This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Funding for new sports facilities network
29/07/2004
Ten successful bids for a share in £230 million of
investment for new sport facilities were announced
today.
The successful bids, which cover a range of sports, will
provide our talented athletes with the first-class
facilities they need to achieve sporting excellence, give
our communities further facilities for health improvement,
and allow Scotland to realise its ambition of having more
superb facilities to attract and host more major sporting
events.
More than £50 million, including £16 million which was
set aside for facilities linked to the Euro 2008 bid, has
been allocated from public funds to build the new national
and regional multi-sports facilities. This will deliver a
total investment, including investment from partners, of up
to £230 million in new and refurbished sports
facilities.
The facilities will include five full size indoor
football training pitches, a 5,000-seater national indoor
sports arena, two multi-sport 6,000-seater municipal
stadia, a national curling academy, an indoor velodrome and
an upgrade to Edinburgh's Royal Commonwealth Pool.
Speaking at Murrayfield Stadium, Finance Minister Andy
Kerr said:
"Our vision of a network of world-class training and
competition facilities across Scotland is fast becoming a
reality.
"Despite initial disappointment, it is terrific to see
that our bid to host the Euro 2008 Championships has left a
positive and lasting legacy from which football and other
sports in Scotland will benefit. This fulfils the First
Minister's pledge that there would be a legacy for Scottish
sport from the Euro 2008 bid.
"Our best and aspiring athletes will have more of the
top-class facilities they need for training and competition
which will help them achieve at the highest levels in the
coming years. Our communities, and in particular our young
people, will be able to enjoy increased opportunities to
take part in many different activities to help improve
their health and general well-being and also give them more
opportunities to aspire to the very highest levels of
athletic achievement.
"And the new national and regional facilities will also
help us realise our ambition of making Scotland a major
events destination. Providing more high quality training
and competition arenas will allow us to build on our recent
successes in attracting major sporting events here in the
future.
"The proposals progressing to Stage Two address the
needs of four of the six Area Institutes of Sport in
Scotland. The Executive and
sportscotland will continue to work with
partners in the Highland and the Fife and Tayside Areas to
meet the full aims of our facilities strategy. We shall
also work with partners with a view to filling the other
geographic gaps in our regional facilities network,
including in areas such as the Borders, Ayrshire and
Dumfries and Galloway.
"I look forward to seeing the proposed bids move quickly
to becoming a reality. Our athletes deserve it, our
communities deserve it, and Scotland deserves it."
Alastair Dempster, Chairman of
sportscotland added:
"To deliver the key objectives of our national strategy
for sport,
Sport 21, investment into facility development is
required and through the National and Regional Sports
Facilities Strategy we are now ready to deliver an exciting
and ambitious programme that can begin to provide
Scotland's future sporting infrastructure which will best
meet national, regional and local requirements."
In September last year
sportscotland and the Scottish Executive
invited bids for the development of a network of facilities
for key sports, which included indoor multi-sport training
facilities; a national indoor sports arena with a 200m
athletics track and facilities for other sports; and two
versatile municipal stadia. The upgrading/provision of new
national facilities for sports such as swimming, curling
and cycling was also considered. The network will be based
on the six regions of Scotland covered by the Area
Institutes of Sport: Central; East of Scotland; Grampian;
Highland; Tayside & Fife; and West of Scotland.
A funding package was established comprising £28.8m from
the Scottish Executive, which includes £16m previously set
aside for the Euro 2008 bid, and a further £21.2m from
sportscotland Lottery funding. In addition
to the funding package of £50m,
sportscotland has allocated £1m from its
Lottery funded Building for Sport Programme (BFSP) to
complementary sports facilities included in two of the bids
giving total funds available of £51m. Notional allocations
of these monies were made across the facility requirements
listed, with around 30% of the total cost to be met from
central resources.
The national and regional network of multi-sport
facilities will comprise 10 sites: Aberdeen City Council,
£5,000,000; City of Edinburgh Council - three sites
£17,000,000; Falkirk Council £3,000,000; Glasgow City
Council - three sites £17,000,000; North Lanarkshire
Council £5,000,000 and Stirling Council £2,500,000.
The facilities will include Scotland's first ever full
size indoor football training pitches (5), a 5,000-seater
national indoor sports arena and two 6,000-seater municipal
stadia for multi-sport use and a range of other facilities.
Provision has also been made to achieve the long-standing
need for a national curling academy, an indoor velodrome
and an upgrade to Edinburgh's Royal Commonwealth Pool.
A total of 12 applications were received for facilities
covering 16 sites. Following a rigorous assessment process
that evaluated each project against five criteria (sporting
and strategic need; financial and economics; legal and
planning; design and technical; management and operational)
the 10 projects have been selected to progress to stage
two.
The allocation of funds at stage one is an indication of
the level of award that the successful applicants can
expect at stage two provided their project is developed in
line with the approved proposals and conditions. The
timescale for stage two applications will depend on the
scale and nature of each project and how far the proposals
have been developed at stage one.
sportscotland will work closely with the
successful applicants to develop their proposals and
resolve any outstanding issues.
In addition to the provision of sports facilities, the
future location of
sportscotland's headquarters is currently
being considered by the Scottish Executive and an
announcement is expected shortly.
A breakdown of the allocations to the successful
applicants is as follows:
Central:
Falkirk Council, Westfield Stadium Project: Regional
indoor football facility, £3m provisional
Stirling Council, Forthbank Project: Curling academy and
sports hall, £2m; Swimming pool and hockey pitch, £0.5m
from the BFSP.
East ofScotland:
City of Edinburgh Council, Sighthill Park Project
Municipal stadium (6,000 seats), indoor athletics training
facility and sports hall, £6.5m. Gymnastics, £0.5m from the
BFSP
City of Edinburgh Council, Hunters Hall Project: Indoor
football facility and indoor velodrome, £6m
City of Edinburgh Council, Royal Commonwealth Pool:
Upgrade to provide 50m x 8 lane main pool, international
diving pool, £4m
Grampian:
Aberdeen City Council: Linksfield Project: Indoor
athletics training facility, indoor football facility and
sports hall, £5m
West ofScotland:
Glasgow City Council: East End Project: Indoor sports
arena with 200m track, athletics training facility and
sports hall, £9.5m
Glasgow City Council: Scotstoun: Municipal stadium
(6,000 seats) and indoor athletics training area, £4.5m
Glasgow City Council: Toryglen project: Indoor football
facility, £3m
North Lanarkshire Council: Ravenscraig project: Indoor
athletics training facility, indoor football facility and
sports hall £5m.