East Renfrewshire MP Paul Masterton, Eastwood MSP Jackson Carlaw and the East Renfrewshire Conservative Council group have come out against any plans to build a new Leisure Centre on Broomburn Park or Shawwood, in Newton Mearns, in the strongest possible terms.
The news emerged after the results of a public consultation by the Council voted narrowly in favour of moving the leisure facility, with both Broomburn Park and Shawwood looking like likely locations. However, questions have been raised regarding the legitimacy of the results after the voting seemed to exclude more than one vote per household. Further problems such as elderly residents not being able to access an online only consultation have also been raised.
The Conservative politicians are not against a re-build of Eastwood Leisure Centre on its current site at Eastwood Park but stand firmly opposed to any movement to green space out with this location.
The Conservative politicians also noted that the consultation didn’t respect the views of the community who live near the new facility and who would be most affected by a new centre. With residents near both green spaces, votes being counted the same as anyone who could access a computer.
East Renfrewshire MP and Eastwood’s MSP had previously written to residents within the immediate vicinity to Broomburn Park last year and found that over 95% the community were against any proposal to build on the park.
The politicians further commented that transport infrastructure around a new location for the facility would not be suitable for the expected traffic whilst also noting that costs to move the facility could sky rocket.
East Renfrewshire’s Conservative representatives stand ready to fight against any proposal to build on either Broomburn Park or Shawwood Park.
Whilst we appreciate that several other sites are also being considered, we are aware that Shawwood and Broom are the council's preferred sites. These two were the ones which came up most frequently in the consultation response. We are resolute in our opposition to other sites such as Braidbar Quarry and Huntly Park being built on and should the councils proposals change we will be backing local residents against development here.
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