Interactive: Closing down schools a vote loser for coalition council

Tell us your views by e-mail:

or write to us at:

Evening News, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS

MY WIFE, son and I are starting the process of filling forms to move our son to another school due to the council closing Drumbrae Primary School.

He has had a fabulous time and education there so we are keeping him there up until this summer. This way he will enjoy the lower class sizes until next term when he will be "stacked and racked".

My wife and I as voters will never vote SNP or Liberal Democrat again in any election for the rest of our lives due to the council coalition's sheer contempt with which they have treated everybody connected with the school.

I have seen this council finally do some forward thinking in the News (10 February).

They are going to build Drumbrae into a care home for the elderly. The school grounds look on to a cemetery so the OAPs will be able to pick their future plots from the window.

Genius!

Graham Wilson, Drumbrae Drive, Edinburgh

Put city's needs in front of popularity

EDINBURGH is the fastest growing city in the UK, with the population projected to exceed 500,000 in the next decade. With car ownership one of the highest in the country and pollution exceeding EU guidelines in some parts of the Capital, and with traffic congestion increasing, it is time for the city council to take action.

Congestion charging should be introduced within two years, and car parking prices and fines for illegal parking should be increased.

I accept these are unpopular measures for many, but the money raised could freeze bus, taxi and park-and-ride fares, and subsidise the opening of suburban rail lines with tickets to be integrated with Lothian Buses and trams.

Future transport plans could include electric/hybrid buses, the tram network being increased, a cycle programme similar to that in London, and more greenway bus lanes, but active at peak periods only. Councillors are not elected to win popularity contests but to take hard decisions where required and put the future needs of Edinburgh first.

George Ritchie, North Gyle Terrace, Edinburgh

Tax rise is answer to service shortfall

SURELY nobody in their right mind can envy our 58 councillors as they sit down to decide the city's budget.

Thanks to extensive coverage by the Evening News, everyone now should be fully aware that the city's coffers for this coming financial year are millions of pounds short of what is needed to adequately fund a wide range of our essential services.

Surely this is to a great extent the consequence of unrealistically low increases in council tax over several years and the complete freezing of it this past two – despite a steady rise in demand for services.

Our elected representatives have repeatedly ordered the council's various department heads to identify and then implement efficiency savings.

The problem is there is only so much fat that can be removed. The council has been cutting away at the bone for some considerable time, the inevitable result being that some services are now under-resourced to such an extent that their effectiveness is now deteriorating and so service users are suffering.

We need to see a gradual increase in council tax over the next few years so that in the short term our services can be protected and in the longer term improved.

A degree of borrowing would have to take place, but only until such time as the demand for services is matched by resources.

Mr Korstiaan P Allan, Whitingford, Edinburgh

Story very hard on soft drinks

THE contents of the story "Soft drinks link to cancer" (News, 8 February) do not justify the headline. The authors of the scientific research which inspired the story themselves say that the outcome of the study could have arisen by chance and that limitations within the study methodology do not allow for conclusive findings.

What this means is that soft drinks remain safe to drink but, like all food and drink, they should be consumed as part of a balanced diet and active lifestyle.

Richard Laming, British Soft Drinks Association, Stukeley Street, London