Council is making life difficult for itself over Portobello CPZ plans - Steve Cardownie

A new controlled parking zone has been proposed for Portobello (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)

But any notion that it would be smooth sailing would surely have been dispelled after the stormy public meeting in Portobello last Tuesday night.

I wrote jokingly some time ago that the city council would not be satisfied until the whole of Edinburgh was designated as a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ), but if the situation in Portobello is not resolved to the satisfaction of local residents I might not have been far off the mark.

Edinburgh Council proposes to introduce a CPZ from King’s Road to Joppa, operating from 8.30am to 5,30pm, seven days a week. Residents would be forced to pay for parking permits to be able to park in or near their street and other drivers would have to use pay and display machines.

Seen by many, as no more than a blatant attempt to extort yet more money from residents and motorists, it is obvious that to describe this proposal as controversial would be an understatement, to say the least.

The meeting had been called for by one of the local councillors, Labour’s Jane Meagher, who is also council leader, but alas, she didn’t attend and Cllr Jenkinson stepped in to chair the meeting, which he described afterwards as being “fairly hostile.”

Apparently, it was packed out with more than 500 local residents and it would appear that they were out for blood. Reports stated that a council official was forced to sit down only one minute into a ten-minute presentation as the meeting constantly interrupted him, asking intense questions that continued for a couple of hours.

Cllr Jenkinson who, by all accounts, had difficulty controlling the meeting, noted afterwards that, “there was a very clear view from the audience,” and that their views would be taken into account when officers drafted a “suite of proposals, which the committee will vote on.”

Understandably perhaps, the vast majority of those who attended the meeting felt that it was just a “tick box exercise” and that the council was determined to press ahead no matter what the views of local residents were.

Some cited the council’s consultation over the closure of nearby Brunstane Road where “There were three consultations over that and the overwhelming majority opposed the closure, but the council didn’t listen, they overrode the wishes of the people” to quote local Conservative councillor, Tim Jones.

So, the transport brief is still the hot potato that it always was and it will be interesting to see how Cllr Jenkinson navigates his way through this most recent backlash from local residents.

The council constantly proclaims that it is a “listening council” and that it will, first and foremost, work with local communities to ensure that informed decisions will be made in their interests.

Although there was scant evidence of this when the “Spaces for People” measures were rolled out throughout the city, Cllr Jenkinson and his minority administration in the High Street, now have the opportunity to demonstrate that these were not just hollow words and that the public’s views are treated seriously and with respect.