Perth sewer works set to save Bell’s Sports Centre ‘came as surprise’ to council

Scottish Water bosses have shared details of their plan to prevent a repeat of the catastrophic flooding that closed Bell’s Sports Centre in Perth last October.

And they have also addressed claims that the £2 million programme of improvements came as “a surprise” to council officers.

It comes after Perth and Kinross Council signalled a U-turn on Bell’s Sports Centre at the start of this month.

The flood-damaged venue was slated for closure in May.

But in September, councillors were presented with a new proposal to turn it into an unheated multi-sport arena.

The Scottish Water works have been given as a reason why the popular building could now be spared.

Representatives from the water company briefed councillors on their plans for the area on Wednesday.

They say they are installing a new pumping station and upgrading nearby sewers.

There will also be measures to manage surface water at the Bell’s car park, and a new bund alongside the North Inch pathway.

But the discussion raised questions over what the council had been told – and when.

Were Bell’s Sports Centre decision-makers kept in dark?

During questioning, councillor Jack Welch said: “Officers indicated that part of this investment was quite a surprise for them.”

And he added: “I think it’s important that you work more closely at an earlier stage with stakeholders and those who can help and inform those plans.”

Scottish Water spokesman Gavin Steel responded: “I’m sorry to hear that it sounds like some of the officers were surprised by that project.

“I’m not sure what the story is there,” he added.

“But I’m fairly confident that the right people at the council are aware of the project now. And hopefully those lines of communication will stay open as the project moves forward.”

Mr Steel said personnel changes may have been a factor.

“There is certainly a lot of engagement between our flooding team and the council’s flooding team,” he added.

“But I guess the Bell’s decision-making will have been happening in a different part of the council.”

Council’s new Bell’s Sports Centre plan came as surprise to public

Bell’s Sports Centre has been out of action since the weekend of October 7-8 2023.

The venue was swamped after the floodgates at the North Inch were left open during torrential rain.

Council officers previously recommended its closure.

The £2m cost of repairs, the inability to insure it and the risk of future flooding all seemed to seal its fate.

So the idea that it could be repurposed appeared to come out of the blue four months later.

The new plan emerged ahead just days before the last meeting of the full council on September 4.

Councillors agreed to look into a recommendation from officers that it could be turned into an unheated arena for a variety of sports.

The public will now be consulted on the idea.

The consultation was approved at the same time as the more controversial decision to site the new PH2O sports centre on the Thimblerow car park in Perth city centre.

SSE chiefs defend flood response

Mr Steel was speaking at a briefing for councillors on the response to the flooding that battered Perth last October.

Representatives from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and power company SSE were also quizzed during the meeting of Perth and Kinross Council’s scrutiny and performance committee.

SSE chief Paul Owen said it took crews more than five days to release the accumulation of rainwater from its dams further up the River Tay in a controlled way.

Asked if the company had made any changes to its procedures as a result of the flooding last October, he said that hadn’t been necessary.

“The floodgates in Pitlochry and the other assets all performed the way they should do,” he said.

“So there’s no specific improvement loop to be taken there.

“We were very pleased with how they operated. I know that doesn’t reduce the impact for the folk of Perth.”

Council condemned for ‘shifting blame’

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) also defended its procedures for alerting communities and partners to the likelihood of flooding.

Perth and Kinross Council came under fire in the immediate aftermath of the chaos last October when it appeared to blame Sepa.

The council claimed a “rapid and near unprecedented rise” in the River Tay’s water level had prevented it from closing the North Inch floodgates until the Sunday.

That was despite a weather warning being in place two days before the storm, and the earlier closure of other nearby floodgates.

Executive director of communities Barbara Renton, who has since left the council, was criticised for releasing a statement which appeared to question Sepa’s processes.