Dunbar: Athletics club gets green light for purple training site

Team East Lothian, which looks after some of the county’s top young athletes, set up the facility to provide its members with somewhere to train undercover.

The club placed two storage containers on land at Hallhill Sports Centre, Dunbar, with a roof canopy stretched between them to create an area where athletes could take part in strength and conditioning training.

But East Lothian Council planning officers said that they received complaints about the purple paint used to decorate the outside of the storage containers and their size.

One objector said that the colour had a negative impact on their area and could be seen from long distances away.

The shipping containers have been given the go ahead by East Lothian Council

A meeting of the council’s planning committee this week heard that the colour was chosen by the athletes who made up Team East Lothian.

Chris Rhodes, from the club, said that the purple colour which was chosen by the team was “muted” when compared to the original dark blue colour the storage containers arrived in.

Team East Lothian includes Paralympian Maria Lyle, Scottish heptathlon champion Adam Hoole and teenage running sensation Corey Campbell, who holds the world record for the fastest mile run by a 15-year-old and won a bronze medal at this year’s under-17s London mini-marathon.

The committee heard that four objections to the training facility – which was installed without planning permission after the club believed it was not required – had been lodged.

The containers at Hallhill have been given the green light (Image: Newsquest)

As well as concern about the colour, protesters also questioned its size and whether it was a ‘private business’ as opposed to the community use associated with the sports grounds.

However, Mr Rhodes pointed out that Team East Lothian was a charity which worked with the council’s own Active East Lothian and local groups, offering use of the facilities to other groups who were encouraged to make donations.

He said: “It is not a commercial venture and never has been, it won’t wash its face.”

Ward councillor Donna Collins backed the facilities, telling committee members that as a schoolgirl she had been presented with an opportunity to join the Scottish athletics team as a promising discus thrower but was unable to travel to Edinburgh three times a week to train.

She said having to miss out because there was no local facility to train was “one of the biggest regrets of my life”.

She said: “These facilities are an opportunity not just for young people in Dunbar but in East Lothian to be given the chance to succeed at something, to improve themselves, better themselves and aspire to achieve great things.”

The committee granted retrospective planning permission for the facility for a temporary 36 months.

The two purple shipping containers are home to the full range of equipment needed for a professional strength and conditioning facility.

The space, available for hire by other local sports groups and fitness instructors, is fitted out with an extensive weightlifting range, specialised equipment for plyometrics and flexibility, as well as aerobic equipment including rowing machines, exercise bikes and ski machines.

READ MORE: New facility planned for county athletes outside of Hallhill

Between the shipping containers there is a covered 120 square metre, weatherproof matted area that could be used by instructors for classes such as yoga and pilates.

Team East Lothian is sponsored by 4J Studios.

Paddy Burns, CEO at 4J Studios, described the facility as “much needed”.

He said: “The strength and conditioning is an essential part of an athlete’s pathway and it’s very encouraging to see the space also being utilised by local schoolchildren for fitness classes.

“We would be more than happy to have other local groups make use of the space and equipment when it isn’t in use by the TEL athletes.”