Two of three bowling greens at Powderhall could be converted for use as ball courts/play areas and growing food says a new report to be considered by councillors tomorrow (see foot of page).
The proposal is part of a response to years of falling use at Council-owned bowling greens across Edinburgh.
The number of annual users at Powderhall has ebbed and flowed over the years, but in 2012 stood at 1,351 – 13 per cent down on the figure for 2007.
Spurtle has repeatedly reported local fears for the future of the bowling club. Many have thought a cash-strapped local authority might give in to temptation and sell the land off to developers. The current proposal therefore seems pragmatic and welcome.
Broughton Primary School across the road already uses part of the site for raised beds. Additional play space would also compensate pupils for the loss of playground resulting from erection of new classrooms behind the school.
Broadly similar plans are mooted for greens at Balgreen (partially converting to tennis courts), Victoria Park, and Leith Links (where we may soon see residents in bikinis and budgie-smugglers playing beach volleyball). No changes are planned for the one green at St Margaret’s Park.
Edinburgh Leisure – which manages the sites’ public interface and pavilions – envisages ‘extended opening hours and improved booking systems to accommodate current users’. The Council will investigate improving Powderhall’s pavilion and providing a café.
Councillor Lesley Hinds, Transport and Environment Convener, said today: ‘These plans will make the best use of local sites to provide new and exciting opportunities for the community, potentially improving facilities for both young, disabled and elderly people.
‘There is no doubt public bowling greens serve as an invaluable source of interaction and leisure for local groups and we hope the addition of new activities and provisions will only go to enhance this.’
Views will also be sought from local community councils and stakeholders (currently Bellevue Ladies, Bellevue Churches, Edinburgh Deaf Bowlers, ELPBA, Gorgie PSA, Leith Churches, and Pilrig Church Group).
Spurtle has two important provisos:
1. The views of young people are conspicuously absent from the current list of consultees. (This is something community councils will have to address carefully.)
2. What are the Council’s short and long-term plans for the adjacent Powderhall Destructor site?
What do you think of the proposals? Do you welcome them, or do you smell a rat? Tell us by email: spurtle@hotmail.co.uk Twitter: @theSpurtle Facebook: Broughton Spurtle
