Meadowbank saved by controversial new development plan

Meadowbank

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Meadowbank Stadium is to be demolished and replaced by a smaller sports arena, Edinburgh City Council decided this month.

A third of the land currently occupied by the 16,500-seater stadium will be sold for a housing development, financing a new arena with a reduced capacity of 5,000.

The council has agreed that all funds raised from the land sale will be used to build new sporting facilities at Meadowbank; however, the £25 million cost of rebuilding the arena may still rise, since plans will be finalised in October this year.

Edinburgh council has not stipulated how, nor indeed if, it would cover any shortfall.

Proposals by the Save The Meadowbank Campaign (SMC) to renovate the stadium, which hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and 1986, have been dismissed.

The Edinburgh Evening News had claimed that the SMC's proposals were dismissed due to its estimated cost of £40 million; speaking to The Journal, the group's representative Aaron Lowe denied this.

“SMC proposals are completely accountable and we can demonstrate where all our costing comes from," he said, arguing that it would cost £2 million more to rebuild rather than refurbish the old Meadowbank.

“Why should we pay more for smaller facilities if larger facilities already exist?

“For some reason the Edinburgh Evening News has been heavily biased against our campaign from the outset, even going so far as to misquote and invent many untruths,” he added.

SMC has claimed that the council decision was made without any contribution from the public, and therefore refused to take part in a council workshop discussing the plans for rebuilding Meadowbank's sporting facilities.

“We have already taken part in two series of council workshops. Officials listened to what we had to say, nodded politely and then just went ahead with their own ideas anyway,” SMC spokesman Kevin Connor told The Edinburgh Evening News.

“If a group or individual chooses not to take part then that of course is a matter for them,” a spokesman for the council replied.

The sell-off also met with political opposition from the Greens and Liberal Democrats.

Lib Dem councillor Gary Peacock told The BBC: “I think a sale of this scale is unacceptable.”

Meadowbank continues to be used for gigs and events, especially during the Edinburgh Festivals. The SMC alleges that revenue from Meadowbank bookings go towards other council projects, rather than being reinvested in the venue.

The question of how to address the shortage of sports facilities in Edinburgh remains open, with Edinburgh RFC struggling to find an appropriate ground, and plans mooted last year to build a new arena at Sighthill have now been abandonned.

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