Fife Council Community Services
Sports Centres & Swimming Pools –
Community & Stakeholder Consultation
Final Report
Prepared by:
Callum MacKinnon
TL Dempster Strategy and Research
Block 20
Motherwell Park
Bellshill
ML4 3NP
Tel: 01698 841001
Fax: 01698 746814
Email: [email address]
August 2006
Contents
A.
Introduction ............................................................................ 1
B.
Background ............................................................................ 2
C.
Key Objectives........................................................................ 7
D.
Summary................................................................................. 8
E.
Conclusions.......................................................................... 20
F.
Methodology ......................................................................... 24
G.
Presentation & Interpretation of results ............................. 27
H.
Consultation Key Findings .................................................. 28
1. Current Participation.................................................................................28
2. Interest in Participation in Sport & Leisure Activities.................................36
3. Use of Facilities ........................................................................................42
4. Perceptions of Current Facilities...............................................................57
5. Development of Facilities .........................................................................72
6. Engagement .............................................................................................99
7. National Sporting Bodies ........................................................................103
I.
Appendix 1: Data accuracy................................................ 106
J.
Appendix 2: Data tables ..................................................... 107
K.
Appendix 3: Surveys & Topic Guides ............................... 116
L.
Appendix 4: List of organisations consulted ................... 139
A. Introduction
This report presents the findings of a community and stakeholder
consultation carried out on behalf of Fife Council’s Community
Services by TL Dempster Strategy & Research between June and
August 2006.
The research involved a number of consultation methods including:
• Face-face interviews with users and non-users of facilities
• Focus groups with users of facilities
• A web-survey available through Fife Direct and open to all
members of the public
• Telephone consultations with sports clubs
• Telephone consultations with community councils
• Face-to-face meetings with elected councillors
• Face-to face & telephone consultations with national sporting
bodies
• Face-to-face consultations with other stakeholders
The purpose of this study is to determine the views of the wider local
community and other relevant key stakeholders on the options for
development (outlined in the research brief) for FIPRE, Kirkcaldy
Swimming Pool and Carnegie Leisure Centre.
It is also envisaged that the consultation will inform the development
of wider community sport & leisure plans for Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy
and Dunfermline. In parallel, the Council will be giving further
consideration to possible alternative management and delivery
models for the sports centres and swimming pools in Fife.
1
B. Background
A. Community Services
Community Services operates from over 500 venues and
has around 4,500 staff across Fife.
Fife Council’s Community Services was formed in 1996 as the result
of a change in local Government which brought together three district
councils and one regional council all with their own approach to
service delivery. Community Services currently employs around
4,500 dedicated staff and operates from more than 500 venues
throughout Fife. The services offered underpin much of local
community life and help contribute to the overall quality of life for
Fife’s citizens.
Community Services is made up of 15 diverse operational
sections.
Community Services is an integrated Service comprising fifteen
complementary operational sections that provide a broad range of
cultural, learning, recreational, sporting and social opportunities in
communities throughout Fife. The structure of the Service is
illustrated in the diagram below.
Community Services
Arts, Libraries,
Support
Community
Sports, Parks
Theatres &
Services &
Learning
& Amenities
Museums
Countryside
Arts
Adult Education
Central Support
Bereavement
& Guidance
Services
Services
Libraries
Child Care
Performance
Parks &
Museums
Management
Amenities
Community
Theatres
Centres & Halls
Countryside
Sports &
Services
Leisure
Community
Learning
Voluntary Sector
Support
2
Community Services is committed to the implementation of
“Delivering Fife’s Future”.
Community Services uses a range of delivery mechanisms with the
aim of providing a broad spectrum of social, cultural, recreational,
sporting and educational opportunities for both residents and visitors
to Fife. Community Services is committed to the implementation of
“Delivering Fife’s Future”, a community plan for Fife. The plan
consists of six themes around the three overall goals:
o
Delivering an Inclusive Fife
o
Delivering a Sustainable Fife
o
Delivering Best Value for Fife
It achieves its goals by working closely with both its partners and
service users to deliver responsive and flexible services with the
aspiration to be viewed as a “learning organisation”.
Community Services delivers services focused on the
needs of its customers & citizens.
Overall, the Council has a clear philosophy placing residents and
service users at the heart of decision making. To this end,
Community Services places huge importance on listening and
responding to the views of its users. Consultation provides a view of
the issues of greatest importance, how satisfied people are with the
services and, more importantly, how these can be improved.
Fife Council’s Community Services is committed to ensure
that communities are engaged in the management and
improvement of leisure facilities.
A key commitment for Community Services within the Community
Plan is to 'ensure that the communities of Fife are more actively
involved in the management and improvement of leisure facilities,
coupled with a milestone of 'increased customer/resident satisfaction
with facilities and amenities.
3
B. The Future of Leisure Working Group
The main aim of the Future of Leisure Working Group is to
analyse the key issues relating to the provision of quality
sustainable sport centres & swimming pools in Fife.
The primary task is of the Future of Leisure Working Group to
analyse the key issues and challenges relating to the future provision
of sport centres & swimming pools and to consider options and
solutions which could help deliver long-term, sustainable, high-quality
leisure provision in Fife. Its role and remit was set out in a report on
‘The Future of Leisure in Fife’ which was considered by the Adult
Services Committee on 23rd June 2004.
Since 2004 the working group has carried out an analysis
of Fife’s sports centres and swimming pools considering a
number of key factors.
The working group first met in November 2004 and since then has
carried out an analysis of Fife’s major sports centres & swimming
pools and has considered in depth a number of key factors, including:
i. the national & local strategic context
ii. current market conditions
iii. infrastructure & investment requirements
iv. management arrangements & current performance
v. future options for key facilities
In its analysis the working group set these issues within the context of
sport and leisure plans for the major population centres in Fife.
C. Initial conclusions of the work undertaken by the working
group
The scale of the task ahead is significant and the way
forward will involve a staged approach.
The work undertaken by the Future of Leisure Working Group
identified that:
• The scale of the task is significant, given a declining
infrastructure & an urgent need for significant investment to
maintain, improve and possibly replace some of the current
sports centres and swimming pools.
• There is a need to give serious consideration to opportunities
which will address efficiency of current operations and also
4
to consider the potential of alternative management and
delivery models.
