Letters: It's not just Princes Street, entire city centre's a mess

It is not just the amount of buses, it is the general look of disrepair and poor maintenance that is the problem.

For example, I contacted the council, Cllr Aldridge, in September 2009, pointing out the amount of obsolete signposts there were in the city centre, citing them as one example of the area looking run down.

Cllr Aldridge replied to me stating that he had issued instructions to the relevant department that, as an ongoing exercise, they should be removed. This was not to be a one-off.

What has happened since? Not one signpost has been removed and those responsible for the work now refuse to correspond.

This is just one example of how this and previous administrations continually refuse to act to stop the decline of Edinburgh city centre, not just Princes Street.

You can look at the state of Rose Street, Tarmac thrown down where bricks should be. Broken bollards everywhere.

Yet again we are employing a city centre management team to see that the area is maintained to a proper standard.

Again, it's total failure on behalf of the council. The entire city centre is a most depressing place to go due to the continued inaction of successive councils.

This is just another report that will gather dust in the council offices and again they will do nothing.

David Black, Kenmure Avenue, Edinburgh

Architects telling us nothing new

THE study of Edinburgh's city centre by Gehl Architects concludes that it is not fulfilling its potential and the area is dead after the shops have shut. What else did they expect?

During the summer, and especially at festival time, the city is "hoaching", to use David Sim's word, with tourists and revellers.

But for most of the year, let's remember, Edinburgh is a working city.

So when the shops and offices close for business, the workers grab their coats and head for home, the city centre empties.

No mystery there, really.

Good luck to Gehl, though, for charging our gullible city councillors lots of money to tell them in a report how rubbish it is.

It's a bit like them popping round to your house, telling you your car is "underperforming" once it's been garaged after your daily commute is over, then saying "That will be 50 please".

Richard Thompson, Willowbrae Road, Edinburgh

Lighting leaving drivers in dark

Is it just me or my ageing eyesight, but are Edinburgh's roads getting darker? I have become more aware recently that the street lighting on many roads is very dull.

This seems to be more prevalent on roads where new "white" lights have been installed.

I find it very dark on some roads, eg Meadowplace Road, Ravelston Road, etc.Are the new lights energy-saving or is the council turning them down with dimmer switches to save money and energy.

I think it is far better to save lives than money and energy.

David Bryden, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh

Why did the telly bells toll so early?

Just before the bells, my wife and I settled down with our dram, shortbread and black bun.

We had the TV tuned to STV to bring in the New Year.

When the magical time came, I stood up to wish my wife a Happy New Year, and by the time I was finished at 12.05am, STV had a movie on called American Pie.

No wonder our traditions are dying out when Hogmanay is cut to five minutes by, of all things, a Scottish TV station.

B Hayward, Carrick Knowe Loan, Edinburgh