Capital half driven to despair by the sad state of its streets

HALF of the city's residents are unhappy with the state of Edinburgh's roads and pavements, according to a council survey.

Nearly 5000 people were asked to rate services in their neighbourhoods.

While the local authority scored 84 per cent satisfaction rates for street lighting and refuse collection, it performed badly when it came to roads and pavements, with just 51 per cent of those surveyed saying they were happy with the state of streets.

Road campaigners today said the results reflect the unhappiness among taxpayers with the levels of money spent on maintenance.

City leaders today said they were investing record amounts of money into improving roads after decades of under-investment.

Earlier this year, the News revealed that more than £70 million needed to be spent to bring Edinburgh's roads and pavements up to scratch. Around 260 road or pavement improvements are set to be carried out this year, but hundreds more are outstanding.

Spending on roads and pavement renewals in Edinburgh has increased four-fold over the past four years and currently stands at more than £16m per annum.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, the city's environment leader, said: "There have been decades of under-funding in Edinburgh's roads and pavements and unfortunately it will take a long time to turn this around. The current administration has committed a substantial investment of £60m over the next three years."

Councillor Ricky Henderson, the city's Labour transport spokesman, said: "We need to listen more to communities and hear where they want to see improvements. Often there are priorities which are not recognised because of the way things are set up just now. For example, a hole in the road outside a school may affect more people but is not given priority because the hole in the cul-de-sac round the corner is technically in worse condition."

Almost £3m has been paid out in compensation in the last ten years as a result of the city's cracked roads and pavements.

Tina Woolnough, spokeswoman for the Edinburgh Traffic Forum, said: "The survey is a fair reflection of just how people feel about the state of our road and pavements. Some of the streets have a third-world feel to them. It has been going on for so long now that people are just fed up."

AND THE SURVEY SAID. .

EDINBURGH is the first local authority in the UK to undertake this type of in-depth research among those who use its services.

The survey saw a mix of face-to-face interviews and mystery shopping exercises, which the council admits threw up some "interesting" results for its Services For Communities department to ponder.

Citywide, average satisfaction levels are:

• Satisfaction with local neighbourhood as a place to live – 86 per cent

• Street lighting – 84 per cent

• Refuse collection – 83 per cent

• Parks and green spaces – 71 per cent

• Recycling – 64 per cent

• The way litter in the street is dealt with – 56 per cent

• The way dog fouling is dealt with in local neighbourhood – 44 per cent