come along that had more justification.' Marissa MacWhirter in a Glenrothes park (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) The town is known for its public art (Image: Gordon Terris/Herald&Times) As far as Gulline is concerned, 'Glenrothes is a fantastic town for families.' It's easy to navigate, it has plenty of decent schools, there are lots of parks and green space, and clubs and activities for the young and old. The administrative capital of Fife, the town also boasts the largest shopping centre in the council area (Kingdom Shopping Centre) and decent transport links from the bus station. The number of outdoor artworks dotted around town, the carefully landscaped roundabouts, and the spring flowers blooming from every public space give Glenrothes a wholesome community feeling, even for those just passing through. The town, like many in Scotland, is caught between two narratives. Its affordability gives many the chance to get on the housing ladder and provides young families with a safe, quiet community in which to raise children. But the housing crisis has made the security of home ownership increasingly out of reach for many. Fife Council acknowledges the 'extreme pressure' it's under to meet housing needs in the crisis. The local authority has created the Fife Housing Register, a shared list providing a single access route to available homes, in partnership with local housing associations. "We're actively reducing waiting times for those assessed as statutorily homeless as part of our short-term housing emergency response, though challenges remain, especially for larger families and those with specific health or disability needs,' says the authority's housing access service manager. 'Precise information about housing prospects is difficult to provide. We understand the uncertainty this creates and remain committed to supporting applicants through the process." I ask Hume how he feels about his new temporary accommodation. 'I've got no storage, but it's better than a hostel,' he sighs. Marissa MacWhirter is a columnist and feature writer at The Herald, and the editor of The Glasgow Wrap. The newsletter is curated between 5-7am each morning, bringing the best of local news to your inbox each morning without ads, clickbait, or hyperbole. Oh, and it's free. She can be found on X @marissaamayy1
Glasgow Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Here's why hundreds queued for MINISO opening at Braehead
The global retailer - which sells toys, homeware, figurines, plushies and viral blind boxes - welcomed its first customers at noon today at Braehead Shopping Centre. People of all ages gathered for the ribbon cutting and minutes after, the crowd slowly flowed into the ground floor unit. Some fans were waiting since as early as 8.30am and the sea of people stretched back all the way to the food court. READ NEXT: MINISO hosting grand opening at Braehead shopping centre Hundreds queue as MINISO opens at Braehead Shopping Centre, Glasgow (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Crowds at Braehead Shopping Centre (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Shannon in the queue (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) READ NEXT: Fashion giant announces first Glasgow store to open in Silverburn Shannon, 19, from Milngavie, arrived with her mum and auntie. She said: "It's one of my favourite stores. I've been to one in America, it was amazing. "I am so excited for the opening, I will be back here all the time now." Ellie, 21, and Charlie, 23, came along to the event from the Southside of Glasgow. They queued for around an hour and a half to get their hands on some Sanrio items. Ellie said: "They have the best stuff and, obviously, we haven't had that yet, so I am buzzing for this. "I have been to the MINISO store in London and it was incredible. "I have high expectations, this is the first one I will have ever been to in Scotland." Ellie and Charlie (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Staff at the MINISO store (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Gem, Kay and Beth, all in their twenties, came from the city as well. They were most excited to buy some Miku and Kuromi objects. Gem said: "My friends are a little bit more well-versed in it than me. I say I came for moral support but I will definitely end up spending too much money." Beth added: "Yes, I set myself a limit of £60, that is what I am aiming to spend, no more." READ NEXT: 'Iconic' car retailer popular with celebrities to open showroom in Glasgow Gen, Kay and Beth (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Happy shoppers (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Ashely Bisland, centre director at Braehead Shopping Centre: "We're absolutely thrilled to officially welcome MINISO to Braehead. "The incredible turnout today, with hundreds of eager visitors queuing before doors opened, speaks volumes about the excitement and anticipation surrounding this launch. "MINISO is a vibrant and unique addition to our retail mix, and we're proud to offer our shoppers a destination where fun, affordable, and stylish products come to life. "We can't wait to see the community embrace everything MINISO has to offer.' MINISO currently has a store on Edinburgh's Princes Street.
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Are clumsy streetscapes threatening Edinburgh's heritage status?