• There needs to be recognition that, given the scale of
investment required, it simply isn't possible to resolve all of
these challenges simultaneously. A more pragmatic
approach
is
required
which
phases
the
refurbishment/replacement according to the most urgent
issues confronting the Council.
The working group therefore concentrated on three leisure
facilities in Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline.
In considering this phased approach, the working group has focused
on the significant investment challenges at three leisure facilities in
key population centres:
• Fife Institute of Physical & Recreational Education (FIPRE),
in Glenrothes
• Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
• Carnegie Leisure Centre, in Dunfermline
The working group carried out an options appraisal to
consider how to ensure the continued provision of quality
leisure provision.
The working group carried out an options appraisal to examine how
best to ensure continued quality leisure provision, which will serve the
populations currently supported by these facilities. The options
considered include retaining and reinvesting in the facilities listed
above or replacing these facilities with new ones.
In line with Council policy it is vital to consider these
options in context of the requirements of the community
and stakeholders.
It is essential that the future options in relation to the aforementioned
key facilities are not considered in isolation from a wider
consideration of the sports and leisure requirements of the
communities in which they reside. At the same time the development
of a long-term strategy for the provision of quality sport & leisure
facilities in Fife, will continue to focus on the key population centres.
5
D. Community and Stakeholder Consultation
A detailed consultation is therefore required to inform the
development of long term community sport and leisure
plan for Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy, and Dunfermline.
The Future of Leisure Working group therefore required an
independent consultancy, TL Dempster, to undertake a detailed
consultation on the current levels and location of provision and
activity in Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy, and Dunfermline to inform the
development of a long-term community sport and leisure plan within
these 3 key communities.
6
C. Key Objectives
The consultation had the following key objectives:
• To determine the perceptions of a statistically representative
sample of the local communities on the development options
for FIPRE, in Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool and
Carnegie Leisure Centre, in Dunfermline.
• To identify gaps in activity and facility provision in
Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline.
• To consult with key stakeholders on these development
options.
• To report the findings of these consultations to inform the
development of FIPRE, Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool, and
Carnegie Leisure Centre, in Dunfermline.
• To inform the development of Community Sport & Leisure
Plans for Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline and Glenrothes and the
wider strategy for Fife.
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D. Summary
1. Current Participation
Participation levels
Across all three areas over two thirds of respondents do some (43%)
or a lot (24%) of exercise suggesting that Fife residents are active
and interested in participating in physical activity. This is re-enforced
by the finding that around four out of five respondents have been
active in some sporting activity in the last year. This is higher than the
Scottish average reported in research by sportscotland which also
reported Fife as having the highest adult sports participation rate
across Scotland. Sports participation by facility users and young
people is significantly higher.
Specific sport participation
The most popular sports in Fife are also those reported by
sportscotland as the most popular nationally. These include:
1. Swimming
4. Cycling
2. Walking (2+ miles)
5. Running/jogging
3. Football
6. Keep fit/aerobics
A higher proportion of young people and facility users participate in
the following sports:
• Swimming
• Badminton
• Football
• Athletics
• Cycling
• Gymnastics
• Running/Jogging
• Dance
Tuition in sport, club membership and participation in
competition.
Just over one quarter of respondents are members of a sport or
leisure club. Just under half of these people are members of a health
or fitness club with the same proportion members of a sports club.
These are similar proportions to those reported by Sport England in a
similar survey carried out in 2005 but lower than that reported by
sportscotland.
Just over one quarter of respondents have taken part in instructor or
coach led physical activity, whilst one in five have participated in
organised competition, a similar proportion to that reported in the
sportscotland research.
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2. Interest in Participation in Sport and Leisure Activities
Interest in Participation
Around half of all respondents (53%) would be interested in
participating in sports activities they are not currently involved in.
Interest in participation is almost double amongst those already
participating in sport compared to those not participating, highlighting
the importance of encouraging participation as it leads to a more
active lifestyle.
Interest in specific sports
Overall the ten sports with the most interest in participation and which
are not currently participated in include:
1. Swimming
6. Dance
2. Horse riding
7. Skiing / snowboarding
3. Ice skating / hockey
8. Badminton
4. Keep fit / aerobics
9. Yoga
5. Other Sports
10. Martial Arts
There are no significant variations in these sports between areas in
these sports.
Encouraging greater participation
Around one third of respondents do not believe anything could be
done to encourage them to participate in more sports and leisure
activities than they currently do. The top five things amongst
residents who believe that something could be done include:
1.
More time
2.
More up to date facilities
3.
A friendly / welcoming environment
4.
To lose weight / to improve my health
5.
Reduced costs / affordable facilities / activities
More up-to-date facilities are particularly mentioned by Glenrothes
and Kirkcaldy residents.
Sports clubs were also asked what they believe would encourage
greater participation, their responses include:
1. A friendly / welcoming environment at facilities
2. Support for specific sports club needs
3. Improved equipment in facilities
4. More up-to-date facilities
5. Reduced costs / affordable facilities / activities
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3. Use of Facilities
Use of FIPRE, Carnegie Leisure Centre and Kirkcaldy
Swimming Pool
Around two thirds of respondents from each area have used the
facility closest to them. It is also apparent that FIPRE is used by one
in five respondents from Kirkcaldy, whilst Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool is
used by around one in ten respondents from Glenrothes. FIPRE is
the most heavily used sports facility by sports clubs, used by 81% of
surveyed clubs across all three areas.
Around two thirds of users attend the facilities at least once per week
with FIPRE the most heavily attended over half of respondents using
this facility attend more than once per week compared to around one
third of respondents at the other two facilities. Young people are
more likely to visit facilities at the weekend. Whilst those most active
in sport are more likely to use it midweek
Most used Facilities at FIPRE, Carnegie Leisure Centre and
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool.
The most used facilities across all three locations for residents and
sports clubs are:
Residents
Sports Clubs
1. The swimming pool
1. The swimming Pool
2. Café
2. Fitness suite/gym
3. Fitness suite/gym
3. Sports hall
4. Sauna/ steam room
4. Café
5. Sports hall
5. Outdoor pitches
In general, users of FIPRE are more likely to use more facilities
including the fitness suite, café, and five-aside football. Young people
have higher proportions using the swimming pool, whilst retired
respondents are more likely to use the café.
