Decision on festival halt to tramworks 'still months away'

Published on Tuesday 24 March 2009 21:03

TRANSPORT chiefs in Edinburgh have warned they will wait several months to rule on whether to go ahead with a ban on tramworks on Princes Street during the summer festivals.

Officials are expected to delay until early summer a decision on whether to tell contractors to down tools for up to six weeks to accommodate major events and the huge crowds expected to descend on the capital.

The city council and its tram firm, TIE, are coming under increasing pressure to make up their minds on whether to call off the festival "embargo" to try to limit the impact of tramworks on the festive shopping season.

The Scottish Retail Consortium, the most powerful industry lobby group in the country, is demanding an urgent decision to continue tramworks throughout August.

But that prospect is being opposed by festival organisers and major venues like the Assembly Rooms and the National Gallery of Scotland amid health and safety fears, and concerns about the image visitors may get of the capital.

Although the start of major work on Princes Street was halted while a dispute between TIE and a German contractor took a month to resolve, the council claims it is running just over a week behind schedule.

But the SRC, which last week reported the worst decline in retail sales for eight years, still fears work risks dragging on into the crucial festive shopping period.

The SRC's director, Fiona Moriarty, told The Scotsman: "As far as retailers are concerned, it is absolutely essential that tramworks on Princes Street are completed before the festive shopping season.

"Although the dispute has been settled, there is still a lot of nervousness about further delays and the priority has to be completing work as soon as possible.

"We need to have an absolute assurance that work is not going to drag on into December when we may be able to have it finished a lot earlier."

However a spokeswoman for the city council said: "We have not made a final decision over this and it is not likely to be made until work on Princes Street is well under way."

The council said it had not proposed reopening Princes Street to traffic, but was intending to halt work completely in the city centre for the duration of the festivals.

A source said: "We're not likely to make a decision on this until pretty late in the day, but it'll be taken in the interests of the city as a whole."

The council has a major dilemma over whether to continue tramworks over the festival season as it is bookended by two huge events – the annual cavalcade and the festival fireworks display – which attract crowds of more than 250,000 people.

But traders are anxious that delays to the tram project could threaten vital pre-Christmas business if the work goes on later than planned, causing shoppers to shun the city centre.

Michael Apter, chair of the West End Traders Association, said: "We just want these tramworks over and done with. Unless it is going to have a critical impact on the ambience of the festivals and affect major events then we think work should continue through August."

Graham Russell, the new small business champion for areas affected by tramworks, said: "The position being taken by businesses is a sensible one.

"Carrying on with work through the festivals is the right thing to do."