About Us
Dec 07 update
In our last update, on 6th September, we spoke of Terry Christie’s independent report to the city council on the provision of sports facilities in the city – including, of course, Meadowbank (MSC) and the Royal Commonwealth Pool (RCP).
Since then, the Council’s Chief Executive, Tom Aitchison, has prepared a further progress report, which will be considered at the Council meeting on Thursday, 20th December. This can be summarised as follows…
- The Council cannot proceed with all of the significant National Facilities Strategy plans, since these were totally dependent upon the funds raised from the sale of MSC.
- However, it is possible to proceed with the refurbishment of the RCP, and hence the provision of the diving facility for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. This requires an investment now of £37.1m (note, there is a £10.5m funding gap, which may potentially be filled by selling a part of the MSC site).
- Turning to MSC, FaulknerBrowns, the Council’s appointed architects, were commissioned to review the facilities at MSC. Their report identified the general and also sporting inadequacies of the existing building, i.e. that many of the facilities do not meet national or regional standards.
- A full condition survey of MSC was also carried out, revealing that a minimum of £11.9million would need to be invested to keep it operational.
- Four options for MSC (from refurb to rebuild) were appraised and costed, each requiring significant investment and, hence, further evaluation. The key issue for the Council is finding an affordable solution.
Finally, the report recommends that the Council:
- commit to proceeding with the RCP refurbishment as a priority;
- agree to address the funding gap for the RCP refurbishment through, if necessary, selling part of the MSC site;
- approve a further assessment of the options for the facilities at MSC;
- undertake local consultation on what sports facilities are required on the west side of the city;
- consider a follow up report in February/ March 2008.
We will let you know of any significant developments, if any, arising from 20th December’s meeting as soon as we have them.
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