Readers' Best comments

More parking spaces – whatever next? The Grand Designs house on the market and Sainsbury's spreading across town

So the good news for motorists is that the city is to make 500 new car parking spaces. The bad news? Parking permits for owners of "gas guzzlers" will be doubled. And the response? You were all very angry for completely different reasons.

Madness! There's far too much car traffic in Edinburgh as it is!

Andrew

With their exorbitant parking charges, crazy traffic schemes and tram works, the council are sending anyone who has to use a vehicle to transport goods a very simple message – the city centre is closed for business!

Sue Baru

What will be defined as a "gas-guzzler"? Will this very subjective judgement be made according to CO2 emissions (although CO2 emissions have no effect on the environment) or will it be made on MPG figures, or both. Many unanswered questions remain about this very dubious scheme which must be answered fully before it is even planned, let alone implemented. Since our cars suffer more due to a lack of general road maintenance and the plague of idiotic speed ramps. I can see why, as hideous and goofy as they are, people buy 4x4s to use in Edinburgh

Mr. Borat Sagdiyev, Kuzcek, Kazakhstan

Motorcycle parking is also due to be scrapped under this plan. The solo M/C bays are to be scrapped to "free up" space for permit parking spaces. Of course the permits will be 5 times oversubscribed. This is dressed up as a green policy, but it isn't – it is simply a cash grabbing policy.

roadstohell

Well, the bikes will have to go to make room for the 4x4s. Moving swiftly on to the news Reuben Welch and his wife April are selling their Leith house that featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs.

Now let's see, they bought it for 23,000, renovations cost 183,000 that makes 206,000. They want to sell it for around 400,000 – that's some profit. Wonder what the last janny to live there thought about that?

Linmal, Livingston

Would you rather the house just fell down? Thanks to his hard work, society has another desirable house in the marketplace and I'm sure it looks better now from the outside than it did before, so residents and passers-by benefit as well.

Brianwci

The figures quoted aren't entirely correct – they fail to include the cost of extension (nearly 60K) and three very hard years of work and risk on my part (not to mention April's!). It was never built to make a fortune more for the pleasure of enjoying a big project (2 years) and having somewhere to live for what has now been another 5 years.

reuben w, Alien Rock office

So there, straight from the horse's mouth. Let's hope there's a supermarket nearby. If there isn't there will be soon. Sainsbury's is to expand into Edinburgh's "urban villages", starting with small local stores in West Port and Stockbridge.

Hmm . . . more overpriced tat. All these "local" and "express" shops do is trade off the huge amount of advertising for offers in the big store, whilst charging rip-off prices in these smaller stores . . .

AntiEdinburghWhingers

Best thing about a Sainsbury's in Stockbridge – it'll keep the riff-raff out of Waitrose.

Yonthing!