Letters: Abandoning the trams now would be greatest folly of all

BRIAN Johnstone is correct when he says that the tram project is a folly (Letters, June 11). However, all of this was predicted. I, and many others, predicted this in these columns.

If we could foresee this, why didn't the politicians? Was it because the council was so intent on acquiring its own shiny "train set" they ignored us?

Don't we all remember that a photograph of a tram appeared on some marketing material of Waterfront developers? How did they "know" trams were coming long before it was even on the political agenda?

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We need a public enquiry to determine what actually went on, what has happened in TIE and where every penny of the cash paid out has gone.

However, the difficulty now for me is that although this is clearly a scandal, I wonder whether we have gone too far down this road to stop it.

Do we want to look at the rails already laid and be reminded of our council's folly? Or do we seek help from the government to make sure this project is completed?

Two things occur. First, the Scottish Government had a chance to stop it when elected in 2007. Because it failed to do so, it is largely responsible for the debacle. It should therefore pay to put it right.

Second, if the project is completed, then we should be looking to make the trams a worthwhile project by extending it throughout the city to make a real network. It should extend to the satellite towns not currently served by rail.

If we fail to do this then all we will have is Calton Hill's Disgrace of Edinburgh mark II – another monument to a foolish and out-of-control council.

Jim Taylor, The Murrays Brae, Edinburgh

Drop-off fees will punish disabled

I AM outraged at the proposal to charge drivers for dropping off passengers at Edinburgh airport (Airport's 1 drop-off tax, News, 12 June).

As things stand, unless one is a passenger in a vehicle with registration identification, one is hardly being "dropped off at the front door". There is still a bit of a walk until one is through the front door at the airport.

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Like many other people, I have mobility problems so having to walk further than currently, would present a problem for myself and many people in the same situation. Purely because one is not actually a wheelchair user, does not mean there is no disability.

Do they intend to allow blue badge holders to be dropped off as at present without incurring any charge?

When one finally gets into the departures lounge, there is a lot of standing around to be done before check-in and again when one gets upstairs to passport control, which can cause added stress to anybody who is not fit, regardless of the reason.

This appears to me to be just another money-making exercise at the expense of the general public who require to use the facilities at EIA for whatever reason.

Name and address supplied

Zeroing in on waste plant truth

In your article "Campaigners hail decision to throw out waste depot" (News, 10 June), Viridor's spokesman, commenting on the decision by Scottish Government Reporters to refuse planning permission for a waste transfer station in Portobello, claims that it is a bitter blow in the light of the new zero waste strategy and that there is a need for "next generation" facilities to deal with waste.

However, it is disingenuous to argue that this decision is somehow not consistent with the strategy, as what was proposed for Portobello was not a "next generation" facility. It was a massive waste transfer facility which would have depended on vast quantities of residual waste (the very thing that the zero waste strategy is trying to eliminate) in order to ensure its financial viability, in other words it would have been a "last century" operation.

We argued from the word go that this facility was not needed in Portobello (or anywhere else ), that it would have a detrimental visual impact on the surrounding residential conservation area, and have been vindicated by the Reporters' decision.

Diana Cairns, chair, Portobello Opposes New Garbage Site