Anger over car permit plan

Published on Tuesday 7 June 2011 17:00

A BID to introduce parking restrictions in a previously unregulated part of the Capital has met with a furious response from local residents.

The city council is planning to introduce new measures in parts of Morningside to deal with what it says are local concerns about commuter parking.

But residents say the council is attempting to re-introduce a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) which was rejected by homeowners in 2008.

Under the restrictions, only permit holders will be able to park in a number of streets between 10am and 11.30am, meaning anyone using the area for commuter parking will receive a ticket.

The council said the initiative was a response to concerns raised by locals.

But Andrew Gray, who lives in Craiglea Drive and fought plans for the CPZ three years ago, said the latest move was nothing more than a "CPZ-lite".

He said: "The council is up to its old tricks again. This is simply a way of raising taxes and it's the thin end of the wedge.

"There's a very definite group of us who are fed up being told what we should do by the very people who are our elected representatives. They are trying to bully us, but we won't have it."

The measures, which have already been approved by councillors, are now undergoing a period of public consultation.

The council wants to introduce restrictions in an area bounded by the Astley Ainslie Hospital, the boundaries of CPZs S1 and 7, the line of the South Suburban railway and Dalkeith Road.

However, it is the area west of Comiston Road - including Craiglea Drive - from which most of the opposition has come.

Opposition to the CPZ plans in 2008 was not evenly spread - 87 per cent of those rejecting the CPZ lived to the west of Comiston Road, with greater support for the plan to the east.

Controlled parking zones have steadily spread across the city since first being introduced, with some accusing the council of using them as a source of revenue.

However, others have welcomed the restrictions, which have made it more difficult for drivers to use residential streets as "unofficial park-and- ride sites".

A spokesman for the council said: "Having received a number of representations from local residents and elected members, we agreed to investigate the merits of introducing a priority parking scheme in the area immediately to the west of Comiston Road. This revealed that there are parking pressures, due at least in part to commuter parking.

"Having gained approval of committee, we will now begin the statutory process to introduce the scheme - during which local residents will have every opportunity to have their say."