Community council calls for rethink of leisure centre

Outcry after plans reduced in face of expansions

A multi-million-pound leisure centre and sports hub in East Perthshire will be obsolete before it is even finished, according to community leaders.

Blairgowrie and Rattray community council chairman Ian Richards has attacked the decision to water down plans for a leisure centre, claiming its planned capacity will be too low to meet the growing town’s needs.

Perth and Kinross Council originally planned to spend nearly £18 million on the project, including a dance studio, swimming pool, café and soft play area, with a completion date of 2020.

The local authority later submitted a revised vision for the centre after its budget was cut by £3m to help pay for a new Perth High School.

Mr Richards said in a letter to the council: “Blairgowrie is due for much expansion in the coming 10 years or so, with more than 2,000 houses planned, and more in the catchment area for the proposed leisure facility.

“Why then propose to reduce the facilities in the new recreation centre when the town is due for much expansion? This is building in planned obsolescence at worst and at the very least building in a lack of adequate capacity for a growing population.”

The initial scale of the planned 43,000sq ft complex was reduced to just under 34,500sq ft in the revised plan.

The sizes of the planned swimming pool and dance studio were also reduced, while plans for the cafe and soft play area were abandoned. The opening date was put back to 2022.

A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said: “Any savings are considered by elected members as part of the budget setting process and this decision was taken at Perth and Kinross Council’s full council meeting in June 2018.

Why propose to reduce the facilities in the new recreation centre when the town is due for much expansion? IAN RICHARDS

Chairman Ian Richards.