World champion curlers claim they were “sidelined” by Perth and Kinross Council officers during talks about a new leisure centre after questioning figures being used in local authority reports.
David Hay and Pete Loudon, committee members of Perth Curling Club 1988, claim meetings between council officers and the curling community came to an end months before plans were finalised.
They believe council officers failed to take into account the full picture of curling outside local use and didn’t take on board the need for plans to be centred around a multi-sport ice facility.
In proposals put forward by council officers last week, officials did not include any ice or leisure water provision in their plans for a new complex in Perth, despite public insistence that they do.
Mr Hay, who won World Championship gold in 1988 and 1991, said his organisation disagreed with the council on curler numbers and revenue streams.
The chairman of Perth Curling Club 1988 said: “We were involved in discussions through March, April and May as a curling group, Pete (Loudon), myself and Vincent Bryson, chief executive of Scottish Curling.
“But for some reason we were not from May onwards, at the point when we challenged the figures that were being put on the table.
“We found the figures to be well adrift of the figures we had been using.”
Curlers believe report not a fair reflection
The curling community representatives make the following claims which they believe have not been reflected in the report :
- Over 95% of the 1374 children who took part in the nationwide Curling’s Cool programme last year attend state schools in Perth and Kinross.
- There is a growing junior club in Perth and Kinross.
- Last season curling ice usage was 65% at Dewars – they say council officers presented this as 20%.
- The report is based on community curling only and Dewars has proven that elite, competitive and community curling can co-exist and thrive in the same facility.
- The council report states that during the 2023/24 season, Dewars hosted nine curling competitions over the course of 26 weekends, with four of these events being exclusive curling club. Perth Curling Club 1988 argue that Dewars hosted three major international events, six major national events, seven elite international teams training events as well as student, school and corporate events throughout the season.
- Â Make Perth an ice sports and events centre, not just focussed solely on curling.
Mr Loudon, Olympian and World Champion, told The Courier: “Having been part of consultation exercises, collaboration is key in anything that you do and we just felt that we were sidelined and ignored after a certain period of time.
“There were a number of meetings that we attended in March, April, May time with various different representatives from the council and external consultants.
“And then from May onwards, despite numerous requests for them to engage with us, there was no response.”
Heat exchange benefits not discussed
Mr Hay and Mr Loudon say council officers also failed to take into account the economic benefits of having both swimming pool and ice rink facilities on the same site.
Scottish Curling paid for international expert Art Sutherland to be flown over from Canada to develop a report on the heat exchange savings that could be made in a new or updated centre.
However, any such savings would be lost if the ice and pool facilities were not located at the same site.
The curlers believe the proposal to retain Dewars while building a new swimming pool at Thimblerow makes little financial sense.
The findings by Mr Sutherland, who has helped design seven Winter Olympics, were not included in the council’s report.
‘Perth without an ice rink is like St Andrews without a golf course’
The plans for a new facility will go before councillors on Wednesday.
Council Leader Grant Laing has put forward a second option which would see a facility built at Thimblerow with Dewars leased to the curlers at a peppercorn rate.
The Provost has also put forward a plan to build a facility at Glover Street that has both leisure water and an ice sport arena.
Curling chief Vincent Bryson and Olympic champion Eve Muirhead have asked councillors to explore the possibility of a Community Asset Transfer of Dewars to the curlers.
The Courier has been campaigning for the council to build an ambitious new centre that caters for all sports, including leisure swimming and curling.
“Perth without an ice rink is like St Andrews without a golf course – that’s how it’s viewed globally,” said Mr Hay.
“The history and the legacy that our forefathers have left us, the game, is something to be treasured and it would be a shame to delete it in one fell swoop.”
Perth and Kinross Council argue that the figures presented to them by Live Active Leisure (LAL) are the correct data sets, rather than “estimates” provided by the curling community.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: “The data on ice usage presented to council in January and in the report in September is based on LAL records and has been used to inform the options for PH20 presented to councillors for their determination on Wednesday.”
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