Meeting to discuss future of sport in Galashiels
Ally McGilvray • Published 17 Jan 2011 09:30
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Council leader David Parker and director of education Glenn Roger are pictured celebrating the launch of a new football initiative at Tweedbank Primary School last month. However, a report commission by the local authority proposes a radical overhaul of the way in which sport is delivered in the Borders.
A PUBLIC meeting on the future of sports provision in the Borders is to be held in Galashiels this week.
It follows the publication of a report by Edinburgh based consultants Kit Campbell Associates which recommended closing crumbling sports centres across the region.
The report claimed the size of the population did not justify an indoor sports centre or swimming pool in every town and said the current provision was ageing and unsustainable.
However, it also recommended developing a network of 3G pitches across the region like the one already planned for Netherdale and building a new state of the art regional centre in Galashiels.
Scottish Borders Council, who commissioned the review, has confirmed the public consultation will be held in the Volunteer Hall in Galashiels on Wednesday, January 19, at 7pm.
It is understood Mr Campbell and David Hume, the local authority's chief executive, will be in attendance at the meeting.
Speaking at the publication of his report last year, we asked author Kit Campbell how he would feel if the report did not gain enough support to be implemented? He replied: "Quite depressed because all the council would then be able to do is manage decline and decline will go on and then there will be one closure and then another closure and nothing to replace them."
And, Mr Campbell added: "We have to say sport is mighty important to people in the Borders. Lets reinvent a pattern of sports provision that will serve the public well for the next 20 or 30 or 40 years in the same way that the current pattern has served them well for the past 30 or 40 years."
Tweedbank Community Council, which previously voiced its objection to proposals to sell off the village sports complex for housing, confirmed it would be represented at the meeting.
The full report is available online from www.scotborders.gov.uk/consultations
Views and comments on the report can also be submitted to Glenn Rodger, Director of Education and Lifelong Learning, Scottish Borders Council Headquarters, Newtown St Boswells, TD6 0SA. Alternatively, email: ellinfo@scotborders.gov.uk
This article appeared in Border Telegraph 17 Jan 11
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