'Dawe has yet to answer the crucial question'

Published on Tuesday 13 November 2007 11:58

IT is good to hear council leader Jenny Dawe wax lyrical about Edinburgh's support for Glasgow's successful Commonwealth Games bid. She encourages local people to get behind it and businesses to take advantage of the potential opportunities the Games will present. But she has yet to answer the crucial question of what the city council is going to do about refurbishing the Royal Commonwealth Pool, which was an important part of Glasgow's winning bid.

In just over six years time Glasgow's sporting map and a large part of its urban landscape will be reshaped thanks to being chosen as host for the 2014 Games. The deprived East End will benefit most from the 300 million investment in the same way derelict dockland was transformed when the city hosted the Garden Festival in 1988.

There will be a purpose-built indoor arena and velodrome constructed at Dalmarnock. An athlete's village housing 8000 competitors will be converted into new homes - and this in a city not short of funds for building new homes thanks to tenants agreeing to the transfer of their homes from council control.

More than three years have passed since the then Finance Minister Andy Kerr pledged 50m to bring Edinburgh's ageing sports facilities into the 21st century. But thanks to dithering by successive administrations not a single brick has been laid. The suggested strategy was simple. Demolish the ageing Meadowbank stadium, sell off the land for housing and use the cash for the refurbishment of the pool and the building of a new all-purpose stadium at Sighthill. Although at a snail's pace the plan did at least proceed until earlier this year when it was derailed by council elections and a somewhat rearguard local campaign to save Meadowbank.

From that point on politicians from all sides have allowed themselves to be derailed from what is in the best interests of the whole city by the narrow self-interest of a few and the city's ability to provide promised facilities for diving in 2014 hinges on a decision sometime soon.

This newspaper has always supported the Meadowbank solution, which has since been backed by an independent review group. It would be sad if city leaders balked from taking it in the hope the new government would foot the bill for the refurbishment when the means to do so is at hand and which does not involve spending more taxpayers' money .

Too many people in this country think that public cash grows on trees and it is about time politicians stopped pandering to them. If Jenny Dawe wants Edinburgh to benefit from the Games she cannot rely on charity.