Parking, burial and littering hikes planned in latest cuts

Published on Monday 13 December 2010 16:02

PARKING charges would be increased across the Capital, environmental wardens would be given tougher targets for litter and dog fouling fines and burial costs would be hiked in the latest savage cuts proposed by city council officials.

A new round of proposals that could save the cash-strapped city council 35 million over the next three years were unveiled today.

The savings, which cut across all areas of the council, would take the total value of cuts already identified up to around 78m. But the proposals, which councillors will be asked to decide on at a budget-setting meeting in February, are certain to impact on the lives of tens of thousands of city residents and lead to hundreds of job losses at the local authority.

One of the most contentious measures is the latest hike in parking charges, with the busiest streets set to see the biggest rise.

The price of pay and display parking would surge by 30 per cent, from 2 to 2.60 an hour in city centre streets including George Street, St Andrew Square, Charlotte Square, Queen Street, Market Street and Cockburn Street. And the cost of parking in busy New Town streets like Northumberland Street and St Stephen Street will surge by a third, to 1.60 an hour.

&#149 Do you agree with council proposals to raise car parking charges in the city? Vote here

Hugh Bladon, a founding member of the Association of British Drivers, said: "The council just seems to regard anyone driving a car as having a bottomless pit of money to keep the council going. The council would do a lot better to get rid of some of their jobsworths. Anybody that drives a car is being hit left, right and centre with fuel going up and parking charges constantly being increased by councils."

Council chiefs hope they can raise an extra 30,000 a year by setting tougher targets for the number of 50 fines dished out by environmental wardens for litter, dog fouling, trade waste and domestic waste. But in a report for councillors, officials in the council's services for communities department said: "There is a risk that any perception of over-zealous enforcement could attract negative media coverage."

Burial fees for adults increased by 5.1 per cent to 812 in April but another eight per cent rise is proposed for next year, taking the fee up to 876.

Another proposal would see the council's "fine turf" squads, which maintain public bowling greens and cricket squares, being axed in order to save 107,000 a year, placing the future of city's 14 bowling greens in doubt.

Community and voluntary groups that rely on grant funding face another blow - with a 440,954 "community grants" funding pot distributed by the city's 12 neighbourhood partnerships set to be dropped.Councillor Andrew Burns, leader of the Labour group on the city council, said: "I have to say that on first glance a lot of the savings in package three - as well as package two before it - won't be acceptable to the Labour group because they are impacting on front-line services.

"These proposals would have a huge impact on the vast majority of residents in the city and we do not feel that frontline services need to be reduced in quite such a way and will work on alternative proposals to bring forward."

Councillor Phil Wheeler, the city's finance leader, said: "Last week's announcement of the detailed settlement for individual councils in Scotland was disappointing for Edinburgh.

"By the beginning of next week we should have a clearer picture of where we stand after some detailed analysis and when we have answers to some questions we have. We still have some difficult decisions to make, focusing on protecting essential front-line services."

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

Some of the other cuts proposed include...

&#149 CCTV cameras in five public parks - Ravelston, Rosefield, Union, Jewel and Saughton - would be taken down in a move that will save 17,000 a year.

&#149 Arts bodies and festivals would suffer another four per cent funding decline over the 2011-12 and 2012-13 financial years, in a move that council officials admit "will impact on both audiences and participants across the cultural infrastructure including festivals, theatres and galleries".

&#149 Property savings are expected to total 6.2m over the next three years. Although full details have not yet been announced, the changes are expected to include the closure and sale of property and relocations of offices.

&#149 Use of transport - especially taxis - for pupils and care clients could be reduced by 762,000, or 8.4 per cent, over the next three years.

&#149 Edinburgh Leisure's budget could be cut by another 174,000 over 2012-13 and 2013-14.

&#149 Adult day services could be retendered, to save an estimated 400,000.

&#149 Funding for community policing could be cut by another 200,000 in 2012-13 - in addition to a proposal to cut 300,000 next year, meaning a 20 per cent fall in all.

&#149 Council teams could stop collecting hazardous waste from homes, saving 25,000.