Perth & Kinross: Leisure pool loss
Council's Labour group will fight to ensure Perth has a leisure pool
Last updated 18th Jan 2024
Perth and Kinross Council’s Labour group has revealed it will fight to stop the leisure pool facility being scrapped from Perth’s PH20 project.
Radical recommendations going before councillors for approval next week would see Bell’s Sports Centre, Dewars Centre and Perth Leisure Pool replaced with one single facility – minus a leisure pool, ice rink and indoor bowling.
Councillors will meet on Monday, January 22 to consider the findings and recommendations of the Transformation Review of leisure assets owned or funded by PKC.
Councillors instructed officers to carry out the review in March 2023. The review – written by PKC’s head of Culture and Community Services Fiona Robertson – said all three leisure centres require at least £18 million of capital investment over the next three years on top of their running costs and annual £4 million financial contribution from Perth and Kinross Council.
According to an analysis of usage at the three sites in 2023/24, swimming was the most popular activity. There were 314,246 swimming sessions booked and 80,297 swimming lessons compared with 10,977 curling sessions, 5,786 ice skating sessions and 5,579 indoor bowling sessions.
Bailie Alasdair Bailey – speaking on behalf of Perth and Kinross Council’s Labour group – has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service they would seek to include a leisure pool in plans.
He said: “Labour in Perth is the only party to have consistently shown funding support for the PH20 project even at times when the other parties found convenient reasons to put it on pause and kick the ball into the long grass. As a result, we now face this day of reckoning due to limited financial resources and vastly higher construction costs compared to 2017 when this project was first put on hold.”
He said it was important not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater”.
Bailie Bailey said: “On Monday we will therefore be speaking out for a path forward to be found that continues council support for the PH20 project. However, we do also have to recognise as a council that last year 28 people used the swimming facilities in Perth for every one person that participated in curling. Therefore we need to ensure that the proposed loss of the leisure water does not go unnoticed and happen without debate. Leisure water visits are 4.5 times those of other swim sessions so we need to take great care not to ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’ when it comes to any proposal to reduce the amount of provision for kids and families to have their leisure swims!”
However one Perth resident – who wishes to remain anonymous – has called the usage data in the report flawed given the leisure activities are not all available all year round.
The Perth native said: “It does not make a like-for-like comparison. Curling, indoor bowling and ice skating have always been seasonal activities, and it is disingenuous to compare them with all-year activities. If one undertakes a comparative analysis, it should be done accurately.”
In a statement released by Perth and Kinross Council, SNP council leader Grant Laing defended the recommendations.
He said: “Three sports centres in Perth require significant investment and while we understand the affection many have for both Dewars and Bell’s, maintaining these ageing facilities is an expense it is difficult to justify.
“As well as physical maintenance, each building has significant energy costs and there is little that can be done to address these given the age of both facilities.
“These proposals mean people across Perth and Kinross will continue to have access to swimming and sports facilities, with the majority of the population within a 20-minute car journey or public transport journey to a pool, gym and group fitness facilities, or a sports hall.
“Although this is a reasonable provision, given the rural geography of Perth and Kinross, the review also recommends further investment in rural facilities so all our residents have access to the facilities they need.”
As part of the review officers looked at stand-alone leisure facilities in Perth, Blairgowrie, Pitlochry and Kinross; leisure facilities on community campuses; leisure facilities at/next to secondary schools but not on community campuses, and community halls operated by LAL where community fitness classes are often held. The review was driven by a “tough” operating environment.
Cllr Laing added: “We are already investing £35million in new sports facilities in Blairgowrie at the new Recreation Centre, which will open at the end of the year. This energy efficient building will provide access to top class facilities for residents across eastern Perthshire.”