Crackdown on pavement parking - your views online

Pavement parking in Edinburgh could be banned after proposals to clamp down on the ‘antisocial behaviour’ won council backing.

Jade Shand: If we park on the road where I live it would mean buses couldn't get through so what should we do? Even by parking on the pavement it’s still wide enough to let buggies and wheelchairs past.

Andrew Davidson: It’s about time vehicles parking on pavements was banned. These drivers give no consideration to pedestrians and are too lazy to find a suitable parking place. If drivers can’t find a parking space, try using a bus or use a taxi.

John Clarke: Parking on the pavement is always dangerous. That is the big clue as to why it should be stopped by punitive measures.

Graham Gray: OK park normally – then let’s see how much traffic gets backed up.

Ewen Macleod: I realise there are occasions when people parking on a pavement can be dangerous. Unfortunately the majority of the time there is no other real alternative. Every time there is dangerous parking it should be penalised. The reality is this council will use the parking offences as a money-making exercise. There is simply not enough room in the majority of areas – the only option is to park on a pavement.

Ralph MacGillivary: The option is to park elsewhere and walk. It's good for you. How often are HGV vehicles an impediment to emergency vehicles? You have not made a case to justify pavement parking. You have made a case for people to consider parking elsewhere and walking.

Jamie Gaunson: Are we meaning cars parked completely on the pavement or just a wheel up on the kerb? As an HGV driver I can say that without cars being parked on kerbs in some tight streets in Edinburgh this will 100 per cent be a problem and a nuisance to emergency vehicles if they ever need to get into those streets.

Marion Johnstone: We kept reporting cars parked on the pavement right outside our house. Police told us that unless they were a danger there was nothing they could do. This is good news.

Kevin Nicolson: It’s the start of another load of fines for drivers.

Gerry Smith: Only drivers who park irresponsibly and. Sounds OK to me

Robert Howlieson: They can’t even enforce blocked bus lanes.

Buildings bulldozed

Proposals to demolish buildings in the heart of Edinburgh’s historic Old Town and build student flats have been given the green light by the Scottish Government – just months after being refused by the City of Edinburgh Council.

Diarmid Martin: What’s the point of a planning department or process if every time a developer does not get approval from the council they go crying to the Scottish Government and the decision is overruled? The whole appeal process needs to be abolished or changed to reflect all interests, not just the developers.

Frame Htebazile: This is happening time and time again across Central Scotland. Here in West Lothian, the council had objected to Glen Turner Distillery expanding on to local green belt fields. One appeal to the Scottish Government later and the Reporter overturns the objection with the flick of their pen. What is the point of local councils making decisions, which are often backed by local people and are in the local area’s best interest, when someone in the Scottish Government with no interest in local people’s views can overrule decisions? Makes a mockery of democracy.

Camille Baggs: Leave the city alone. Princes Street has already been reduced to a dump. Princes Street Gardens has been ruined by the Christmas Market, when they cut down lots of beautiful trees to make room for more tat stalls. Don’t ruin the Old Town now! Yes we are a university city but think about the citizens who live here all year round – preserve what history and beauty we actually have left.

John Childs: This is shocking news and will lose the SNP votes. Edinburgh is a city built on tradition and the Old Town is very much part of that tradition. The buildings are part of what the tourists go to see in Edinburgh.

Lioslaith Rose: How can the SNP hope for an independence vote to go their way when they are willing to put developers’ interests over the wishes of just about everyone else in opposition? How many students flats can one town have while homeless people still exist?