DG1 'debacle' blamed for low leisure facility satisfaction

Public satisfaction with leisure facilities in Dumfries and Galloway was the lowest in any Scottish council area

The "debacle" of a leisure centre which cost more to repair than it did to build has been blamed for low public approval ratings of council facilities.

Dumfries and Galloway Council had the lowest level of satisfaction of any local authority area in Scotland.

Figures showed just 41% of residents were satisfied with leisure provision while the national average was 72%.

Council leader Elaine Murray said the low rating was undoubtedly linked to issues at the flagship DG1 centre.

The building - which cost about £17m to construct - first opened to the public in 2008 but problems quickly emerged.

Repairs to the centre have cost more than the original construction

They eventually forced its complete closure in October 2014 for an overhaul that cost more than £20m.

Ms Murray said she was "not surprised" that people had not expressed satisfaction with council provision over that period.

The low approval figures were taken between 2015 and 2018.

"Probably the first thing that people thought of when we talked about leisure facilities was the debacle around DG1," she said.

"I would certainly hope that now DG1 is open that people's satisfaction with it would be a lot higher than the satisfaction that people had before.

"Obviously we have leisure facilities in other parts of the region which are good facilities but I think DG1 really was the real problem as far as people were concerned and all the bad publicity round about it."

The centre cost more to repair than it did to originally build