'Whilst we may not be under imminent threat of being considered a World Heritage Site in danger, there is this steady, slow creep of issues which need to be addressed to reinforce the city's commitment to its inscription and the value that being a World Heritage Site brings,' says Terry Levinthal, director of the Cockburn Association. Conservation of the city's architectural heritage and its landscape on a macro scale has been relatively good (with a few noted exceptions), but small-scale interventions have been slowly slicing at the overall look and feel of the city. 'Death by a thousand cuts,' says Levinthal. 'One thing Edinburgh does not do well is streetscape, or how it manages the surfaces and the spaces in between buildings in an urban context.' Charlotte Square (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) The Cockburn Association, whose civic guardianship of Edinburgh hinges on heritage as civic responsibility rather than nostalgia, has sounded the alarm about the state of the city's streets. Two months on from the association's public forum, On the Road to Nowhere? Edinburgh's Streetscape and Heritage Places, Levinthal is cautiously optimistic. It would take a very long and substantial decline for the city to lose its World Heritage status, or for it to be considered endangered. But decades of 'chronic undermanagement' and an ethos that streetscape insertions have nothing to do with World Heritage when 'of course they do' has given heritage enthusiasts cause for concern. 'One of the one of the biggest risks in a historic city is not necessarily just to do with altering buildings or building new architecture, but it's actually making sure that you look after the historic streetscape, which is the setting for all of these beautiful buildings,' says Fiona Rankin, the head of public realm conservation at Edinburgh World Heritage (EWH). She explains that the city's streets don't have the same protections as listed buildings, which leaves them vulnerable to a lack of coherent design and maintenance standards. 'It's the cumulative effect of lots of small interventions that can really start to change the character of a place,' she adds. Modern times have brought a myriad of new street objects, like EV charging points, bins, defibrillators, phone charging stations, seating, bollards, planters, sandwich boards, cycle racks and more. They change how people see the street, plucking it out of its historic context and clashing with the Old and New Towns. 'We have to minimise the appearance of these interventions and design them so they coordinate well with each other,' says Rankin. 'It's really important that they're not just installed on a random basis, but the whole street design is taken into consideration, the positioning and design of such objects.' Frederick Street (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Frederick Street (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Piecemeal funding from local and national governments has resulted in a patchwork of streetscape elements. A project gets designed by one team; other teams are responsible for different areas. Working separately means they don't choose the same materials, the same style of seating or they might install signage under slightly different guidelines, and everything lacks continuity. Rankin points to Picardy Place as an example. Cycle lanes, tram lines, street lighting, and pedestrian crossings have created a confused urban landscape. 'You end up with a sea of poles,' Rankin says. 'Poles with signage, poles for crossing the road, poles for holding up tram lines. Areas like that, to me, have a negative effect on the heritage location.' Rather than just following engineering guidelines, she suggests that urban realm works begin with the aspiration to have as little intervention as possible and to find the option that suits the heritage best. 'I think it's very difficult to retrofit guidelines for a historic place when the guidelines are generally written for new places, new streets, new junctions,' she says. The EWH is currently working alongside the City of Edinburgh Council to develop a standalone Street Design Guidance Factsheet on Street Design in the Historic Environment, which will be added to the council's suite of Street Design Guidance Factsheets. Rankin has been seconded two days a week to work alongside the local authority's World Heritage officer to ensure that processes of thinking within the council are putting heritage first. 'Making it the starting point, the baseline,' she says. With the council, they are currently looking at coordinating the street furniture so that bins, cycle racks and seating all come from one design. 'We have a huge amount to learn from historic cities,' Levinthal says. 'We have an approach at the moment which is just not working with that outstanding heritage value that Edinburgh has.' (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Edinburgh's Waverley Station (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) One of the biggest changes within the council is the introduction of statements of heritage significance commissioned by EWH. The key is not to try and take what they have done in say, Copenhagen or Amsterdam or Prague or Berlin and try to replant it in Edinburgh. The specific issues that the capital faces requires its own unique approach. The heritage statements are set to be given out at the very beginning of a project, defining the importance of a location and its history. The hope is that they will allow designers to develop a keen understanding and analysis of what they are dealing with right off the bat so they can carry out their work from start to finish in a sympathetic way. The first major heritage statement has been commissioned for Princes Street and the Waverley Valley ahead of its forthcoming redevelopment. 'This statement will give those designers information that tells them what the priorities are, what's important, and should steer the direction of their design so that it is compatible and complementary to the heritage,' says Rankin. 