A community councillor has described learning of a move to temporarily limit access to a well-used Perthshire venue on the day the majority of Scotland’s remaining COVID-19 precautions were lifted as “extraordinary”.
Douglas Watters is the vice-chair of Crieff Community Council, which is due to hold its first meeting of 2022 on Monday, February 14, at the town’s Strathearn Community Campus.
However, he revealed he was contacted by those behind the facility on Monday this week and told “non-essential users” have been asked not to meet at the Pittenzie Road hub for an indefinite period.
Mr Watters said: “On the very day most of the COVID restrictions were being lifted in Scotland, we found out that the community campus was being closed off to non-essential users.
“I really don’t know what on Earth’s going on. They’ve said we might be OK for the week of our next meeting – which is on February 14 – but that’s just no use for planning or anything at all.
“It’s just absolutely ridiculous – at a time when most of the lockdown restrictions are being removed, they [Perth and Kinross Council] impose more.
“We managed to get the meetings started up again from September and the last one in the lecture theatre went particularly well because the acoustics were much better – and we were grateful for that and we assumed that would continue – but now they’re putting a block on people using the community campus.
“In my opinion it’s no longer a ‘community’ campus. They should change the name of it.”
Speaking this week, Mr Watters continued: “The timing is extraordinary. How long it’ll last, goodness knows.
“Our next meeting is less than three weeks away and I’m looking to get some clarification in the next day or two in terms of what’s what.
“It was the very last thing we were expecting. It’s totally unacceptable.”
He added: “It’s a far worse situation than what we had even back in the autumn – we’ve been able to use the community campus since September and now we’re no longer able to because of these increased COVID restrictions that Perth and Kinross Council has imposed.”
Mr Watters said he initially took the term “non-essential users” to mean all groups using the campus, but went on to call for clarification on Wednesday morning after learning sports clubs had met indoors the previous evening.
He concluded: “In a nutshell, Crieff Community Council is regarded as a higher risk than a netball or badminton group. And this at a time when most COVID restrictions have been removed nationally – you couldn’t make it up.”
A spokesperson for the local authority said: “Perth and Kinross Council is continuing to follow Scottish Government education guidance which states non-essential school meetings should not meet physically in school settings at this time.
“This includes Parent Council, Parent Teacher Association meetings and meetings with individual parents unless for specific child wellbeing issues.
“Headteachers are advised not to hold large group events such as assemblies and parental spectators. Sports events are only permitted for outdoor activities.
“With these restrictions in place, it is the council’s position that to open up for wider community use of internal facilities would be contradictory to the current national guidance.
“Community campuses continue to operate for sports users in line with the specific sports guidance, with additional cleaning and the management of users being supported by Live Active Leisure.
“Once national guidance on external meetings in schools relax the council will open community campuses more widely on a phased basis.
“Provisional future bookings can be made for activities currently, but these cannot be confirmed until the national guidance on meetings in schools change.
“This approach affects all community campuses and the wider school estate across Perth and Kinross.”
