drivers <\/a>pay for parking with a limit of four hours, or required to buy permits.<\/p>\nCouncillor Margaret Graham, Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) Sub-Committee Convener, confirmed the council had ‘no plans to raise this issue again for the foreseeable’, however argued that pressure in Portobello ‘will not simply disappear and unrestricted parking may cause further issues going forward’.<\/p>\n
Concerns were raised over the ‘death of Porty’, with shopkeepers fearing shoppers would opt for nearby centres such as Fort Kinnaird. Mike Porteous, who runs the Portobello Framing King on the High Street, shared his feeling after the plans were scrapped.<\/p>\n
Mike told us: “We’re in a Porty traders WhatsApp group and it’s just been ‘bing, bing, bing’ with all the positive responses. Especially for Jane at the Velvet Easel. She was really instrumental in helping stopping it going ahead. It’s really positive.<\/p>\n
“She’s getting a lot of praise for all the hard work she did. A lot of flyers handed out, and a lot of emails sent. Everyone is just over the moon that it’s not going ahead. It’s hard enough making a living just now.<\/p>\n
“All of us are trying our best, and with the roadworks earlier this year it’s been tough. The CPZ was another obstacle we didn’t want to deal with. So there’s a lot of relief that we don’t have to deal with it, and people can still come down to Portobello and enjoy the day without paying for parking.”<\/p>\n
Jane Grant, owner of the Velvet Easel Gallery and Chair of the Portobello Traders Association, added: “This week\u2019s vote is a victory for the people of Portobello and thousands of visitors we welcome each year to \u2018Edinburgh\u2019s Seaside\u2019.<\/p>\n
“This debate was never about whether you like cars or not \u2013 it is about ensuring the voices of the people who live and work here, the vulnerable who rely on carers to visit their homes, and recognising the impact of a parking tax on visitors, beachgoers and shoppers who support local, independent businesses. All of that would have been under threat had the CPZ been allowed to proceed.<\/p>\n
“We are thankful to the Liberal Democrat, Conservative and SNP councillors who listened to the many concerns of local people and responded as representatives of those people. We are disappointed councillors chose to ignore the more than 90 per cent of people who told the Council that the CPZ would destroy the character of our community, and we urge them to engage meaningfully to understand why people opposed the CPZ with such passion.”<\/p>\n
Ranald Leask, from Portobello and Joppa Residents & Businesses Against CPZ, said: “The vote by councillors to defeat this tax on visitors, residents and small businesses in Portobello is a hugely significant moment for the people of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n
“More than 90 per cent of those who responded to the council\u2019s survey registered their strong opposition to a plan that would have devastated already struggling businesses which the local community relies on and would have placed yet more financial strain on households facing a cost-of-living crisis. In 2021, the council\u2019s informal consultation to impose a parking tax resulted in overwhelming rejection by local people and visitors to Portobello.<\/p>\n
“Despite this, the council chose to push on regardless on a plan they knew was opposed by most people. Now, the council has a duty to accept this clear and unequivocal public rejection and commit to permanently shelving any plan to charge for parking in Portobello.<\/p>\n
“The Council should be supporting local people and businesses, not levying a regressive tax which hits the poorest in society hardest.”<\/p>\n
Councillor Margaret Graham, Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) Sub-Committee Convener said: “The detailed proposals which were debated yesterday aimed to manage the known parking pressures in the area and create short-term parking opportunities on the High Street for residents and visitors.<\/p>\n
“These pressures will not simply disappear, and unrestricted parking in an area like Portobello which attracts a lot of visitors, may cause further issues going forward. However, following Committee\u2019s decision these proposals will not be taken forward.<\/p>\n
“We have no plans to raise this issue again for the foreseeable future.”<\/p>\n
Join <\/strong>Edinburgh Live’s Whatsapp Community here<\/strong><\/a> and get the latest news sent <\/strong>straight to your messages.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Business owners and locals in Portobello have said they are ‘over the moon’ after controversial plans for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,117929,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-639698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-portobello","12":"tag-scotland","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115739068093452103","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1_IMG_2142-1.jpg\")
Mike Porteous, the Portobello Frame King, said shopkeepers are ‘over the moon'(Image: Edinburgh Live)<\/p>\n