Last night there was a public meeting of the Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links. David Jamieson, the Council Parks Manager gave an excellent account of his efforts to lay the groundwork for improving the city's parks and, in particular the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links.
Amongst his points to the 48 people present:
But
they will have to wait a little longer. One of the reasons for the
delay in action on the overuse issue is that a member of the
administration councillors last year called for a report on the use of
parks throughout the city - and that report is not yet ready, but when
it comes it will feed into the management plan. The management plan is
probably the best way to manage the overuse issue. But Friends of the
Meadows should not assume their take on the issue is the only
consideration. There are tourists, visitors, sportsmen, events
organisers, families and young people who have to be taken into
account. And the Meadows is a city resource for events as well. There are
issues waiting to be addressed. But some at the meeting felt that the
negative approach hardly does the park - in all its beauty and
usefulness - credit. Memorably highlighting the differing opinions,
the parks manager said: 'Some people want events, some people don't
want events and the Council is caught in the middle.' The Council now
needs to move swiftly, thoughtfully and purposefully to chart a way
through the differing views - not all of which were represented at the
meeting. Source: Southside & Newington Newsblog |
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