Planners give green light to new Meadowbank Sports Centre

Plans to build a new Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh have been approved by city planners.The £47 million project will see a new state-of-the-art community sports facility built on the site of the original Meadowbank, which closed in December 2017. It is hoped the accessible new venue will become one of the top centres for community sport in the country, helping to support accessible participation in sport and physical activity for all ages and abilities for generations to come.At a special meeting of the development management sub committee on Friday, members acknowledged concerns expressed by local residents who would be affected by any development of the wider site which was granted planning in principle. The committee has insisted that local members of the community should be closely involved in shaping development in the area before detailed proposals come forward.Funded by the council and redevelopment of the wider Meadowbank site, substantial support will also be sought from SportScotland for the new sports centre. Once open, it will be managed by Edinburgh Leisure.The planning hearings took place following a 12-week consultation on the council-led proposals, when over 500 responses were gathered during public exhibitions with Edinburgh Leisure users, feedback from community councils, sports clubs and governing bodies and through an online public portal.Further extensive consultation will take place this year on proposals for the wider site, before more detailed plans are brought back to planning. A procurement process is already underway for the demolition of the existing sports centre, and it is anticipated that this work will begin in the autumn.