THE sense of relief was palpable for Jenny Dawe as she reflected on a gruelling election campaign and a week of tense negotiations.
Edinburgh’s city leader-elect admitted she had “hardly stopped for breath” between the polls opening last Thursday morning and the deal between her and Steve Cardownie being formally signed yesterday.
A hastily-thrashed out coalition agreement ha
s seen the two previously bitter enemies form a double act which aims to steer the council for the next four years.
It has been made possible thanks, in part, to an agreement between the Lib Dems and the. Tories that the latter will not try to hijack the new administration. Tory leader Iain Whyte has pledged his group will not oppose the coalition’s nomination for a Lord Provost next Thursday nor
any other key appointments.
Labour critics were celebrating the news that Councillor Whyte had been “bought off” with the promise of the convenership of Lothian and Borders Police Board. But Councillor Dawe is under even more pressure, though, from critics who have questioned the wisdom of going into administration with a party opposed to the city’s . proposed trams and the planned rail link to Edinburgh Airport.
It is no secret that Cllr Dawe’s first preference in the wake of last week’s election was a quick deal with Labour. A mini-rebellion inside the Lib Dem group forced a major rethink, despite Cllr Dawe’s fears that the arithmetic was stacked against any other realistic options. The reluctance of the Greens to enter into talks and an apparent lack of urgency among their three councillors seemed to leave the Tories out in the cold. That is until Cllr Dawe offered a olive branch to Cllr Whyte that will allow the coalition to get its proposals through next week. Cllr Dawe said: “It is crucial that we have this agreement with the Tories. Even if we had got our nomination for Lord Provost through next week they wouldn’t have had the casting vote on any appointments, which would’ve
gone down to a cut of the cards. “That would’ve been an utterly ridiculous situation and I think the Tories have acted responsibly by agreeing to support the administration we are putting forward.”
Councillor Cardownie is set to take up the role of deputy leader of the new council. He defended his party against claims of hatching an ad-hoc deal with the Tories. He said: “We weren’t involved
in any discussions with them and as far as I’m aware they are supporting the creation of the administration next week and that’s it.” Cllr Dawe had to fend off claims before the elections that she was grooming herself to be Lord Provost.
Now she is facing claims of selling out on the Lib Dems’ principles on trams for the sake of the SNP’s backing. She said: “When you look at the party manifestos that is the only major difference of opinion we have with them, which we could
not say about the other parties. “Our discussions with Labour were very amicable but we simply felt a coalition with them would’ve been very difficult to justify to the public.”
The Lib Dems and the SNP will spend Monday and Tuesday thrashing out who will be handed which positions in the new administration.
What Jenny says . .
• TRANSPORT
Lib Dem priorities include rolling out underground car parks across the city centre, expanding the number of real-time information points at bus-stops and delivering the long-awaited shuttle bus to link key shopping areas. However, the party's number one priority is delivery of the tram network.
Cllr Dawe said: "We have not wavered at all from our commitment to the trams and we've effectively agreed to disagree with the SNP.
"It would be very difficult for the Scottish Executive to scrap the scheme, because of the legal and technical commitments that are already in place.
"Our coalition with the SNP will not have any impact on the trams scheme at all, because of the support it has from the other parties. One of them would have to perform a massive U-turn for the council to vote against the trams."
• ENVIRONMENT
Lib Dem plans include having a "green champion" in every department of the council, ensuring owners of low-emission vehicles get cheaper parking permits, and encouraging the building of "eco-homes".
Cllr Dawe said: "We have set a target of Edinburgh having 75 per cent of its waste recycled by 2020. We have to provide more recycling facilities, but it's also essential that the recycling service people get is efficient. There's no good providing recycling facilities for people if they're not emptied enough."
• SPORTS FACILITIES
Cllr Dawe's party committed before the election to rescuing Meadowbank Stadium from the bulldozers and placing top priority on refurbishing both it and the Royal Commonwealth Pool.
She said: "We are tied to a commitment to set up a working group which will review the existing facilities at Meadowbank and possible options for the site there. But there has been a great amount of public opinion expressed against its closure.
