Sports Facilities In Edinburgh
Ipsos was commissioned by the City of Edinburgh Council to conduct a telephone survey among a representative sample of the Edinburgh population. The survey aimed to assess city-wide opinion regarding major sports developments in the city.
Technical details
Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 501 residents, aged 16+ across the City of Edinburgh Council area. All interviews were conducted by telephone between 22 March - 31 March 2007. Data were weighed to match the known profile of the Edinburgh population.
Topline Results
- Results are based on a representative survey of 501 Edinburgh residents interviewed by telephone between 22 March - 31 March 2007.
- Data are weighted by age, gender, working status and tenure using 2001 census data.
- Where percentages do not add up to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of don't know categories.
- All figures are percentages based on the total sample (501) unless otherwise stated.
Household participation in sport and leisure
Q1 Which sporting or leisure activities have you or anyone in your household taken part in over the last 4 weeks?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Swimming | 28 |
| Working out at the gym | 23 |
| Football | 18 |
| Running / jogging | 8 |
| Golf | 8 |
| Aerobics / Keep Fit / Yoga | 5 |
| Cycling | 5 |
| Badminton | 5 |
| Rugby | 5 |
| Tennis | 4 |
| Mountaineering / Hillwalking | 4 |
| Martial Arts (i.e. Karate, Judo etc) | 4 |
| Squash | 3 |
| Basketball | 2 |
| Gymnastics | 1 |
| Ten-pin bowling | 1 |
| I don't take part in sporting or leisure activities | 29 |
Q2 Which, if any, of the leisure facilities in Edinburgh have you attended in the last 2 months?
Q3 And which one of these do you attend most often?
| Q2 | Q3 | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Private sector facility in Edinburgh | 17 | 12 |
| Royal Commonwealth Pool | 10 | 5 |
| Meadowbank Sports Centre | 9 | 7 |
| Ainslie Park Leisure Centre | 8 | 7 |
| Other facility provided by Edinburgh Leisure | 6 | 4 |
| Craiglockhart Tennis and Sport Centre | 4 | 3 |
| Wester Hailes Education Centre | 4 | 4 |
| Drumbrae Leisure Centre | 3 | 3 |
| Gracemount Leisure Centre | 3 | 3 |
| Warrender Swim Centre | 3 | 2 |
| Dalry Swim Centre | 2 | 1 |
| Leith Victoria Swim Centre | 2 | 3 |
| Leith Waterworld | 2 | 1 |
| Portobello Swim Centre | 2 | 2 |
| Glenogle Swim Centre | 1 | 1 |
| Jack Kane Sports Centre | 1 | 0 |
| Facilities outside Edinburgh | 1 | 0 |
| Crags Sports Centre | 0 | 0 |
| Kirkliston Leisure Centre | 0 | 0 |
| Saughton Sports Complex | 0 | 0 |
| Queensferry High Recreation Centre | 0 | 0 |
| Edinburgh International Climbing Centre-Ratho | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 6 | 6 |
| None of these | 42 | 36 |
Q4 Thinking about the facility you attend most often, how do you normally get there? Base: All those who have attended a leisure facility in the last two months (276)
| whatever | |
|---|---|
| On foot | 34 |
| Bicycle | 2 |
| Bus | 20 |
| Car / motorcycle / van | 44 |
| Minibus | 0 |
| Train | 0 |
Q5 For what reasons do you attend these leisure facilities? Base: All those who have attended a leisure facility in the last two months (276)
| % | |
|---|---|
| To keep fit / health reasons | 77 |
| For Fun | 32 |
| I take my children | 23 |
| To meet people / Socialise | 18 |
| I'm a spectator at a number of sporting events | 9 |
| I play sports competitively | 8 |
| I'm part of a sports club | 7 |
| I train there in preparation for competitions | 5 |
| Closest to home / Convenience | 1 |
| Other | 1 |
| None of these | 1 |
Edinburgh's Sporting Facilities
Q6 For each of each of the following sporting activities, how would you rate the quality of the facilities currently provided by the City of Edinburgh Council (Edinburgh Leisure)? Base :All those with swimmers/players/mountaineers etc in household
| Base | Very good | Fairly Good | Neither good nor poor | Fairly Poor | Very poor | Don't Know | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Swimming pools | 138 | 30 | 43 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 8 |
| Football pitches | 88 | 15 | 25 | 5 | 22 | 14 | 19 |
| Rugby pitches | 26 | 22 | 21 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 31 |
| Athletics / running tracks | 40 | 7 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 54 |
| Badminton courts | 24 | 38 | 39 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennis courts | 18 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| Squash courts | 15 | 13 | 34 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 32 |
| Basketball pitches | 12 | 16 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 10 | 23 |
| Golf courses | 39 | 33 | 39 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 |
| Rock climbing | 20 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 49 |
Redevelopment Plans
Q7 Are you aware that the City of Edinburgh Council plans to work with others like sportscotland and the Scottish Executive and invest money for developing sports facilities in Edinburgh over the next 6 years? Which of the following plans, if any, are you aware of?
