Sports clubs in Perth have made a last ditch plea to councillors to save Bell’s Sports Centre as decision day arrives for the facility.
The future of the popular complex will be decided by elected members today (Wednesday) after Live Active Leisure (LAL) and council officers asked for it to close on August 31.
Furious players, parents and event organisers have lambasted both LAL and the council for carrying out no consultation ahead of the decision.
Perth and Kinross Sports Council are also against the closure.
The closure would remove all indoor bowling from the city with older players and players with disabilities saying the move will end their ability to play sport.
And it could also spell the end of the UK’s biggest volleyball tournament, which has attracted over 100 teams to the North Inch annually for nearly 40 years.
‘Not everyone is able to lift weights’
LAL, and now Perth and Kinross Council officers, propose closing Bell’s and moving the gym to Dewars Centre, taking away the only indoor bowling carpet in the city.
Lindsay Hutchison, whose son Frazer Hutchison plays the sport for Scotland, says the decision on Bell’s could be a vote changer.
Frazer has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and learning difficulties.
There are fears he and his four Perthshire teammates who play in disability tournaments will no longer be able train and will lost their international places.
Lindsay told The Courier: “Live Active promised to promote indoor bowls but have done nothing to promote the game at all.
“The bowlers have even said they would be able to continue with four rinks, half of what they have at the moment.
“Not everyone is able to lift weights, go on cycle and rowing machines and whatever else they do in the gyms.
“There are more and more people living longer and are looking for a gentler way to keep fit and socialise, and not everyone can drive – Frazer and the boys included – to various places to continue the sport they love.
“I for one, will be asking more questions when they come knocking on my door for votes.”
‘No vision for indoor sports’
Dave Munro, Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament director, says he has written to numerous councillors, including the Provost Xander McDade and council leader Grant Laing, asking them to save Bell’s.
He told The Courier that there had been no consultation – or a communicated way for indoor sports clubs to address councillors directly at today’s meeting.
“I don’t think the people in the council or LAL have a vision for sport and for indoor sport in particular,” said Dave.
“The centre needs to be kept in some sort of form for the future so why not for sport?
“The council are going to be lumbered with Bell’s because LAL have just walked away.”
Bell’s Sports Centre was given B-listed status by Historic Environment Scotland last month.
Its closure would leave the future of indoor sports clubs in limbo after council admitted they do not yet have a plan for where the they would be based.
Sports Council call for more discussion
Perth and Kinross Sports Council, formed in 1975 to promote interest and participation in sport across the local authority, have also questioned the “lack of dialogue” from LAL and the council.
In a statement the organisation said: “With a wider conversation continuing on the future of the leisure pool and ice rink, and the lack of dialogue prior to closing Rodney Pavilion and the conversation of the sports hall at Bell’s – we feel that there should be broader discussion on how to address all these situations.
“A more palatable financial option which does not disadvantage any club or end user.”
Treatment of bowlers sparked resignation
The proposal to close Bell’s and to remove indoor bowling from the city has proved extremely controversial.
The vice-chairman of Live Active Leisure resigned over the treatment of the bowling community in January.
A report by David Littlejohn at Perth and Kinross Council, in which he recommended closing the centre, revealed it would cost £900,000 just to shut it down and move the gym to Dewars.
The immediate future of the centre is only under-threat after floodgates remained open during a heavy storm in October.
In the longer-term, the local authority hope to consolidate the sports centre, Perth Leisure Pool and Dewars Centre into one new facility.
However an initial proposal for that building, which did not contain an ice rink, leisure swimming or bowling, was rejected by councillors.
With a new plan scheduled to come forward again in August, The Courier is campaigning to Protect Perth Leisure and build a facility people of all sporting backgrounds can use.
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