Tuesday April 26th 2022
Midlothian Green Party View on the Edinburgh SNP proposal for a congestion charge on commuters from outside Edinburgh
Our philosophy is ‘Think Global, Act Local’. With the planet under threat, we must think strategically. So we start from the question “what is the cause of congestion on the roads of Edinburgh and Midlothian?”
Every party except the Greens has promoted building more and more houses in Midlothian to feed never-ending growth in Edinburgh – a recipe for more and more congestion on the roads. We reject that model. We have to start now to move away from a regional economy based on thousands of people having to commute many miles to work in Edinburgh. Our aim is to build 20-minute neighbourhoods where people can access jobs, shops, schools and services more easily. This means taking a much more robust approach to planning applications for housing in Midlothian that would put more cars on the roads.
But we also have to act now to encourage people to switch to walking, cycling and public transport in order to reduce pollution and improve public health. So we are in favour of a congestion charge as one of the means of reducing the number of cars on the road and cutting emissions of carbon and other air pollutants. But it can only be effective if we are also working at the strategic level to reduce the demand for commuting.
The Edinburgh SNP’s congestion charge proposal is unfair and undemocratic because it imposes the charge only on non-Edinburgh residents, without consultation. Congestion is caused by vehicles travelling within Edinburgh’s city limits as well as those coming from surrounding areas.
Any congestion charge proposal for Edinburgh should be considered as part of regional transport policy, with proper consultation throughout the area of the South East Scotland Transport Partnership (SESTran).
We favour a variable charge with large, fossil fuel driven vehicles being charged the most and small, electric vehicles paying nothing (in order to encourage people to switch away from high-polluting vehicles).
Any congestion charge would be part of a package of measures. Greens have a solid track record of increasing the availability and affordability of public transport so that those who cannot afford the congestion charge would have access to affordable public transport instead.
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