North Berwick High Street consultation

The need for change

The 2017 Charette identified that many people were in support of change.

It is acknowledged that there have not been many reported personal injury incidents on the High Street, but a high proportion of people have expressed that they do not feel safe on the High Street currently. Others have reported near misses.

The survey also found that those who considered themselves disabled are more likely to say the High Street feels unsafe, or is not attractive in its current state.

We understand that previous studies have included elements that focus on the High Street, for example the 2017 North Berwick Charette. This study will build on the recommendations made in previous consultation and reporting to develop a feasible concept design for North Berwick High Street. Further detailed design stages and construction will follow this study.

New design and lay-out

A new layout drawing was prepared by the North Berwick Coastal Area Partnership in February 2020 and remains one the options being considered. The exercise we are currently undertaking will show that an objective led and evidence-based approach has been undertaken to identify a preferred solution. This is a requirement for securing external funding.

Access for loading, servicing and blue badge holders will be fully considered within any concept designs.

Pedestrianisation

In order to have a fair and transparent consultation exercise, we could not exclude any potential options (including pedestrianisation). To date, no potential new layouts for the High Street have been presented as we want to hear the views of stakeholder, the local community and businesses first.

We recognise the unique character and attractiveness of the High Street currently, and do not want to detract from that, but we feel there are changes that could be made to improve High Street which do not necessarily involve pedestrianisation. As a minimum, the Council will be seeking to increase footway widths at narrow locations and introduce materials which look and perform better (i.e. consistent kerb heights and improved surfaces / drainage).

The online survey only has one reference to pedestrianisation as a potential option and the “story boards” at the public event did not make any reference to pedestrianisation, although some pedestrianised streets were shown (see below).

Cost of works

The Council is unlikely to have access to capital or revenue funding for works to improve High Street and therefore the outputs from this study is intended to allow them to bid for external funding. This funding will likely be from sources that ring fence (set aside) money for this type of enhancement (i.e. if it is not spent on North Berwick High Street, it will be spent on other, similar schemes, secured by a funding application made in another part of Scotland).

If changes can be made to High Street in the short term, it will help to secure its long-term future to the benefit of all road users. Acting now is prudent to ensure that there are adequate funds put in place to limit the need for future maintenance.

Impact on business 

Concerns about the impact on businesses are noted. Our team met with representatives of the Business Association for a site walkover between around 11pm and 1pm on 16 August 2022. We listened to their concerns and will engage with them further throughout this project.

A recent study by the Council (2021) found there are 268 parking spaces in car parks within a reasonable walk of the High Street; Glebe 89, Law Road 21 Imperial 72, Gardeners Garden (East Road) 86.

The on-street parking legal parking capacity (2021) is 216:

• Beach Road (37)
• Forth Street (43)
• High Street (48)
• Quality Street (7)
• Westgate (81)

There is a body of research showing that improvements to placemaking that favour non-motorised users can increase footfall.

A separate study focussed on parking issues in North Berwick has been commissioned by East Lothian Council to understand the wider parking behaviour in the area.

There will be discussions with the Council’s regeneration team to establish likely impacts on retail businesses. It is intended that any changes will positively promote the area rather than cause any downturn in trade.

How will businesses be serviced?

Appropriate loading bays will be retained to allow servicing to all shops. Very few have rear access so deliveries to the front is essential.

Parking Enforcement

Parking enforcement will be undertaken if parking contraventions occur. The design will seek to discourage / minimise opportunities for inappropriate parking.

Accomodating Disabled Persons

An Equality Impact Assessment has been undertaken to inform the work.

Full engagement will be undertaken with protected characteristics groups, including workshops. Around 10% of respondents consider themselves to have a disability and have all been offered the chance to attend a workshop.

The feedback so far is that the removal of kerbs to have one level surface on High Street East would be beneficial to those who consider themselves to have a disability but might be an issue for those with visual impairments.

Online survey

The online survey questions were too detailed and a more general conversation is needed first?

It was considered that the more general conversation was undertaken previously as part of the 2017 Charette (although this exercise has revisited opinion). It is noted this was some time ago (pre-covid-19) and therefore reaching out to get views was considered to be essential. Respondents did not need to fill out all of the survey and could instead only complete the sections that they thought were of interest to them. The level of detail was agreed by ELC.

The survey had a question about how safe people feel regarding traffic and the results will be skewed to give a particular answer

The question asked, “How would you rate your perception of safety on the High Street currently?”. There was no reference to traffic. Respondents later expanded on why they feel unsafe.

The online survey should have had a question “"How do you like North Berwick?”

This is a very open-ended question that would have been difficult to analyse the responses and therefore it had to be more specifically referenced to the project. As such, it contained the following question: “How welcoming and attractive do you feel the High Street is currently?”

The “about you” questions are intrusive, why does the Council need to know about our personal information?

The Council is required to complete an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) which demonstrates they have considered the needs of all users. Asking these questions allows us to ensure the needs of these groups are considered. The questions in the “about you” section are all optional and are based on similar questions in Scotland’s Census.

The Public event

The public event was publicised on the Council website and Social Media channels. Emails were sent to key stakeholders (including the Business Association, Community Council, Area Partnership and Elected Members) asking them to share the details as they saw fit.

Posters were put up around North Berwick prior to the event and an advert was placed in the East Lothian Courier.

Unfortunately, on the day, no posters were erected outside the event to publicise it. This was partly because members of the public turned up well before the advertised start time 3pm and our team began engaging with them.

The event was very well attended throughout the day; starting and finishing around half an hour early and later than scheduled because of demand.

Further Consultation

There are no more public events planned at this stage. Workshops are to be held with key stakeholders such as the Business Association, Community Council, Area Partnership and Elected Members, and views can be shared through them.

Views can also be submitted by emailing NorthBerwickHighStreet@stantec.com.

Further rounds of consultation will be held at future stages should there be funding secured to move into developed and technical design stages.