Edinburgh parking: Residents will no longer be consulted on new parking zones

People will still be able to object to the new controls when the Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) for the schemes are advertised.

But the city council's transport and environment committee agreed that "pre-TRO consultation" should no longer be used as part of the process of rolling out more Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) or Priority Parking Areas (PPAs) in line with council policy.

New controlled parking zones could be created in several areas around Leith and Gorgie

A report to the committee said that engagement with residents as part of the roll-out under the council's Strategic Parking Review had allowed local input before the TRO process began. Meetings had been well-attended and proved productive, but were costly and time consuming for the council. It was estimated that pre-TRO engagement for phase one of the review had added 9-12 months to the timescale and cost an extra £100,000.

Both CPZs and PPAs mean residents having to pay for parking permits to allow them to park within the area, while parking for other motorists is restricted.

Tory transport spokeswoman Marie-Clair Munro said the right balance needed to be struck between effective traffic management and respecting the needs of local communities.

"That means ensuring that residents are properly consulted before decisions are made, not simply presented with the plans after the fact."

She said when officers engaged with residents at the outset they could develop practical, tailored solutions that reflected local needs. "That's why we must commit to maintaining preliminary engagement as standard practice."

And she claimed failing to consult properly would create more problems than it solved. “A lack of engagement would make it harder for the council to respond to local concerns and as a result of TRO proposals we could be looking at more objections, delaying projects and eliminating any proposed savings.

"It's about getting things right first time. By doing so we can determine whether there is genuine support or objection from local people before moving forward."

Green councillor Chas Booth said in the revised process there would be “pre-engagement” ahead of the TRO instead. "That means lots of publicity, using online publicity, using lamp-post wraps, using leaflets through people's doors so that they're aware of what is happening.

"The main advantage of the pre-consultation in previous schemes was letting people know about what was happening, like a Q&A, commonly asked questions about what the impact will be.

"I think what we've seen, particularly in my ward in Leith, is people are really concerned about change but when that change happens the vast majority of people welcome it."

And he argued the council had committed to expanding CPZs, tackling the climate emergency and creating more pleasant streets, part of which was reducing the amount of parking.

"Democracy trumps consultation," he said. "We can't on the one hand say we support these measures and then on the other hand delay or reduce the impact of actually delivering on that."

Lib Dem group leader Kevin Lang said it was clear engagement would be about informing people whereas consultation was about listening to people.

He cited two examples of proposed parking zones - in Corstorphine and Trinity - where the committee had decided, as a result of consultations, not to proceed. But if there had been no consultation, the zones would have gone ahead, adding to officers' workloads unnecessarily.

And he said: "We have been repeatedly told in the past that a TRO process is not a consultation, it is an objection period."

Transport convener Stephen Jenkinson said the council was now a significant way along the process of rolling out the new zones. "In the past, the committee has felt that the process was too slow and we should embark on taking steps to increase the pace of delivery, while still being cognizant of the views of residents."

The committee voted 7-4 to scrap the consultations