Green councillor Alex Staniforth says more needs to be done to give people a say over the new Meadowbank sports centre.
The proposals around the reconstruction of Meadowbank Stadium have been occupying me a lot in the past couple of months – I have been attending public meetings of the Save Meadowbank group, asked a question about the consultation in full council and have had plenty of meetings with the SNP/Labour members who lead on it.
All of this has seen some movement. The planning application for the housing beside the stadium originally stipulated buildings of a height many in the community found unacceptable. It will now only say that housing should be there and height, density etc. will only be decided after, what we are promised will be, extensive further public consultation.
I also hold out hope that both the spectator numbers can be increased and more of the current trees can be protected.
However, what cannot be denied is that consultation over the plans was not good enough. A packed room of 200-300 people in April was a clear enough signal of that. Equally, letting the current sport facilities fall into neglect and then selling land to build replacements is an unsustainable way for the council to approach sport in the future.
When it comes to communication and to the council’s support of the excellent work of Edinburgh Leisure the report card still reads ‘must try harder’.
Alex Staniforth is Green councillor for Craigentinny/Duddingston and Edinburgh Greens Spokesperson for Culture, Communities and Sport
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