By Craig Smith

PRESSURE IS mounting on Fife Council to back-track over its plans for the future of leisure facilities.

Campaigners fighting to save the Fife Institute in Glenrothes have renewed calls for councillors to rethink amid speculation that the building and Kirkcaldy swimming pool will be torn down to make way for a modern leisure centre serving both towns.

Although the council has vowed to explore every avenue as part of its leisure review, a leaked document obtained by The Courier yesterday seems to suggest a new centre is the preferred option. The document, an executive summary on the future of leisure, also hinted nothing may be safe with regards to leisure provision in Fife.

“It is clear the current nature and level of provision is not sustainable within the available resources,” it states. “Within this, it is important to identify a number of significant facilities facing particularly acute capital investment scenarios. These are FIPRE (Fife Institute), Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool and Carnegie Leisure Centre in Dunfermline.”

The summary recommends a “combined facility solution” for Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes, which will offer the “most benefit in terms of service and financial delivery”.

The first phase will scrutinise the replacement, re-provision or renovation of FIPRE and Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool, address the short-term maintenance and upgrade of Carnegie and manage maintenance priorities for other centres.

But doubt is cast on Carnegie’s future in the plan’s second phase, with the option of another site instead of longer-term refurbishment being explored. Golf courses and the region’s theatres are expected to be similarly reviewed.

Council leader Councillor Anne McGovern denied that decisions had already been made, stressing there had been a “great deal of misinformation” circulated about what Fife Council’s future plans were.

“It must be pointed out that working papers and draft reports are just that—ideas put forward by officers for discussion. They have no formal status,” she said. “The only papers that matter are committee reports in the public domain, and the only decisions that matter are those of Fife Council.

“No council decisions have been made about the Fife Institute, including a decision to close. In fact, this year’s budget shows a continued commitment to this much- valued community resource.

“The same will apply to the swimming pool in Kirkcaldy and to the Carnegie Centre in Dunfermline, as was featured in the recent Fife Council Capital Plan that went to Policy and Resources.

“However, as a council we have a duty to begin to design services for future generations, ensuring we aim for national standards, secure the special needs provision we are renowned for and … ensure our communities have the facilities they need. None of this work has begun, nor will it take place without the fullest consultation with communities throughout Fife.

“Obviously this will take a considerable amount of time and will require everyone to work together —communities, local elected members and partner organisations, but ultimately it will re-affirm Fife Council’s commitment to quality services which meet both local needs and national objectives.”

Pitteuchar, Stenton and Finglassie Community Council chairman Robert Lambert claimed the local authority has been planning the demise of the institute for at least five years.

The Future of Leisure steering group is due to report back to the adult services committee soon before any decision is made but Mr Lambert questioned whether councillors were being given all the information available, as another leaked report into the future of leisure services concluded the region had the “right number of facilities in the right places”.

“I am very disappointed in the respect that the executive summary doesn’t give a balanced view of the provision in Fife,” he said. “I believe officials are only looking at this on a purely financial basis.

“They haven’t taken into account any of the opportunities FIPRE offers in terms of physical education—it’s not a leisure centre, it’s an educational facility and Fife Council seems to have forgotten about that completely.

“If this isn’t rectified, we’ll even consider putting candidates up at the next election on a single-issue platform—if there’s one thing that focuses a politician’s mind, it’s that they might lose their seat.”

Pupils at Pitteuchar East Primary have lent their weight to the campaign to save the institute, writing letters to Fife Council chief executive Douglas Sinclair over the proposed closure. Those voices will join 20,000 names already on a petition circulating around Glenrothes seeking to prevent the move.

Mr Lambert expressed anger that findings from a satisfaction survey will be given to councillors as part of the decision-making process. As the recommendations were based on only 914 completed surveys from an overall population of 349,429, he concluded, “What’s going to be more conclusive, a survey based on 914 people or a petition with over 20,000 signatures?

“I don’t believe councillors are looking at the whole picture and that, to me, makes any recommendations they make flawed.”