Confirmation today of a move that has been widely expected for some time with regard to a deal between the owners of the Pitz and the Council. Hope to get some reaction from local councillors soon:
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index ... 0617174757
redevelopment of Pitz site
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Guest
I have received the following response from Maureen Child:
A proposal by Powerleague has been kicking around for years. The five a side pitches got a 100 year lease from the Edinburgh District Council, which has over 80 years still to run. Powerleague will not invest any more than the bare minimum in the site where it is and wanted to cash in on the sale of the whole site, even although they don't own it. The lease gives them a very strong position. We could just tell them they have to run this facility until well after the cows come home, but Council officers have driven a possible bargain that the Council elected members have yet to consider fully.
A similar proposal is one of the options being put forward by Portobello Community Centre in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Scotland for a joint facility and headquarters. Their architects have come up with a very similar scheme to the design brief which the Council officers and architects have prepared.
A bit of me wants the Council to tell Powerleague to get lost - we own the site, on your bike, no deal. Another bit of me wants to be able - at last! - to sit down with the community and look at this proposal in the context of the wider re-development and upgrading of Portobello as a whole. We all know that we need a fit-for-purpose Portobello High School and Community Centre and a re-invigorated Promenade and so on. And the Council want to find a way of funding all of that and find the physical space to do it. The new High School alone will cost £25 million and if we build it on the present site - at the centre of its catchment area - where do we put the school while all that's going on? The Powerleague/Pitz site is half the size Portobello High School would require, so it doesn't look like an option so far.
Lawrence and I have been in discussion with colleagues on the best way of approaching all this for some time and this is coming to a head with this proposal. The matter was on a 'B' Agenda, meaning it was internal to the Councillors and Council officers, because Powerleague insisted some aspects of it are commercially sensitive and should be kept confidential.
The decision of the Council Executive was to continue the matter for further internal discussion and investigation. It will come back to the next Council Executive at the end of July.
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Guest
And here's Lawrence Marshall's views on the subject:
Some of you may have seen the article in the "Evening News" yesterday (Thursday 17th June) regarding a deal between Power League and the Council to sell off part of the site of the existing 5-a-side football pitches and pavilion and build a community facility on part of the remainder within an overall linear park setting alongside the Figgate Burn.
I thought that this was an appropriate time to break free of the uncomfortable straitjacket imposed so far by commercial confidentiality to outline the background to all this - the main thinking behind this rather than the specific details of the deal involved.
This option stems from Power League trying to persuade the Council a couple of years ago to release them from their 99-year lease and allow them to build a Lidl supermarket on at least part of the site. Although 5-a-side football isn't exactly a typical High Street use and is in some ways not only an inappropriate but also a noisy neighbour as far as local residents are concerned, the overwhelming feeling in the Community Council and Portobello Amenity Society was that a supermarket wasn't wanted as a replacement and so we told Pitz that they would have to stick with the terms of their lease and, even if they moved, they would have to find another similar operator to take the lease over.
Meanwhile, of course, the community centre has in these last few years been working on plans for a completely new building and the idea began to take shape of a new community complex, the only available Council land for which was the Power League site. So, we began to discuss with Power League the fact that they had already said that they weren't interested in refurbishing their Portobello site and that they instead would prefer somewhere nearby with the potential for 8 pitches (rather than 6 at present).
Our officials have identified a site beside Portobello golf course where such a new Power League facility could fit and have now, over many months, negotiated terms whereby Power League would move, be able to pay for the building of a new facility and realise a share of the proceeds of the sale of the existing site. The last part sticks in my throat as they made the first move re. a possible relocation from the High Street, they don't own the existing site - the Council does - and are being offered an alternative by the Council. But they've 84 years of their lease to run and therefore could just sit tight if so minded.
The existing site of itself is too large for just a community complex - new community centre, possibly also a larger, more modern library and possibly also a headquarters for Friends of the Earth Scotland (this is one scenario considered in a feasibility study commissioned by the community centre management committee). I therefore asked the question as to whether it might be possible to rebuild Portobello High School here - possibly involving the current Indoor Bowling Centre (we could have rescued the Richard Corsie facility as a replacement). My motivation here was to further enliven Portobello High Street and make it feel like a High Street from first you enter it at King's Road - the Scottish Power site on the other side of the street also being crucial here.
