Lothian Buses must play fair with private firms

Lothian Buses can compete with independent operators on both price and excellence. Picture: Greg Macvean

Good quality at low or no cost is hard to beat and Edinburgh’s equivalent is not a broadcaster but the publicly owned and subsidised Lothian Buses which can compete with independent operators on both price and excellence. The row about wheelchairs and buggies apart, its new fleet reflects a continued investment in quality and East Coast Buses in East Lothian is far superior to the old First Bus services.

Taking a leaf from the BBC book it looked at other markets to boost revenues but expansion of its coach tours caused an ugly battle between its subsidiary Lothian Motorcoaches and independent tour companies like AAA and Rabbie’s. The unnecessary recent mickey-taking with private number plates, for which chairman Jim McFarlane made a public apology, forms part of wider allegations of intimidation.

Under huge pressure because of the £20m tram dividend demanded by the council, and now facing a bill of at least £72m to make sure the fleet is Low Emission Zone compliant, no wonder it is hungry for new opportunities.

Jings, crivvens and help ma boab... If youve ever wondered what Oor Wullies pals might look like in adulthood, then here is Soapy Souter, aka Edinburgh Labour leader Cammy Day. But no . . . Ive got more hair than Fat Bob . . . The Sunday Posts most famous staff member has never looked more colourful as he appears across Scotland to raise money for childrens charities, including the Edinburgh Sick Kids charity, thankfully not a problem for the city councils new A-board ban.

But independents see a public company using its buying power to threaten what has taken them years to build, so rather than fighting commercial operators, Lothian Buses should develop new profitable services which don’t cut across established operators.

Park the initiative

This week the city council announced a £900,000 investment in Edinburgh’s parks and green spaces from the UK government’s Future Parks initiative with the National Trust for Scotland and National Heritage Lottery Fund.

Council Parks Leader, Labour Councillor Karen Doran, welcomed “an exciting, challenging and rewarding project” which, working with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust, Edinburgh University and the Edinburgh Green Spaces Forum, aims to keep Edinburgh the greenest city in the UK.

It’s the kind of direct funding the UK government is keen to expand in Scotland, but it’s also an example of what the SNP condemned as a “power grab”, with Kirsty Blackman MP railing about “an out-and-out Tory plot to tear up the Scotland Act”.

The memo didn’t reach local SNP leader Adam McVey who happily retweeted the announcement. Careful you don“trash devolution”, Adam.

Artists’ impression

The Edinburgh Palette arts charity might be in St Margaret’s House in Meadowbank for some time yet before the building is redeveloped.

In a statement to the City, current owners Caledonian Trust confirmed completion of the £15m sale to the Drum Property Group will take two years if Drum submits a planning application within the next two months. They then have 12 months to win consent, three months to secure new occupants and then Caledonian has six months to clear the building.

The statement also confirmed the plan is predominantly for student flats, 493 of them, plus 98 other flats. Two years might be optimistic.

New homes hitch

According to new National Records of Scotland data, in ten years the number of homes in Edinburgh increased by 7.6 per cent, some 16,700 dwellings, mostly for small households of one or two people.

Even with more permissions going through, it illustrates the city council’s problem in hitting a target of 20,000 new affordable homes by 2027 when that needs to be accompanied by at least the same again in market-priced accommodation to fund it.

Lothian Buses must play fair with private firms – John McLellan