Community Councils Together on Trams/Trams Team meeting, 10 November 2022

Minutes of the Community Councils Together on Trams/Trams Team meeting on Thursday 10 November 2022 at 5:15pm, at Trams project compound (165 Leith Walk)

Actions and decisions are red italic. ‘TT’ means ‘Trams Team’. Names are mostly abbreviated to initials.

0 Summary of actions

1.3	RA to read/comment/approve
2.1	CCTT to create a draft register in time for discussion at the December CCTT/TT meeting, probably as an online list
2.1	RA/TT to triage this draft register and add costs; CCTT/TT to then negotiate a final version of the register
2.2	TT to add to defects section of dashboard total number of defects, numbers escalated, numbers resolved.
2.2	TT to supply a suitably redacted version of this slideBR to ensure the published minutes link to it and not the original. CCTT to not reveal which defects have been escalated
4.1	RA/TT to provide a full list including changes to anticipated completion dates, filterable to/set in date order.
4.6	RA to send a list of changes to pedestrian crossings, bins, narrow pavements since the last CCTT/TT meeting
5.1	MM to advise a forthcoming solution for the Blenheim Place step ASAP.
5.1	RA to reiterate CCTT’s and TT’s strong dissatisfaction to CEC lighting team about lack of streetlighting on Ocean Drive.
5.1	RA to issue a draft report on all walk-and-talks prior to the next CCTT/TT meeting.
5.2	RA to pursue vandalism to Rennie’s Isle bridge fencing
5.4	RA to pursue barriers not being water-filled and hence being blown or pushed over.

1 Prelims

1.1 Present

Robert Armstrong*	TT/CEC	Jennifer Marlborough*	CCTT/LHNCC	Harald Tobermann	CCTT/LCCC
Annick Gaillard	CCTT/NTBCC	Carol Nimmo	CCTT/NTBCC	Chris Wilson	TT/CEC
Angus Hardie*	CCTT/LLCC	Bruce Ryan	CCTT minutes secretary
Andrew Mackenzie	CCTT/LLCC	Michael Motion	TT/TurnerTownsend

* = in person, † = via MS Teams

1.2 Apologies

Mike Birch

CCTT/NTBCC

Rob Leech

1.3 Draft minutes of October 2022 meeting

Action: RA to read/comment/approve. (No others spoke against the current draft.)

2 Commitments Register

2.1 Update on progress: definitions, content and processes

HT: this register is to enable systematic handling of post-project matters that are not working in practice for a significant number of people. It would then go to a future CEC TEC meeting to obtain TEC’s agreement on whether each item is
- Either ‘built as designed but not working’, and whether CEC commits to improvement (a ‘commitment’)
- Or not ‘built as designed’ (a ‘defect’ or ‘snag’). These will be fixed by the contractor immediately or within the 2-year post-project snagging period.
There was discussion of which types of issue would go into these two classifications. For example, Elm Row is being built as designed, but this design is suboptimal in many people’s views. Hence any agreed action to improve this would be a commitment. (In this case, such work will be done post- project, to avoid delay of delivery of a working tram system and hence higher costs than if the work is done later.) Broken slabs, incorrectly located signs and similar are defects.
- HT: such decisions would need TT’s input. TT has agreed to supply rough costs for items on the final version of the register., which will help prioritise actions.
- CEC has not yet fully bought into this process, but CEC’s director of place has noted CCTT’s intervention as ‘chunky and important’.
- TT has bought in more to the process but some differences of opinion currently exist.
- RA/HT: we will aim to get 100% agreement by the next CCTT/TT meeting, at least on the process. There should not be simply everyone’s wishes on some list but an agreed and costed set of items to be tackled. There will be negotiation/filtration to agree which items will be recommended to CEC for commitment and on actions to sort them.
- HT: the word ‘commitment’ may be a misnomer [until CEC has agreed which items to tackle, and how to do so] because TT cannot commit CEC to undertake anything. Hence ‘rectification’ may be a better word than ‘commitment’.
JM/HT: the register should be open soon, even though construction in the LHNCC area is less progressed than in other areas so it is currently difficult to ascertain potential commitments and defects/snags. In this context, ‘open’ means ‘currently only visible to CCTT members and TT’. That is CCTT will act as a filter for public requests to add to the register.
- Action: CCTT to create a draft register in time for discussion at the December CCTT/TT meeting, probably as an online list
- Actions: RA/TT to triage this draft register and add costs; CCTT/TT to then negotiate a final version of the register
HT: If TT disagrees that any item should be on the register, it will be tackled it via other means, e.g. pressure from the relevant individual CCs.
HT/JM: this process will inform the ‘lessons learned’ process (section 3 below), e.g. related changes to bus-stops outwith the immediate trams project area, refuse services, overall provision of public realm and not just a transport system.

2.2 Defects management

See also dashboard (‘construction closeout’ page).

