Council consultation must be a genuine exercise - John McLellan

Low emission zones, 20-minute neighbourhoods, bin hubs and good old Spaces for People are remarkably divisive issues – remarkable because most people agree with the principles.

Implementation is another thing, and these issues in Edinburgh have been marked by two characteristics. First is the lack of trust local people have in the council’s consultations because questions seem framed to exclude objections and produce the answers officials want.

The second is the extent to which the constructive views of local people are dismissed and resisted through extended legal orders and consultations seemingly designed to grind down opposition.

Why would Edinburgh Council renege on a promise to release public comments from the consultation over the closure of Braid Road and Comiston Road if it wasn’t because they weren’t a ringing endorsement? It even rejected a Freedom of Information request which the Scottish Information Commissioner condemned as “contrary and perverse”.

No wonder trust in Edinburgh Council is so low, and if consultations were genuine attempts to engage, not validation exercises for pre-determined decisions, outcomes might be more positive, and delivered faster.

Now a public forum is being organised by the non-partisan Together Association UK on July 25 at the Augustine United Church on George IV Bridge at 7pm to discuss such schemes and the council’s aims. But funnily enough I’m told no officials or administration councillors have accepted an invitation to attend.

Maybe they don’t see the point, but then that would just be further evidence that decisions are taken for communities, not with them. Contrary and perverse isn’t the half of it.