Alternatives to Meadowbank sell-off were simply ignored

Published on Wednesday 26 March 2008 09:15

Decision snubs views of residents and sports people, says Kevin Connor.

THE council has now formally decided to radically downsize Meadowbank and sell off "part" of the site for housing. The official report recommending this includes two indicative diagrams: one shows a third of the site lost to housing; the other shows half. Which will prove most prophetic?

The Save Meadowbank Campaign (SMC) emerged last year out of the anger and disbelief over the former council regime's decision (without any public or user consultation) to sell off Meadowbank. We remain committed to ensuring instead that Meadowbank is upgraded "to specifications deemed fit by the centre's users, local residents, and the wider public", and to preventing any sell-off of the site.

As well as from athletes like Allan Wells, Scott Hastings, Chris Hoy and Alex Arthur, support also flooded in from the then-opposition Liberal Democrats who claimed to be "100 per cent behind the campaign". The 700 people who attended our first public meeting at Meadowbank last March will also clearly recall the support implied by the SNP.

After winning the elections, however, the new Lib-Dem/SNP administration quickly morphed into "the Council".

Council workshops designed to take a fresh look at the issue found opposition to sell-off from all six local community councils, were made aware of the massive public support for an upgrade and were presented with alternatives to sell-off that would not break the bank. This was ignored in favour of a continued focus on "the development opportunities and capital receipt potential for any remaining part of the site" – i.e. sell-off.

The sell-off decision means a hugely popular centre is set to lose a huge swathe of facilities at a time when the public expects sports provision should increase.

SMC's architect Dimitris Theodossopoulos and respected athletics coach Bill Walker were both on the latest workshops that produced the report that informed the council. Strange that at no point was their input considered in the options appraisal.

Consideration of their input would have avoided the report's lack of provision "of outdoor all-weather sports (five-a-side football] pitches and facilities for martial arts and gymnastics" noted by the Tories before they approved the sale. It also may seem like wasted "capital receipt potential" to the council, but an athletics "throws area" is a necessary component of any athletics arena.

The council has invited SMC to the next round of workshops. But, as Dimitris put it, "until conditions that really appreciate our involvement are in place", we have no intention of lending further legitimacy to an illegitimate process.

In case anyone missed it, the new council administration is committed to ensuring "communities are fully involved in decisions which affect them and (that] local democracy is enlarged".

&#149 Kevin Connor is spokesman for the Save Meadowbank campaign