You can only catch a bus if you know where to find it

NEVER mind the disruption caused by tramworks in central Edinburgh, I would settle for knowing where and when to go for a bus.

Day by day bus-stops are in use, out of use and in use again, and I have noticed that it always seems to be the bus-stops with a shelter attached which are taken out of use, leaving passengers to stand at temporary stops exposed to the elements with no timetable.

On Friday, after shopping on the south side, I headed for a bus-stop and shelter in Buccleuch Street which I have used regularly for the last 20-odd years, only to find it was suddenly out of service, leaving me to stand out in the wind and the rain at a temporary stop several hundred yards away, holding on to heavy shopping-bags as there was nowhere to put them down apart from on the wet, filthy pavement.

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It wouldn’t matter if the only bus to Barnton from the south side, the 41, was more frequent than every 15 minutes (if you’re very lucky!). The (mis)management of public transport in Edinburgh is a scandal and a disgrace.

Harry D Watson, Braehead Grove, Edinburgh

Waste was Lib Dems’ undoing

I AM grateful that Jenny Dawe (Letters, May 10) has confirmed the fact that her statements in the aftermath of the council elections were untrue, though I remain concerned that she has not had the good grace to admit it. Relying on the defence that I and others “know full well’ what she means is frankly not good enough for making what looks at face value to be deliberately misleading comments. Suffice to say that Jenny has confirmed my point that the council’s reserves in 2007 were more than £20 million and not £373,000.

Far from knocking the seriousness of the council’s financial position in 2007, I am firmly of the view that I understood it better than Ms Dawe. It is correct to say that the director of finance issued dire warnings to the council in June 2007, but as I have said to his face and in writing, he also misrepresented the true position on balances.

Lastly, ex-councillor Dawe makes no mention of trams. The overspend on trams dwarfs any financial issue that has faced any council in Scotland in modern times. The tram project is the biggest overspend on a project in Scottish local government history. Thanks to the catalogue of errors made, it is also the biggest waste of public funds on a project in Scottish local government history.

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It is that waste and overspend that contributed to the anger of Edinburgh residents, that led to so many Liberal Democrats losing their seats at the council elections.

Donald Anderson, The Spinney, Edinburgh

Don’t squander Scottish heritage

I KNOW I live on the other side of the world, but that parliament building just has to be one of the ugliest buildings in the civilised world.

A concrete monolith has been “plonked” in the middle of historic Edinburgh, right next to Holyrood Palace and the Old Town.

Our Wodonga city councillors, nay, the whole government of Victoria, are imbeciles but we’re only destroying and disfiguring “recent” history. Nothing here has been in place for more than 175 years and most of our “old stuff” is much more recent than that.

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You should compel your officials to perform to a higher standard with regard to historic precincts. You shouldn’t squander your heritage.

Paul O’Connor, Wodonga, Victoria, Australia

Politicians must work together

IT is time for politicians to establish new work ethics. I grew up in Germany, where absolute majorities are an exception and coalitions are the rule.

Politicians are keenly aware that governing almost always involves cooperation with other parties and interest groups, and the more they are able to do that, the more successful their government will be, the more work will get done, and the more people will benefit.

At the end of the day, politicians are people whose job it is to work for the country, not for their own ego.

That’s what we pay them to do. We do not pay them to tear each other apart and lose themselves and their precious energy in pointless and petty arguments.

Mara Goetz, Edinburgh