Edinburgh may cut parking fees by 25% to offset road tolls

PARKING fees in Edinburgh city centre could be reduced by up to 25 per cent in an attempt to prevent shoppers going elsewhere if congestion charging is introduced in 2006.

It is one of a series of possible measures aimed at ensuring the city centre does not suffer if the 2-a-day charge goes ahead.

City councillors are expected to decide tomorrow on the final shape of the scheme, to be put to a local referendum in February. In the run-up to the vote, West Lothian Council is considering a billboard campaign against the charge, using sites in and around Edinburgh.

The parking charge proposal would see 40p taken off the highest rates of 1.60 and 1.80 an hour, at a cost to the council of 1.7 million a year.

Councillors will be asked to agree to a working group to consider that and other measures, such as a city-centre shuttle bus linking the main shopping areas and a cheap all-day city-centre bus ticket. These are all aimed at helping people to get around more easily, such as between railway stations, car parks and the shops.

The improvements would be funded from the 15 million the council plans to allocate for marketing the city centre over five years to offset the impact of congestion charging.

However, the proposals met with a cool response from shops that have campaigned against charging. A spokesman for the City Centre Retail Group, which includes John Lewis, said: "While many of these measures will prove useful, we do not believe they will be sufficient to mitigate the large negative impact of congestion charging on city-centre shops, and we continue to oppose the scheme."

The Edinburgh City Centre Management Company, which represents 90 organisations and businesses, was more positive.

Gordon Reid, the group’s chief executive, said: "The suggested measures are very welcome and are a clear demonstration that the council is responding positively to ideas put forward by retailers.

"I am pleased that the council is proposing to work with us and the retailers to agree specific measures to mitigate the impact of congestion charging, if it is introduced in 2006."

Meanwhile, West Lothian Council, one of the fiercest opponents of the proposed charging scheme, is taking legal advice over whether it could mount a billboard campaign in the run-up to the referendum.

Willie Dunn, the council’s enterprise and development convener, said yesterday: "The adverts might read: ‘Next time you pass this billboard, it will cost you 2’."

Mr Dunn said his council planned to stage a referendum among its own 120,000 voters with the question: "Are you in favour of Edinburgh’s congestion charging scheme?"

He claimed the question was unbiased, unlike the question to be used in the Edinburgh poll. That states: "The council’s preferred strategy includes congestion charging and increased transport investment funded by it. Do you support the council's preferred strategy?"

However, Tom Aitchison, Edinburgh’s returning officer, said he had taken independent legal advice from senior counsel about the question. He said that an information leaflet to be included with the ballot paper had also been checked against both the law and guidance from the Electoral Commission.

A city council spokesman said: "It is not appropriate for this council to comment on West Lothian Council’s information campaign for the transport referendum."