New Balerno Pitch Funding Welcomed

Was delighted to attend a media event earlier this week at Currie Rugby Club, Malleny Park, Balerno for the formal announcement that the Government's Cash Back scheme, which recycles money retrieved from convicted criminals, is providing £300k towards the costs of a new all weather pitch at Malleny Park. The existing pitches and land here are shared between Currie Rugby Club and Balerno High School and frankly there just isn't enough space to cope with the demand. The rugby club have a very successful youth development scheme as well as their other fixtures and the school of course needs access to decent surfaces for delivery of the curriculum. It would be fair to say that these competing demands have created a little tension over the years....

I remember lodging a Council motion on this a few years ago and the subsequent report confirmed that facilities did need to be upgraded but there wasn't any funding to do so. It's brilliant news that at long last a funding package has been secured for the new pitch which can be used for matches and training. One of the conditions of the funding is that the new pitch must be shared between Balerno High School, Currie Rugby Club and Currie Star FC. Hence the event was attended by reps from all the above plus the Council, the Scottish Government, the SRU, the SFA and the local community who all welcomed this much needed investment.