HT: TT has had a defects register during construction, building on inspectors’ and contractor’s reports, CCTT input etc.
- HT/RA: information is held on the ‘SEMA’ system, although SFN uses a separate system.
- RA/MM: there are ~375 defects, a very small number for this scale of project. The next iteration of the dashboard will show more detail, e.g. about impact of individual items. (The current slide shows only part of the register.)
- HT: CCTT understands that the register will change as the contractor remedies defects.
- Action: TT to add total number of defects, numbers escalated, numbers resolved.
MM: contractors can propose alternative solutions as part of the defects/escalation process. For example, where cables have been incorrectly installed on OLE poles, SFN proposes to cover these rather than replace the poles from scratch. This would meet safety requirements, at less cost than total replacement, but not the planned aesthetics.
- HT: aesthetic defects may well be more visible to residents than to TT.
- AH: this is hence a subjective judgment. Surely the community should have input here. Similar arguments apply to the Caithness slabs on Constitution St, where slabs have been buffed down to meet contractual tolerances.
- MM: mediation is around whether construction has met contractual specifications. TT can either order remedial actions or issue a ‘negative contractual event’ (NCE), e.g. withhold [some] payment for this piece of the work. NCEs are calculated according to what would be the full cost of rectifying the issue to design/contractual specifications.
- HT: isn’t the final option [threat of] legal action? Won’t there be ‘horse-trading’ to obtain the overall optimum?
- JM: there should also be action through this process on the ongoing lack of street-lighting on Ocean Drive etc.
- MM: the slide shows the all the defects (~9) that have been escalated so far.
- RA/MM: data on escalation is contractually confidential.
- Actions: TT to supply a suitably redacted version of this slide, BR to ensure the published minutes link to it and not the original.
- Action: CCTT to not reveal which defects have been escalated

3 Lessons learned

3.1 Outline plans and timeline

4 TT reports and updates

See also dashboard, geographical breakdown, TM update and information by area.

NB neither TT nor CCTT raised any items under subsections 4.2 to 4.5, 4.7, 4.9, 4.10

4.1 Map of completed sectional completion (SC2) and timeline for remainder

See the partial list on the ‘construction closeout’ page

RA: this map is not yet ready
- CCTT: the list format on the dashboard (page 6) will be fine, so long as changes to dates are recorded.
- Action: RA/TT to provide a full list including changes to anticipated completion dates, filterable to/set in date order.
- RA: Baltic St to Tower St was TT’s trial-run of the sectional completion process.
- RA: NB while some sections may not meet sectional completion dates, the project will still deliver overall on schedule.
- HT: CCTT is still concerned that handover to CEC may go sub-optimally, leading to issues for residents and tram-users.

4.2 Latest (November 22) progress dashboard with period lookahead visual (section-by-section format), progress metrics and other key metrics (including visualisations of quality/non-conformance data)

4.3 Latest (November 22) H&S metrics

4.4 Latest (November 22) route progress map

Various iterations of this map are in Appendix 1.

4.5 Latest (November 22) construction phasing map

4.6 Latest (November 22) map showing all current temporary pedestrian crossing points along the route and distances, location of temporary bus stops, and diverted or narrowed (below 1.2m) footpaths

RA: there have been few changes since the last CCTT/TT meeting. Some work remains to be done at Elm Row.
- Action: RA to send a list of changes since the last CCTT/TT meeting
C Nimmo: signage at London Rd has not been effective. (RA concurred.) Several signs had been blown down, and hence become invisible.
- HT: signage processes should be added to the lessons learned process
- RA: despite TT installing over 10 signs, drivers are still ignoring them and attempting enter London Rd from Leith Walk. They may be following Satnavs which do not show the current closure.
- RA: similar is happening at Brunswick Rd, where drivers may not turn left onto it from Leith Walk. There have been ~10 prosecutions about this. It has been difficult to sequence traffic-lights here. Matters should improve when the London Rd/Leith Walk junction has been reopened. There will never be a right turn from Leith Walk into Brunswick Rd because this would involve drivers unsafely crossing both sets of tracks. (Various diversions were discussed.)
RA: Left turns from Leith Walk into London Rd will open next week. Right turns from LW into LR will remain banned.
RA: Baltic St to Queen Charlotte St will soon open. (Signals have now been installed, and will be connected to the CEC system after a bus trial.) This should improve matters on Commercial St.
RA: Great Junction St should be improved once there is two-way traffic across the Foot of the Walk, due by end of November.
RA: Bonnington Rd is currently being used as a diversion, but should be better once London Rd is open later this month.

4.7 Maps or lists of traffic management measures (locations and brief description, dates) agreed and coming into force in the coming 5 weeks: road traffic diversions and lane closures, bus route diversions inside and outside the main area of TTN works – anticipated diversions of bus routes and general traffic.

