People have told me how angry they are that the City Council did not even discuss the reopening of central Union Street to at least buses and taxis when it met on Monday 13th December.

At the meeting, I tried to propose that central Union Street should be reopened to buses and taxis but that was ruled out of order.

My personal view is that, because central Union Street was closed as part of the “Spaces for People” emergency response the pandemic, it should be fully reopened now that the Spaces for People changes are being removed. People were told that all the Spaces for People changes were temporary – and I believe the Council should stick to that and end the road closure of central Union Street.

Incredibly, the decision to keep central Union Street closed was made with the support of just four councillors at a committee meeting in November.

I believe that such an important decision about the future of our city centre should have been made by all 45 councillors at a meeting of the full council.

Keeping central Union Street closed to even buses is causing continuing problems and delays for bus services through the city centre. I have also been told by some older people and people with disabilities that the diversion of bus routes away from central Union Street is causing them major problems. One lady told me, “It is not Covid that is keeping me out of the city centre, it is the Council”.

Whilst there probably is not a majority of councillors who want to fully reopen central Union Street, it seems fairly clear that there is a majority of councillors who would back reopening central Union Street to buses and taxis. The Conservative and Labour councillors who effectively control the council – and who back keeping central Union Street closed – have though so far prevented this being discussed by all 45 councillors.

I will continue to do everything I can to have all 45 councillors make the decision on the future of Union Street. I will also cotinue to make the case that central Union Street should be reopened to at least buses and taxis.

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