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Edinburgh should pay all the costs to extend its tram network into Midlothian because the city benefits ‘hugely’ from the expansion of the neighbouring county.
Midlothian councillor Dianne Alexander told a meeting this week that she welcomes proposals to bring the trams from the Capital into the county with suggestions a link to the new town of Shawfair could be developed.
But she said the construction costs should be borne by Edinburgh City Council because the county already provides housing for its workers and supports its economy.
She told a meeting of Midlothian planning committee: “Edinburgh is benefiting hugely from the expansion of Midlothian and I think it would be only right that they carry the costs of expanding the trams out to Shawfair and then, eventually, out to Midlothian, out to Dalkeith Bonnyrigg and Penicuk.
“We are sending people every day into Edinburgh and it would facilitate the jobs in Edinburgh etc and reduce the traffic on Midlothian roads.
“I think it is an excellent idea but we need to look at who actually pays for it, which I think should fall on Edinburgh.”
Her comments came after an earlier discussion in the meeting about Scottish Government demands for more than 8,000 new homes to be built in Midlothian with claims many new homes were snapped up by people from the city for whom they were considered ‘affordable’ leaving locals for whom they were ‘not affordable’ facing barriers to getting on the property market.
A report on a consultation over proposals to extend the Edinburgh tram network into Midlothian was presented to the committee with officers raising some concerns about the cost of the work and whether it would really benefit locals.
The additional tram link which is estimated to cost at least £101million if approved, is part of a wider project being led by City of Edinburgh Council to create cross border links into Midlothian and East Lothian from the capital’s trams network.
The response to the consultation drafted by officers criticised a claim in the plans that Shawfair was a ‘deprived’ area as well as questioning why a tram link would benefit people when there is already a Borders Railway link which gets people into the city in 18 minutes.
Councillor Ellen Scott backed the questions over the local benefit pointing out that additional carriages on the train network would solve any issues over transport without the cost and disruption caused by constructing a tram line.
She said: “We have the perfect solution, going from the Borders right through to Edinburgh only takes 25 minutes. If we had more carriages and punctuality that would be a far better solution for our side of the country I am sure.
“I just don’t see trams being a great success or adding any value to the larger part of Midlothian.”
However both planning convenor Councillor Russell Imrie and fellow committee member Councillor David Virgo raised the possibility that a tram expansion would bring long awaited work at Sheriffhall Roundabout flyover closer as it would be required to facilitate such a move.
Councillor Virgo said: “If it adds to the argument to sort Sheriffhall out, I am all for it.”
The committee approved the draft response to the consultation from officers which stated that while it is not opposed to a mass transit opportunity, whether using trams or a mix of transport, the current proposals for Shawfair pose questions and concerns.
It pushed for more attention to producing east west links between the counties which would be “less likely to compete with current bus and train
infrastructure and would add significant value to the existing alignments”.
The response concluded that the council “welcomes collaboration with the City of Edinburgh Council and East Lothian Council, on any mass transit opportunities to achieve the best outcome for all”.
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