'We're all guardians of this wonderful city, and we have one chance to get it right.' The redevelopment of Waverley Station is one of the biggest concerns for the Cockburn Association at the moment. Levinthal is anticipating the launch of a master plan consultation 'sometime soon'. 'It is very much a wait and see what that brings with it,' he says. Previous plans involved demolishing large portions of the category A-listed station. At this point, Levinthal says, it's just speculation as to whether a consultation would 'alleviate any fears or give cause for concern.' A glaring issue with maintaining the decadent fabric of the historic streetscape comes down to cost. Council budgets are tight. Temporary fixes, like the tarmac on Frederick Street or the ramp at Charlotte Square, can easily become permanent when they serve a good enough purpose. But, as Levinthal points out, Edinburgh's UNESCO World Heritage City status is the 'golden goose' for both the city's and the country's coffers. Edinburgh'sGeorge Street looking west (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) Edinburgh's Waverley Station. (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) The city welcomes more than four million visitors annually who contribute £1.2 billion to the local economy. And the main reasons tourists flocked to the Lothians was for a castle or fort (42%) and to view architecture and buildings (32%), according to a 2023 survey by Visit Scotland. While it's difficult to pinpoint just how much heritage contributes to the figures or any heritage-specific revenue, it's clear that historic attractions play a key role in Edinburgh's tourism economy. 'Just for that reason alone, it really justifies the investment in it and its added protection,' Levinthal says. The Cockburn Association is optimistic about the forthcoming Visitor Levy, which came into law in September 2024. The tax on overnight accommodation is expected to raise up to £50m a year by 2028/9 which will be reinvested in Edinburgh to manage the burden of propping up a flourishing tourism economy in an ancient city. 'The income, if properly redeployed to help deal with deficiencies like streetscapes and the management of tourist parts of the city, will help deal with concerns the we have with the undermanagement and under maintenance of places,' says Levinthal. He hopes that over time, the trend of places being in slow decline will be transformed. Protecting Edinburgh as a small heritage city 'that punches well above its weight globally' will be on the forefront of civic and political thinking. 'A lot of those death by a thousand cuts could be healed with income that comes from the Visitor Levy, if properly spent and applied,' he adds. 'I think we are at a very exciting but critical point in time,' says Rankin. 'The city is aspiring to grow and transition, and for that reason, we have to proceed carefully. We can't just forge ahead.' In due course, Charlotte Square will be levelled out, as it was before the 1960s, and the unsightly ramp will no longer be needed. The crusty black tarmac on Frederick Street will ultimately be replaced with granite setts. (Image: GordonTerris_Herald&Times) 'For all projects and wider work carried out in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, we take great care to ensure that it respects and where possible, enhances the special character of the area,' says Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, transport and environment convener at City of Edinburgh Council. 'This is in conjunction with making sure that project considerations are properly taken into account, including both the specific and cumulative impacts. 'Under our City Centre Transformation strategy, we're committed to improving our streets and public spaces, creating safer conditions for walking, wheeling, and cycling, along with reducing air and noise pollution. We're taking these goals forward with ambitious projects such as the Low Emission Zone (LEZ), George Street and First New Town and improving the setted streets in the Old Town. Occasionally, we need to make emergency temporary repairs to ensure the safety and usability of streets and spaces. In these instances, permanent solutions will be brought forward as soon as possible. 'We work closely with partners such as Edinburgh World Heritage and Historic Environment Scotland, along with other key stakeholders, including the Cockburn Association, to achieve this consistency and respect for our World Heritage Site – and we'll continue to do so in the future.' Marissa MacWhirter is a columnist and feature writer at The Herald, and the editor of The Glasgow Wrap. The newsletter is curated between 5-7am each morning, bringing the best of local news to your inbox each morning without ads, clickbait, or hyperbole. Oh, and it's free. She can be found on X @marissaamayy1
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
What I learned from 15 years of tramworks on my Leith street
I live on the narrowest section of the tram route. The dates of the digs and closures in our part of Leith are mostly vague or forgotten but it pretty much began when we moved in, six weeks after the birth of our first child. For some reason we were so oblivious and lacking in due diligence that we were unaware that the road was about to become a dig site. For the next 15 years, we would live with the digs, the works cancellation, the threat of its revival, more works and then finally their completion and the delivery to us of a tram route, which, I must confess, I do now enjoy. Occasionally, since it stops just done the road, I call it 'my tram'. The phases of the works blur into one another, alongside the passage of my children from baby, to toddler, primary school scooter-rider, to teen, but the memory of living in a build site throughout significant sections of their childhood is strong. In a note in a diary I kept from around the birth of my son Max, I observe that I am feeling some stress due to the noise of the tram dig. Reports suggest that the first work to divert utility pipes and cables in Leith began in March 2007, starting on Constitution Street, though I'm not sure I noticed. The route was finally opened in June 2023. There were highs over those 15 years; even some entertainment. At various points along the way, sections were shut