APPENDIX 3
Memorandum submitted by the City of Edinburgh
Council
NATIONAL ATHLETICS
STADIUM
I was interested to learn that the Culture,
Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons will be examining
the proposal to establish a national athletics stadium and in
particular will be considering the desirability of continuing
with the Picketts Lock project. The intention of this brief letter
is to indicate to the Committee that should the DCMS decide not
to proceed with Picketts Lock and a search for alternative locations
for the national stadium is put in hand, it is my view that the
City of Edinburgh Council owned Meadowbank Stadium (seating capacity
15,000) should be considered as one of the options. In this connection,
I believe it is important for the Committee to acknowledge that
it does not automatically follow that such a UK resource should
be located in England.
As the Committee will be aware, the City of
Edinburgh has an enviable reputation around the world as being
a major cultural centre. What is sometimes forgotten is that in
the sporting context the city has played host to the Commonwealth
Games on two occasions (1970 and 1986) and has been the venue
at other times for a range of major international sporting events.
As it happens, the City Council has recently
embarked upon the preparation of a Sports Strategy for Edinburgh,
which will include a detailed examination of the future use of
Meadowbank Sports Centre and the Royal Commonwealth Pool (both
constructed for the 1970 Commonwealth Games) for national and
international sporting events. It has to be acknowledged that
both facilities are now somewhat "tired" and would require
significant investment to bring them up to present day international
standards. Therefore, before embarking upon such potentially expensive
projects the City Council is eager to obtain the views of the
sporting world as to the future roles of both facilities.
No doubt it will not be lost on the Committee
that were Edinburgh to be considered as a potential site for the
UK athletics stadium, the project to upgrade or replace the existing
Meadowbank Stadium could become part of that agenda.
I will resist the temptation to shower the Committee
with information on the Meadowbank Sports Centre at this time
but will be happy to send anything that is required in future
should the Picketts Lock project be abandoned. In the meantime,
I am enclosing some simple plans which Mr Kaufman may be interested
to see (not printed). I look forward to hearing from you further
about this matter.
25 September 2001
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