East Lothian starts to see Olympic benefit

Tangible results of legacy projects from London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 are already in evidence in East Lothian after the local council launched the first part of a £4m project linked to the sporting events.

There remains scepticism about what London 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will actually bring to Scotland in a lasting form, despite over £6billion in public money being spent on the Olympics.

With that came promises that the whole nation would benefit well into the future. And East Lothian Council has now launched a £4m Capital Plan Legacy Project, with £1m coming from sportscotland, the first part of which is a new artificial training pitch in Haddington to the latest International Rugby Board and Fifa standards .

It is now in use by Haddington Athletic Community FC and Haddington RFC, along with a range of other users.

The new 3G [third generation] synthetic pitch is the first IRB playing surface to be delivered in Scotland outwith the Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors professional training venues at Murrayfield and Scotstoun.

Scottish Borders Council is in the final stages of completing the second on the Gala Fairydean ground, which will also be a community venue shared with Gala RFC, other amateur football and rugby clubs, Borders College and Heriot-Watt University.

Eamon John, the former Scotland Under-21 rugby coach who is now Healthy Living Service Manager at East Lothian Council, said: “There is no doubt that what we are seeing here will ensure a real legacy from these Games coming to the UK.

“If we were trying to do this in the current economic climate, it would certainly have been a lot more challenging and it’s fair to say might not have been possible.

“We have two more 3G pitches nearing completion in Tranent and Musselburgh, and a new six-lane tartan athletics track – and eight-lane sprint track – and throws and jumps areas nearing completion at Meadowmill.”

Meadowmill Sports Centre is already a hub for hockey, rugby, football, badminton and basketball.

Part of the Legacy funding will also be spent on refurbishing the changing rooms, increasing the strength and conditioning area, and creating new coach education meetings rooms and physiotherapy space.

“As a facility it plays a key role in the development of sporting pathways here in East Lothian,” added John, “but not only will we have the buildings as a legacy, but what goes on there and at these new pitches in the future will be as much of a legacy.”