Future of sports centre hanging in the balance

PERTH: £15 million still needed to make PH20 a reality

The future of a major sports facility for Perth and Kinross hangs in the balance as backers battle to meet a £15 million funding shortfall.

Live Active Leisure (LAL), the body behind the £25m PH20 leisure centre and ice rink project, has approached a series of organisations, including the Scottish Government, with a view to reaching a £25m funding goal.

However, LAL chairman Mike Robinson has admitted time is running out to gather the required money to build the whole sports complex, which would include swimming pools, an integrated ice rink and new gymnasium, providing residents and tourists facilities for and access to 20 different sports.

“Personally, I would say the chances of the full vision being built are 50-50 at the moment,” he said.

LAL has suggested that a final decision on PH20 will be made by spring next year.

The deadline is looming for a decision on Perth’s new £25 million sports centre.

Mike Robinson, the newly elected chairman of Live Active Leisure (LAL) wants the PH20 project to be a “jewel in the crown” for Perth and Kinross, but acknowledges its future will have to be determined by the spring.

If built in full, the project would see new swimming pools and an upgraded ice rink built on the site of the existing Perth Leisure Pool and Dewars Centre. Twenty different sports would be made available to users.

The main drawback is a £15m funding gap, but Mr Robinson emphasised LAL have been doing everything possible to bridge that, having previously raised £10m for the proposal.

“Obviously what we want to deliver is the full scheme but we’ll have to make a decision fairly quickly, probably by spring,” he said.

“We still want to deliver the full product basically – simple as that. The issue is how do you raise the money?

“We’ve approached everyone, from the Scottish Government, European grant sources and sportscotland but funding is a complex process.

“The last couple of years we have gone around and spoken to just about everybody but it’s not all about rattling the can. We’ve made progress but we don’t have definitive answers on funding.”

Mr Robinson feels current sports centres in Perth are “getting older” and is asking businesses in the area to back the project.

“We know we should deliver the full scheme – much better flumes, better swimming pools, the integrated ice rink and even high-rope courses,” he said.

“What we have to ensure is that people in the local area really want this to happen.

“Fundamentally, we believe we need PH20 in order to provide affordable sport in the area.

“People who move to Perth want high-quality sports venues so we really can’t afford not to proceed.

“We’ve spoken to the public, including different sports clubs, and having raised the expectation, we need to deliver.”

Jim Moyes, LAL’s chief executive, said: “This is a great opportunity for Perth but we have a few bridges to cross.”

What we have to ensure is that people in the local area really want this to happen. MIKE ROBINSON

The stark reality is that Perth’s sporting provision will lag behind that of its neighbours if PH20 does not come to fruition.

Neighbouring Dundee opened its £31.5 million Olympia swimming pool complex in June 2013.

Kirkcaldy also opened its £15.3m leisure centre in 2013, which includes a six-lane swimming pool and moveable floor. Stirling enjoys a £27.3m Sports Village centre, which opened in 2009.

Bell’s Sports Centre opened its doors in 1968, while Perth Leisure Pool was built in 1988. Both these, and the Dewars Centre ice rink, are showing signs of ageing.

This, combined with a projected rise in the city’s future population, means a state-of-the-art leisure facility is badly needed.

A stateof-theart leisure facility is badly needed

A graphic of the planned entrance to the PH20 site in Perth, which would include a leisure centre and ice rink.