UKC

I've just seen that Edinburgh City Council might close Ratho as part of spending cuts - the "loss-making Ratho" as it's called.

In reply to Richard Baynes:

We hear that from time to time, yeah - where did you come across it?

In reply to niggle: Reliable source, flagged up again in relation to cuts.

In reply to niggle: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/r.php?id=6030273

In reply to Richard Baynes:


Sure. What's your reliable source?

In reply to niggle: At work, it's in tomorrow's paper.

In reply to niggle: PS not it's not the main thrust of the story, just mentioned as an aside.

In reply to Richard Baynes:

Which paper, the Evening News?

Sorry to be pedantic but the newsagent round the corner form me has a bewildering selection of them.

In reply to Richard Baynes:

It's been running in the local papers for a few weeks - http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Drastic-sports-centre-closures...

We followed it up this week - Edinburgh Leisure, who run Ratho for the council, wouldn't use the phrase 'loss-making' but confirmed Ratho received a subsidy of £700k last year, so same thing essentially.

Still speculation at the moment and other leisure venues appear to be higher up the list than Ratho of those likely to close but Edinburgh Leisure did confirm directly with us that Ratho is part of the review. Our story is here http://www.climber.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=7&cate=__9422

In reply to Richard Baynes:

Meant to add, also, that it seems like many local (non-climbing) residents of the city seem to be in favour of closing one big leisure venue (like Ratho) to save lots of the smaller local community leisure centres. Looks like this is going to run for a few months yet...

In reply to andy mcc: Hi Andy... Hadn't heard about in in West of Scotland... very parochial up here. I'm not a wall fan anyway but it seems like something maybe the MCofS should be onto...

In reply to Removed User: Herald. I think Climber's coverage will tell you all tho.

In reply to Richard Baynes: i got crucified for putting such things.
be careful.
see link.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=411322&v=1#x5877197

Dan

In reply to DANNYdjb: Never afraid of crucifixion, me. It seems like a reasonable bit of speculation, and better be geared up to prevent its loss than just let it happen because we're complacent.

In reply to Richard Baynes: Funnily enough the popes supposed to be delivering my new cross tonight. you can borrow it when i finished with it.

apparently he has had a few problems gettting a roof rack that wont void the warranty on his bullet proof pope mobile !!

dan

In reply to Richard Baynes:

Thanks. I'm sure the MCofS will be very well aware of what's going on. After all some of the prominent members were involved from the start of the project and still climb there.

Edinburgh may well take the view that if they shut other centres some of the business will be displaced to Ratho thus making it's future more secure. I'm thinking that there are other sites that could be closed and sold whereas closing ratho is going to cost a fortune assuming no one else will want to buy it.

That may be best outcome for climbers if not necessarily for the population of Embra as a whole.

The nightmare scenario is that Ratho closes and the quarry is sold for housing development in which case we lose another great climbing venue in central Scotland as well as the climbing wall. Hopefully the current economic climate will make the development of the quarry an unattractive proposition.

In reply to Removed User: "Hopefully the current economic climate will make the development of the quarry an unattractive proposition."


I'm certain that is the case. Development is very slow just now.

In reply to Richard Baynes:

Sorry this is not an attack on you but I’m sick to the back teeth of hearing this. Ratho is a great facility and it would be a disaster if it closed.

I always hear the same thing "Edinburgh council spent £700000 last year" is it not possible some if not a lot of that money was spent fixing all the problems like

The car park
The car park lighting
The new comp wall
The new speed wall
The leaking roof
The gym has new equipment
The new boulder room
Loads of new holds and the new mat covers.

Maybe just maybe the business is not losing that much money on general operations.

Just remember its busier than ever the car park is almost full every day, more and more comps are being held and if Ratho and the BMC are right the youth comp brought in over a million pounds into the local area is that not a reason to keep it open?

Count me in to help keep the place open.

SDB

In reply to Removed User:


A housing development in any quarry would be an uattractive development! It's pretty much a dead cert that it would never happen in a place like Ratho Quarry or its immediate environs. (I'd be much more concerned about it just closing full stop, rather than being sold for development.)

In reply to ShinyDiscoBalls:

I'm slightly amazed that anyone could worry about it being an attack on me, or the other guy who said I might be crucified. I was merely flagging up something which was relatively "news" to me.
Sick of hearing it - but if I wasn't aware of it it means probably lots of other scottish climbers are not, and it is worth bringing it to people's attention. Knowing a bit about local government and budgets etc my understanding is that this is a real threat; it might not go this time but it could in the future. Count us all in to help keep the place open, even if likle me you don't like wall climb ibng much, but don;t let's bury our heads in the sand and say that by not talking about it it will go away.

