Jenny Hjul: Toxic car charges leave me fuming

DRIVERS, in Edinburgh are continuing to choose the wrong type of cars and will now have to be punished. The council is the first in Scotland to introduce pay-as-you pollute parking permits, increasing costs for owners of so-called gas guzzlers by as much as 100 per cent.

Residents will still be allowed to pick the shape, and colour, of their vehicles, but if these exceed a certain size – to be determined by councillors – they will be hit with the extra charges.

For the privilege of parking in their own streets, the worst offenders will pay 320 instead of 160 for an annual permit, unless they happen to own a garage. Edinburgh transport officials have not yet fathomed how to penalise those who have access to off-street parking, but they are working on it. Families greedy enough to own two cars will be further clobbered to the tune of 400, so could end up paying 720 a year to park outside their homes.

The carbon-cutting champions on the council were spurred into action following the floods in Pakistan which, incredibly, they have been able to link directly to the purchasers of Land Rover Discoveries in Edinburgh.

It cannot be right to continue treating the atmosphere as a dumping ground for pollution, said Green councillor Steve Burgess, although he couldn't explain how a parked motor, whatever its engine capacity, emitted any CO at all.

Among those exempt from the eco-conscious initiatives are all government ministers who need to be chauffeured between the parliament and neighbouring palaces, council decision makers whose car costs are borne by the taxpayer, and the Prince of Wales, who is dependent on his Range Rover, and occasionally his helicopter, to transport him between stations during sustainability tours of the country.

Mothers with too many children will, of course, have to pay up, as will those who may have only two or three children themselves but who regularly give lifts to other people's offspring, plus their sports kit, trombones and cellos. People who can afford to buy a brand new, council-approved car before November will not incur the higher rates.

A PILOT scheme to introduce speed limits of 20mph in the capital is all very well but how is it to be enforced? The current 30mph limit in built-up areas is not taken seriously by many motorists and there is no evidence police regard reducing speed in town centres as a priority.

In fact, one of the worst rat runs in my bit of the city lies between two schools and adjacent to the headquarters of Lothian and Borders Police. While I have often been overtaken on this stretch by cars trying to break the land speed record, and have narrowly dodged collisions with accelerating white vans, I have never seen a single policeman out with a radar gun.

On the road where I live, the council created a "fast corridor", ostensibly for buses, several years back. Racing against the double deckers are tipper trucks, pushing their speedos towards 60mph. Repeated complaints to local bobbies have made no difference and nor will 20mph road signs.

Only hated speed cameras will slow down the determined law breakers, as in London, but councillors approaching election year may balk at such unpopular measures.

No wonder we won't let our children walk the streets; no wonder we need our big cars.

THE SNP must be delighted that its investment in Gaelic is at last paying dividends – in Germany. Even though just 1 per cent of Scots speak Gaelic, Germans are apparently queuing up to study at Sabhal Mr Ostaig on Skye and have swelled numbers at Gaelic summer schools in South Uist.

A documentary, made by the heavily subsidised BBC Alba, will feature the growing phenomenon of German Gaels and attempt to rationalise why they prefer our Celtic culture to their own.

The programme should warm the hearts of Nationalists; if their mission is to preserve Gaelic at any price, surely they won't mind its most fluent exponents neither reside (nor vote) in Scotland.THE SNP must be delighted that its investment in Gaelic is at last paying dividends – in Germany. Even though just 1 per cent of Scots speak Gaelic, Germans are apparently queuing up to study at Sabhal Mr Ostaig on Skye and have swelled numbers at Gaelic summer schools in South Uist.

A documentary, made by the heavily subsidised BBC Alba, will feature the growing phenomenon of German Gaels and attempt to rationalise why they prefer our Celtic culture to their own.

The programme should warm the hearts of Nationalists; if their mission is to preserve Gaelic at any price, surely they won't mind its most fluent exponents neither reside (nor vote) in Scotland.