Pressure grows on city to delay road tolls vote

PRESSURE was mounting today on Edinburgh’s transport leaders to scrap the referendum on the controversial road tolls scheme until after a legal challenge.

City transport chairman Andrew Burns and council leader Donald Anderson have insisted the referendum go ahead as planned, despite the fact a legal wrangle over planned exemptions for some Edinburgh residents is still to be resolved.

It means people will be asked to vote on the tolls scheme without knowing whether the courts will overturn plans to exempt commuters in west Edinburgh from the 2-a-day charge.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Fife, West Lothian and Midlothian councils claim the exemption is unfair to commuters from outside the city. They want it delayed until after the court case.

But city council chiefs will press ahead after changing the wording of an information leaflet proposed to go out with the referendum ballot papers.

Voters are now to be warned about the judicial review in the ballot paper and that if successful, the council will have to rethink the scheme it submits to the Scottish Executive in the event of a "yes" vote in the referendum. The council’s Labour administration has insisted on the retention of the exemption against the advice of its own officials and the findings of the independent public inquiry into the congestion-charging scheme.

The court is expected to hear legal arguments on February 3 and 4, although the city council is already trying to get more time allocated to the case and it may now be held over four days, starting from March 15.

The chief executive Tom Aitchison has already ordered the alterations that need to be made to the information leaflet.

If councillors wish further changes to be made, then a minor delay to the staging of the referendum is almost inevitable, in order to ensure they are printed and can be distributed in time for deliveries to start on February 7. The closing date for the return of ballot papers is February 21.

Mr Aitchison has also given the option, favoured by the other councils, of completely delaying the referendum until after the legal challenge is resolved.

Adam Montgomery, leader of Midlothian Council, said: "I would urge the city council to take this opportunity and postpone the referendum until after the court case. The other options are only going to lead to more confusion and possibly cost to the taxpayer.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"As we have an early date for the court to consider the legal issues, it makes sense to ensure that voters are fully aware of the implications for them, particularly as the wording of the existing question has raised so many concerns."

Mike Rumney, chair of Fife’s environment and development committee, said: "At long last, it looks like Edinburgh might actually have to listen to its legal advisors.

"We have raised our legal concerns over and over again, long before the public inquiry last year, but the council has seemed determined to steamroller this through. I find it incredible that it has let things rumble on for so long."

West Lothian Council leader Graeme Morrice added: "The city council has ignored clear advice from its own officials, its own consultants and the public inquiry reporters.

"Now it is up to the council to review its position and decide its own actions. It is the council’s problem and it will have to reconsider this whole issue very carefully indeed."

City transport leader Andrew Burns today insisted there would be no delay to the referendum, adding:

"This whole subject is far too important to be willfully delayed by a few out of town lawyers. It should be decided in the court of democracy and not a court of law. We see no reason to delay the democratic process of the referendum."