Save Meadowbank

6- Your views / letters


Over 600 residents, athletes and sports coaches turned up at the public meeting on 17th March to express their anger at Edinburgh City Council's plan to demolish Meadowbank. 

 

 

Donald Anderson says in the Evening News  that the sell-off is 'still open' to debate. Vanesa responds that the 600+ locals and athletes at the public meeting on Sat 17th Mar opened up the debate FOR THE FIRST TIME!

 

The decision had already been made without ANY public input, but now, because of 600+ articulate but angry locals and athletes, Anderson is now running scared. The person responsible for trying to push this through just before the elections has probably been sacked by now; what a miscalculation!

 

The "public consultation" that ends on March 30th starts with the words, "it has been agreed that the existing Meadowbank Sports Centre site will be sold" and then goes on to seek comment on the flats etc that will replace it.

 

Yes, the council want 25% to be affordable, but what about the other 75%? And after the "affordable" ones have been bought up, when they go up for sale in 6 months time, how affordable will they then be?

 

It also discusses an idea for a tiny leisure centre that they still need to find a site for.

 

Very few of the 600+ people wanted to discuss the specifics of the council proposal though; the fact is that people are happy with Meadowbank, and are angry that such a major decision had been taken without seeking their input.

 

It is not pretty, but it is very functional, and while it may not be the best for hosting world-class events anymore, it is certainly fantastic at providing the facilities that produce world-class athletes and much much more. Glasgow already has an international-level stadium, so is it really necessary to spend an absolute fortune in building one here as well?

 

There is always scope to provide sports facilities throughout Edinburgh as and where the public deem appropriate, and over a timescale that doesn't break the bank and have us resort to the loan-shark style PFI/PPP schemes such as were used to fund the ERI (Anderson took offence at the suggestion that athletes would be charged £10 to park at their proposed new facility). But it seems absolutely crazy to replace Meadowbank with flats in order to fund another council white elephant.

 

The council line has also changed on the Hunters Hall (Jack Kane Centre) development. It seems to have been quietly dropped from their propaganda, and nobody seems to know much about it.

 

The shelving of Hunters Hall is also interesting as it is still part of the current "public consultation", and therefore makes this "consultation" entirely invalid, perhaps illegal, and even more of a phony than it already was.

 

It might be the case that the council wanted to rush through the Sighthill scheme on the notion that no PFI rip-off was necessary, as they could (falsely) convince people that the sums added up for Sighthill and RCP. Once the bulldozers appeared at Meadowbank, it would be too late, and then comes the PFI for Hunters Hall.

 

They now seem to be saying that the funding for Sighthill and the RCP will come entirely from the sale of Meadowbank and the SportScotland grant, and therefore will have no need for Private Finance Initiative-type deals. However, the sums don't add up, and they know it. If you ask 6 different councilors/employees (and I have), you get six different answers (e.g. RCP will cost £8/ £30/ £32million to refurbish; SportScotland will provide £4/ £11/ £13/ £17/ £53million towards the cost.

 

This is interesting as their own documents state that "There is likely to be a significant shortfall in funding the capital project, whether the bid is successful in its entirety or in part.." and that, "consideration will have to be given to innovative approaches to sourcing funding through a PPP, commercial involvement or working with other public sector partners (e.g. the Universities). http://cpol.edinburgh.gov.uk/getdoc_ext.asp?DocID=52818

 

The cost of bringing Meadowbank up to world-class standard may not be worthwhile, but it is far from clear if a proper study has been done, or if the "proper conclusion" was simply reached. However, to upgrade to world-class standard is entirely distinct from the cost of a simple refurbishment of the stadium as is, which seemed to be what the people in the meeting were demanding, and the reality that Anderson etc must now face.

 

Vanesa Fuertes

 

 

A sample of some of the letters we receive:

I VOTE TO SAVE MEADOWBANK STADIUM

It is criminal to rid the east of Edinburgh sports facility.

I personally use it.

I am a healthcare professional dealing with patients weight issues/treatments daily.

Sport should be available and affordable to all. The state of our nations is health is beyond the realms of healthy, and I professionally, as well as personally, as well as sentimentally, would be so sad and appalled to see the demise of this stadium.

No it isn’t state of-the-art, but sport does not need to have state of the art. It needs safety and fun, this is achievable.

I feel bitterly strongly against the closure.

PLEASE RECONSIDER AND SAVE MEADOWBANK STADIUM.

(Letter from an angry RGN)

 

Dear Ms. Kirkwood,

                       I was horrified when I found out that Meadowbank Sports Centre is going to be knocked down.  I am a triathlete and runner and enjoy training at Meadowbank when I am in Edinburgh.  It ran two Commonwealth Games and that in itself is a reason to keep it.  It is a great facility for athletes of all ages, standards and sports to come to train at.  

          Britain is seeking new and young talent as 2012 draws nearer.  It would be awful to destroy many chances of potential elite athletes and actively discourage young people by removing an amazing facility on their doorstep.  British media are forever nagging at us children for being obese and inactive, but how are we supposed to be motivated to get off the couch and train if the council remove this facility.  It is just throwing the effort we make to get fit right back in our faces.  If they go ahead with it their will be plenty of people that stop sport altogether because their really isn’t any suitable substitute for this fantastic place.

          All of my family do sport involving track running.  The fact that my parents, auntie and uncle still run on tracks a lot gives me, my sister and cousins a lot of the motivation we need to do our sessions.  Finally, it gives us the opportunity to make life long friends, my dad, auntie and uncle all still have good friends that they met at Meadowbank.  My aunt and uncle even met there. I have many friends that run there aswell.  It would break my heart if it really went. PLEASE SAVE IT!

 

Eilidh Hargreaves (Age 15)

Scottish Triathlon Youth Champion

 

It's Shocking!

Lesley Campbell (Scottish Schools Under-16 Champion Sprinter)

 

And they blame us kids for being overweight. 5 fruits a day and all that! We use this place all the time; where are we supposed to go?

Gurmet Singh (local youngster and regular user of Meadowbank)

 

It's terrible! And they're going to shut the Pitz [at Portobello] as well. There's going to be nowhere left to play.

Liam Frost (Teenage user of Meadowbank's Open All Hours youth-club)

 

Meadowbank is fun and keeps kids out of trouble.

Zain Qureshi (age 13)

 

Donald Anderson ... stated that "the decision to build the new stadium at Sighthill had already made by the Council and the Council had also decided that there should be no Public Consultation on the Sighthill project."

Bill Walker (Senior Athletics Coach at Meadowbank)

 
savemeadowbank@blueyonder.co.uk 18-05-2007