Campaigners have accused Perth and Kinross Council of prioritising new homes over the future of sport and leisure in the city.
As the row over the highly controversial proposals for Thimblerow and Bell’s Sports Centre continues, protesters have claimed the local authority is “obsessed” with housebuilding.
The plans for a new leisure centre at Thimblerow would see 150 houses built at Glover Street, on the site of the current Perth Leisure Pool.
Council officers had originally proposed building 250 houses on Glover Street, also at the expense of Dewars Centre.
This was, however, scaled back in the hope the ice rink could be taken on by the curling community.
Perth and Kinross Community Sports Network (PKCSN) fears the council is putting new homes ahead of the sporting community.
The Courier is campaigning for the councillors to Say NO to Thimblerow and Protect Perth Leisure.
‘The whole thing is about houses’
Bill Powrie, a spokesperson for PKCSN, believes making Glover Street available for housing is helping drive the much maligned Thimblerow idea.
Two petitions have gathered more than 6,200 signatures from people against the council’s vision.
Local and national sporting bodies have also spoken out against the plan for Bell’s.
A new petition to save Thimblerow car park, the most popular car park in Perth, has also recently been started.
Bill said:Â “The whole thing is about houses.
“The council is obsessed with building 250 houses on Glover Street.
“The whole fiasco called Thimblerow is about building 250 affordable houses on Glover Street.
“It’s got nothing to do with sports and recreation.
“Where are these new inhabitants going to find recreation?”
Are sports facilities a priority for council?
At a council meeting in September 2024, when the Thimblerow plan was first put forward by council officers, local authority chief executive Thomas Glen spoke of the council’s priorities.
He said: “I reminded myself, even though I didn’t need to, about what the role of officers is here.
“It’s to deliver the council’s vision and the council’s corporate priorities.
“And nowhere in it does it say that officers and the council are asked to deliver an ice rink or any other sporting facility.”
The council boss then listed priorities of tackling inequality and poverty, and then mentioning health and wellbeing.
At the same meeting, strategic lead for property services Stephen Crawford, said: “The opportunity that the integrated proposal creates with moving PH2O to Thimblerow is to actually address some of the greatest need in Perth and Kinross – the housing need.
“You talked about our corporate priorities of addressing poverty.”
In his report, Mr Crawford recommended building 250 homes at Glover Street.
The future of Thimblerow and Bell’s is set to go before councillors again next month.
‘Critical shortage of affordable housing’
Perth and Kinross Council say protecting services, poverty, climate change, promoting physical and mental wellbeing and developing a stronger, more sustainable economy, are their priorities.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: “We believe the proposals for PH20 at Thimblerow helps us meet those demands in the most efficient way possible by replacing an ageing, energy-hungry pool at Glover Street with a new, environmentally-friendly sport and leisure facility that caters for a range of activities.
“There are currently 3,488 applications on the Common Housing Register in Perth and Kinross and we have more than three applicants for every available let.
“Councillors agreed to prioritise the creation of affordable homes when disposing of surplus land or property in May 2024 to address the critical shortage of affordable housing, the same month the Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency.”
Conversation