Perth campaigners raise equality fears over Bell's Sports Centre plans
Bell's Sports Centre campaigners have demanded answers from Perth and Kinross Council's chief executive as they raise equality fears over the local authority's plans for the facility.
Bill Powrie, a member of Perth and Kinross Community Sports Network (PKCSN), wrote to local authority boss Thomas Glen about the proposal to turn the North Inch complex into an unheated arena.
The campaign group fear the plan could negatively impact groups most at risk of discrimination, like the elderly, women and disabled sports players.
Speaking about over 50s, Bill said: 'This group needs low impact sports like badminton and table tennis that can be played into your 80s.
'Women in the main do not play football and neither do the many disabled people who used to play wheelchair sports like boccia in Bell's.
'These people will be severely affected if the plans go ahead.'
The campaigners' complaint is not the first time the local authority has been accused of sacrificing sports that cater for the elderly and disabled in recent years.
It was also levelled at the council and Live Active Leisure (LAL) when they made the decision to axe indoor bowls from the city entirely when they moved the gym from Bell's to Dewars Centre.
A team of Perthshire international bowls players with disabilities stated the council were putting their future in the sport at risk while Age Scotland also criticised the move.
That was only 12 months ago, now the council is facing the same criticism again.
The latest census results on the council website states that the Perth and Kinross population is 'evidently aging', with a quarter of residents 65 or over.
Last year, The Courier revealed that LAL failed to carry out any consultation in their Equality and Fairness Impact Assessment (EIFA) regarding the move from Bell's.
In the section of the report set aside for outlining the findings of said consultation, LAL wrote: 'None.'
Under the Equality Act 2010, a public body or organisation is required to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between equality groups.
In their report, LAL was unable to find any positive outcomes for closing Bell's for those with disabilities and the single positive for the elderly was that there were good bus routes to Dewars.
To further his point, Bill told the chief executive that there are already other facilities within Perth that have, or will have, artificial pitches.
He said: 'There are plenty of 3G pitches coming on stream in the near future.
'St Johnstone Football Club, Jeanfield Swifts are building two, Tulloch and when Perth High School is knocked down there will be two more pitches created.
'The usages quoted for football are 20,000 but Bell's used to have 260,000 usages every year.'
The future of Bell's, alongside the much-maligned PH2O Thimblerow project, is set to go before council again next month.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: 'We recognise the value of sport and recreation for people's general wellbeing.
'We have met with the Perth and Kinross Community Sports Network and their proposals will be considered as part of our response to the consultation.
'Our plans for Bell's and the new PH20 facility, will, alongside our school estate, cater for sports such as badminton.
'These plans are also informed by the findings of our Leisure Assets Review, which looked at demand and usage across all our facilities in Perth and Kinross, and the available capital budget.'
The Courier was told that the chief executive, Mr Glen, will reply to Bill 'in due course'.
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