DEWARS CENTRE: PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE CONFIRMED

A parliamentary debate on the future of Dewars Centre, Perth and wider facilities will take place on Wednesday 31 May at 5pm. You can watch it live on ScottishParliament.tv and a verbatim report will be published the following morning on the Official Report section of the Scottish Parliament website.

Although the debate concentrates on Dewars Centre, MSPs from other parts of Scotland will hopefully also speak about curling in leisure facilities in their own areas. In that context, our members are encouraged to contact their local MSPs to share information on curling in that area. You can find your local MSPs here.

The full text of the Motion, initiated by Murdo Fraser, is available below.

Motion S6M-08199: Murdo Fraser: Dewars Centre in Perth: That the Parliament notes the concerns raised by Scottish Curling that the potential closure of the Dewars Centre, in Perth, would be the death knell of a legacy of curling in Perthshire dating back decades; notes the belief that, if this proposal goes ahead, it would mean that the town and county with which curling is most closely associated has made a choice to de-prioritise the success of legends such as Rhona Howie, Eve Muirhead, David Murdoch and numerous others, all of whom have a strong connection between Perth and the Dewars Centre and their Olympic and World Championships successes; further notes that the Dewars Centre has a history of supporting grassroots curling, and the potential to enable critical growth and to play a central role in tackling isolation, reducing barriers to inequality, and ensuring that inclusion and a sense of community are at the heart of sport in Perth, and notes the calls for Live Active Leisure and Perth and Kinross Council to reach a decision that would enable the Dewars Centre to be retained.