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City leader hails Meadowbank idea



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COUNCIL leader Jenny Dawe today signalled her support for proposals to demolish Meadowbank Stadium and build a smaller £25 million sports centre.
The proposals drawn up by council officials involve selling off around 8.5 acres of land at the west of the site for housing, with the stadium bulldozed and re-built to the east.

The scaled-down facilities would be funded through £6m of council money, a £2m sportscotland grant and £17m from the sale of land.

Officials say a full refurbishment of the existing facilities would cost £42.7m, which they cannot afford.

Councillors will make a decision tomorrow, with both the demolition plans and the sale of land likely to prove controversial.

But Cllr Dawe said: "We have saved facilities at Meadowbank – they will not be moving to Sighthill. I promised to save Meadowbank, but that didn't mean there would be no sale of land. A refurbishment just doesn't add up financially.

"This is a measure that will provide good facilities, built in such a way of making (the centre) even better in the future.

"The easy option would have been to go to Sighthill, but that didn't take into account what local communities wanted."





The full article contains 204 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 12 March 2008 10:41 AM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: Meadowbank
 
1

Colin G,

Edinburgh 12/03/2008 12:26:27
Who is demanding a refurbishment which will cost tens of millions of pounds? The line of logic which Dawe appears to be using is 1) Meadowbank must have tens of millions spent on it 2) the Council must sell assets in order to fund those tens of millions of pounds.

A strategic review of Council assets would be useful. There is no doubt that the size of the Council is too large. But selling off assets piecemeal in order to fund current projects and the tram line is potentially very damaging to the future. Fishermen selling off their fishing nets. The Council continue to encourage the development of flat schemes which will increase the number of people in the city - but at the same time as reducing the public amenities with the exception of slabbing over St Andrew's Square, Grassmarket, area outside the Usher Hall etc.

Perhaps elite athletes want 'world class' facilities at Meadowbank (and at the Commonwealth Pool). If that is the case then their sport should fund it themselves - as Hearts, Hibs and the SRU have had to. Otherwise a lick of paint and routine maintenance at Meadowbank would mean that the ordinary users of the halls, pitches and other facilities could continue to enjoy their use - without the Council selling off the assets.
2

eric,

Lothian 12/03/2008 12:50:35
small small small
3

Cappo Del Monte,

12/03/2008 12:55:23
No wonder the she supporting the idea, the ammount of cash they will receive from the sale of the land will cover all their overspends.
And while on the subject of the commonwealth pool, will the council do something about the ammount of deviants who use the sauna and proposition straight people to the extent it is a no go area, the pool dont do anything when you complain
4

Vivas,

Edinburgh 12/03/2008 13:02:52
Wasn't at all surprised that she wasn't at the public meeting 2 nights ago. However her liberal colleagues did just as poor a job in being there as she would have done.

I used to have this crazy idea that Liberals were strong on local issues and local democracy. Silly me !
5

Kieron,

Stirling 12/03/2008 14:02:42
Dawe is an effing idiot! Knock the place down and make it smaller? Is selling land to developers all that the council are interested in?

If this goes ahead it's a disgrace
6

The Genuine Mario Antoinette,

12/03/2008 14:48:12
5. It will go ahead Kieron and it IS a disgrace.

even the ancient greeks realised that sport for sport sake is a good idea and little state sponsorship to get people more involved is not a bad idea.

So what do we get instead of a decent sport stadium in our capital city ?

A bunch of shoddy looking sad 1 and 2 bedroom "luxury" flats and more fat people on the streets.

How depressing.
7

AaronL,

Hillside 12/03/2008 16:30:44
The public meeting was a great success. Several hundred people squeezed into Abbey Parish Church and even the overflow area was filled. Some that had no seat stood at the back.

At the end of the meeting we took a public vote for those that wanted to keep Meadowbank. Almost everyone put up their hands, including the Green councillors (but not the other politicians). Many people cried "all of Meadowbank" worried that their vote would be misinterpreted by blinkered politicians content on selling the velodrome as a cash cow.

The majority against the councils plans was overwhelming. If the council vote to demolish Meadowbank after such a strong show of hands, then I would question whether the current democratic system is valid. I'm sure there are thousands that would ask the same question. The council has to be very careful that they don't build up a democratic backdraft.

SNP / Lib Dems, this is your chance to show what you're made of. Either use it - or lose it.
8

gus1940,

Edinburgh 12/03/2008 16:46:14
The majority oppose the trams.

The majority oppose the demolition of Meadowbank.

But there appears that there is nothing we can do to remedy this situation.

Democracy in action - what a joke.
9

Randan,

12/03/2008 16:56:33
I hate Edinburgh Council. And the old Labour one was worse.
They have no ideas.
They just stumble from crisis to crisis selling land they have no right to sell to solve a short term problem.
Absolute morons.
10

AB_R,

12/03/2008 19:40:42
If we were able to afford building the stadium in the first place, we should be able to afford replacing it.

The fact is that the p1$$ poor tram scheme is taking far too much money out of the pot.

 

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