Letters

Published on Saturday 1 March 2008 10:19

Work is more than a little inconvenient

I AM writing about my disgust with Edinburgh City Council's decision to introduce trams to Edinburgh. I attended most of the meetings held by TIE for the council about the new trams. I also attended the meetings at the Scottish Parliament and was a witness against the Edinburgh trams.

At these meetings it was frequently stated there would be as little inconvenience as possible while the work was being carried out for the trams.

If the council consider the utter chaos which is going on in the city at present on behalf of the trams is a little inconvenience, then I am afraid I do not agree with them, and I suspect I am not alone.

When travelling by bus at the moment one has to allow much more time to reach one's destination.

When travelling on foot one has to take inconvenient detours around the barriers, which have been erected around the workings for the trams.

The congestion being caused in Princes Street and Leith Street is an example of the congestion there will be when the system is up and running. In Princes Street I would suggest there is insufficient space for two trams down the centre of the road and two bus lanes on either side of the trams.

Unless, of course, the plan is to remove the broad pavements, which were installed recently at great cost, bearing in mind this would entail removing the bus shelters with new information posts, and the ticket meters (which are still being installed).

At the moment when the buses overtake each other they are going over the area, which will contain the trams. It will only take something to break down in one of the lanes to cause gridlock.

And the whole system is a complete waste of money and totally unnecessary. These trams will be running on the same routes which have perfectly good bus services.

I have written to TIE about this, but I expect as usual the council will do what they want and totally ignore the will of the taxpayers.

Miss H T Reynolds, Balbirnie Place, Edinburgh

Art deal is a great British triumph

CONGRATULATIONS to the National Galleries of Scotland for securing for the nation Anthony d'Offay's impressive private collections of contemporary art for the nation.

As Linda Fabiani was quick to point out, the doors to modern art have been well and truly opened for everyone in Scotland.

With 10 million from the UK Government, 7m from the UK National Heritage Memorial Fund and 10m from the Scottish Government funding the deal it is a good example what can be achieved with a strong Scotland working as part of the United Kingdom.

Gordon MacRae, Upper Grove Place, Edinburgh

Bags are blight on beautiful coastline

WELL done to Marks & Spencer for introducing a charge for plastic carrier bags. Evidence of their disastrous effect on our local seabirds and other wildlife has been clearly demonstrated.

Reducing the use of carrier bags is just a small step but, hopefully, it will lead to growing awareness of how some of the most beautiful parts of the East Lothian coastline are blighted by all kinds of plastic rubbish.

Jenny Mollison, The Laigh House, Inveresk Village, Musselburgh

Poster witch-hunt killing music scene

AS a musician, songwriter and director of a music publishing company, I must concur with details of the issues raised in your article "Fly boys sick of getting the brush off in poster crackdown" (News, February 26) and begin with a simple fact.

The live music scene in Edinburgh, as in other cities around the world, is reliant on street postering as one of its important advertising vehicles to fill venues.

As a result of this current witch-hunt against flyposters in Edinburgh, the live music scene in the Capital is slowly disintegrating and disappearing, to be replaced with theme bars and Omni Centres.

The previously vibrant multi-textured fabric of the inner city is turning into a predictably themed centre for stag and hen nights and middle-taste tourist tat.

The attacks on Edinburgh gig managers and club owners for using postering to advertise their upcoming events is having a negative effect on that local economy.

Glasgow, on the other hand, is alive and thriving and absolutely thrumming with live bands and a vibrant music scene spawning popular bands and world music scene contenders. Glasgow supports and values its own inner city arts culture, as does Dundee. Both cities have "legal" poster sites, as do most if not all of the major cities in the UK (and Europe and the Americas).

Here's a fact for you: It is a Scottish Government directive to find a positive solution for "designated legal postering sites", and Edinburgh City Council is dragging its feet.

Edinburgh seems to want clean streets, (lots of new expensive residential developments), no noise, no vibrancy – except once a year during the Festival, when a bit of excitement is allowed. The rest of the year, Edinburgh, the purported capital city of Scotland, conducts herself like one of her Morningside ladies, with the lace curtains drawn.

Electra Smith, MGCK Music, Edinburgh

Perjury strikes at the heart of justice

MARY BLAIR (letters, February 28) argues 1m is being "squandered" on the Sheridan perjury inquiry.

Perjury strikes at the very heart of the justice system and is one of the most serious of offences. If there is evidence of perjury then it is appropriate that no stone is left unturned to establish the truth.

A court will decide on whether people are guilty of perjury. The time to examine whether or not the police are directing their resources appropriately is after the result of the trial.

Cameron Rose, Conservative Councillor, Southside/Newington