Our property and education officials have both insisted that this site is too small - and don't think that we could do some deal to exchange this site for the Scottish Power site which is bigger because the latter will no doubt be valued with housing in mind and would therefore cost too much to acquire, even if "swapped" - although it's current designation in the Local Plan is as industrial land. A new High School will cost some £25m simply to build. Education also stated that both these sites are at the very edge of the High School's catchment area - something they weren't in favour of. In terms of boosting Portobello High Street, I feel that outcome is a shame. The other shame, of course, is that a new site for the High School will avoid a costly and disruptive decant.
Although we were told by our officials to keep all this quiet because of the ongoing commercial negotiations with Power League and the possibility of jeopardising these, I have kept the community centre and the library informed of this particular option for their future development. I've also dropped broad hints at one or two Community Council meetings in the last year - not to mention private conversations with individuals.
At the very least I would anticipate a linear park alongside the Figgate Burn from the High Street to the Promenade with a new community centre on probably the High Street end of the site. The library could also become part of this if folk wished - and, as I say, maybe an HQ for Friends of the Earth Scotland.
For myself, I would have preferred that we could have held a community workshop on this and indeed how we begin to rebuild Portobello more generally - but we were told that we needed to strike a deal with Power League first since this was the key to unlocking any development.
That's why a report went before the Executive of the Council on Tuesday 15th June. This was a private "B" agenda item because it contained details of the deal with Power League which they have the right to insist be kept confidential. This report was continued by Councillor Ewan Aitken who wanted to be sure as regards the implications for Portobello High School but he has now been persuaded that the Power League site isn't big enough and the report will therefore now come back again to the Council Executive on Tuesday 27th July. Meanwhile, since this report is available to all councillors, it has been leaked to the "Evening News".
At the end of the day, the minimum we're aiming for is a strengthened sense of place in Portobello High Street, a new community centre and possibly also linking this with a new library. The High Street needs to stretch towards King's Road if we are to make this currently industrial entrance to Portobello seem part of the town and a new community complex west of the Figgate Burn together with hopefully housing - including much needed "affordable housing" for rent - on the Scottish Power site rather than a supermarket should go a long way to achieving this.
Towerbank Primary School will hopefully be extended allowing it to come together on one site over the course of the next few years and we need to build a new Portobello High School. And then, of course, there's the question of trying to further improve the Promenade - particularly those sites currently looking derelict but not all of which the Council owns.
All these issues present real choices and difficulties and are often inter-dependent. Commercial confidentiality is a huge impediment to discussing some things openly and I've frankly been more forthcoming with those directly affected than perhaps some folk would like because I've needed to have a sense that what was being discussed arose from their aspirations and had their understanding. In the case of the community centre, for example, I have tried to keep them informed in the light of their own search for a solution as to how to get a new community centre.
I hope this explains the background to the article which appeared in the "Evening News" yesterday and I very much hope that we will soon be able to engage more folk in the local community about how we build a Portobello that's stronger in the coming years.
They should build an open air swimming pool on the pitz site 
I virtually grew up at what must be Scotland's only remaining open air salt water, olympic size, swimming pool in Stonehaven.
I virtually grew up at what must be Scotland's only remaining open air salt water, olympic size, swimming pool in Stonehaven.
Last edited by wangi on 01 Aug 2004, 19:42, edited 1 time in total.
Ah the Outdoor Pool - remember being pushed off the High Dive - not a nice experience!
The raft was always overflowing with folk - think I managed to get on a couple of times! I also had a wee summer job serving candy floss at the pool, needless to say I could never manage to get the darned stuff on the stick - not as easy as you think.
The Scran Website has some great shots of the old place.
The raft was always overflowing with folk - think I managed to get on a couple of times! I also had a wee summer job serving candy floss at the pool, needless to say I could never manage to get the darned stuff on the stick - not as easy as you think.
The Scran Website has some great shots of the old place.
