This isn’t a once in a generation decision – this is a choice that will determine the leisure output in Perth for the next half-century and beyond.
The people of the Fair City have waited for more than a decade for a new flagship PH2O facility, first mooted way back in 2014.
What’s currently on the table is a far cry from those original plans, it’s a far cry from what the city already has.
The Thimblerow proposal is lacking in many ways – as pointed out by Perth Civic Trust – but the most obvious is a dedicated leisure pool.
In The Courier’s own public consultation, to which almost 800 people responded, this was the facility folk demanded most.
Yet it is more or less missing from the current proposals, ‘leisure water’ shoehorned into a lane pool as an afterthought.
A draft timetable by the local authority shows children’s activities would be cut by more than thirty hours a week at the new complex, reduced from seven days a week to two.
That is not a facility catering for our future generations.
Who is this £61m facility for?
The biggest concern regarding the whole Thimblerow fiasco is that it’s hard to say who it’s for.
The residents don’t want it, the swimming clubs don’t want it, the sports clubs don’t want it, the curlers don’t want it.
It’s a plan that raised its head from nowhere last August and has been voted through without any consultation.
But there has been feedback, and it has been brutal.
A severe public backlash that is near-unanimous in it’s condemnation of the idea.
The council can talk of budget and price differences, but they have found money for a hastily agreed £10m purchase of Pullar House and the £150m on the controversial Cross Tay Link Road.
Neither of these big spends were being cried out for by the public.
The leisure centre, however, is something they do want – and their voices must be considered.
At the end of the day, the watered down Thimblerow plan may be cheaper at £61m – but it’s a waste of money if the public are loudly saying they don’t want it.
Chance to Say NO to Thimblerow
The Courier is holding a photoshoot today, Saturday, at 11am at Perth Leisure Pool for people to come along and Say No to Thimblerow.
We firmly believe that the current proposal is not good enough for this city.
In addition to the lack of a dedicated leisure pool there are a number of other red flags, too many ifs, buts and maybes for a project of this size.
The future of Bell’s Sports Centre and Dewars Centre being two.
The council hopes the curlers may be able to take on Dewars and make a go of it.
It’s a big maybe – one upon which the the whole history of Perth being the home of curling relies on.
The curlers themselves brought in a world expert from Canada, Art Sutherland, designer of seven Winter Olympics.
He explained the heat exchange benefits of having both the new pool and ice rink located on one site at Glover Street.
His expertise does not appear to have been heeded.
Additionally, a dozen indoor sports clubs have banded together to protest the plans.
They want Bell’s Sports Centre returned to it former glory, to the facility they had before it was decimated when the council forgot to close the floodgates.
More than 2,500 people have already signed a petition supporting them.
They believe the Thimblerow plan is a step down from what they already had.
£61m is an awful lot of money to go backwards.
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