Edinburgh Sucks! | New Leader Vol. I

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City Council

New Leader Vol. I

By The Basa ⋅ July 4, 2006 ⋅

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So this will be the summer of long knives with the city leader up for grabs in August.

Trevor ‘(little) Dick Dastardly’ Davies the man jokingly called the planning supremo like his two opponents fail to stand on their record at all. Normally when you go for a job you say well I can do that because look at what I’ve done already.

On transport Dick goes for:

Press ahead with trams, which will transform the way people move around the city; strengthen Princes Street by bringing people back into the centre.
Keep the balance right between people who want to walk, cycle, take the tram or bus, or drive their car.

No mention of how he was part of the cabinet who completely screwed up the city centre traffic management scheme which cost the taxpayers millions. No mention of the failed congestion charge which again cost the city millions.

On Development/Economy:

Press central government to let Edinburgh keep more of the money the city earns - one third of our income from business rates disappears every year.
Make sure we lead the green agenda, encouraging sustainable technology in new developments.

Again no mention of how he has developed the city centre into a ghost town where shops are empty and shopkeepers are losing fortunes. Even Marks & Spencer are moving out it is so dismal.

On Education:

Improve the life chances of the poorest children, concentrating on early-years education and relationship between school and family.

Again we are left with an empty promise that he will do something in the future when he and his lot have been in power for over 13 years and we have just this week seen the education standards of the city in the toilet.

Notice that all the contenders are totally behind the trams but the pages of the Evening News and the Scotsman keep telling us that the electorate seem totally against the trams. Dick also is pushing stuff for the poor. It is a shame that this Labour controlled council never thought about doing something for the poor in the 13 years they have been in office.

When Dick mentions affordable housing, why doesn’t he then contact PARC down in Craigmillar and ask them why they are not building to council guidelines of 25% affordable housing. The housing officials have told the community down there that it would be about 20%. Maybe before he gives up the Planning brief, he could get this sorted out.