to traffic, without much action in terms of works, and my kids scootered across the tarmac as if they were living in an open streets area. There was the coming and going of skeletons, revealed in the dirt at the opposite side of the road, their dark sockets staring out from the depths of time - somewhere round about the plague era of the 15th century - as I would walk my children to school. Later, forensic scientists would recreate the faces of these haunting grave dwellers. One of them even appeared, like some local celebrity, in an episode of Digging for Britain. READ MORE: When our part of the route was cancelled, in 2010, it came as a relief, but also a disappointment. All that digging, all that noise and fuss, the impact on businesses, and we weren't even going to get any tram joy. But the noise lingered. The road surface was poor because we had been left with a temporary fix after the tram work utility access. Traffic was noisier; the buildings would shake as countless buses and trucks passed down our street. The tram route, on Leith Walk, is now viewed as a success (Image: Gordon terris/Herald&Times) But, almost a decade later, in March 2019, councillors voted to extend trams to Newhaven and the start of the second works arrived back on our street in November of that year. It was just four months before a pandemic and a lockdown would see them paused and lives, and local businesses thrown into disarray once more. There was talk of cancelling (again!) but a report found the financial impact of doing so would be greater than allowing it to continue, so the works went on. What that has left me with is the strong feeling that if you are going to dig up a road, you only want to have to do it once, and you should get everything possible done at that point. If we are moving utilities for a tram track in the coming decade, shouldn't we also be considering whether it's possible to lay the pipes for district heating or even ground source boreholes? A view of Vicky Allan's street, February 2022 (Image: Vicky Allan) My husband was on the local community council so kept abreast of tram matters more than I did. One of the issues for us was concern over the fact that we were to be on the narrowest section of the route, so tight that instead of placing, the wires were held up by other cables attached to our building. There was talk of there only being a single track, for which many were advocating, or even an alternative route - none of this happened. A challenge at times, in a works that was always shifting, was trying to find the best route to our home, or from one side of the street to the other, past the fences that one shop owner described as 'like the Berlin Wall'. Almost as a plus, alarms were not necessary. The dawn chorus of the works could begin at 7am on a weekday, and 8am on a Saturday. Up on Leith Walk some of the businesses were hit hard. Others seemed determined to stay on the bright side, like Leandro Crolla, of the Vittoria Group, in an Edinburgh Evening News video, who said: 'I'm very positive towards the future. I do think Leith Walk will brighten up. I think the street will look more cosmopolitan. It will look more welcoming. I'm one of these people who think we're taking a hit now for a year or two years. But next 15-20-30 years we'll get the benefits, if it goes ahead.' Then, finally, it was done. That was 15 years of a tram coming and then not coming, of building and then not building, of roads dug up, the dead peering out through the dark sockets of soil-smeared skulls, HARAS fencing that divided us, neighbour from neighbour, one side of the street from the other, the rattle and vibration of diggers and, and then the ground sealing up again to carry us up in a gleaming pod into the city and what felt like a modern green age. Now the street is quiet, possibly some think too quiet. Perhaps, you only notice the peace when you've lived through the noise. The tram feels fluid and calm, its rhythmic passing over our window makes little impact on my day, save for the slight buzz it makes that sounds like one of my alerts on my mobile phone, a sound my brain is looking out for. It's nothing like the rattle of trucks that used to pass our door when we first moved in. More on The Future of Edinburgh: Yes, we are tram converts. But, what would I say to others who might find the latest T-Rex of a proposed tram route, 1b passing their door? Was it worth it? If I was right back there in the middle of the dig again, I would think not – but the memory is fading and all I see now is a tram that stops at the end of my street and takes me where I want to go. But if I had a business on the line I might feel differently. Karen Greig, who runs Destined for Home, a gift shop further down my street, has a warning for businesses who may be on the new tramline. 'We got assistance. But did we get enough? In hindsight I would say a year after they should have given us another bit of help because it's not bringing the people that they said. Say they gave us three lots of help, one of them or a fourth one should have been after the tram release. 'The amount of advertising I've done and it's not making an iota of difference. But they could have paid for it with assistance for businesses. The business has not come back. The street is lovely and clean, with beautiful Caithness paving, but I'm not getting the business.' Businesses in the area have had to battle through a lot in the last six years. When Leith Walk greengrocer, Tattie Shaws, closed down in October 2023, the owner, James Welby, cited a combination of factors, including the impact of the tram works, Brexit, and a decline in footfall due to the pandemic, as reasons. Some people did experience real damage to their homes, or their livelihoods. I always find it wearyingly funny when the City of Edinburgh Council describes the extension of the trams to Newhaven as a success, treating it like an entirely separate project from the one that came before, as if all that digging, when my kids were babies, didn't happen. Success wasn't what the tramworks T-Rex felt like to live through – even if getting on a tram, right now, does feel like a glide into modernity and, yes, success.
