November 19, 2008
Every credit crunch has a silver lining
The community campaign to save Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Stadium – the only athletics facility in the city – had appeared to be heading for failure after City of Edinburgh Council voted to press ahead with its plans to cash in on the city’s inflated property market. That was until the value of the land in question plummeted from an estimated £17m to £5m. Now the plans have been ditched
The controversial redevelopment of Meadowbank stadium in Edinburgh is to be suspended after land values in the city crashed.
The project had been due to start in early 2011 but the credit crunch has contributed to a decrease in the value of the city council’s land assets.
Councillors agreed in March to sell of one third of the land on the Meadowbank site to help pay for a new stadium there. At that time, the land had an estimated value of £17m to contribute to the £25m needed for the project but current estimates suggest the value has dropped to £5m.
The programme of work at Meadowbank will now be delayed until land values recover, the Council said.
Edinburgh City Council finance leader Gordon McKenzie said “Edinburgh is feeling the effect of the credit crunch and we are adjusting our plans accordingly”
City sports leader Deirdre Brock said, “Whilst we wait for economic conditions to improve we need to be sure that athletes have access to training facilities in the build up to the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.”