Edinburgh Sucks! | Congestion charge anniversary

Andrew Burns

Congestion charge anniversary

By The Basa ⋅ February 22, 2006 ⋅

It’s exactly a year to the day since Edinburgh said no to to the Labour administration on congestion charging.

Three quarters of residents voted against the plan to charge two pounds to drive into the city centre. Perhaps a fitting day for Bumbling Andy Burns’ resignation?

It seems that Transport Edinburgh have now gone to sleep in the wake of the humiliating defeat.Â Their website, http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/transportedinburgh/Â nicely points out “Parking for Christmas Shopping” if you look at the title of the page when you click on the How to get into and around Edinburgh city centre link.Â Going through their press releases it was interesting to see their response to being well and truly hammered by the populace, the title of which was “Council Positive on Transport Future”.Â Some interesting quotes worth mentioning from the release is:

This means that Edinburgh citizens have voted in favour of the base strategy set out in the Councilâ€™s Local Transport Strategy.Â Congestion charging will not be introduced and transport investment in Edinburgh and the surrounding area will be funded by the Council and the Scottish Executive as it is now.

and Teflon Don’s response:

Responding to the result, Councillor Donald Anderson, Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council said: â€˜We are pleased that a record number of people have taken the time to engage in the debate and give their view.Â We are a Council that listens to the views of its residents and we respect the decision that people have made.

What was he supposed to do, throw out the result? Looking back really shows the leadership we are lumbered with for another year.