In reply to Fraser:

I'd have thought so too but that was stated when the centre was being built and it was realised that some routes were being lost to the centre. The argument was "well, if we didn't build the centre the quarry would have been sold off for houses". I thought it was dubious at the time but that's what they said.

In reply to Removed User:


"They" being original centre developers? If so, I'd not put any faith in what they said - they didn't exactly show great business acumen in my opinion. None of the many housing developers I've worked with over the last 25 years would have touched a site like that with a barge-pole.

In reply to Fraser:

Good, glad to hear it.

Means the scrap value of the centre is worth less therefore less incentive to close it and even if they did it's less likely we'd lose the quarry.

In reply to Richard Baynes:


I meant from the papers and the local council.

Im glad we are singing off the same page and just want to do our best to keep it open.

SDB

In reply to ShinyDiscoBalls:
And the cost of routing toilets and waste water to the mains. That looked like an epic, and expensive task

In reply to Fraser:


No but what vision! If they had had business acumen as well, the place would presumably never been built. It is the combination of vision without business sense that has given us such an amazing place to train. Now I suspect that the case for its future survival depends, paradoxically, on the fact that it is a visionary world class facility.

In reply to Richard Baynes:

as a ratho regular and member i read these posts with interest, there does always seem to be a lot of scare mungering going on by the press.

this weekend i heard from another climber, would i'd not met before, that she had heard from two different people it was a definite that the centre would close!

i told her i'd heard different, and that it seems stupid with the amount of cash that has been put into improving the facilities and getting more competitions there, ie the WYC.

but who knows the truth? anyone?

In reply to Richard Baynes: Perhaps it might be useful if the climbing world was a bit more positive about The EICA at Ratho. Francois Legrand whilst over at the recent joint jnior team meet positively told the Scottish Media that Ratho is 'the biggest and best climbing gym in the world'

A few positive quotes like that from eminant people who have won countless World Cups and International competitions might help keep this world class facility rather than constantly whinging that it costs lots of money. (Before the usual crew start he has done plenty on the crags too)

The recent World Youth Championship at EICA was amazing and this is what this venue can do better than anywhere else.

Roll on lots more International events to inspire our young climbers to climb harder in the future.

In reply to Ian Dunn:
Spoke to dozens of climbers, national coaches, and parents of World class climbing youth at the WYC over 5 days.
Without exception, they conveyed that Ratho provided the best venue, for any of the international events they had attended.
They were equally complimentary about the level of organisation by EICA staff and volunteers.

I wish there was a way of capturing those sentiments; bottling it and sticking a cork in it.

EICA Ratho is IMHO, more than an Edinburgh Council facility - its a regional and national asset.

In reply to JFort: The scaremongering doesn't I think come from the press... It has a duty to report what seems like an obvious threat to the facility in a local authority climate of severe cutbacks. If people choose to interpret this as 'definitely closing' which has not been reported as such by the media, and then say the same to the woman you spoke to, then they're the scaremongers. The press unfortunately has to report bad news, as it's generally regarded as more important than good. If that seems odd, then consider that people like us feel the need to act, talk, and possibly campaign as a result of the 'negative' coverage... because it's important. We wouldn't regard discussion and possible action as necessary if the story was just that it's a great place.

In reply to everyone:

ok, if we are going to talk in rumors, i heard one recently...

someone involved in the original opening of ratho is often suspected of starting these rumors. Why? because now that the venue is largely fixed, he wants his baby back maybe?
is it true? who knows, but it's not any less ridiculous than some of the other stories that get spouted about the place

In reply to Ian Dunn:

A leg of the senior world cup is scheduled to be held at Ratho.

In reply to rallymania:

I too heard a rumour yesterday. Apparently, one of the toilets at Ratho is to close for a few minutes to remove some cra* that occasionally keep backing up in the soil pipe. It's only 6 months since the last time i heard that rumour.
The climbig is still excellent despite the rumour, and all other indications are that the place has a great future

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

Great !.
You happen to know when ?

In reply to ShinyDiscoBalls:

If you believe that million pound claim you really are very naive.

In reply to rallymania:

That is the second time you've mentioned this "rumour". It is complete shite.

In reply to QuarryKid:

and you know this because?

In reply to monkeys:

5/6th of November.

In reply to Adam Lincoln:

..... 2011, just in case anyone is wondering.