Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New city sports facilities ‘not on horizon’ says boss

Colin Taylor
Colin Taylor

The man set to lead Aberdeen’s public sporting body has admitted that investment in new facilities is not “on the horizon”.

Burgess of the city Colin Taylor is set to be the next chairman of Sport Aberdeen.

This is the arms-length council body that manages the city’s swimming pools, golf courses, gyms and other facilities.

He is set to be appointed at next week’s full council meeting.

Yesterday Mr Taylor, who replaces Fred Dalgarno, unveiled his vision for the organisation in the face of increasing funding cuts.

Last year, the body had its financial settlement from the council cut by more than £400,000, leading to the closure of Hazlehead and Kincorth swimming pools.

And the Dons season ticket holder revealed his backing for the new stadium and training facility plan at Kingsford.

He said: “We know we, like everyone, are facing funding cuts in future. That’s not a criticism of the council because it is the same everywhere.

“I have been involved in the organisation since the start in 2010 and it has really changed immensely since then.

“We have successfully recruited a very strong management team who know all about sport and leisure, and our membership is up 60% in the last six months so that is very good.

“I think the future will have us modernising our facilities piece by piece.

“We want to maintain and keep the existing facilities.

“But I can’t see any new buildings on the horizon honestly.”

Mr Taylor was admitted as a Free Burgess of the City of Aberdeen in 1986 and, after serving as an assessor and senior assessor, he was elected as Dean of Guild at the Burgesses’ annual meeting in 2014.

Born in Aberdeen and brought up in the village of Hopeman on the Moray Firth, his schooling was in Hopeman before attending Mile End Primary and the Grammar School in Aberdeen.

He is currently the interim chairman of the Aberdeen Seafarers’ Centre, and is also treasurer of Hopeman Golf Club.

Mr Taylor also backed the multi-million pound plans for a new Dons stadium and training facilities between Westhill and Kingswells.

He said: “It’s a difficult one but (the club) said they have tried to place it in lots of places and this is the last chance.

“I have been to modern stadiums and they are really terrific.”