Travelling to facilities
Almost three quarters of respondents who use facilities live within
three miles of it. The most common method of getting to facilities is
by car, even amongst young people. Higher proportions of users from
Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline use the bus to access facilities. Those
from Glenrothes are more heavily reliant on cars to get to FIPRE
possibly because of the perceived poor public transport links
10
identified by Glenrothes respondents, community councils, elected
members and the MSP for Central Fife.
Despite those in Glenrothes identifying public transport as an issue
all three facilities are perceived to be easy to travel to with around
nine out of ten respondents in every group, except community
councils in Glenrothes, answering this way. The location of all three
facilities is perceived to be a key strength.
Reasons for not using facilities
The most common reason for not using facilities is a lack of interest
“just don’t want to” (36% of non-users) and a “lack of time” (21%).
Those respondents from Kirkcaldy are more likely to suggest that a
lack of facilities or poor quality facilities are reasons for not using
those currently available. Those from Kirkcaldy also have a higher
proportion not interested in available activities.
Respondents from Glenrothes are more likely to suggest that
difficulty getting to facilities is a reason for not using them. This area
also has a higher proportion interested in available activities.
Those from Dunfermline are more likely than other areas to use
another sport or leisure facility or offer an “other” reason for not using
the facility including poor health or age.
Encouraging non-users to visit facilities
Two thirds of non-users believe that nothing can be done to
encourage them to visit facilities. Amongst the one third who do
believe something can be done the three things which would
encourage them to visit facilities would be:
1. More up-to-date facilities
2. A friendly / welcoming environment
3. Reduced costs / more affordable facilities / activities
Those respondents from Glenrothes are more likely to suggest that
the following things would encourage them to visit FIPRE:
• More up to date facilities
• Improved equipment in
facilities
• A friendly / welcoming environment
• People friends to do it with
• Reduced costs / affordable facilities /
• More organised classes /
activities
events at facilities
• To lose weight / to improve my health
• Improved transport / access to
facilities
11
People from Kirkcaldy are more likely to suggest that the following
things would encourage them to visit Kirkcaldy Swimming pool more
often:
• More up to date facilities
• Help with childcare
• A friendly / welcoming environment • People / friends to do it with
• Information / advice about where to
• More organised classes /
do
events at facilities
People from Dunfermline are more likely to suggest that information
about where to go and other reasons (such as improved health)
would encourage them to visit Carnegie Leisure Centre.
4. Perceptions of Current Facilities
General perceptions about facilities
The majority of residents, community groups and sports clubs believe
that the sport and leisure facilities in their area are good or better and
are satisfied whilst community councils are more likely to be
dissatisfied and believe that the facilities in their area are average or
poor.
Non-users across all three areas are more likely to believe the overall
sports provision in their area is poor suggesting that improvements to
facilities may encourage these people to use them more.
Those from Dunfermline are most content whilst those in Glenrothes
and Kirkcaldy appear more likely to perceive the facilities available in
their area as poor. This is re-enforced by the views of elected
members from these two areas who believe that facilities can and
should be improved. Those from Kirkcaldy especially believe that the
area should have improved facilities possibly expanding on the
provision available at Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool.
Perceptions of FIPRE, Carnegie Leisure Centre and
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Below are summarised the various respondent groups’ (residents,
sports clubs and elected members) perceptions of the best and worst
things about each of the facilities as they currently exist.
Carnegie Leisure Centre
For Carnegie Leisure Centre, the best things are perceived to be the
swimming facilities, the location, the building itself and the sports hall
12
facilities. The worst things are the changing facilities, the availability
of parking and the poor condition / cleanliness of the Centre (its décor
and upkeep).
FIPRE
For FIPRE the best things are perceived to be the swimming
facilities, the location, the staff, and the work done to encourage
participation, particularly with the disabled and the young. The worst
things are the quality of the buildings, the lack of maintenance, the
room / size of the facility and the poor changing facilities.
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
For Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool the best things are perceived to be the
swimming facilities, the size and location of the pool. The worst things
about the current pool are the quality of the buildings including its
maintenance and décor and the changing facilities.
5. Development of Facilities
Suitability of existing facilities now and in the future
Residents and sports clubs believe that the current facilities in their
area are suitable for existing needs whilst community councils do not.
However residents, community councils, sports clubs, elected
members, FIPRE Management Committee and FIPRE Action Group
are all in agreement that the sport and leisure facilities in their area
are not suitable for the future needs of the local community and
therefore require development.
Biggest Issues for Improvement at FIPRE, Carnegie Leisure
Centre and Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Below are summarised various respondent groups’ (residents,
community councils, sports clubs and elected members) perceptions
of the biggest issues for improvement at each of the facilities.
Carnegie Leisure Centre
The biggest issues for improvement at Carnegie Leisure Centre are
the parking and changing facilities as well as the provision of facilities
for young people and the quality / condition of the building.
FIPRE
The biggest issues for improvement at FIPRE are the overall quality
of the buildings / facility, the changing facilities, the maintenance of
13
the facility, the provision of facilities for young people and mothers
(improved crèche), as well as improved public transport to the
Institute.
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
The biggest issues for improvement at Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool are
the overall quality of the buildings / facility, the changing facilities as
well as the provision of facilities for young people, mothers, disabled
access and the quality / condition of equipment.
Specific Development Options at FIPRE, Carnegie Leisure
Centre and Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
The preferred specific development options for each centre are
outlined below:
Carnegie Leisure Centre
Three quarters of residents, and over 90% of community councils and
sports clubs in Dunfermline, believe that something should be done
to develop Carnegie Leisure Centre. The preferred development
option amongst residents, community councils, sports clubs and
elected members is that the council should keep the existing centre
but re-invest / refurbish it to provide more up-to-date facilities.
Respondent Type
Preferred Development Option
Residents
Keep the existing centre but re-
invest / refurbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities
Community Councils & Sports Keep the existing centre but re-
Clubs
invest / refurbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities
Elected Members
Keep the existing centre but re-
invest / refurbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities
FIPRE
88% of residents and 93% of community councils and sports clubs in
Glenrothes believe that something should be done to develop FIPRE.
There is agreement amongst all respondent types to keep the
institute on the current site.
