Wednesday April 29th 2026
Fairfield House
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
The firm behind a new sport centre in Midlothian will be asked to sign up to the council’s own heating form as a planning condition.
Councillors this week took a first look at the proposals by Artemis Sport Limited and Amy Lansdown for a community tennis and padel centre built off Whitehill Road, on land south of Fort Kinnaird.
And planning convenor Russell Imrie said they should be asked to commit to using the district heating system operated by the local authority and Vattenfall Heat UK.
Councillor Imrie told the meeting: “District heating is the way forward for us in Midlothian. The more we put our way the more our Midlothian company gets the benefits.”
“Can we make sure we include our heating system as an alternative if this was to go ahead that they would undertake to the heating system that is already down there in the Shawfair area?
“I do think that will be really helpful because we are looking for businesses to sign up to that.”
His view was backed by fellow councillor Dianne Alexander who said: “Dianne Alexander said: “When you look at any new fitness centres coming on board they are all energy efficient so that is something we should look at.”
Midlothian Energy Limited (MEL), is a 50/50 joint venture between the council and Vattenfall Heat UK which was launched in 2020.
Councillors raised concerns about the access roads to the site which they said were narrow and would need to be addressed in any planning application which is submitted.
Councillor Stephen Curran said: “There are only two access points into where this will be and the roads are the same on both sides. They are both fairly narrow and a recycling centre is also part of that route so you have heavy traffic going in and out of there all day as well as the traffic that uses the road to avoid the Wisp junction to get to and from Fort Kinnaird.
The council’s planning chief Peter Arnsdorf said the views would be used to help discussions between officers and the applicants moving forward.
He told councillors: ““These are all good planning points to take away and feed into the process.”
A public exhibition of the proposals will be held on May 21 at Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh.
You can watch a recording of the planning meeting below. The tennis and padel centre was the first item on the meeting agenda
