Airport rail link threat to football grounds Executive threat to

ONE of Scotland's most historic playing fields is under threat from plans to build a new railway line through its heart.

Campaigners say the scheme to slice St James Park in Paisley in two shows that the Scottish Executive's Sports 21 initiative - which aims to encourage people to get more active - is a sham.

"This development makes it hard for us to take these goals seriously, " David Little, head of the Scottish Youth Football Association, told the Sunday Herald. "Any other route would go through houses and I believe building it through the park is the favoured option because it is the cheapest route."

Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT), who will run the proposed new line between Glasgow city centre and the city's airport, are believed to have considered more than 22 different options for the route.

Little said the park had nurtured generations of football talent, including famous players such as Celtic FC's Paul Lambert, and was an integral part of the football community.

"If it was destroyed I would be absolutely gutted on behalf of the kids. It could easily curtail the amount of football played. I don't want to see the park's famous, unique atmosphere ruined by this."

He said the plans would destroy somewhere between six and 16 of the park's pitches.

"It is a real festival of football when all the games are on and the pitches are full of players."

Known locally as "the racecourse", St James has 22 different pitches, extensive training facilities, and hosts a huge range of amateur and youth matches all through the year.

Campaigners are furious that an economic study of the proposed line, carried out by the Executive, concluded that only 500,000 passengers would make use of it in its first year.

That would be equivalent to just 15 passengers per train journey, according to those fighting to keep the park in one piece.

Jim Smith, coach of Paisley United Under19 side, who play at St James, said other facilities in the area were limited and if the park was built upon it football in the area would be hurt.

"The government complains about kids getting obese and then they take these facilities away. In the summer we've got the soccer sevens and the place is always packed. It's always filled with kids who are just running around with the ball and enjoying it, " he said.

"Most towns in Europe provide well for amateur and youth football and Scotland is not like that. I don't think we look after our kids in the same way, " he added.

Laura Cavalluzzi, a mother whose three young children play on the park, said it had been a community resource for generations. "I would hate to see it destroyed for something that might not work out, a big white elephant basically."

She said the proposed line would be a "monstrosity."

"The park should be safeguarded for future generations, " she said.

Euan Gillies, Scottish adviser for the National Playing Fields Association, said they were "very concerned" by the proposals that would destroy "one of the most historic and best playing field sites in the whole of Scotland. A very large number of pitches will be affected adversely."

Hesaid he had read the economic appraisal of the link and didn't believe it was financially viable.

"We are struggling to understand why the process has got tothis late stage. We are against it in every shape and form, " he said.

A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said they would make sure facilities were replaced if the route through St James Park was chosen. However, he said the council was still waiting to see a "clear case" that the route would bring "sufficient transport and economic benefits to Renfrewshire and the west of Scotland.

We will be studying in detail the evaluation of all the proposed routes, " he said.

David McLavin, spokesman for SPT, said the decision to build a new rail link would be a vote of confidence in Glasgow and the whole of the west of Scotland. He said that there were two ways they could cross the park. The first, using a viaduct, would destroy four of the football pitches. The second, which would involve building an embankment, would see seven pitches disappear.

"We are keen to sit down and talk to all the people with an interest in football. The 500,000 passengers a year figure is an early and conservative estimate, " he said.

"However, we are planning for the future and putting an infrastructure in place to deal with that. Between three and four million passengers will use the service by 2030, " he added.

He said other rail links were extremely successful. "The Stansted Express carries 25per cent of passengers while the rail line to Prestwick is used by 30per cent."

He said that 95per cent of people currently using Glasgow Airport travelled there by road and that this was unsustainable with the predicted future passenger numbers.

"We are promoting a private bill within the Scottish Executive and they will decide if the rail link will go ahead, " he added.

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said a public consultation was underway which would close on February 11, 2005. "No final route for the rail link to Glasgow Airport will be decided until all responses from the public are examined."

Copyright 2004 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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