| Plans to ... | % |
|---|---|
| Develop a major new sports complex at Sighthill | 51 |
| Upgrade the Royal Commonwealth Pool | 53 |
| Redevelop the site at Meadowbank Sports Centre | 62 |
| None of these | 23 |
| Don't know | 1 |
Q8 You said you were aware of plans for a major sports complex at Sighthill. To what extent do you support or oppose the plans? Base: All who were aware of plans to develop a major new sports complex at Sighthill (254)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Strongly support | 42 |
| Tend to support | 26 |
| Neither support nor oppose | 11 |
| Tend to oppose | 6 |
| Strongly oppose | 13 |
| Don't know | 2 |
| Support | 68 |
| Oppose | 19 |
| Net support | +49 |
Q9 Why do you oppose the plans? Base: All who were opposed of plans to develop a major new sports complex at Sighthill (49)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Taking it out of the centre- not as easy / accessible to get to | 42 |
| Loss of / not enough facilities in the area | 25 |
| Prefer Meadowbank -- more accessible / easy to get to | 21 |
| Moving the facilities to a less desirable area / Bad Location | 14 |
| Existing facilities should be upgraded before redeveloping land and building new facilities | 10 |
| Waste of money-would be better spent elsewhere | 9 |
| Taking away sporting activities in that area | 8 |
| Taking away facilities to build more unnecessary flats / houses | 6 |
| Just a way of making money for the council | 4 |
| Other | 8 |
Q10 You said you were aware of plans to redevelop the Royal Commonwealth Pool. To what extent do you support or oppose the plans? Base: All who were aware of plans to redevelop the Royal Commonwealth Pool (264)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Strongly support | 62 |
| Tend to support | 26 |
| Neither support nor oppose | 6 |
| Tend to oppose | 1 |
| Strongly oppose | 1 |
| Don't know | 4 |
| Support | 88 |
| Oppose | 2 |
| Net Support | +85 |
Q11 Why do you oppose the plans? Base: All who were opposed of plans to redevelop the Royal Commonwealth Pool (6)
| Full listing below: |
|---|
| The emphasis on sporting facilities is misplaced and not going to have an impact either way. Those who are not passionate about sports won't bother at all. I suggest they emphasise sport at primary schools / boxing clubs for boys / further development of adventure. |
| Prefer them to knock it down and build a new facility. It's too old |
| Facilities that exist are adequate / money could be spent on other necessary projects |
| I feel the facility is too big |
| I think they can spend the money on something else better. That would help more people rather than on just an already built pool |
| I don't think it needs redevelopment. I think the money could be better spent elsewhere |
Q12 You said you were aware of plans to redevelop the Meadowbank site. To what extent do you support or oppose the plans? Base: All who were aware of plans to redevelop the Meadowbank site (309)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Strongly support | 43 |
| Tend to support | 19 |
| Neither support nor oppose | 7 |
| Tend to oppose | 7 |
| Strongly oppose | 19 |
| Don't know | 5 |
| Support | 62 |
| Oppose | 26 |
| Net support | +36 |
Q13 Why do you oppose the plans? Base: All who were opposed to plans to redevelop the Meadowbank site (80)
| % | |
|---|---|
| Taking it out of the centre -- not as easy / accessible to get to | 24 |
| Taking away sporting activities in that area | 20 |
| Loss of / not enough facilities in the area | 19 |
| Taking away facilities to build more unnecessary flats / houses | 18 |
| Moving the facilities to a less desirable area / Bad Location | 14 |
| Existing facilities should be upgraded before redeveloping land and building new facilities | 12 |
| Taking away facilities that lots of people / kids use | 11 |
| Building expensive / Private houses for sale | 7 |
| Waste of money-would be better spent elsewhere | 4 |
| Just a way of making money for the council | 4 |
| Increase Traffic | 3 |
| Need for more Council housing | 2 |
| Other | 8 |
| Don't know | 2 |
(As you may be aware) The City of Edinburgh Council plans to work with others like sportscotland and the Scottish Executive and invest 16385million million for developing a new sporting complex in Sighthill and refurbishing the Royal Commonwealth Pool. This will be funded by the sale of the land currently occupied by Meadowbank Sports Centre. A new smaller community leisure centre will be built on some of this land. The running track, stadium, and large sports pitches will be moved to a major new sports complex at Sighthill.
Q14 With this information in mind, to what extent do you support or oppose the plans?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Strongly support | 31 |
| Tend to support | 28 |
| Neither support nor oppose | 11 |
| Tend to oppose | 8 |
| Strongly oppose | 18 |
| Don't know | 4 |
| Support | 59 |
| Oppose | 26 |
| Net support | +33 |
Q15 Thinking about The City of Edinburgh Council's plans to develop top quality sports facilities in Edinburgh, on balance do you believe the proposed developments will or will not ...
| Will | Will Not | Don't Know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| Increase participation in sport | 79 | 16 | 6 |
| Help attract international sports events | 77 | 15 | 8 |
| Encourage people to be active | 73 | 20 | 6 |
| Help improve the health of Edinburgh residents | 72 | 22 | 6 |
| Help develop world class sports people | 71 | 17 | 12 |
| Promote Edinburgh as a centre of sporting excellence | 68 | 21 | 10 |
| Promote Scotland as a centre for sporting excellence | 62 | 27 | 11 |
| Help reduce anti-social behaviour | 56 | 33 | 11 |
