'Edinburgh hates cars – always has, always will' - Your views online

Plans for a Low Emission Zone in the centre of Edinburgh have been thrown into confusion after the city's transport committee refused to approve the proposals. Readers were quick to react...

The proposed city centre LEZ will not be going ahead in its current form

Bill Logie: Edinburgh hates cars – always has, always will.

Stevey Stevenson: True, but understandable, given that it's essentially a medieval layout with narrow streets just not designed for this level of population, or movement. The only real solution is in fast and efficient public transport, reviving the suburban railways (including an airport link perhaps partially using the redundant tram route) along with further boosting the excellent bus service.

Henry Campbell Gillan: No, Edinburgh hasn’t always hated the car. A good tram system covering most of the city was ripped up in the 1950s to cater for cars. Buildings along a vast swathe of the city were demolished to facilitate the inner city bypass, which thankfully never happened. Also our characteristic granite setts were removed from our streets to make sure car drivers had a smooth ride. Until recently pedestrians were given low priority where cars were concerned – an example being just how few safe crossing points are provided. Many of the light-controlled crossings only allow a few seconds to cross. I'd be interested if you know of any city nowadays that is catering for car use.

Gordon Jackson: It seems to have been stopped by political incompetence rather than any genuine consideration for the people of Edinburgh.

John Lamb: The air quality problem exists at a handful of locations on routes with high volumes of traffic. When you leave these streets, the pollution drops quickly. It is not a city-wide problem. If the councillors were to read (and understand) the air quality reports produced every year by the council, they would know this. The official assessment of the impact of the LEZ advises that buses are the main source of pollution in the city centre. This is what happens when you get a group of ill-informed individuals voting on a subject they don't understand.

Tom MacDonald: I used to work in transport at manufacturer level and sat in on many urban mobility planning presentations. It’s a complex plan to create for any city and in my humble opinion, our city leaders seem to be making it up as they go along.

Louise Wilson: I hope [Conservative group leader] Iain Whyte is right and it will be delayed until after next May's election, and the current incompetents will hopefully be gone. I would be delighted if the scheme was abandoned entirely. I haven't looked at voting details but that will make interesting reading. Thank you to those who voted against the scheme as it stands, and this will be remembered in May.

Kate Gibson: This has been on the cards since 2017 and has never been passed. Hopefully as you say it gets held off till after elections. As was said in the meeting, people surveyed said the zone would just make them take a different route, not make them use public transport etc so its basically a white elephant that will have major impact on businesses

Raphael Sainte-Claire: So this has been put on pause, for an unspecified number of years, because of last-minute demands? Why not just agree to do something first, then do more to it later?

Colin Gilbert: Does congestion bother drivers, or do they think it's a price worth paying for the convenience of using their car?

Fraser Loudon: Why not improve roads and have fewer lights. Car flow without stopping would reduce emissions by making roads themselves more efficient. All the anti-car measures cause congestion and more emissions.

John Mcnicoll: Tell me how forcing the oldest, most polluting cars to detour for miles is going to reduce pollution. It will only reduce pollution in centre of town and increase pollution everywhere else. The vast majority of car users buy the best they can afford so the poorest of our community won’t be able to upgrade their cars at a whim from the council. Most are still trying to recover from the last whim of the scrappage scheme to buy a diesel.

John Hewit: This isn’t a victory for common sense. It was voted down because it dosent go far enough for some of them. Sounds like they want a city-wide LEZ, not just in the city centre.

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