A multi-million pound leisure centre and sports hub in East Perthshire will be obsolete before it is even finished, according to community leaders.
Blairgowrie and Rattray Community Council chair Ian Richards has attacked the decision to water down plans for a leisure centre, claiming its planned capacity will be too low to meet the growing town’s needs.
Perth and Kinross Council originally planned to spend nearly £18 million on the project, including a dance studio, swimming pool, café and soft play area, with a completion date of 2020.
The local authority later submitted a revised vision for the centre after its budget was cut by £3 million to help pay for a new Perth High School.
Mr Richards has now written a letter to the council giving the community council’s official response to the revised proposals.
Mr Richards said: “Blairgowrie is due for much expansion in the coming 10 years or so, with more than 2000 houses planned, and more in the catchment area for the proposed leisure facility.
“It is a fact that the towns infrastructure has received virtually no investment over the last 30 years and none planned except for the recreation centre.
“Why then propose to reduce the facilities in the new recreation centre when the town is due for much expansion? This is building in planned obsolescence at worst and at the very least building in a lack of adequate capacity for a growing population.”
The initial scale of the planned 43,000 sq ft complex was reduced to just under 34,500 sq ft in the revised plan.
The sizes of the planned swimming pool and dance studio were also reduced, while plans for the cafe and soft play area were abandoned. The opening date was put back to 2022.
Mr Richards called on the council to reinstate the original plans as “the minimum required.”
“We are strongly opposed to the reduced capacity of the proposed centre because of the reduced budget available for this facility and urge the council to find a way of reinstating the budget to its original level either by reprogramming the education budget or by moving monies from other capital budget heads to facilitate this high priority development,” he added.
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said they were in direct correspondence with the community council on the matter.
She said: “Any savings are considered by elected members as part of the budget setting process and this decision was taken at Perth & Kinross Council’s full council meeting in June 2018.
“The new recreation centre represents a major capital investment by the council and the £15 million complex will benefit the entire East Perthshire region.”
