I am really encouraged by local people stepping forward to improve their area. It shows how much green and open spaces are valued by the community and I am very much behind these initiatives.

As the local community council, our aim to is to empower those who live and work in our area, and to encourage and promote a sense of community and wellbeing. The Causey represents a grassroots endeavour to transform a redundant space into somewhere vibrant and accessible and is exactly the type of project that will meet these aims.

The Southside is heavily dominated by three major arteries of noisy, polluting and dangerous traffic. These create a barrier for local people who want to move around freely and socialise in the area. We desperately need this kind of civic space to provide the accessibility, safety and calm that engenders a healthy community. Despite years of obstacles and setbacks, The Causey Development Trust have not given up and SCC believe this is an ideal allocation for Visitor Levy funding, to validate community empowerment in the Southside.

I am writing on behalf of the Cockburn Association to express our support for the proposals being advanced by the Causey Development Trust for the West Crosscauseway and surrounding area.

This is a thoughtful and timely project which recognises the importance of reclaiming historic neighbourhood spaces for people. The proposed changes would transform an area currently dominated by vehicles into a safer, more welcoming place where residents and visitors can pause, meet, and simply enjoy being there. In doing so, it restores something essential to the character of Edinburgh’s historic streets, that sense of shared civic space.

The location offers a valuable opportunity to provide respite from the intensity and noise of Nicolson Street. Creating a calmer, more attractive environment here would support wellbeing and encourage people to linger, rather than pass through.

We are particularly supportive of the proposed change in traffic direction along West Crosscauseway, shifting to a west to east flow. This has the potential to reduce both the number and speed of vehicles using the route, contributing to improved air quality and a more pedestrian friendly environment.

The scheme also has clear heritage benefits. By drawing attention to the historic streetscape, including St Andrew’s Orthodox Church and Buccleuch and Greyfriars, it helps to reveal the richness of this part of the city. Better interpretation and signposting to the many A and B listed buildings nearby would encourage exploration beyond the traditional city centre focus, bringing more visitors south of the Edinburgh World Heritage boundary.

We also welcome the way the project strengthens connections between two of Edinburgh’s most significant green spaces, Holyrood Park and the Meadows. This is an important pedestrian link which deserves to be recognised and enhanced.

The design elements proposed are both imaginative and rooted in place. Feature paving referencing James Hutton’s work at Salisbury Crags offers a meaningful nod to Scotland’s scientific heritage. Tree planting and seasonal planters would introduce greenery and soften the streetscape, making the space more inviting throughout the year.

The inclusion of infrastructure to support community events, including access to electricity and water, is particularly encouraging. This ensures the space can be actively used and animated by local people, rather than remaining purely decorative.

Above all, this project stands as a strong example of community engagement and local empowerment. It reflects a genuine understanding of place and a commitment to shaping it collaboratively.

We commend the Causey Development Trust for its vision and dedication, and we are pleased to offer our support for this initiative.

As a historic church located at the junction of West Crosscauseway and Chapel Street, we are eager to offer our strong support for The Causey project. For many years, this junction has functioned as an unsightly, congested traffic space. The proposal to reshape it into a safer, greener and more welcoming public space reflects the kind of forward-looking vision our neighbourhood needs. We believe The Causey would enhance everyday life for residents by improving safety, accessibility, and connectivity, while also contributing to the city’s environmental goals. Its proximity to the University of Edinburgh, numerous shops, and a densely populated residential area makes this an important community space for
residents, students, and visitors.

As a church deeply invested in the wellbeing of our community, we value projects that strengthen social connection and create places where people take priority. The Causey represents a thoughtful and community-driven investment in the future of the Southside neighbourhood, which we long to see come to fruition.

We commend this project to the Committee and respectfully request your full support.

The development proposed by the Causey Development Trust will greatly enhance the environment for our adjacent Southside Community Centre. This is important to the Centre as we are developing our activities for the locality. The proposal will transform the neighbourhood making it substantially more welcoming for those who attend activities in the Centre as well as all who live, work and shop in the Southside of Edinburgh.

As an artist living on the Causey, I’ve collaborated with the Causey Development Trust, Southside Community Centre, Buccleuch Free Church, Preston Street Primary School, local residents, and wider Edinburgh groups to create street video projection events on our street. These moments of shared light and creativity have inspired me to imagine a Festival of Light: a winter celebration of video projections, film screenings, art and wellbeing workshops, and community-made artworks that bring joy, connection, and hope to the darkest months.

Transforming the Causey would deepen and expand this work. A renewed, welcoming public space would give the communities who live and I, learn, and gather here the freedom and inspiration to create art together.

It’s hard to express how fully I support this project.

 Our shared spaces could be nourishing. They could give us, our children, our parents, the young, old, ill, well, rich, poor – everyone – a small opportunity to breath clean air. To meet with each other. To walk, ride a bike, look at a tree, hear each other, kick a ball, or hear a bird singing. They could embody the respect we have for each other.

But small inexpensive changes can quickly transform spaces, as countless cities around the world are finally beginning to recognise. 

 That’s why I support this project. 

I am writing in support of the Causey project, developed by the Causey Development Trust, which aims to transform the traffic island into a safe, attractive, inclusive, and
environmentally sustainable public space through funding from the Visitor Levy. We are excited to see the site reimagined as a welcoming, greener, culturally vibrant, and more inclusive space for both local communities and visitors—not only during the summer months, but throughout the year.

The Causey is the sort of effort to carve space for neighbourliness and community out of roads and traffic that is understood to be increasingly important to all of us. The locals who have made this effort deserve much respect: I only hope it inspires other communities, and the City in general, to make Causeys all over Edinburgh.

This is the green walkable future we deserve!

This looks amazing – such a transformation! Fingers crossed it happens. Often in the neighbourhood at weekends.