"We want to have a good look at all the figures for refurbishing Meadowbank, which we've not seen before, and options for how to pay for that and the revamp of the pool.
"We know that improved facilities there are essential as part of Glasgow's Commonwealth Games bid, but we believe that because the bid is of national importance, that is an issue for the parliament to address."
• EDUCATION
The Lib Dems are committed to making better use of the schools estate and say they are opposed to the loss of playing fields for new schools.
Cllr Dawe said: "We have never been fans of PPP projects, particularly for schools, and although we will not be unpicking any existing agreements we will be pursuing other means of financing new initiatives.
"We'll make sure we fulfil existing deals, but we will look at other means of paying for new schools which ensure that there is better access out-of-hours to their facilities. We want to reserve judgement until we see the work produced over the next couple of months."
• TOURISM, CULTURE, AND THE ECONOMY
A key priority for the Lib Dems is the revival of a department of tourism, culture and sport within the council. The post of economic development chief, left vacant for more than two years, is to be filled as soon as possible.
Cllr Dawe said: "We have felt for some time it was a mistake to do away with this department, which has left us without a figurehead for things like sports and tourism, and we should have replaced the head of economic development when she left."
• AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Lib Dem manifesto commits the party to looking into the raising of the quota of affordable housing in new developments from 25 per cent to 50.
Cllr Dawe said: "The lack of affordable housing is a huge problem and much more needs to be done to provide it because we will struggle to attract new business to the city if people can't afford to live here.
"We want to look at a range of schemes, but we also have to be careful that we don't frighten developers off."
What Steve says . .
• TRANSPORT
SNP transport aims include having free bus passes offered to pupils to help curb the school run, but the party's highest profile policies would spell an end to both the rail link to the airport and the planned trams network.
Councillor Cardownie said: "Our priority is to improve existing public transport services in the city and also ensure that we have environmentally-friendly buses operating in Edinburgh. We also want to see a move away from single-decker buses, so that more people are able to use the buses in the city.
"We are fully opposed to the trams, however. They are going to be a complete waste of money. The whole idea of them is bananas and they are a klondyke for consultants."
• ENVIRONMENT
Environmental pledges from the SNP include exploring whether new developments can lead to automated waste collection systems.
Cllr Cardownie said: "It's fair to say that the Lib Dems had far more extensive ideas on the environment in their manifesto, but we are very happy to collaborate on them to see what can be delivered.
"There is no doubt at all that waste collection and recycling facilities for people in the city need to be improved."
• SPORTS FACILITIES
Cllr Cardownie had been reluctant for his party to condemn the previous administration's plans for major sports facilities.
And he said today: "We will await with interest the findings of the working group that has been set up to look at the future of Meadowbank in particular.
"The previous administration freely admitted that public consultation that was carried out before on the issue was flawed, and there is no doubt that the advice that has been given to the council in the past was not scrutinised enough."
• EDUCATION
Cllr Cardownie said: "Our big problem with PPP schemes is that the public purse ends up paying for them for years.
"We don't think it is appropriate simply to go for the easiest option in the short-term, and we've always felt that these schemes were more about the profits of the private sector companies than anything else."
• TOURISM, CULTURE, AND THE ECONOMY
Cllr Cardownie said: "It was ridiculous to scrap the culture and recreation department.
"For a capital city like Edinburgh not to have a cultural figurehead or a dedicated department is a nonsense, and addressing that situation is one of our top priorities."
• AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Cllr Cardownie said: "There's no doubt that [the Lib Dem pledge of] 50 per cent is an aspirational figure but we do want to see it higher than it is at the moment.
"It's also important that we ensure that commitments about affordable housing are adhered to."
The VerdictPREDICTABLY, trams are set to be the most divisive issue in the new administration, with the SNP committed to scrapping the scheme and the Lib Dems aiming to keep it on track. Another flashpoint could still arise over the future of Meadowbank Stadium but overall, the parties seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet. The unlikely alliance might just work.
