It's Time

No, don't worry, I'm not single-handedly kick-starting the SNP election campaign about 2 years early. I am referring to the suggestion that it must be time that we took the increasingly sensible move of pedestrianising Princes St.

I have just returned from Barcelona which has as its centre-piece La Rambla. A largely pedestrianised thoroughfare linking the Place de Catalunya (think a sexy George Square) to the Shore area (think what Edinburgh Council would like Leith Docks to look like).

Everyone I have spoken to since my return has mentioned La Rambla and with good reason. Chock full of cafes, bars, street entertainers and tourists lazily wandering around, it is a real highlight of anyone's visit to the Catalan capital.

So why not do the same for Edinburgh?

We would have a picturesque tram or two snaking through the street, continental bars replete with outdoor seating, some serious Euro-style posing and, who knows, maybe even a squeezing out of the tartan tat shops if attractive, tasteful bars and restaurants are allowed to open on Scotland's most famous street.

The main advantage would be the squeezing out of cars in the city centre without having to resort to the patently unfair congestion charge. George St or Queen St could be for buses only during peak times, keeping the maroon double-deckers out of the way of the castle as tourists sip their lattes in the summer sun.

I've lived for Edinburgh for 10 years now and for almost all of that time a cobbled Prines St has been something of a delightful dream for me.

I think 'it's time' to make that dream a reality...