Community councils, sports clubs, the FIPRE Management
Committee, the user focus group and elected members believe the
best option is to replace the existing facility with enhanced facilities
on the current site. Residents and the FIPRE Action Group believe
14
the best option would be to re-invest / refurbish in the existing centre
to provide more up-to-date facilities.
Respondent Type
Preferred Development Option
Residents
Keep the existing centre but re-
invest / refurbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities
Community Councils & Sports Replace the existing facilities with
Clubs
enhanced facilities on the current
site
Elected Members
Replace the existing facilities with
enhanced facilities on the current
site
FIPRE Management Committee
Replace the existing facilities with
enhanced facilities on the current
site
FIPRE Action Group
Keep the existing centre but re-
invest / refurbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities
It is TL Dempster’s firm opinion that survey data gathered from
residents has been influenced by the strong local perception that the
Council wish to demolish FIPRE and not replace it. This is suggested
to be the reason that a lower proportion of residents opted for
replacing the existing facilities with enhanced facilities on the current
site. People seem to simply not believe that if the facility is
demolished that it will be rebuilt at all and therefore would rather keep
the existing building.
It appears that if the centre was guaranteed to be replaced on the
current site then they would also agree to replace the existing
facilities with enhanced facilities. This conclusion is based on the
focus group discussions, comments made to TL Dempster during our
back-checking processes, comments made by the FIPRE
management committee and the focus group with the FIPRE action
group.
This issue was discussed at the FIPRE Action Group. At this group it
was suggested that they would not be opposed to replacement of the
building on the current site with like-for-like or enhanced facilities
however, the group fears that the council would simply knock down
the building and sell the ground.
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
92% of residents and all community councils and sports clubs in
Kirkcaldy believe that something should be done to develop Kirkcaldy
15
Swimming Pool. The preferred development option amongst
residents, community councils and sports clubs is that the council
should keep the existing centre but re-invest / refurbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities. Elected members on the other hand would
like to see the current pool replaced with enhanced facilities on the
current site to include dry-side facilities and the introduction of a
larger sports centre in the area to cater for a wider range of sports
and leisure activities.
As with the Glenrothes user focus group it became apparent that
there exists a mistrust of the council’s motives for wishing to replace
the swimming pool which could have influenced respondents to the
survey, both in terms of the options for refurbishment, replacement
and possibly the preferred location.
Respondent Type
Preferred Development Option
Residents
Keep the existing centre but re-
invest / refurbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities
Community Councils & Sports Keep the existing centre but re-
Clubs
invest / refurbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities
Elected Members
Replace the existing facilities with
enhanced facilities on the current
site to include dry-side facilities &
introduce a larger sports centre in
the area to cater for a wider
range of sports and leisure
activities
6. Engagement
Community councils and sports clubs were asked a series of
questions about how involved they felt in decisions made about sport
and leisure in their area. It is clear from the survey results that
neither community councils nor sports clubs feel engaged by Fife
Council in decisions made about sport and leisure. The results
suggest that these groups feel that:
• They do not have an influence over decisions about leisure and
sport in your area.
• They are not happy with the level of input they have into
decisions about leisure and sport in their area.
• The groups believe that Fife Council does not communicate
effectively about decisions about leisure and sport in their area.
16
• That their organisation does not receive enough information
about decisions about leisure and sport in their area.
• Just under half of these groups do not know where to find
information about leisure and sport developments in their area.
• That these groups do not find the council's webpages useful for
accessing information about decisions about leisure and sport in
their area.
• That their organisation is not involved in decisions affecting the
development and operation of sport and leisure in the
community.
Despite not feeling that they are engaged or receive enough
information, the survey of community councils and sports clubs
strongly suggests that:
• These groups do want to take a more active role in decisions
about the development of leisure and sport in your area.
• Their group should be involved in decisions affecting the
development and operation of sport and leisure in their
community.
The three preferred ways community councils and sports clubs would
like to get involved include:
• Attending committee meetings
• Attending workshops
• Attending public meetings
The three preferred methods of feedback about sport and leisure
decisions are:
• Receiving a letter
• Receiving a report
• Receiving a newsletter
Community councils and sports clubs were also asked an open-
ended question about ways they would improve the way the council
engages with them. These responses can be categorised and fit into
three broad categories:
1. Improved communication
2. Involvement in meetings
3. Improved liaison and feedback
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7. National Sporting Bodies
The National Sporting Bodies consulted were in agreement that Fife
Council is one of the most helpful and supportive councils in Scotland
with some excellent work, such as that with disabled athletes and in
schools, done by clubs, volunteers, facilities (particularly FIPRE) and
sports development with limited resources. However there was also
agreement that that due to consistent under-investment there are a
lack of high quality facilities coupled with a perceived lack of strategic
co-ordination of sports development meaning that Fife is currently not
fulfilling its true potential in sport and sport provision/development.
During the consultations with National Sporting Bodies a number of
key themes emerged. These are listed below:
• Facilities
• Specific Gaps in facility provision
• Access issues
• Sports Development
Facilities
There is general agreement amongst the National Sporting Bodies
that the existing facilities in Fife are reasonable but are out-dated,
run-down and have suffered from a lack of investment and a
scheduled programme of repair and replacement. The National
Sporting Bodies feel it is important that in refurbishing or
redeveloping facilities that the council consult with local sports clubs,
National Sporting Bodies themselves and other stakeholders about
the actual design of the facilities.
Specific gaps in facilities
During the consultations a number of specific facilities were
suggested as being missing from the current provision. These are
listed below. A couple of these (50m pool and indoor strength and
conditioning) had also been mentioned in the resident, sports club,
community council and elected member research:
• 50m swimming pool
• Outdoor synthetic pitches (football, hockey and rugby)
• Floodlit outdoor facilities
• Indoor facilities
Access
National Sporting Bodies view access to current facilities a problem
due to a number of factors including:
• Lack of space in facilities
• Lack of flexible space in facilities
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• Lack of suitable times to access facilities
• Cost of facilities
Sports Development
Sports development is a key issue for all the National Sporting
Bodies consulted. The bodies felt that good work was being done in
this area but that the current sports development team was under-
resourced.
