Fate of sports venues due soon

Published on Tuesday 27 November 2007 12:01

A MAJOR report on the future of Meadowbank Stadium and the Royal Commonwealth Pool is due to be published next month.

The city council announced today that it will present the options to councillors on December 20. The future of both venues is still uncertain amid concern about the ability of the local authority to deliver a revamped pool for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, for which it will host some events.

Officials were ordered in August to produce a series of options for Meadowbank, including selling off all or part of it for housing to pay for new facilities.

A proposed new arena in Sighthill has been shelved in favour of looking at redeveloping Meadowbank with new sports facilities, or refurbishing the existing complex and athletics arena.

The council is facing a black hole of at least 16 million to revamp the pool, while revamping Meadowbank has been priced at 40m.

Earlier this month, the Lib Dem/SNP administration was criticised after the crucial report failed to materialise for the second month in a row. Labour's sports spokesman on the council, Councillor Paul Godzik, said: "With their continued inaction, the Lib Dem/SNP administration is rapidly turning into a 'do nothing' body.

"Edinburgh has a unique opportunity, not just to host the diving competition in the 2014 Games, but to encourage and promote sport and physical activity in the run-up to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and the London Olympics in 2012. We can't afford to be left in the starting blocks."

But a council spokesman said: "This is a major undertaking and councillors rightly want to consider a range of options. We can confirm that a report detailing options will be presented to the next full meeting of the council."