Tram subsidy - 'Threat to bus firm will set off alarm bells'

Why would we need to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to move people around the city when Lothian Buses does it very effectively and cost-efficiently?

The pros and cons of this argument continue to divide opinion and have been debated at length in this newspaper.

What is unquestionably true is that Edinburgh boasts one of the UK's best bus operators which leaves most other cities looking on in envy.

The fears expressed by industry experts today, that the cost of bank-rolling a loss-making tram service could ruin Lothian Buses, will sound alarm bells across the Capital.

What happens if the tram does not hit its ticket sale targets, as happened in Sheffield when it launched a similar scheme? Could that liability be enough to ruin the bus operator which is expected to prop up the trams until they make a profit?

These are the questions to which councillors will no doubt demand answers before they sign off the latest developments in this increasingly sorry project.

Communal problem

sorting out communal repairs is a headache most people who spend any significant length of time living in a tenement become all too familiar with.

The dread is always that one neighbour will not play their part, leaving everyone else with a tricky dilemma: abandon the work or risk having to shoulder a much bigger bill.

In these situations, the city's much-maligned and arguably over-used statutory notice system acts as a vital safeguard, forcing errant owners to do the right thing.

The big drawback with the rules responsible for 28 million of on-going repairs in the Capital is that they are far too inflexible.

Once locked in, homeowners get little or no chance to influence what happens to their own property, including whether costly work should be staggered over time.

The council has ordered a timely review of its powers and must now build in new opportunities for householders to take back control of this work.