Partnerships make play to save closed sports centre

Bids are also to be sought for the Queensferry site

The Crags Sports Centre was shut by operator Edinburgh Leisure at the end of last year in order to try to save it money.

A dozen notes of interest were lodged by a March closing date from a range of organisations interested in making use of the centre and that has now been narrowed down to three formal bids after small community groups were urged to join up with other organisations.

The interest in the site so far has included clubs that want to use it for football, gymnastics, basketball or even roller derby.

David Wardrop, the city council's sports manager, said: "The initial 12 notes of interest represented 11 organisations and we wrote back saying we would accept joint bids because some were quite small local organisations that are not used to operating buildings like this. We felt that some would benefit from a consortium approach."

All bidders have been asked to state how they would provide community access to the Crags, on Bowmont Place.

A bidding process is also expected to be launched in the coming months for the Queensferry Recreation Centre, which closed last month.

It emerged today that security for the two shut-down facilities is costing the council around 1200 a month - meaning it is keen to see them reopened as soon as possible.

Mr Wardrop said: "We are trying to establish a new tenant as soon as we can because that cost cannot be sustained.

"We would hope we would have this secured long before the end of the year. If we do not, we will have to review what we do with this."

Each of the organisations that has submitted bids is to be asked what its plans are to ensure continued community access, while a representative of the local community will also sit on the selection panel that decides which bid to accept.

Councillor Gordon Munro, the culture and leisure spokesman for the Labour group on the council, said: "Given that it is costing 600 a month to do nothing with the Crags, I'd hope it would be expedited."

Cllr Gordon Buchan, culture and leisure spokesman for the Conservatives on the council, added: "I hope that the bids are robust and give a second chance of life for the centre that Edinburgh Leisure were not able to give."