Plans have been announced to build a new multi-million pound community health and wellbeing hub in Perth and Kinross.

The project involves redeveloping the Letham Recreation Centre building on Tweedsmuir Road in Perth.

Features include creating a hub to give people easy access to a wide range of services including childcare provision, NHS drop-in clinics, health and social care, adult learning, bereavement care, therapies, parenting services, IT training and Perth and Kinross Credit Union. It will also offer meeting rooms and spaces for community events, as well as sports facilities.

The council has committed £2.8 million towards refurbishing the building, with a further application for £1m being made available to the Scottish Government's Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF) fund.

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The first phase of the application has been successful, with a final decision to be made in February. Final designs will then be drawn up in spring, with construction set to start in October. It is estimated the new facility will be completed by March 2019 and opened to the community in April that year.

Cllr Dave Doogan said: "This is an enormous capital investment in Letham but one which mirrors the importance Letham has as the largest single community in Perth and Kinross. This redevelopment of the Recreation Centre reflects the ambitions of local people and the Council to provide more locally-based services which will target and meet the needs of the local community.

"The availability of the Recreation Centre building provides an ideal opportunity to create a new base that will become a vital community hub for Letham and the many excellent community groups that operate here."

Consultation will take place in the next few months with the Letham community about the facilities and design of the new Community Hub, so local people can have their say on what they would like to see provided from the building.

(LM)