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1.
Football, Swimming and Athletics |
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Football and
Athletics
Edinburgh's two football teams, Hibs and Hearts,
recently announced [June 03] that they were
considering moving, from their Easter Road and Tynecastle grounds,
to a new shared stadium.
Several possible sites for the stadium are being
considered, including Straiton close to the City by-pass to the south-east
of Edinburgh
Edinburgh City Councillors are keen to discuss
such a move, as it might enable a large new sports complex to be
created in the area, to replace Meadowbank Stadium, built for the
Commonwealth Games in 1970.
[Edinburgh Evening News
28 June 2003, pp. 1, 5]
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Swimming and
Athletics
On 11 March 2004, Edinburgh Council
announced £109m plans to:
- revamp the Royal Commonwealth
Pool
- replace Meadowbank Stadium
with a new athletics complex at Sighthill Park.
- replace Jack Kane
Centre at Craigmillar with a new centre to include football, a velodrome
and curling.
Both Meadowbank Stadium and the Royal
Commonwealth Pool were built for the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in
1970. It is hoped that the new sporting facilities will be in place
by 2010, and that Edinburgh and Glasgow will be able to make a joint bid
to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
Edinburgh Evening News 11 March 2004,
pp. 1, 4, 5 |
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Swimming Baths
Three of Edinburgh's Victorian swimming pools have already been
refurbished. They are Dalry, Leith and Portobello.
On 24 March 2004, Edinburgh Council
announced plans to refurbish other two Victorian swimming pools in
Edinburgh, at a total cost
of £4m.
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Warrender: to include new gyms, pool
surrounds and changing rooms.
- Glenogle: to include
extended gym, new fitness studio, new steam room and sauna.
Edinburgh Evening News 24 March 2004,
p.17
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UPDATE - 2007
Edinburgh Council has discovered that
restoration costs for Glenogle Baths might amount to £4m, about twice the
funds available for the project.
The council is now considering selling
off the baths for housing, to a builder who would build a modern
leisure complex on the neighbouring open ground as part of the deal.
The council has been criticised for
short-term opportunism. Amongst fears that the council is about to
agree a deal in the near future, and the old baths would be lost, a
'Save Glenogle Baths' campaign was set up in March 07.
Edinburgh Evening News: March 2, 2007, p.22
Edinburgh Evening News 14 March 2007,
p.21 |
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2.
Sighthill
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A New Stadium?
Edinburgh council have
announced plans to create a new 6,000 seat athletics and rugby stadium at
Sighthill in the west of Edinburgh, to replace Meadowbank stadium.
Two grass sports pitches, an all-weather sports pitch, two sports halls, a
gymnastics hall and an indoor running track are also proposed.
As part of this £86m project,
the council also proposes to overhaul the Commonwealth Pool.
It is planned that facilities
at Meadowbank Stadium will be cut back, and that some of the land at
Meadowbank will be sold for housing, so providing cash towards the
Sighthill and Commonwealth Pool projects.
It is envisaged that work on
the Commonwealth Pool would be completed in 2010, ahead of the London
Olympic Games in 2012 and the possible Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in
2014, and that work on the stadium at Sighthill would be completed in
2011.
Detailed planning proposals
have still to be submitted.
Edinburgh Evening News January 26, 2007, pp.1,5 |
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New Stadium
now Unlikely
Following the Local Government election results
last month, attitudes towards the proposed Sighthill Stadium appear to
have changed.
The Liberal Democrat / SNP coalition seems less
enthusiastic about creating a new stadium at Sighthill, and
Edinburgh's new planning leader, Councillor Jim Lowrie, speaking in a
personal capacity, is reported to have described the Sighthill scheme as
"a white elephant" and as "dead in the water" following
protests from Sighthill residents.
Edinburgh Evening News June 11, 2007, pp.1,5 |
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New Stadium
Possible?
Despite the personal comments made by planning
leader, Jim Lowrie, 6 weeks ago, about the plans for an arena at Sighthill
being "dead in the water", there now again seems to be some
prospect of new athletics and rugby grounds being built there.
Council leader, Jenny Dawe says that the council
cannot afford to refurbish both the Royal Commonwealth Pool and
Meadowbank, so Sighthill may be the only option available for Edinburgh to
get the up-to-date sports facilities that it needs.
Edinburgh Evening News July 23, 2007, p.5 |
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Sighthill now Unlikely Again!
The
final report of the independent task force appointed by Edinburgh
council has now been published, and council leader, Jenny Dawe has made a
further statement.
See 4.
below
Edinburgh Evening News July 23, 2007, p.5 |
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3.
Meadowbank
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April 2007 |
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Protests against Demolition
Following a 'Save
Meadowbank Stadium' campaign signed by 6,000 people, Edinburgh Council
is to set up a special taskforce to reconsider its approach to Meadowbank
Stadium.
The council now believes that
it may be possible to keep the running track and build a new indoor
sporting centre in place of the existing main stand, without reducing the
number of homes to be built on the site.
