Travel boss hits out at council ski centre snub

THE boss of an Edinburgh travel company has hit out at council chiefs after he says they ignored his rescue plans for the ailing Midlothian Snowsports Centre.

Stuart Murphy, the managing director of Snowtraxx, a firm specialising in booking ski packages for school groups and families, approached Midlothian Council in September but claims he is yet to receive a response.

The 25-year-old, whose father Michael is the chief executive of the world's second largest PR firm, Grayling, has worked as an instructor at Hillend.

He said he had approached the council through his solicitors regarding the closure-threatened centre, but received no response.

He said: "I wrote through a firm of Edinburgh solicitors in early September to the council to express an interest in meeting them to discuss other operating models. These included purchasing or leasing the centre, or privatising the ski tuition and equipment hire, thus cutting their losses.

"I am confident the centre could be run more efficiently and I also believe that it could be developed for multi-sports use. The fact that they have not even responded to the letter is a huge shame."

Mr Murphy said he felt the centre had "huge potential" which was not being realised.

He added: "I feel the council should at least be going out to the market to try and find other interested parties. It's so important for kids to have that facility."

About 10,000 people have joined an online campaign to save Hillend after sources said it could close within months in the wake of 500,000 annual losses.

Cash-strapped Midlothian Council has said it is "premature" to talk of a sell-off or closure, but the centre is known to have been in difficulty for some time.

A spokesman for Midlothian Council said it had been unable to verify whether it had responded to Mr Murphy's letter.

Lothians MSP Robin Harper yesterday put down a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling on Midlothian Council to work with the Scottish Ski Club and SportScotland to find a solution.

Mr Harper said 29 Olympians were among the former alumni of the centre and said there was concern that the council had failed to keep the slopes to a "reasonable standard" since 1996.

Council leader Derek Milligan said: "It is appalling that Midlothian Council, which has invested millions of pounds in this centre, has received unfair criticism by people like Robin Harper.

"He owes the taxpayers in Midlothian a full and frank apology given the commitments they have made to keep this national centre open. We're in talks with SportScotland and others looking at ways to keep this centre open."

AMNESTY ON MISSING GEAR

BOSSES at Hillend are holding an equipment amnesty in the hope that almost 3,000 worth of ski items which went missing over the festive period will be returned.

Skis, snowboards and ski boots were taken after being hired out between 23 December and 10 January.

Bosses are urging anyone who may have taken the items by mistake to return them on a "no questions asked" basis.

A police spokesman said: "The operators of the ski centre are keen to be reunited with the missing equipment."