Residents are right to be exercised about leisure centre cuts

More than a decade ago, Fife Sports and Leisure Trust was established as a non-profit distributing organisation, limited by guarantee, to operate and manage facilities on behalf of the council.

There were concerns about the move but by and large, the arms length nature of the trust has worked.

Almost 2.5 million people have made use of Fife’s sports and leisure facilities in the past year and centres recorded increases in attendances with, in particular, more people aged 60 or over using them between March 2018 and 2019.

The Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes was the most-used centre in the region, with more than half a million visitors.

Carnegie Leisure Centre in Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy Leisure Centre and Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre were not too far behind.

The figures are positive and getting more people of all ages active and involved in leisure pursuits – whether it be sport, gym sessions, swimming or even a trip to the health suite – has to be applauded.

However, the news broken by The Courier last week that operating hours at the leisure centres in Cupar and at St Andrews East Sands are to be cut throughout the week is not encouraging.

It suggests budget pressures are beginning to have a noticeable impact on services provided by the trust and that is deeply worrying.

There is no single factor to blame. Fife Council gives up a management fee to the trust and the local authority has to balance the books at a time where finances are stretched to their limits.

The trust, in turn, needs to ensure its programmes and facilities are financially sustainable for the benefit of the wider community.

It says it has targeted the reduction of opening hours outside core peak operating periods and is seeking to safeguard organised activities like health classes and children’s swimming lessons.

That may be so but to close two wellused centres at 2.30pm at weekends, when families in particular have free time to exercise, is a retrograde step.

Opening at 9am some days instead of 7am – excluding the pre-work workout users and many pensioners who only visit at quiet times – is equally backward.

Customers are frustrated, especially because the trust will keep its membership prices the same.

At a time when the benefits of social prescribing are becoming clear, the longer-term effects on health and stretched NHS budgets, may be deeper.

Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes had more than half a million visitors in the last year.