PUBLIC MEETING OF 15 NOVEMBER 2006
SPONSORED BY PENICU1K ACTION AGAINST CLOSURES
About 200 were present at the Meeting convened
under the Chairmanship of Sheriff Kevin Drummond.
Midlothian Councillors and officials had tendered
apologies. Councillor Imrie (Ladywood Ward) had accepted his invitation but did
not appear.
There was surprise and disappointment at the
absence of those responsible for the decisions which had been made. The message
from most contributors was that Penicuik had been badly let down at the
Council's decision, taken without consultation, to regard the Ladywood,
Queensway and Jackson Street Centres as surplus to requirements once the High
School swimming pool / sports / library complex came on stream. The value of
the complex was recognised but not as a replacement for the threatened Centres,
whose retention was needed to satisfy the demand for community and recreational
facilities for the Town given the number of casual users not readily catered
for by the new complex and the considerable increase in the Penicuik population
from the major house-building programme the Council had set in train.
Attention was drawn to the £33 million Council
expenditure being devoted to Penicuik, principally for the High School complex,
new and extended schools provision and a replacement care home for Pentland
House. It was pointed out, that without comparative figures for other parts of
Midlothian or a time scale for the work's completion, it was hard to know what
implication to draw from that figure, large though it may appear.
Contributors spoke of the value they personally,
and also the community in Ladywood and Penicuik more widely, had derived from
the presence of, in particular, the Ladywood Centre.
The concerns of those present were expressed in the
motion, carried without dissent at the end of the Meeting:
(i) The Ladywood Centre is modem and purpose-built, with excellent facilities to help meet the needs of a growing population in north Penicuik.
(ii) Demolishing it would be an immoral waste
of money.
(iii) For local people - youngsters, their
parents and grandparents - the Ladywood Centre has developed into a social
focus for the community and its activities discourage youth crime and anti-social
behaviour.
(iv) A central sports complex next to Penicuik High School will be a great asset to the Town but was always portrayed as an enhancement of existing facilities, not as their replacement.
This Meeting accordingly
urges Midlothian Council
(v) To keep the Ladywood
Centre open, in order to meet leisure and social needs now and in the future,
and
(vi) To engage with the
Ladywood Steering Group in good faith to discuss how this can be achieved.
Discussions around this Motion have taken place subsequently with Midlothian Council, and Councillor Montgomery has met the Ladywood Steering Group. The outcome is that the Ladywood Centre may become a self-financing Trust. Other community, educational and recreational activities may also be provided for in the John Chant Centre, which will remain Council property.
Report of the first Ladywood Public Meeting: May 2006