Edinburgh Evening News April 19, 2007, pp.1,5 |
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Poll Favours Meadowbank Demolition
Despite local opposition to
the demolition of Meadowbank, Edinburgh Council claims that a clear
majority of people favour the council's plans to sell off Meadowbank to
help cover the cost of work at Sighthill and the Commonwealth Pool.
These results are based on a
poll commissioned by the council and carried out recently by Mori.
501 people participated.
Edinburgh Evening News April 30, 2007,
p.6 |
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May 2007 |
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Poll Opposes Meadowbank Demolition
However,
the Edinburgh Evening News reported on, May 9, that the newspaper
had carried out its own poll amongst 373 readers and had found that 78.3%
were opposed to the council's plans to sell Meadowbank.
Edinburgh Evening News May 9, 2007,
p.10 |
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August 2007 |
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Taskforce Favours Meadowbank Demolition
An draft
report from the independent taskforce set up by the council concludes that
any attempted refurbishment of Meadowbank would be "short-term and
short-sighted".
The
taskforce, chaired by the former Meadowbank Thistle manager and
Musselburgh Grammar School head teacher Terry Christie, favours the
building of a new £53m stadium at Sighthill.
The only
way to meet this cost may be to sell the land at Meadowbank for housing.
Edinburgh Evening News August 3, 2007,
p.5 |
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Options for Meadowbank
Edinburgh Council is to appoint independent consultants to consider:
- how the facilities at Meadowbank might be
upgraded, and at what cost? (Estimated costs for refurbishing are believed
to be about £30-45m.)
- if land at Meadowbank could be sold to fund
the building of new sports facilities.
Edinburgh Evening News August 24, 2007,
pp.6-7
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December 2007 |
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Only Minor Improvements Proposed
A report on the future of
Meadowbank Stadium, due to be released next week, is expected to recommend
that only minor improvements to the site, mainly to comply with health and
safety requirements, should be made in the short- term.
Edinburgh Council has agreed
to retain the running track and sports complex at Meadowbank, but it is
expected that some of the site will be sold for housing to help finance
the £36m of the Royal Commonwealth Pool which is to host the diving
competition for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Estimated costs for a full
refurbishment or rebuild of Meadowbank on its present site have varied
between £30m and £45m.
Edinburgh Evening News December 13, 2007 |
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January 2008 |
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Greyhound Racing and Speedway?
David Welsh, former chairman
of Powderhall Greyhound Owners' Association has announced that he is due
to meet the council's culture and leisure committee to discuss the
possibility of bringing greyhound racing and speedway to Meadowbank.
He claims that there is enough
room round the perimeter of the existing athletics track to build a
suitable circuit. Powderhall Stadium, which hosted greyhound racing
and speedway in Edinburgh opened in 1927 but closed in the mid-1990s.
Plans were lodged in 1998 to
build a new greyhound racing stadium near Wallyford in East Lothian, but
none has been built, and campaigners have objected to any new greyhound
stadium being built on grounds of welfare.
Edinburgh Evening News January 31 2008:
p.3. |
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March 2008 |
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Mini-Meadowbank Proposed
Detailed plans were announced
today. These propose:
- selling 8.5 acres (one-third of the current site) on the west
of the site, for housing. This is where the existing stadium is
situated. There would not be enough room on the remainder of the
site to retain the velodrome.
- demolishing the current 16,500 spectator stadium, and building
a new 5,000-seat stadium with indoor athletics facilities and sports
courts, at a cost of £25m.
Officials say that:
- a full upgrade of the facilities at Meadowbank would cost
£42.7m.
- providing the same facilities at Meadowbank as had been
proposed for Sighthill would cost £57.9m.
Edinburgh Evening News March 11, 2008:
p.7. |
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Mini-Meadowbank Approved
Councillors have voted in favour of the above proposals, despite
protests from some councillors and the 'Save Meadowbank' campaign.
Councillors will now enter a period of consultation.
Edinburgh Evening News March 14, 2008:
p.2. |
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June 2008 |
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Detailed Plans
Edinburgh Council has now released detailed proposals for Meadowbank,
but stresses that no final decision has yet been made. They hope
that the new facilities will be available before the 1014 Commonwealth
Games.
Proposals include:
- a central athletics stadium, positioned about 500 ft to the
east of where the existing stadium stands.
- three 7-a-side synthetic football pitches (on the site of the
existing velodrome).
- 16 indoor sports courts and two multi-purpose facilities.
- an indoor 'street' with cafe and children's facilities.
- a fitness centre, gym and indoor athletics track.
It is expected that land to the west of the track can be sold for
approx £17m.
Edinburgh Evening News March 11, 2008:
p.7. |
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November 2008 |
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Plan Delayed
Edinburgh councillors are to be asked to support a proposal that the
redevelopment of Meadowbank should be delayed until the economic situation
improves and land values rise again.
It had been expected that the stadium would close in early-2011, and
that construction of the new facilities would take two years.
However, these proposals assumed that the council would earn £17m from the
sale of 8.5 acres of the Meadowbank site. It is now believed that
the land to be sold is worth nowhere near £17m.
