(Image: Google Maps)
There is a concern a popular Fair City play park gifted by Perth, Australia will be lost forever and developed over.
The Aussie beach-themed sandy park was gifted to Perth, Scotland by Perth, Western Australia in 1994 as a symbol of their historic link.
The popular Boomerang Play Park sits outside Perth Leisure Pool but would be removed if plans for a 60-bed residential care home and around 100 flats on the Glover Street site are approved.
The park was built by a group of young people visiting from Perth, Australia, HMP Perth inmates and the council in just 5.5 days in 1994 as part of a challenge project. It was then opened by the late Provost Jean McCormack and Neighbours actress Sarah Vanderbergh.
As part of the 1994 Perth to Perth Youth Exchange, Perth UK gifted and built a community boat shed on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Australia.
The campaign group Save Perth’s Sports and Leisure Centre at Glover Street has asked what will happen to the historic inclusive play park.
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The play area was designed with a variety of materials, bright colours, textures, sounds and smells to stimulate the senses and allow disabled and able-bodied children to play together.
Responding to the campaign group’s Facebook post on the park, one local mum – who was only four at the time – said she vividly remembered the park opening and now takes her own son there.
She said: “It was so fresh and exciting. I feel privileged to now be taking my own son to this park and the swimmies. Sad to see what is happening to it in the space of a generation.”
While Cindy – who was involved in the Perth to Perth Youth Exchange and helped build the play park – said she would be “devastated” if the play equipment was “simply discarded and left unused”.
She added: “I sincerely hope that, at the very least, the special needs play equipment can be redistributed to another play area within Perth. This would preserve its purpose and remain true to the original community spirit of the youth exchange, while also honouring the generous gift from our sister city in Australia.
“The connection between our two cities was a reciprocal one. As part of that exchange, Perth, Scotland gifted and constructed a community boat shed on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Australia. The Boomerang Play Park therefore represents much more than just playground equipment; it’s a reminder of the friendship, cooperation and shared memories created between the two Perths.”
As part of the proposal – agreed by councillors in June 2025 – Perth Leisure Pool would be demolished and replaced with a new swimming pool and leisure centre, called PH2O to be built on the site of the current Thimblerow Car Park. A new Capability Scotland care home and six blocks of flats would be built on the site of Perth Leisure Pool and its car park. All proposals are still in the planning process and are subject to planning permission.
Perth and Kinross Council said it has a “different type of green space” from the Boomerang Play Park planned to complement the new proposals for the site.
A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: “While the existing park was created to complement the leisure pool, the proposed residential-led development at Glover Street provides an opportunity to create a different type of green space. The redesigned area would feature a corridor of natural landscaping and informal open space, strengthening pedestrian connections and creating a more attractive setting for future residents and visitors.
“Formal twinning arrangements between Perth and Perth in Western Australia have been in place since 2006, demonstrating our commitment to fostering lasting community relationships and we welcomed representatives from Australia to Scotland for our Twinning Celebrations this summer.”