A fractious and messy council meeting finally decided the sport and leisure future of Perth with elected members opting for a £74m complex at Thimblerow.
The inclusion of a dedicated leisure pool with flumes – a feature The Courier has been campaigning for as a priority since plans were first mooted – may be seen as a positive addition to the plans by some.
But it was a bad day for the Bell’s Sports Centre campaigners, dozens of whom gathered outside the council chambers in protest on the morning of the meeting.
There still appears to be many questions regarding how the entire process has been handled and decisions arrived at.
Here we look at 5 key talking points.
1. No public backing for Thimblerow plans
This has been the main issue from the outset, with the public and sports teams almost unanimous in their disapproval of the Thimblerow plans.
It still appeared that the local authority were failing to take any heed of such criticism during Wednesday’s meeting when asked about it directly by Councillor Colin Stewart.
“In terms of the consultation processes which have been followed, have we identified anybody, any bodies or groups, anybody in the public – whose money were are proposing to spend after all – whose actually in favour of the Thimblerow site?” asked the councillor.
After more than five seconds of complete silence from council officials of all levels, Mr Stewart finished, “I’ll take that as a no.”
No-one corrected him.
2. The late addition of Capability Scotland
The last time council brought forward their plans for Thimblerow, officers wanted to build 150 homes on Glover Street.
Now the officials say that care charity Capability Scotland will build a new centre on the site.
However, this addition appears to have occurred at such a late stage that no details seem clear around how it will come to fruition.
Councillor Chris Ahern asked: “How much are they paying for the land and was it open to the normal procurement process, and was anybody else offered the land as well?”
In response, the councillor was told that “the price has not been discussed yet” and there “has been no procurement process on the basis that this isn’t something the council has necessarily gone out to look for.”
3. Yet another assessment not carried out
It was revealed in the meeting that no economic impact assessment has been carried out by Perth and Kinross Council regarding the loss of Thimblerow – the city’s most popular car park.
It is added to a litany of assessments and consultations the council and Live Active Leisure has failed to carry out during the whole PH2O fiasco.
Again it was Councillor Stewart who asked the question.
He said: “In terms of the Thimblerow site, whenever I go up to that end of the High Street, South Methven Street area – it strikes me that there are very few vacant commercial or retail properties.
“Has anybody ever done an economic impact assessment on the loss of the car parking at Thimblerow?”
The answer was no.
4. The differing business plans for Bell’s
The day began with protesters outside the council chambers hoping to save Bell’s Sports Centre.
Later, inside, the Perth and Kinross Community Sports Network (PKCSN) made their business case for doing so – a 14 page document shared with councillors and officers over a month ago.
Under questioning, the group argued that they were being held to a higher standard than the council’s own plan for an unheated venue.
Bill Powrie, spokesperson for PKCSN, told councillors: “With regards to the 3G (artificial pitches) plan – we haven’t seen a 3G plan.
“Our business plan is being compared with two or three lines in a report.
“And what we would like to ask for is, as well as our plan being out there and being scrutinised, we would like the opportunity to scrutinise the 3G plan before councillors can really make a decision.”
The decision was made against them regardless.
5. The future of Dewars Centre
Perhaps the biggest talking point of the meeting is what remained unsaid about the future of Dewars Centre.
The iconic home of curling barely got a mention on Wednesday, yet the finalising of the Thimblerow plans means the curlers will almost certainly need to find a way of going at it alone.
If they can – and what help will be afforded them to do so – remains to be seen.
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