Letters: Fix the potholes before '˜legacy' trams project

One reader has his say on the spending of Edinburgh Council, inisiting that there are more things to prioritise. Do you agree?

More needs to be done to fix potholes in the city writes one reader.

while Edinburgh council has been ­debating spending vast amounts of money on extending the tram system, which is still the ­subject of a ‘what went wrong’ ­enquiry, we the public suffer continuously ­deteriorating road and pavement ­surfaces throughout the Capital.

There are now many pavements in the city which are so uneven that pedestrians, mothers with buggies and wheelchair users have to walk or wheel on the road.

The majority of roads have ­potholes and failing patch repairs where cars, trucks, buses and cyclists have to swerve to avoid expensive damage to their vehicles or discomfort to their passengers. When the council is questioned on the level of spend on our roads and pavements the answer is usually lack of funds.

But money can be found for ‘legacy’ projects such as cycle lanes and an ­extension to a flawed tram system, yet opportunities to raise additional money such as a hotel occupancy tax is ­rejected – a tax system accepted and used throughout Europe and the world.

This is wrong anywhere; in a capital city lived in by nearly 500,000 people and visited by well over a million tourists each year it is unacceptable. The council should be looking to the needs of the population of Edinburgh, its visitors and its reputation as an historic and modern capital city, while improving its infrastructure.

Now that would truly be a legacy of some considerable merit.

Mr K Clark, Lochend Park View, Edinburgh.