4.8 Ongoing ‘business health’ indicators

CW: TT receives business health data every 6 months. These cover vacancy rates, business openings and closures. They are benchmarked against data on other Edinburgh locations such as Stockbridge and Gorgie/Dalry.and wider areas. The current data related to January to June 2022.
CW: Leith vacancy rate is improving, from 13·5% in January to June 2021 to 12·6 in the current data. Both Edinburgh’s and Scotland’s vacancy rates have decreased, but are higher than Leith’s rate, i.e. Leith is more resilient.
CW: Leith has a high rate of persistent vacancies (3-year or longer vacancies are at 8·7% in Leith, compared to Edinburgh’s 2·7%), implying that Leith has structural issues. i.e. units should be repurposed. Leith’s leisure, food and beverage businesses are doing well in this measure, but retail is doing less well. This pattern is Scotland-wide.
CW: Leith has had 78 business closures in the last month and 74 openings, implying emergence from COVID’s effects.
CW: the next data-set (July to December 2022) will arrive in March 2023.
CW then examined historical comparisons between Leith and other Edinburgh areas, under various business categories.
CW: TT is very conscious that there are real human stories behind these data, and so continues to engage accordingly

4.9 Latest (November 22) comms dashboard and latest geographical breakdown of incoming comms

4.10 Call centre stats and Support for Business Update

4.11 Summary of the most recent Tram Project Board (and sub-groups) meeting/s on a confidential basis

RA: the most recent Board meeting focussed on current dashboards, ready-for-operations matters, Brunswick Rd and the defects register. This gave rise to the list of escalated defects, a red-amber-green classification of escalations. There was also discussion of how to open junctions without giving rise to many complaints from later traffic management.

4.12 Summary of TT meetings with Active Travel and Business Groups

RA: I am meeting with Spokes tomorrow.
CW: I have recently met with Constitution St businesses, and will meet with them again on 16 November, tying in with the scheduled opening of Baltic St to Queen Charlotte St.
CW: I met with Leith Walk businesses last week. They clearly want the tram project to be finished and gone.
- There will be 2-way traffic through the foot of the Walk junction by 19 December. This was welcomed.

5 Queries and issues identified by CCTT

5.1 Update on walk-and-talks to date

CN: this was a very valuable exercise – thank you to RA and CW.
RA: no walk-and-talks are being done at night
RA: LCCC walk-and-talk will be on Tuesday of next week.
BR: I suggest that a blind person is asked to walk the whole route, so TT receives feedback about this type of disability.
RA: LLCC walk-and-talk will take place tomorrow.
CN: NTBCC walk-and-talk raised general issues around pedestrian crossings, floating bus stops and cycle-paths. However, the most significant issue is the highly dangerous step at Blenheim Place. This compares poorly with Elm Row, where all the paving has been replaced. This should not be just placed on the commitments register for resolution in the far future.
- AG: I was told that the step is a kerb, and that TT will fix it.
- Action: MM to advise a forthcoming solution ASAP.
JM: LHNCC walk-and-talk raised issues around bus stops being moved inappropriately, and the street-light issues I have reported ad nauseam.
RA: there are two issues:
- lights on Ocean Drive. I have raised this with CEC’s lighting team. I will reiterate CCTT’s and TT’s strong dissatisfaction. I will also advise wither CCTT should also pressure CEC.
- Lights outside Ocean Terminal will be replaced but there has been a delay in sourcing bulbs.
JM: Stevedore Place is also suffering from lack of street lighting.
RA: all [new] lights have sensors to report malfunctions but they have not yet been connected to CEC systems. This will be done soon.
RA when all walk-and-talks have been done, I will issue a draft report prior to the next CCTT/TT meeting.

5.2 LHNCC

JM: new fencing at Rennie’s Isle bridge (Stevedore Place) has been vandalised.
- Action: RA to pursue this.
AM: there are complaints of wiring work being done at night on Stevedore Place.
- RA: TT is looking into this, and will review all out-of-hours work. Electrification in this area should be finished in January 2023, and final commissioning of junctions should take place in early 2023.
- MM: precautions will be taken against theft of electrical cables.

5.3 LLCC

AM: lighting on Constitution St is shockingly bright, and persists all night, potentially wasting much money.
RA: this is due to the angle of lighting beams being out of tolerance and pointing towards houses. TT is pursuing this.

5.3.1 Leith Connections, controlled parking zones the low-traffic neighbourhood

RA: the CPZ will be implemented in March 2023.
RA: The funding bid to Sustrans for Leith Connections is going ahead. Currently work is being undertaken with the traffic signals team on the Henderson Street junction. Construction work would start in 2023.
RA: commencement of the low-traffic neighbourhood has now been postponed to March or April 2023, to enable traffic signals to be implemented correctly and to avoid clashing with tram-construction. Designs are currently going through the TRO process. Objections can be made during this process.

5.4 LCCC

HT: The Shrub Place underground garage design solution is very poor, so it should be on the commitments register.
Vehicles are driving out across Leith Walk: there should be signage and barriers so drivers turn left down Leith Walk.
HT: barriers are being pushed and/or blown over because they have not been filled with water.
- Action: RA to pursue this.

5.5 NTBCC

RA: the 5G installation on Gayfield Square is outwith the trams project, but Edinburgh Trams can raise concerns about proximity to overhead lines.
RA: a cherry-picker was working here not for TT but to remove old lights from a dead tree so it can then be removed.
RA: Pavement work on Baxter’s place and Blenheim Place will be finished at the same time, in 2023. There will be access to loading bays here from next week.

6 AOB

No items raised

7 Date of next meeting and guests

8 December