Lothian Buses To Subsidise the Failed Tram Project

At an "Edinburgh City Summit" last Friday 15 October, to discuss the financial problems facing the city, Dave Anderson, Director of City Development, admitted that mistakes had been made in setting up Edinburgh's trams project.   However, he still maintained that the project was required even though the value of waterfront property in Leith had fallen by 70% and that there were great difficulties in securing the funding element from developers to finance the Edinburgh Council part of the cost.

At the same time Councillor Jenny Dawe was telling the large audience that many cuts would have to be made and several in very "difficult  areas", some of which could be damaging.  There was much talk of "hard choices", but there seemed to be no difficulty in suggesting that the trams project would be financed by raising an even larger loan of many millions against the security of the profits from Lothian Buses.

In the depths of one of the worst recessions since the 1930s it is utterly crazy for the city to be even thinking of plunging itself even more into debt. Councillors already know they have to find £90 million of cuts and that is before the Westminster and Scottish Government announce the extent of even more reductions in funding support.

There is really only one decision for the Council to make and that is to suspend the trams project as soon as it can and only restart it once the economic situation improves.   Any other decision will bankrupt the city and destroy Lothian Buses.