Multi-million-pound Blairgowrie Recreation Centre and PH20 projects in doubt

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Two multi-million-pound Perth and Kinross Council building projects are under threat due to budget constraints.Council chiefs are recommending councillors pause progression with the approved and long-awaited Blairgowrie Recreation Centre as costs soar by £9.3 million to £36 million.Plans to replace Perth Leisure Pool and Dewars Centre with the much talked about PH20 centre could also be put on hold as construction inflation sees its estimated costs spike from £90 to £110 million.Perth and Kinross councillors will meet to set PKC's 2023/24 budget on Wednesday, March 1 - the tightest budget to date.PKC is faced with plugging a £31 million funding gap to achieve a balanced budget.

A raft of cuts have been proposed as well as pressing pause on two of the council's biggest projects. Both were set to be Passivhaus projects with the new Blairgowrie Rec set to be Scotland's first Passivhaus pool and recreational facility.Delivering all of PKC's capital programme which includes Perth High School, the Cross Tay Link Road and Perth Museum - all of which are now under way - is no longer affordable.The revenue budget papers published this week propose pausing Blairgowrie Recreation Centre pending further review of the investment needs of the Blairgowrie community.

The existing £26.7 million approved and budgeted for the project would be retained pending the review's outcome.And PKC's chief executive Thomas Glen and Finance chief Stewart Mackenzie recommended pausing the development and delivery of the Passivhaus PH2O project.

The previously budgeted £90 million would also be retained pending the outcome of a review.The Blairgowrie Recreation Centre project has been beset with delay after delay.Councillors finally unanimously approved