Letter: Tram mistakes

I note the comments of Martin Petty (Letters, 13 August), and sympathise with his frustration. I expect his view is shared by many.

Of course we have made mistakes on this project. It would be inconceivable to imagine that any organisation managing a project of this scale, length and complexity would have done so without ever putting a foot wrong.

I also accept that often judgment calls are required, sometimes on the basis of imperfect information, and history will tell us if those judgments are right or wrong. I am constantly looking at what we have done, what we are doing and how might we do things better.

Any organisation which does not learn from mistakes is doomed to continue to repeat the same mistakes time and again.

There will be a time and place for publicly reviewing the lessons learned from this project, but as I have said that is not during the project. There can be no-one who believes that to conduct a review publicly while also trying to resolve the situation with the contractor would result in the best outcome for the public purse.

And as to my responsibility for sorting it out, it may surprise people to know that we have a clear strategy, and we are pursuing that strategy, and I do not think publishing that strategy will necessarily help me achieve it.

RICHARD JEFFREY

Edinburgh Trams

Haymarket Terrace

Edinburgh