Letters: Give the public something plush when it's time to flush

My youngest, who is three years old, needed the toilet so I took him to the public toilets behind the playground.

On entering the toilets I was met with a stale stench of urine. There was graffiti all over the walls and overall the toilets were an absolute disgrace. I would describe them as a public health hazard, and certainly not somewhere I'd like to take my children. I jokingly said to my wife that they reminded me of the scene from Trainspotting when Ewan McGregor used the "Worst Toilets in Scotland"!

Please Edinburgh City Council, get your act together.

Ally Knox, Penicuik

City departments need to liaise

Edinburgh City Council closed Blenheim Place two years ago to carry out work at the top of Leith Walk. The closure left only one access point to Regent, Royal and Carlton Terraces, the dangerous junction at Carlton Brae, The Resident's Association, Greenside Church, and several people living in the area registered a protest against the decision.

After months of prevarication on the part of council, an official met representatives of the Resident's Association only to admit there were problems but the council had no money available to solve them. The junction at Blenheim Place was re-opened just before Christmas 2009.

Imagine our surprise and horror when we learned last week that Blenheim Place was to be closed on Friday and Saturday to film a Christmas commercial. Nothing could indicate more clearly where the council's priorities lie.

I assume that a fee has been paid for this privilege. Could I ask three pertinent questions? Into which particular pot does the money go? Will it be used to fund the essential road safety measures required at Carlton Brae? Finally, do officials from different departments ever discuss these matters before making a decision?

Forgive me for pursuing the matter through your columns but officials are either unable or unwilling to answer questions directed through ward councillors.

P Marriott, Regent Terrace, Edinburgh

Roads budget not just for repairs

I THOUGHT it would be helpful to correct the misinterpretation of some Scottish Government data in your article 'Roadworks at a dead end' (News, 7 July). Last year's spend included an extra 2m to keep Edinburgh moving in the worst cold snap in 30 years. This was not part of last year's 'budget' - so the 'budget' wasn't slashed by 25 per cent. More significantly, the roads and transport category contains more budgets than just roads maintenance, including parking and street lighting. In some of these we have made major savings

Credit where it's due, the article mentions the huge commitment we have made to clearing the backlog of road repairs resulting from years of neglect. Nearly 60m has been spent on this in the last three years. Having invested this money, we would expect our need for routine maintenance to decrease.

I would also like to reassure readers that the apparent reduction in police and fire services spend (also quoted in the article) reflects no more than revised arrangements for the funding of pensions.

Once adjusted for this factor, both areas have in fact seen increased budget allocations in 2010/11. Similarly, the additional spend on ‘other' includes the cost of borrowing for schools and care facilities.

Cllr Gordon Mackenzie, Transport Convener, Edinburgh City Council

Two-door buses speed things up

Boarding a bus in Edinburgh seems to take ages as there's always folk wishing to get off. In other cities the buses all have two doors, one to exit from and the other to board at.

Why doesn't Edinburgh adopt this policy for all of its buses? It would make bus journeys much speedier.

Colin C Maclean, Hillpark Avenue, Edinburgh

Do you think Edinburgh's public toilets are an embarrassment to the city?