Fees to use council-owned leisure facilities like Perth Pool and Bell’s Sports Centre will be hiked up from next month.
Live Active Leisure (LAL) will increase rates by up to 15 per cent as the body wrestles with “the most significant financial challenges it has ever faced”.
Aging assets, increasing energy costs and a drop in customers post-Covid are among the reasons for the financial squeeze.
Both Perth Leisure Pool and the Dewars Centre are under threat of closure due to the soaring costs, despite LAL’s pledge to keep them open this year.
From May 1, memberships, swimming lessons, exercise classes, personal trainers and other leisure activities will increase.
For example the cost of entry for a standard off-peak adult swimming session will rise from £5.05 to £5.60.
For children the standard entry at the same time will jump from £3.95 to £4.35.
All gyms will have ‘Standard Gym’ prices, except Bell’s Sport Centre which will remain at the ‘Premium Gym’ prices.
People using the facilities can still do so for a reduced price if they own a Live Active (LA) card.
The announcement is in tandem with cost increases announced by the council following this year’s council budget in March.
A council tax increase of 3.9 per cent for 2023/24 was announced to help plug a £31 million funding gap.
Parking fines and the cost of using council car parks and street bays were also hiked up from yesterday (April 17).
A LAL statement read: “Live Active Leisure is your local community leisure trust and registered charity. This means that every penny we earn is reinvested back into the products and services that you and the rest of the community enjoy using.
“However, this year Live Active Leisure was faced with the most significant financial challenges it has ever faced in over 50 years as a company.
“Ageing assets, rising inflation, increasing energy costs, the impact of long-term public finance constraints, reduced customer income post Covid and the cost-of-living crisis have all contributed to the difficult situation we find ourselves in.
“Therefore, as a result of these challenges, customers will see an increase of 10-15 per cent on most of our products, with additional increases on other selected activities, such as personal training. The price increase will take effect from May 1, 2023.”
They added: “We are pleased to announce however, that our charges for those who are in receipt of a qualifying concession benefit will be frozen at the current levels.
"Whilst we appreciate these are tough times, we need the communities’ support more than ever, and therefore would urge customers who value the provision of our public leisure services to please use your local venue as often as you can.
“We believe that we continue to offer good value for money and hope that our customers will continue to choose Live Active as their fitness and leisure provider.”
More information on the price increases can be found at www.liveactive.co.uk/pay-and-play
