Kick in the balls:

The largest youth organisation in East Lothian is throwing its weight behind a new campaign which is set to tackle East Lothian Council head-on. Musselburgh Windsor Football Club along with the town’s amateur football club and rugby club are outraged at the recent move by the authority to curtail evening and weekend working for the local groundsman at their home pitches of Pinkie Playing Fields. The home of the juvenile football club which caters for 400 young players with around 60 entirely volunteer coaches is Pinkie Playing Fields, renowned throughout central Scotland and arguably across the country as having the best playing surfaces for recreational sport. However, the recent council budget announcement which revealed a cut back in the funds available to the Countryside and Landscape department will result in the loss of the popular groundsman during evening and weekends, a period when this unique sporting venue is busiest. The local youth clubs are now uniting in protest at the sudden loss of their groundsman in a move designed to save between £5-10K per annum.  Windsor president Karen Lee said ‘We were shocked at this move. For nearly three decades Pinkie has been maintained to a very high standard with a first class service, making it one of the finest assets for sport in the central belt. We simply cannot believe that East Lothian Council are willing to damage this facility and the relationship enjoyed by all the user groups and clubs for such a small amount of money. Pinkie is like no other venue with the volume of players, parents, supporters and vehicles that access the site, to have no Council presence is ludicrous’. Alistair Bowan of Musselburgh Rugby was equally disgruntled and commented ‘East Lothian Council have not officially advised us of this move and as a large part of the community we are deeply disappointed. We only heard about this via an email from the Windsor . We have held initial discussions with the other clubs and we will rally to fight for our community asset’. It appears East Lothian Council did not consult to discuss the proposed reduction in service with any of the users of Pinkie, including the town’s amateur team or indeed the local secondary school who use the facility daily. Scott Robertson who represents the Windsor on the Pinkie User Group, an organisation set up by East Lothian Council to improve co-ordination between the clubs and the Council said ‘There was a meeting in January and there was not a whisper about this proposal. It’s shameful. As well as my contribution to the Windsor , I also run a school team. I work shifts and often do not get home until the early hours of the morning. If I have a school game in the morning with a 9.30am kick-off, I generally leave home an hour before. If, they (ELC) expect me to get even less sleep and leave two hours early so I can spend sixty minutes hanging and fixing nets, then they must be mad. I’m afraid I will need to retire and after twenty-one seasons, that’s not an easy decision to make.’ Musselburgh Amateurs chairman, Iain Boyle added his support to the campaign, committing his club to the cause when he added ‘Where are we supposed to find the funds purchase our own nets and corner flags? How can we play our evening games if we have to leave work earlier to set up a park? Will this reduction in service and inevitable reduction in quality of surface be reflected in a reduction in the fees?’

Councillor Paul McLennan, cabinet member for Community Well-being and local councillor Roger Knox both failed to attend a meeting with Musselburgh Windsor FC last Friday, much to the dismay of the volunteers who turned out. Independent Councillor John Caldwell was joined by Enjoy manager Bill Axon who explained the predicament as best they could, fielding a number of questions from the floor.  Councillor Caldwell commented ‘We have here the busiest site in East Lothian with the best pitches, an army of volunteers committing to providing healthy activities for our local children. The proposed saving is a drop in the ocean compared to the work undertaken by these good people’.  Windsor coach Bruce Motion took the fight to the very top on Monday afternoon when a he met with First Minister Alex Salmond in the Canongate. Motion was pleased with the response saying’ Mr. Salmond knew Pinkie and seemed less than pleased that the volunteer sector who were delivering such an important service were being short-changed’. Mr. Salmond promised coach Motion that he would investigate the issue further. Councillor McLennan who has previously travelled to Germany and Denmark on a study trip to examine community clubs has promised to meet with the clubs concerned to discuss their issues. The clubs raise issues over dog-fouling, damage to the pitches, allocation of pitches, wear and tear of goal-mouths, vehicle parking inappropriately, vandalism to goal-posts as well as a host of other matters. The groups are determined to wage, quite literally a turf war over the loss their groundsman as they can see the rapid deterioration of what the authority regularly referred to as ‘the jewel in the crown’ of sporting facilities.