Edinburgh Evening News November 13,
2008: p.5. |
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March 2009 |
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Short-term Proposals
It is now proposed to spend £1.45m to pay for essential work to be
carried out, between now and 2012. Most of the cash will be
allocated to track resurfacing.
Earlier proposals to sell part of the land and create a new stadium at
Meadowbank have not been able to proceed. It was estimated, in
November 2008, that the sale of part of the site might raise only about
£5m for the council, rather than £17m that had previously been expected.
Edinburgh Evening News
March 28, 2009: p.2. |
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4.
Sighthill or Meadowbank
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Taskforce Report
The report from the independent taskforce set up
by the council was published today.
It concludes that even if most of the Meadowbank
site were to be sold for housing, the council would still face a shortfall
of £30m in their plans to refurbish the Royal Commonwealth Pool and to
create the new Sports Centre envisaged for Sighthill.
The report sees the best option as being:
"to create brand new facilities at Meadowbank
as it is by far the best location".
However, it acknowledges the funding difficulties
of either doing this or creating the new sports centre envisaged for
Sighthill.
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Council Leader's Comments
Council Leader, Jenny Dawes, says that the
council would be likely to pursue a "compromise" option which would
involve selling most of the Meadowbank site for housing, but relocating
the running track and indoor sports complex to the eastern part of the
site.
She added:
"It is obvious that we need to do a lot more
work before we can take any kind of final decision. We are obviously
going to have to go back to sportscotland to see if any funding would be
available for a development at Meadowbank."
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Edinburgh Evening News August 12, 2007, p.5 |
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5.
Royal Commonwealth Pool |
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August / September 2007 |
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Refurbishment
Edinburgh wishes to create:
- an Olympic-standard 8-lane 50 metre
pool and diving area.
- an expanded gym and redesigned
changing areas.
- new 'soft play' facilities.
It is
proposed that the pool will be used as an official training camp for the
London 2012 Olympic Games, then for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 if
Glasgow's bid for these games is successful.
The diving area would also be used for
diving competitions in the 2014 Commonwealth Games if Glasgow's bid for
the games is successful. |
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How will the cost be met?
The cost
of refurbishing the Royal Commonwealth Pool has risen by £7m to £36m in
under two years. Edinburgh Council has only set aside £29m for
the refurbishment, and that includes £7m expected from the sale of much of
the Meadowbank Stadium site.
However,
that sale of Meadowbank to finance the work at the Royal
Commonwealth Pool will not go ahead in the immediate future, because
Edinburgh Council recently agreed to appoint independent consultants to
look at a range of options for the Meadowbank site.
So the only viable option to fund the Royal
Commonwealth Pool refurbishment appears to be for Edinburgh Council to
seek funding from the Scottish Government or from sportscotland. |
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Edinburgh Evening News August 12, 2007, p.5
(Commonwealth Pool)
Edinburgh Evening News August 30, 2007,
p.6 (Meadowbank Stadium)
Edinburgh Evening News September 10,
2007, p.9 (Commonwealth Pool) |
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April 2008 |
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Scottish Government Contribution
The
Scottish Government has agreed to increase its contribution towards the
refurbishment of the Royal Commonwealth Pool from £4m to £5m. The
overall cost of the refurbishment is expected to be £37m.
It is hoped that this will enable refurbishment
of the pool to go ahead, to provide:
- a 50-meter 8-lane pool
- a 25-meter pool
- new soft play facilities
- an expanded gym
- redesigned changing areas
The pool
is due to host the diving events in
the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Edinburgh Evening News April 18, 2008, p.25 |
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July 2008 |
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Funding Secured
A £5m grant from Sportscotland has enabled
refurbishment work to go ahead at the Royal Commonwealth Pool. The
Council will also sell car parks and Leith Waterworld to help to meet the
cost of the refurbishment.
This refurbishment will include
- extending the 50-meter pool by 1.5 meters
and installing a boom to allow it to be split into two 25m pools.
- overhauling the diving area to provide 4
platforms, up to 10m high, two temporary springboards and a 'dry dive'
training area with trampolines and harnesses.
- three dance studios and a new gym
(but the sauna will be lost).
- a changing 'village' with better
facilities.
- a new dry play area for children.
- poolside showers and heated benches
beside the pool.
- a revamped 900-seat spectator area.
- a revamped cafe.
The pool
is
expected to close for two years, beginning in June 2009. for
refurbishment.
Edinburgh Evening News July 14, 2008, p.5 |
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6.
Meadowbank Stadium |
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Cost to Refurbish
Edinburgh Council is still awaiting a
report from independent consultants looking into the options for the
Meadowbank Site.
However, a separate report published in October
2007 has estimated the cost of a full refurbishment of Meadowbank to be
£39m (including £14m sports centre, £13m grandstand, £11m velodrome).
The 'Save Meadowbank' campaign had estimated that
the facilities could be brought up to scratch for £18m. |
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Edinburgh Evening News: October 9, 2007:
p.9 |
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