National Sporting Bodies feel that Fife Council should continue to
look at sport and sports development in a co-ordinated, strategic
manner in partnership with stakeholders such as Sport Scotland,
Sport and Tayside Fife, National Sporting Bodies, local sports clubs,
Disability Scotland, and the Tayside and Fife Institute of Sport.
A critical element for development is the increased resourcing of the
sports development team at Fife Council. Several of the bodies
interviewed suggested that the team should be better resourced in
terms of staff, staff time and financial resources to promote sport. In
addition, eleven of the bodies consulted with believe that the council
should support sport specific development officers for their sports.
It is recognised that there are new opportunities to drive this agenda
forward through the recently established sport partnership – Sport
Tayside Fife – which will focus on the regional development of eight
key sports.
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E. Conclusions
Participation & Interest in Participation in Sport
Conclusion 1:
The results suggest that the people of Fife have higher participation
levels and interest in sport than the Scottish average, this is
supported by research carried out by sportscotland.
Fife Council and its partners should therefore help support and
develop this interest in sport by encouraging participation and
providing high quality, up-to-date facilities with enough space to
provide the amenities, services and environment to enable residents
and visitors to participate in the sport and leisure activities of most
interest.
Encouraging Participation and the use of facilities
Conclusion 2:
The results suggest that around two thirds of respondents believe
that things could be done to encourage them to participate in sport.
Around one third of those who do not use Carnegie Leisure Centre,
FIPRE or Kirkcaldy swimming pool believe that Fife council can do
things to encourage them to visit the facilities
In particular Fife Council and its partners should look to encourage
participation in sport and use of facilities by providing high quality, up-
to-date facilities with enough space to provide the amenities, services
and environment to enable residents and visitors to participate in the
sport and leisure activities of most interest.
Suitability of Facilities
Conclusion 3:
The results suggest that residents and sports clubs believe that the
provision of sport in their area and the suitability of sport facilities in
their area are currently satisfactory whilst community councils and
elected members believe they are not.
Residents, sports clubs, elected members, community councils and
other consulted stakeholders are all in agreement that the current
20
facilities are not suitable for the future needs of the citizens of
Dunfermline, Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy.
Fife Council and its partners should look to provide facilities that meet
the needs and aspirations of the communities of Dunfermline,
Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy
All these facilities could offer more space; more indoor provision
(including flexible use hall space, sport specific hall space, indoor
training facilities); a 50m swimming pool (at one location); more
floodlit outdoor pitches with synthetic surfaces and better general
facilities including parking and changing facilities.
Perceptions & Development of Facilities
Carnegie Leisure Centre
Conclusion 4:
The results suggest that Carnegie Leisure Centre is well used and
that all types of people and groups consulted believe that something
should be done to develop it. The preferred development option
amongst residents, community councils, sports clubs and elected
members is that the council should keep the existing centre but re-
invest / refurbish it to provide more up-to-date facilities.
Fife Council and its partners should therefore look to develop the
facilities available at Carnegie Leisure Centre to provide more up-to-
date amenities and services for the local community to encourage
better access to quality provision.
These facilities should include more space; more indoor provision
(including flexible use hall space, sport specific hall space particularly
for gymnastics); an improved swimming pool, more facilities aimed at
young people (including the pool) and better general facilities
including free or better parking and improved changing facilities.
21
FIPRE
Conclusion 5:
The results suggest that FIPRE is a well used facility which is held in
high esteem by the local community. All types of people and groups
consulted believe that something should be done to either refurbish it
or redevelop it on the current site.
Community councils, sports clubs, the FIPRE Management
Committee, the user focus group and elected members believe the
best option is to replace the existing facility with enhanced facilities
on the current site. Residents and the FIPRE Action Group believe
the best option would be to re-invest / refurbish in the existing centre
to provide more up-to-date facilities, however they would also not be
opposed to replacement of the building on the current site with like-
for-like or enhanced facilities.
Fife Council and its partners should therefore look to develop the
facilities available at FIPRE on the current site to replace the existing
facilities with high quality, up-to-date and enhanced amenities and
services for the local community. This could be delivered via a
partnership with Adam Smith College.
These facilities could include a 50m swimming pool enabling flexible
use of the water space; an indoor strength and conditioning training
facility to replace the existing running track; a small cycling training
facility; more space within the facility; more indoor provision
(including flexible use hall space, sport specific hall space; a larger
gym/ fitness suite ); floodlit outdoor pitches with appropriate synthetic
surfaces; more facilities aimed at young people (including the pool)
and better general facilities including more parking, a café with a view
of the pool and improved changing facilities.
Conclusion 6:
Public transportation to FIPRE is viewed as a key issue and
residents, community councils, elected members and the area’s MSP
would all like this to be improved.
Fife Council and its partners should therefore examine the potential
to improve transport links between Glenrothes town centre and
FIPRE
22
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Conclusion 7:
The results suggest that Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool is well used and
that all that all types of people and groups consulted believe that
something should be done to either refurbish it or redevelop it.
The preferred development option amongst residents, community
councils and sports clubs is that the council should keep the existing
centre but re-invest / refurbish it to provide more up-to-date facilities.
Elected members on the other hand would like to see the current pool
replaced with enhanced facilities on the current site to include dry-
side facilities and the introduction of a larger sports centre in the area
to cater for a wider range of sports and leisure activities.
Fife Council and its partners should therefore examine the best way
to develop the pool offering best value for the community by either
refurbishing or replacing the pool on the most appropriate site to
provide on-going swimming provision in the area during the
development and provide the demanded range of facilities and
activities to meet the needs of both residents and visitors.
These facilities could include improved buildings with more light, a
view of the waterfront and access from the promenade; an improved
pool flexible to the needs of all users, more indoor provision
(including flexible use hall space), a larger gym/ fitness suite;
improved café (with a view of the pool); more facilities aimed at
young people (including the pool); improved disabled access and
improved changing facilities.
Engagement with sports clubs and community councils
Conclusion 8:
Community Councils and sports clubs in Fife do not feel engaged or
involved in decisions about sport or leisure in their area.
Fife Council should therefore investigate how it can improve its
communication, engagement and feedback to the local community
and local stakeholder groups such as community councils, and sports
clubs about decisions about sport and leisure in Fife.
