Community can have a say on Letham hub

Two consultation events on £3.8m plan for centre

Residents looking to have their say on a proposed £3.8m community hub in Perth’s Letham district have two chances to air their views this week.

The first of two informal events on the Community Health and Wellbeing Hub is to be held today from 5-7pm and second chance will be held on Saturday between 10am and noon. Both events are being held at the mini community hub on Tweedsmuir Road.

Perth and Kinross Council wants people in Letham, whether they use the existing recreation centre or not, to voice their opinions.

The council and its partners such as Live Active Leisure and NHS Tayside are involved in the transformation of the centre, which could begin later in the year. PKC has committed £2.8m to the scheme while it is hoped a further £1m will be made available by the Scottish Government’s regeneration capital grant fund.

While what the finished centre is to house is still open for discussion, the council has stated the hub will provide a range of services from the heart of Letham, based on what local people want to see available for them in their area.

As well as modernised sports facilities, it is expected to give people easy access to a wide range of additional services including childcare provision, NHS drop-in clinics for health and social care, adult learning, bereavement care, therapies, parenting services, IT training and Perth and Kinross Credit Union. It will also offer meeting rooms and spaces for community events.

Following this initial engagement designs will be drawn up in the spring, and the community will again be asked for their views on these.

Refurbishment work is due to begin in October, and it is hoped the new facility will be opened to the community in early 2019.

Work is being a carried out so that groups that currently use the recreation centre can be found a new home while the transformation work is carried out.

Chair of the Letham Community Hub Project committee, Maggie Brown, said: