Progress on new rec
Experts to be brought in
A sports development company is likely to be brought in to help develop the new £18 million recreation centre planned for Blairgowrie.
The move came to light at the latest meeting of the Eastern Perthshire Community Sports Hub (EPCSH), held in the Blairgowrie Community Campus last week.
It was also announced that the initial preplanning part of the project - which the sports development consultancy would be working on - should be complete by June this year.
Members of the project team tasked with designing and building the new recreation centre in the town attended the meeting and said that they hoped to bring a sports development company on board to help with the feasibility work in the initial stages of the project.
Such a company would be experienced in holding public events to find out what the local community wants and needs from a project of this type.
It is understood that the consultancy - which has yet to be appointed - would organise a series of public events throughout the east Perthshire area to establish exactly what those priorities are.
The EPCSH had planned to conduct a survey of local people and sports and activity groups in the area themselves in order to find out what they want from the new centre.
Although these plans have now been shelved, the survey which was drawn up will “feed into the process” and the group will still play an active role in determining what facilities the new state-of-theart centre will have.
Plans for Blairgowrie’s recreation centre were announced last year as part of Perth and Kinross Council’s ambitious capital budget.
Nearly £18 million has been set aside for the much-needed facility, which is due to be complete in 2020.
The new centre is expected to incorporate a 25-metre, competition-standard swimming pool and will be located at the back of Blairgowrie High School.
Chair of the EPCSH, Bob Ellis, said: “I think the whole of east Perthshire has been waiting with baited breath for a new recreation centre.
“There are lots of discussions still to be had, lots of community engagement and lots to be nailed down in terms of what everyone wants from this centre.”
He went on: “I have got to say though that I am quite happy with the situation we are at just now.
“Although some of us are quite disappointed not to get going with our own survey, myself and Caroline Shiers did stress that we wanted consultation sessions in Blairgowrie, Alyth, Coupar Angus, Rattray, Meigle and Kirkmichael.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get what we want and we need as many people there as possible to have their say.
“It’s really important for people to take this chance to say what they want.” One of the council officers at the meeting said: “Nothing is off the table as far as we are concerned at the moment.
“We will carry out a high level feasibility study about where to build the centre, although it is the PE department’s facility so has to be in the school grounds.
“We will carry out a scope of the site to see what is possible there and then we will look at what activities the building will offer and can deliver.
“Some work has already been done on this through the leisure needs analysis for the area.
“What is really important is that it has to be a sustainable and deliverable facility that the community will use and that we can afford to run.
“We’re not just building this for the next five years.”
The project team added that ‘user reference groups’ were usually set up for this sort of project, and which would likely be made up of members of local sports clubs, Live Active Leisure and local councillors, among others.
The team, and the sports development company, would meet with various clubs and organisations over the coming months before a public meeting is held in advance of a planning application for the work being submitted.
At the meeting, concerns about how much access the general public will have to the facilities in the new building were raised.
In response, members of the project team commented that while what they are delivering is “first and foremost” a facility for the school, they are also trying to develop a facility for the community as a whole and that the community engagement process should highlight what members of the public need from the centre in terms of access as well.
One of the council officers said: “The good thing is that we can work this out from a design point of view now.
“Getting a daytime facility for members of the community to use too are the sorts of things we will definitely be looking at as part of the feasibility study.
“We are keen to hear from as many voices as possible to help us get it right from the start.”