23
F. Methodology
A multi method approach was employed to gather data for this
consultation.
Quantitative Surveys
Face-face interviews with users 1,500 face to face surveys
and non-users of facilities
A web-survey available through 156 responses
Fife Direct and open to all
members of the public
Telephone
consultations
with 33 consultations
community councils
Telephone
consultations
with 27 consultations
sports clubs
Telephone
consultations
with 5 consultations
other community groups
Qualitative Consultations
Face-to-face
meetings
with 3 groups with 30 elected
elected councillors
councillors
Focus groups with users/non- 3 groups with 22 people in
users of facilities
total
Face-to
face
&
telephone 14 consultations in total
consultations
with
national
sporting bodies
A consultation with the Glenrothes 1 group with 8 people present
FIPRE Action Group
A consultation with the FIPRE 1 group with 6 people present
Management Committee
A consultation with Tayside and 1 consultation
Fife Institute of Sport
A consultation with Disability 1 consultation
sportscotland
Questionnaire & Topic Guide design
A draft questionnaire was designed by TL Dempster using a
combination
of
desk
research
and
in
consultation
with
representatives from Fife Council’s Community Services. A list of
survey issues were agreed which shaped the overall structure of the
survey:
24
Two surveys were designed, one for residents and one for sports
clubs and community councils. These shared a number of common
questions although sports clubs and community councils were also
asked questions about the council’s involvement and engagement
with them. The surveys included a number of questions included in
sportscotland and sportengland surveys to allow comparison. Copies
of the surveys are included in Appendix 3, on page 116.
Before the survey fieldwork began, the resident survey was piloted
with 20 residents to ensure respondents understood the wording,
layout and flow of questions.
Topic guides were also designed for elected official consultations,
general public focus groups and the stakeholder consultations. An
example topic guide is included in Appendix 3, on page 116.
Fieldwork
Residents
The fieldwork with residents (both users and non-users) involved
face-to-face surveys conducted at the facilities and at residents’
homes. The respondents were sampled to ensure they were broadly
representative of the population of Fife with young people over-
sampled to ensure their participation in the consultation. An on-line
survey was also published on the Fife Direct Website and publicised
by the council in the local press.
Sports Clubs and Community Councils
A letter with a copy of the survey was sent to the Sports Clubs and
Community Councils. TL Dempster then called each contact name up
to three times. A second letter was then sent to those who had not
yet been interviewed. This letter contained another survey and a
reply paid envelope. Groups were given the opportunity to call or
email and make an appointment to be surveyed, complete the survey
and reply by post or do nothing and wait for another call from TL
Dempster.
Focus Groups
For the three resident focus groups, TL Dempster phoned a random
selection of users and non-users who had agreed to be contacted for
this reason. A total of 12 people in each area were recruited with a
25
mix of gender and age. These groups took place at the facilities
themselves. Once recruited group members received a letter with the
date, location and time of the group.
Fife Council arranged the focus groups with elected officials, the
pressure group and the FIPRE management committee.
National Sporting Bodies
TL Dempster first contacted each of the following national sporting
bodies to find the correct person within each organisation to talk with:
Badminton Scotland
Scottish Football Association
Basketball Scotland
Scottish Gymnastics
Cricket Scotland
Scottish Rugby Union
Cycling Scotland
Scottish Squash
Judo Scotland
Scottish Swimming
Royal Caledonian Curling Club
Tayside and Fife Institute of Sport
Scottish Athletics Ltd,
Tennis Scotland
Scottish Disability Sport
The Scottish Hockey Union
Limited
A letter with a copy of the topic guide was then sent to this person. A
further phone call was made to each person to arrange a suitable
date and time to meet, or telephone, the individual to gather their
feedback. These interviews were led by a consultant. An example
topic guide can be found in Appendix 3.
Data Processing
As surveys were completed, they were collated and checked for
errors before being data processed.
Notes from the in-depth interviews and focus groups were completed
after each group and, where possible, these were recorded.
If required more information on the methodology and research design
is available on request from TL Dempster Strategy & Research.
26
G. Presentation & Interpretation of results
A sample, and not the entire population of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and
Glenrothes has been interviewed and therefore the presented results
are subject to sampling tolerances which means that not all
differences may be statistically significant.
The data presented from the resident survey has a range of
error of 2.5%+/- on a response of 50% for the total population of
the three areas.
Within each area the data is accurate within 4.3%+/- of that
areas population for a response of 50%.
For users of each facility the data is accurate at 3.3%+/- for all
three facilities combined and 5.6%+/- for each individual facility.
For non-users of each facility, the data is accurate at 4%+/- for
all three facilities combined, and 6.9%+/- for each individual
facility.
The data presented for the sports clubs is accurate at 13.6%+/-
on a response of 50%.
The data presented for community councils is accurate at
10%+/- on a response of 50%.
The data presented for the internet survey is accurate at
7.8%+/- on a response of 50%.
For more information on the accuracy levels for different response
levels please refer to Appendix 1 on page 106.
Some tables and graphs present data from particular portions of the
overall sample, for example, particular gender or age groups. The
size of these samples varies which can affect the range of error for
results. The reader should be aware of the range of error when
interpreting results. For more information on the accuracy of results
see “Appendix 1”, on page 103.
Where percentages do not sum to 100%, this may be due to
computer rounding, the exclusion of ‘don’t know’ categories or
multiple answers.
We have included question text in the body of the report. To
differentiate between questions asked to the various respondent
types we have included their category (e.g. residents or community
council) in brackets after the question.
27
H. Consultation Key Findings
1. Current Participation
This section looks at Fife citizen’s current levels of physical activity,
their participation in sport and leisure, their membership of clubs and
participation in tutored activities and organised competitions. The
purpose of this section of the report is to determine what people are
doing at the moment.
A.
Levels of Physical Activity
All respondents were asked the following question to determine their
own perceived level of physical activity:
Which of the options on this card best describes your level of physical
activity? (Residents Q2)
Figure 1: Residents perceptions of their own level of physical activity
Within w hich area is this survey
taking place?
Base
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
1500
500
500
500
High
24%
20%
25%
26%
Medium
43%
41%
44%
45%
Low
33%
38%
31%
29%
Don't know
1%
1%
1%
1%
As illustrated in Figure 1, the majority of respondents across all three
areas believe their physical activity is medium or high, indicating that
a high proportion of Fife residents are active and interested in
participating in physical activity.
