New Portobello High School- Where and how?

[bellybabe]

[Stephen McIntyre]

Evening News, March 6th 2006



Golf course plan is the best option
EVERYONE is in favour of green space, so when green space is threatened it's an easy call: defend it from development. But the reality is much more complicated. It's not just about the amount of green space it's about the quality of green space and the value that it offers to the local community.

The current Portobello High School building is at the end of its life and urgently needs replacement. We cannot condemn our children indefinitely to suffering inadequate facilities. The 1800 school children in our community deserve a fair share of the green space in Portobello.
St John's, too, occupies increasingly cramped premises without the standard of modern facilities that people increasingly expect.

The council and Portobello school board say they have assessed the available sites and there are no other realistic alternatives. This assessment must be made public to reassure people that there has been a thorough options appraisal and build confidence that the relocation of the schools really will bring benefits to the children in the schools and to the wider community.

A group of local residents and parents have formed Portobello for New Schools (PFANS). Schools in a park is our vision for Portobello, not because we want to see green space removed but because we know that it can be used in a way that improves the school experiences of our children.

We know that we must improve the standards of health and fitness of our young people. We know too that high-quality schools in a good environment will improve their chances in life. We believe that the schools in a park proposal would help achieve these goals and deserves to be the basis for wide-ranging consultation.

The schools in the park proposal could also involve new playing fields, improving the remaining green space. The golf course would then be moved to a larger site in Brunstane, where new "green space", apparently almost twice the size of the existing golf course, would be reclaimed from agricultural land. It would be foolish to pretend that this does not involve difficult choices. For example, it appears the council might propose some housing on the golf course site.

As a city we are growing and Portobello is part of that growth. If we are to continue to grow we need to ensure that our green space is used in a way which offers the most value to the local community.

Portobello golf course is not used in the best way for a relatively densely populated part of the city. Aside from the golfers there are dog walkers and the occasional jogger but, in general, the green space is under-used and does not offer the amenities that it could.

We believe that moving the schools to the golf course site is an excellent way of using the green space and maximising its value to the local community. The relocation should also provide modernised playing fields with the remaining green space improved. It will be available for community use and it will offer facilities that will be of real benefit to residents as well as school pupils.

If the golf course is relocated to another site, more accessible green space will be created. And this is the key. You wouldn't know it listening to some campaigners, but the amount of green space in the east of the city is increasing.

The point is that it should be quality green space, offering real value to local communities and the city as a whole. We need to work as a whole community, with the neighbouring areas affected by the Portobello catchment area and make sure that this relocation provides a fair share for everyone.

Richard Butt, Portobello for New Schools, Marlborough Street, Portobello

[Stephen McIntyre]

[Maria]

[Dadaist]

[Stephen McIntyre]

[Pal of Porty]

[Dadaist]

[Stephen McIntyre]

Opportunity cost

Definition

The cost of passing up the next best choice when making a decision. For example, if an asset such as capital is used for one purpose, the opportunity cost is the value of the next best purpose the asset could have been used for. Opportunity cost analysis is an important part of a any decision-making processes, but is not treated as an actual cost in any financial statement.

[Dadaist]

[Jbrock]

I posted an early version of this leaflet on 1 March. Please find an updated copy giving an e-mail address for those who want to register support for Portobello for New Schools and notice of the invitation to a public meeting on Wednesday, 22 March, 1900-2030h at St John's School.

[Stephen McIntyre]

[PortyMan]

[seanie]

[Dadaist]

[Dadaist]

[Pal of Porty]

[Epykat]

[Epykat]

[Dadaist]

Caption Competition



Lady on the left : "Youse are a fae the chop - like this .... hiiiii YA"

Ewan Aitken : "An important question and one that we hadn't considered - but we need to have this conversation and I will get back to you with exact figures. Next question."

[seanie]

[Bob Jefferson]

This information comes from Keith Jackson, Chief Executive at Edinburgh Leisure

[Bob Jefferson]

So now we know. How do people get to Portobello Golf Course?

Only 4% walk there and a staggering 91% arrive by car. Pretty much as I expected in fact.

[ian]

There are many ways to criticise this research. But even allowing it to be correct, its easy to be suspicous about what the council is doing when they say they haven't made up their mind.

In November 2004 the feudal rights are dropped on the golf course and surrounding park. The park is no longer protected from development legally.

By June 2005 the council has commissioned research to find out how many people drive or walk to Portobello Golf Club - they did not do this research at any other golf club because they were already planning to move it to a new site.

Things work slowly in the council. It isn't surprising that they have been planning this for a while. What is shocking though is that they won't fess up.

[Alison Connelly]

[Alison Connelly]

[Pal of Porty]

[Maria]

[wangi]

[Stephen McIntyre]

[Dave Connelly]

[Dadaist]

[Brian McCrow]

[Brian McCrow]

[bbbrown]