City looking at taking control of airport road

Former Lord Provost Lesley Hinds believes if the roads are formally "adopted" the city would then be able to control what charges are levied. But it would also land the city with responsibility and the huge bill for maintaining the road.

Councillor Hinds asked for the proposal to be investigated following the furore over the decision by the airport to bring in a 1 drop-off charge for passengers, despite public opposition.

She has also asked officials to look at the possibility of drawing up some kind of official agreement with the airport, to provide a guarantee that public transport can continue to run up to the terminal building, and give the council more say in future measures such as the drop-off charge.

But her plans were slammed by BAA, which said it was "surprised" that the council would consider adding to its mounting bills with a road which costs on average 150,000 to maintain every year.

Cllr Hinds said: "The roads into the airport are owned by BAA, so they are able to say who is able to use them."

"We previously had a situation, for example, where black cabs couldn't pick up at the airport as BAA had a deal with private hire cars, and there was nothing the council could do.

"This latest tax is another example of that - there was no consultation, as far as I'm aware, with the council over this charge, and the impression I get is that they will not back down from it regardless of what the public feeling is.

"The concern is what will happen in future, and while we have no reason to believe they would do anything like this it would be possible, in theory, for them to refuse access to public transport or levy another charge for that.

"What I feel is that we need to look at this issue now to avoid any potential conflicts in future, and I have asked officials to look at the possibility of the council adopting these road, or drawing up some kind of agreement with the airport which would ensure something like this didn't happen again."

A report on the proposals is expected to go before the council within the next month, and a spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said they were aware of the proposal.

But he insisted the company already enjoyed a good working relationship with the council, and suggested it did not have the finances to take on yet another stretch of road.

The spokesman said: "We're surprised the council is looking to adopt costs at a time when it is seeking large cuts to spending. Our road maintenance bill is approximately 150,000 per year.

"We value our strong relationship with City of Edinburgh Council and are working hard with them to ensure that we can provide the choice of routes and destinations that befits Scotland's capital city."