This response will be biased, to some extent, by the fact that this
research took place mainly at leisure centres however, sportscotland1
research indicates that Fife has the highest proportion of adults
participating in sports than any other Scottish region.
1 Sports Participation in Scotland 2001, Research Digest no. 90 sportscotland
28
Perhaps understandably users of facilities and young people (those
aged under 24) are much more likely to be highly active than non-
users and retired people. This is shown in Figure 56 on page 107.
B.
Participation in sport and leisure
Respondents were given a list of 34 sporting activities and asked the
following question to determine which sports and leisure activities are
most popular:
Looking at this card, have you participated in any of the listed activities in
the last 4 weeks and / or in the last year? (Residents Q3)
Levels of participation
Figure 2: Participation in sport and leisure in the last four weeks and
in the last year
Sports
Sports
Sports
Sports
No Sports
Participation
No Sports
Participation
Participation
Participation
Participation
Base
(selected
Participation
(al sports
(selected
(al sports
(last 4
sports last
(last year)
last 4
sports last
last year)
w eeks)
year)
w eeks)
4 w eeks)
1479
84%
78%
19%
79%
72%
19%
Selected sports are “all sports” minus walking, snooker / billiards and dance, in line
with sportscotland analysis.
The results shown in Figure 2 indicate that the residents of Fife are
active in sport and leisure activities. Around 4 out of 5 respondents
have been active in the last year and the last four weeks in some
sporting activity, whilst 1 in 5 Fife residents are not active.
These figures are higher than those reported in the sportscotland
research where 64% of adults and 99% of young people were
reported to be active in sport. In the sportscotland research, Fife was
also reported to have the highest levels of participation (72%).
As mentioned before these results will be somewhat biased as the
majority of surveys were completed at leisure centres, however, even
amongst non-users, disabled and retired people sport participation
appears to be reasonably high (all above 50%). Understandably
users of facilities and young people are the most active (both over
90% participation). These results are shown in Figure 57, on page
107.
29
Participation in specific sports
Figure 4, on page 32, illustrates the most popular specific sport
activities which Fife residents participate in, these include:
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Walking (2+ miles)
• Running / jogging
• Football
• Keep /fit /aerobics
These are also the most common sports reported in the sportscotland
research2.
The results are shown in detail in Figure 58, on page 108. In general,
as reported above, young people and users of facilities are more
likely to be interested in a variety of sports whilst older, disabled and
non-user’s of facilities are least likely to participate in any sports.
Young people are particularly more likely than other respondents to
participate in:
• Swimming
• Dance
• Football
• Badminton
• Cycling
• Athletics
• Running/jogging
• Gymnastics
Users of facilities are more likely than non-users to participate in all
sports but especially:
• Swimming
• Keep-fit / aerobics
• Football
• Badminton
• Cycling
• Basketball/netball/volleyball
• Running/ jogging
• Athletics
Men are more likely than women to participate in the following sports:
• Football
• Snooker / billiards
• Cycling
• Fishing / angling
• Multi-gym/ weight training
• Rugby
• Golf
Women are more likely than men to participate in the following
sports:
• Swimming
• Gymnastics
• Keep-fit/aerobics
• Yoga
• Dance
• Horse-riding
2 Sports Participation in Scotland 2001, Research Digest no. 90 sportscotland
30
The top ten sports which specific respondent types participate in are
shown in Figure 4, on page 32. This table indicates that young people
are more interested in Badminton, Basketball / netball and volleyball,
athletics and gymnastics, non-users are more interested in dance
activities and users of FIPRE are more interested in Badminton, gym
work and keep-fit / aerobics than other groups.
C.
Tuition in sport or leisure
Respondents were asked the following question to determine the
level of instructor led provision:
Over the past twelve months have you received tuition from an instructor or
coach to improve your performance in any sport or leisure-time physical
activity that you have taken part in? (Residents Q7)
The results, shown in Figure 3, show that around a quarter of
respondents have participated in activities with tuition from an
instructor or coach to improve their performance. This is the same
proportion of people as reported in a similar survey carried out by
sportengland3 in June 2005, suggesting that this result is in-line with
the rest of the UK.
Figure 3: Participation in instructor or coach led provision by area
Within w hich area is this survey
taking place?
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
1279
415
420
444
Yes
27%
30%
27%
23%
No
73%
70%
72%
77%
Not sure
1%
0%
1%
1%
Young people and users of Carnegie Leisure Centre and FIPRE are
more likely to have received tuition, whilst those non-users of
facilities, the retired and disabled are least likely to have participated
in tutor/coach led activities. This is shown in more detail in Figure 60,
on page 109.
3 Final Report of the Baseline Survey Results, Yorkshire and Humber Sport and Physical Activity
Participation Survey Research Study Conducted for Sport England Yorkshire
June 2005, http://www.sportengland.org/participation_in_sport__physical_activity_final_report_09__.pdf
31
Figure 4: Top 10 sports participated in by various respondent types
User of Carnegie
User of Kirkcaldy
All Respondents
Young people
Non user
Leisure Centre
User of FIPRE
Swimming Pool
Walking (2+
Swimming
Swimming
Swimming
Swimming
Swimming
miles)
Walking (2+
Walking (2+ miles)
Football
Swimming
Walking (2+ miles) Walking (2+ miles)
miles)
Football
Walking (2+ miles)
Football
Football
Football
Football
Cycling
Cycling
Dance
Cycling
Cycling
Cycling
Running / jogging
Running / jogging
Golf
Running / jogging
Badminton
Running / jogging
Multi-gym / weight
Multi-gym / weight
Keep fit / aerobics
Badminton
Cycling
Keep fit / aerobics
training
training
Multigym / weight
Basketball / netball /
Snooker / billiards
Badminton
Keep fit / aerobics
Dance
training
volleyball
/ pool
Keep fit /
Dance
Dance
Dance
Running / jogging
Badminton
aerobics
Hillwalking /
Multi-gym / weight
Badminton
Athletics
Keep fit / aerobics
Golf
climbing
training
Basketball /
Golf
Gymnastics
Running / jogging
Golf
Dance
netball / volleyball
32
As shown in Figure 59, on page 109, those respondents participating
in the following sports are more likely to report receiving tuition or
coaching (all above 40%):
• Cricket
• Sailing
• Hockey
• Martial Arts
• Judo
• Badminton
• Rugby
• Golf
• Athletics
• Squash
• Table tennis
• Hillwalking / climbing
• Tennis
• Tenpin bowling
• Horse riding
• Football
• Basketball / netball / volleyball
• Multigym / weight training
• Curling
• Running / jogging
• Gymnastics
• Dance
• Skiing / snowboarding
• Keep fit / aerobics
D.
