GK CHESTERTON wrote: "Where we once had a few big rules, we now have an encyclopaedia of little ones." Parking in Marchmont and Sciennes feels a bit like that these days. The new Central Parking Zone (S1) has thrown up lots of rules and a few anomalies.
Lauder Road is an example. It used to be packed with commuters' cars during the day. Now it is almost a car-free zone. A candidate for the widest street in Edinburgh, it could comfortably take 500 cars parked end-on to the kerb. Four times recently (
at different times of the day) I have counted a total of fewer than 30 cars parked on the street. That is under six per cent of its capacity. Yet residents of Greenhill, a mile or so away, are marooned in a sea of cars which are being parked for free just outside the S1 zone.
Lauder Road bears closer inspection - and reveals an encyclopaedia of rules (the arithmetically challenged may wish to skip the following paragraph).
First, the parking bays in this street are not all subject to the same rules. Some permit a stay of four hours, others six and some nine hours. The machines advise: "Minimum charge 20p for 17 minutes. Thereafter parking time may be purchased - in increments of 5p up to a value of £2.80." In other words, select your length of stay according to multiples of four and a quarter minutes! And if you are not already confused, you can stay for longer than four hours at a different rate after the four hours are up. But that is only if your bay allows six or nine-hour parking!
Actually, as parking goes these charges are not excessive. Just complicated.
What about permits in the new area? You can buy a resident's permit for £80. Nothing complicated about that. What if you are a small business in Marchmont or Sciennes? There are no permits available. But there will be next year - though it is not clear what traders are supposed to do in the meantime.
Next year there will be traders' vehicle permits, business permits and essential users' permits. Please note the trade vehicles' permits come as type 1 or type 2. I will forego delving further into where and when each permit allows business people to park, for the cost of these is the real scandal.
It seems the council has proposed charging between £500 and £1000 for the permits. Such charges might just be reasonable for a large city-wide business, but are certainly not appropriate for our local shops - especially those which deliver and are often struggling to survive.
The council officers tell us the figure is set at this level - higher than any other comparable scheme in the UK, I believe - to cap demand. Rather, it seems like a cash cow.
Even if it does restrict demand by larger businesses, the charges fall disproportionately on our smaller local businesses which only require limited use of the permits. So much for our council being friendly to small businesses and local communities!
But what of the big picture? Something had to be done about parking. In fairness, it must be said that many areas in Marchmont and Sciennes are now less congested and more tolerable. The overall scene is an improvement.
In hindsight, the staged implementation, however, looks like a mistake. Some residential roads have become long-stay car parks and others will do so when the remainder of the scheme is implemented. Others are almost car-free. A balance which uses the resource of roads efficiently has not yet been struck and there will need to be much fine tuning.
Residents in the area are mostly enjoying streets which are less crowded. Not only are there fewer vehicles parked on the once-crowded streets, fewer motorists undertake the ritual circling of the block for a parking space.
But there are also fewer people driving into the area to use it as a place to park. It may be that some are leaving their cars for other forms of transport. But I suspect it also makes it more difficult for shop and city workers to get to and from their work. The economy and communities of central Edinburgh also need access to a workforce which often travels from outside the city.
It would help if that fine tuning provided free short-stay parking for shoppers near local businesses (as is provided on some nearby arterial routes), along with lower charges for permits for small businesses. The council needs to focus on the big rules. Prevent costly and unhealthy congestion. Allow people to move to their work and homes as efficiently as can be. Maintain local communities.
But please don't swamp us in an encyclopaedia of small rules and please don't make a fast buck with outrageous charges - especially on our local businesses.
Cameron Rose is chairman of the Marchmont and Sciennes Community Council.
