Edinburgh's controlled parking zones: Controversial new parking restrictions for Portobello progress to next stage

CPZ plan backed by Edinburgh transport committee

A controlled parking zone is set to be introduced in Portobello despite a majority of residents opposing the move.

The city council's transport committee voted to move to the next stage of the formal process with the controversial scheme, which would bring in parking restrictions between 8:30am and 5:30pm seven days a week and mean residents paying for a permit to park near their home. A report by council officials said as well as a residential area, Portobello was a local town centre and a tourist destination with independent shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs.

Stephen Hawkins, vice-chair of the Portobello Amenity Society, told the committee his group did not support the proposed CPZ. He said: "It has long been accepted that Portobello, as Edinburgh’s seaside, will attract visitors to use the beach especially when the weather is good creating a parking problem but this is only for short periods of the year and is mirrored by the problem of over-crowded buses. The proposals will introduce parking controls on streets where currently there is no parking pressure and a concern has been raised about visitor parking for guest houses making them less attractive to tourists.

A controlled parking zone proposed for Portobello would operate from 8.30am until 5.30pm seven days a week. Picture: Lisa Ferguson.

"It is not clear that the proposed parking controls will address the major problem that residents have highlighted – problems such as there not being enough parking provision or spaces near to people’s houses, dangerously parked cars and abandoned vehicles."

Conservative councillor Christopher Cowdy opposed the move towards a CPZ for Portobello and accused the council of failing to listen to the public. He said: “Controlled parking zones should only be introduced where there is a real need shown and where they can be underpinned by support from local residents. The results of the public engagement here highlights exactly these issues. In Portobello the most common theme was for no change, only 40 per cent thought there were parking issues, 80 per cent said 'I don't like this' and 57 per cent voted against the proposals.”

But Green councillor Claire Miller argued the committee needed to "dig into the detail" of what people said. "It is important when talking about consulting with the public not to consider percentages alone and to think about the content of people's consultation responses. By presenting percentages as if it's a referendum for or against parking controls in an area, that does a disservice to the people who express their own requirements, maybe improvements in an area that are desperately needed for people who have accessibility issues who are curtailed from moving around their own neighbourhood because of the congestion and the problems it causes."

And her theme was echoed by committee convener Scott Arthur. He said: "If you look purely at numbers it doesn't always give you the depth of understanding about what the issues are - we have to look at the comments as well. With our need to tackle emissions, deal with congestion and reduce traffic miles, we do have a duty to show leadership as well when we look at these comments."

He said the report to the committee made the case for progressing to the next stage of the statutory process. “We'll be keeping an open mind on what comes back from that and we can make a decision that suits the needs of the community and also the wider city.”

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