If Anderson knocks down Meadowbank, I'm going to concrete over his back garden.
See how he likes it!

Why not sell the site at Sighthill, and use that money to refurbish Meadowbank?

#2 Great idea,But nae brown envelopes.

I heard chat that they (Labour I believe) want to still have facilities there on a smaller scale and have some 'affordable housing' there too. If they were too keep sports facilities and actually have affordable homes wihout totally concreting the area, I reckon that'd be alright. It depends, of course, on the scale of the homes and what they mean by 'affordable'.

#2 & #3 - Absolutely !

Sighthill is not really very central, and at least Meadowbank is a bit more accessible, obviously more money to be made selling meadowbank-back to the smell of money not logistics

The Sighthill Stadium will look great. Pity it's gonna take away 11 of the 12 fitba pitches there already. But of course, it will attract International athletics meetings... well... only if it can stop them going to Glasgow's new Commonwealth Stadium or to Gateshead. Yup, tear down a well-used, central sports centre and create a white elephant. There won't be many kids from the east competing in the games, as they'll never get in to the wee 'community' sports club.

The issue is not "STILL OPEN" to debate as Anderson states, but is opening up to debate for THE FIRST TIME.

The decision had already been made without ANY public input, but now, because of 600+ articulate but angry locals and athletes, Anderson is now running scared. The person responsible for trying to push this through just before the elections has probably been sacked by now; what a miscalculation!

The "public consultation" that ends on March 30th starts with the words, "it has been
agreed that the existing Meadowbank Sports Centre site will be sold" and then goes on to seek comment on the flats etc that will replace it.

Yes, the council want 25% to be affordable, but what about the other 75%? And after the "affordable" ones have been bought up, when they go up for sale in 6 months time, how affordable will they then be?

It also discusses an idea for a tiny leisure centre that they still need to find a site for.

Very few of the 600+ people wanted to discuss the specifics of the council proposal though; the fact is that people are happy with Meadowbank, and are angry that such a major decision had been taken without seeking their input.

It is not pretty, but it is very functional, and while it may not be the best for hosting world-class events anymore, it is certainly fantastic at providing the facilities that produce world-class athletes and much much more. Glasgow already has an international-level stadium, so is it really necessary to spend an absolute fortune in building one here as well?

There is always scope to provide sports facilities throughout Edinburgh as and where the public deem appropriate, and over a timescale that doesn’t break the bank and have us resort to the loan-shark style PFI/PPP schemes such as were used to fund the ERI (Anderson took offence at the suggestion that athletes would be charged £10 to park at their proposed new facility). But it seems

They now seem to be saying that the funding for Sighthill and the RCP will come entirely from the sale of Meadowbank and the SportScotland grant, and therefore will have no need for Private Finance Initiative-type deals. However, the sums don’t add up, and they know it. If you ask 6 different councilors/employees (and I have), you get six different answers (e.g. RCP will cost £8/ £30/ £32million to refurbish; SportScotland will provide £4/ £11/ £13/ £17/ £53million towards the cost.

This is interesting as their own documents state that “There is likely to be a significant shortfall in funding the capital project, whether the bid is successful in its entirety or in part...”, and that, “consideration will have to be given to innovative approaches to sourcing funding through a PPP, commercial involvement or working with other public sector partners (e.g. the Universities). http://cpol.edinburgh.gov.uk/getdoc_ext.asp?DocID=52818

The cost of bringing Meadowbank up to world-class standard may not be worthwhile, but it is far from clear if a proper study has been done, or if the “proper conclusion” was simply reached. However, to upgrade to world-class standard is entirely distinct from the cost of a simple refurbishment of the stadium as is, which seemed to be what the people in the meeting were demanding, and the reality that Anderson etc must now face.
See: www.savemeadowbank.org for more info.

Nobody here is explaining what is so awful with Meadowbank that it needs knocked down. It Doesn't ! Is it subsiding ? Are there bits falling off its prefabricated walls ? NO.

Please explain why it cannot be refurbished.

I think Donald Anderson might finally have started to understand how unpopular his political party is. At times during the meeting his face was a picture. It was so particularly when suggestions were made of brown envelopes. Let's not forget that Meadowbank isn't the first time they have sold off sports areas in this way. Who remembers how Meggetland was before the Labour Party's cronies Applecross got their hands on it? http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=18&id=1665532006

But, let's not forget that all the political parties are guilty. They all voted to sell off Meadowbank, every single one of them. Not one of them had the brains to ask why officials had presented them with only one option. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have asked why more than one option was not presented to them. Perhaps it is true that what little brains Councillors have are bashed out of them when they are elected.

The council have an obligation to manage the funds generated & provided to the city of Edinburgh. This also involves 100% collection of rent, taxes etc etc.

It is the council that are fault about over spending.

Councillors need savvy, contracts & procurements are simple, impose financial penalties to contractors and get a grip. At present the council are just selling off assets to rectify the current problems. This will only lead to further spiralling debts with the future looking bleak - what’s the answer increase tax – no, manage what you have.

No sort your own house out & get business wise and do a better job.

This just goes on and on.What the heck is the difference between Sighthill and Meadowbank?It`s still Edinburgh for goodness sake not outer Mongolia.Stop whinging you`re getting a new 21st century complex replacing a 1970 stadium.

#13

The park in Sighthill is the only green space there is in that part of the city. Where are all the local football teams going to play?

Anyway, there's local elections happening on May 3rd. Let these councillors know what you think of them by kicking them out office.

That's the only way these people learn.

Worried about Playing feilds in the city.
Im tired of reading and hearing about how the council are wanting to get children off the streets corners and into sport and when they have a great chance to do something about it they are more interested in building houses to create more money to squander. When is the council and on a greater scale this government going to put legislation into position that stops building companies getting planning to build houses without land being allocated for recreation and sport areas near to houses. On the west side of edinburgh more and more pitches and vacant land gets turned into houses every year , and with this latest idea at sighthill taking even more playing grounds away we will soon have no free land for our kids to play casual sports on. I believe Meadowbank should get renovated for the good of the City and an investment of several million be put into sighthill parks to bring the facilities up to a standard the locals would be proud of. This will in turn take the pressure of other areas in the west which are currently going under for even more housing . For the health of todays kids and the future adults in the city we cant afford for this to happen.

#14, but who do we vote for? Is anyone proposing to save Meadowbank, Glenogle Baths, green land on Corstorphine Hill etc etc?

Vanessa - great comment. You should get a job working for the Scotsman / Evening News, far better journalism than most of their muppet journos could manage.

Of course, they're too self-interested to upset the council for fear of losing advertising revenues.

I use Meadowbank every week and I suppose I will need to travel 1 hour there and 1 hour back on Lothian Buses to do the same at Sighthill - that's the difference between the two sites. More congestion and pollution!

Many have noted on this site that the key question is money the council will make from selling off the land - has anyone stopped to think that with all the new flats - there are a real lack of decent facilities for these new residents in this area of town -Lochend and Meadowbank -

Cllr Anderson told the meeting: "If I had a magic wand and a blank cheque, we would demolish Meadowbank and build a new stadium on the site.
If only the residents of Edinburgh had a magic wand and we could have a council that consults, listens and then does what is right...not what is only deemed profitable in their short term world.......filled with rich developers, pr folk, architects champing at the bit, chamber of commerce...you know the parts
www.eh8.org.uk

Blank chqs and magic wands spell 'patronising twaddle'.

Edinburgh ought to decide if it wants an International stadium or lower obesity and youth crime...is it really that difficult???