Spending Edinburgh's tourist tax: List of projects to be funded by Visitor Levy wins broad council support
Proposals on how Edinburgh should spend the money raised by the new tourist tax have won broad support from the city's transport committee.
The final decision on the projects which will be funded through the Visitor Levy will be made by the full council, but all parties on the transport and environment committee, except for the Conservatives, indicated general acceptance of the list of 21 projects put forward by officials.
These include more litter bins, new public toilets, increased graffiti removal and improved street cleaning with the biggest chunk of money going on the revamp and pedestrianisation of George Street.
The council has already agreed to spend some of the levy revenue on affordable housing. And the council's culture and communities committee will also bring forward a list of projects.
SNP transport spokesman Neil Gardiner said: "We want to see everything in the round and then we can make decisions."
He said he hoped a bus service to Ratho and the International Climbing Centre might have been included, along with funding for The Causey, a community project on the South Side aiming to transform a triangular traffic island into an urban oasis.
He said: "We are happy to accept the list of projects for noting, but I think we need a bit more detail and we need to see what's going to the culture and communities committee as well."
The Visitor Levy, which comes into effect in July, will see visitors paying a 5 per cent tourist tax on overnight stays, capped at five nights. It will apply to almost all paid-for overnight accommodation, including hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, short-term lets and campsites. And it is expected to raise £100 million over the first three years and then £50m a year.
The legislation requires the money raised is spent on projects linked in some way to the visitor economy.
Green councillor Chas Booth said: "We as a council are going to have to jump through quite a lot of hoops in order to fulfil the requirements of the legislation.
“And it would have been a heck of a lot better if the Scottish Parliament had actually devolved power to councils to do it as each ccouncil saw fit. That would have been empowerment of local authorities. I would ask MSPs to consider whether they are empowering local government or just putting barriers in our way."
The Conservatives were willing to back the 21 projects listed for funding, with the exception of the George Street revamp and £200,000 to help with design work for a Princes Street masterplan.
Tory group leader Iain Whyte said they had opposed the George Street plans and were sticking to their principles on that.
And he added: "One of the key things about the city centre is a complete lack of maintenance or proper design for the Pinces Street pavement over the last 20 or 30 years and yet there is nothing in this to deal with that. We should be maintaining what we've got before we think about big new projects."
Transport convener Stephen Jenkinson alluded to Edinburgh's role as the first city in the UK to be introducing a tourist tax.
He said: "We are as a local authority a bit of a vanguard in this work and I know there's a lot of external interest in how this has developed.
"The decisions we take in this committee and similar decisions that have been or will be taken in other committees will collectively be taken forward for full council's consideration.
"We haven't got any money in the bank yet, but the potential of the Visitor Levy in the future is quite exciting for the city."