THE CLOSURE of Perth’s Healthworks leisure facility will have a massive impact on sports provision across Perth and Kinross, protesters have claimed.

Its demise at the end of April will see a gym membership of 3500 and up to 60 paying customers a day seeking an alternative to the Norwich Union- subsidised centre, placing a huge strain on already stretched local resources.

A committee was formed at a meeting at the weekend as members seek to reverse the insurance giant’s decision, which will see 44 people lose their jobs.

An online petition has attracted over 700 names while a petition within the centre itself has smashed through the 1000-signature point.

Member Matt Shaw is one of those seeking to save the centre, which boasts a swimming pool, gym hall, squash courts and gym.

He said, “The thing about the Norwich Union centre is it is very family orientated and there is nothing else like it in Perth, and there are no resources in place to deal with 3500 people who would be left with nowhere if it shut down.

“Perth and Kinross Leisure (the council’s leisure arm) can accommodate some amount but, for example, we have six squash teams up there and around 200 people playing.

“Bells Sports Centre is saturated and it is the only alternative. The same can be said for every sport that plays out of there.”

PKL chief executive Jim Moyes admitted the imminent closure will mean some hard thinking for him and his staff.

“We can only deal with what we are being told will happen and the way we will address it is to try and increase capacity,” Mr Moyes said.

“It is safe to say it’s busy and we will require reprogramming but how extensive that will be we don’t yet know.

“The last thing we want to see is any people being displaced and we will have to look at all our facilities and see what we can do.”