Campaigners have launched a petition to have Bell’s Sports Centre in Perth reopened as an indoor sports venue.
The popular North Inch facility was permanently closed last year after being devastated by flood waters in 2023.
However, Perth and Kinross Council has since U-turned on those plans and put forward its own public consultation, suggesting the building could become an unheated events space with indoor sports pitches.
But that idea has been criticised by the newly formed Perth and Kinross Community Sports Network (PKCSN) which represents 12 sporting bodies in the area.
PKCSN wants the facility returned to its previous use, given that it was only shutdown after the local authority failed to shut the North Inch floodgates during a storm.
The group has sent an in-depth report to the council outlining their arguments.
Now a petition has been launched which supports the network’s plans.
It has received more than 1,250 signatures since Friday.
Sports groups are being ‘denied’ facilities
Starting the petition, campaigner Bill Powrie said the council’s idea of an unheated space denies sports groups the facilities they need to function.
He said: “Annually, thousands of sports enthusiasts from all over flock to Bell’s Sports Centre to compete or spectate in a wide range of ball and racket sports as well as gymnastics.
“It caters for local, national, and international competitors due to its prime location and number of available court spaces in its massive open arena.
“The negative impact on community physical health and wellbeing would also be considerable, limiting access to proper sporting facilities in times of inclement weather and during our dark winter months.
“Our council has a duty to ensure our recreational spaces are protected for future generations.”
PKCSN wants Bell’s to be reopened as the premier indoor sports hall in Perth, rather than trying to incorporate it into the controversial new PH2O leisure centre facility.
The group claims it was never consulted on how the facility should operate in future.
Perth and Kinross Council have said it will include the network’s report as part of the feedback to its own consultation.
Arguments against Thimblerow pile up
The Bell’s petition is the latest setback for the council’s plan to build a new leisure centre at Thimblerow car park.
Since it was agreed in September, the proposal – which doesn’t include a dedicated leisure pool and is to built on Perth’s most popular car park – has been met with near-unanimous backlash by the public.
A petition to overturn the proposal was signed by more than 2,300.
In the lead up to the Thimblerow plan being announced, sports groups, including the local swim team, criticised the local authority for their lack of consultation on the plans.
A dearth of public engagement over the new leisure centre and the closure of Bell’s has been an ongoing theme of the local authority’s.
The petition against the Thimblerow plan is expected to be heard by councillors on February 26.
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