Letters: £2 parking charge is not a hill of a lot to ask walkers

People don’t like change. And the introduction of a £2 car-parking charge in parts of the Pentlands is change (News, December 28).

But as a frequent user of the Pentlands I see a lot of merit in a charge as a way of raising extra money for the park maintenance.

It seems to work well in the Lake District and has the additional benefit of making people think about whether they need to drive to walk.

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After all the park is really well-served by buses which also make end-to-end walks possible.

A few years ago I saw a cartoon of two walkers parking their car, one saying to the other: “If the price of petrol keeps rising I’ll have to give up walking.”

The irony remains.

Gavin Corbett, Briarbank Terrace, Edinburgh

Timing is key for a dip in the sea

WHAT a pity Portobello didn’t respond to the idea of a dip in the sea for charity (News, December 27).

Organisers were hopeful of success because of the Loony Dook not too far away, but that is probably part of the problem, as many people are used to raising money for charity in that more established event, and are probably not in a hurry to dip into freezing waters twice within the space of a week.

The chances are that on Boxing Day more people would have been interested in plunging into the sales in town as a way of parting with their cash.

A Morris, St Leonard’s Lane, Edinburgh

Actually, we want parking controls

ANDREW Gray (Letters, December 27) has spent months haranguing residents of Morningside because he doesn’t want to have to pay about £20 a year to safeguard the parking space outside his own front door from commuters who use our residential streets as their free car park.

He has drummed up a petition which has produced a skewed ‘vote’ of residents in the consultation process.

Many of us are desperate to get these parking controls, as at the moment we can’t park anywhere near our own homes.

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It’s been explained over and over again that the result of the consultation will allow for those in greatest need to have the controls while those a little farther away can remain outside them.

Now he is threatening councillors who vote to protect their own constituents from the predations of commuter parking. Well I, for one, will applaud all councillors who do vote that way and will certainly support their return in the May election.

Charles Quinn, Belhaven Terrace, Morningside

See you in the Tower, Gibson!

WHAT John Gibson wrote about all the shenanigans and merriment at Sandringham, despite the Duke of Edinburgh’s illness, was spot on (News, December 27).

Mr Gibson, you have the guts to call a spade a spade– bang go your hopes of a knighthood ... see you at the Tower!

Sylvia M De Luca, Baberton Park, Juniper Green, Edinburgh

We need jobs, not green dreams

THE government’s carbon price floor is a tax on high-emission electricity plants.

The Centre for Policy Studies believes that this tax will wipe out the coal industry and 6,000 jobs.

The TUC has told the government that it must secure the long-term future of electricity from coal by investing in carbon capture and storage.

TUC leaders should instead question climate change scaremongering, which is driven by green zealots and those with a financial interest.

Some facts.

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China is opening 2 to 3 coal-fired power stations every week.

The EU only account for 14 per cent of global emissions. (The UK 2.0 per cent).

The other 86 per cent are growing their economies and their CO2 emissions.

TUC leaders should tell Energy Secretary Chris Huhne that saving jobs is more important than his green dream, which will be a nightmare for 6,000 people

Clark Cross, Springfield Road, Linlithgow