Membership of clubs
Respondents were asked the following questions to determine the
proportion of people in Fife who are members of an organised sports
club:
Are you currently a member of a sport or leisure club? (Residents Q5)
Looking at this card, what type of club is this? (Residents Q6)
Figure 5: Membership of a sport or leisure club by area
Within w hich area is this survey
taking place?
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
1270
417
417
436
Yes
27%
26%
27%
29%
No
73%
74%
73%
71%
The results shown in Figure 5, above, show that just over a quarter of
respondents are members of a sport or leisure club. Again, this result
is similar to those reported in the 2005 sportengland survey and is
slightly lower than the 39% reported in the 2001 sportscotland report.
Of those who are members of a club, around 40% are members of a
health or fitness club whilst the same proportion are members of a
sport club.
33
There are no statistically significant variations in terms of area
although as reported earlier in this report, the elderly, disabled and
non-users are less likely to be club members.
Respondents participating in the following sports report higher than
average (all above 40%) membership of clubs:
• Cricket
• Tennis
• Hockey
• Curling
• Rugby
• Tenpin bowling
• Skiing / snowboarding
• Judo
• Gymnastics
• Squash
• Multigym / weight training • Ice skating / hockey
• Martial Arts
• Running / jogging
• Golf
• Basketball / netball / volleyball
• Horse riding
• Sailing
E.
Participation in organised competition
Respondents were asked the following question to determine the
proportion of residents taking part in organised competition:
Thinking about sports or activities that you have taken part in, have you
taken part in any organised competition in the past twelve months?
(Residents Q8)
Figure 6: Proportion of respondents participating in organised
competition by area
Within w hich area is this survey
taking place?
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
1281
417
420
444
Yes
21%
18%
22%
24%
No
78%
81%
78%
76%
Not sure
0%
0%
0%
0%
The results shown in Figure 6, suggest that around 1 in 5
respondents have participated in organised competition in the last
year. This finding is higher than that reported in the Sport England
report (15%) but is around the same proportion as that reported in the
sportscotland report (23%).
Perhaps obviously, those people who are highly physical active,
participate in more sports, are facility users, are young people or are
34
male are more likely to have participated in organised competition.
This is shown in detail in Figure 61, on page 110.
The sports with more than 40% of participants reporting taking part in
organised competition include:
• Cricket
• Skiing / snowboarding
• Hockey
• Bowls
• Judo
• Basketball / netball / volleyball
• Rugby
• Football
• Athletics
• Running / jogging
• Tennis
• Table tennis
• Sailing
• Martial Arts
• Gymnastics
• Snooker / billiards / pool
• Golf
• Tenpin bowling
• Ice skating / hockey
• Horse riding
35
2. Interest in Participation in Sport & Leisure Activities
This section looks specifically at residents’ interest in participation in
sport and leisure activities which they currently do not take part in.
This part of the report also investigates resident and community
groups’ perceptions of things which could encourage increased
participation in sport and leisure activities.
A.
Interest in Participation
Residents were asked the following question to understand what
activities they would like to participate in but currently do not:
Which if any of the activities listed on this card would you like to participate
in but currently do not? (Residents Q9)
General interest in participation
Figure 7: Interest in participating in sport that respondent currently
does not participate in
70%
60%
61%
57%
60%
53%
50%
40%
40%
34%
30%
20%
10%
0%
All respondent
Users of
Non-users of
Those active in
Those not
Young people
facilities
facilities
sport
active in sport
Interest in participating in sports not currently involved in
The results presented in Figure 7 show that around half of
respondents are interested in participating in additional sport
activities.
Interest in participation is almost double amongst those already
participating in sport, 57% of those already participating in sport are
interested in doing more sports compared to 34% of those who have
not participated in sport in the last year. Interest is also high amongst
young people and current users of facilities. This suggests that those
already actively engaged in sport are more likely to show greater
36
interest in participation generally. This illustrates the importance of
encouraging participation across all of Fife.
Interest in specific sports
Excluding those not interested in participation we can identify the
specific sports that Fife residents are interested in participating in
(and which they are not currently involved).
The results are shown in Figure 8 on the next page. Overall the ten
sports with the most interest in participation, and which are not
currently participated in include:
1. Swimming
2. Horse riding
3. Ice skating / hockey
4. Keep fit / aerobics
5. Other
6. Dance
7. Skiing / snowboarding
8. Badminton
9. Yoga
10. Martial Arts
There are no statistically significant differences between areas,
however there are indicative variations. For example those in
Dunfermline show more interest in participation in Yoga, Hillwalking /
Climbing and walking. Respondents from Glenrothes are more
interested in horse riding, ice-skating, tennis, and table tennis. Those
from Kirkcaldy are more interested in swimming, golf, tenpin bowling,
and gymnastics.
The results are shown in detail for various respondent types in Figure
62, on page 111, again there are no statistically significant variations
between respondents; however there are a number of indicative
variations in terms of interest. These are summarised in Figure 9, on
page 39.
It is interesting to note that both non-users of Kirkcaldy Swimming
Pool and Carnegie Leisure Centre are interested in participating in
swimming, activities which are available at these facilities. The focus
group respondents suggested that these facilities were not appealing
to non-users as they were drab, dull and unattractive. Indeed, as is
explored below, non-users of Kirkcaldy also believe that more up-to-
date facilities and improved equipment at facilities would help
encourage them to participate in more sport or physical activity.
37
Figure 8: Interest in participation in specific sports by area
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
740
268
249
223
Sw imming
12%
11%
11%
16%
Horse riding
10%
8%
12%
11%
Ice skating / hockey
10%
8%
14%
9%
Keep fit / aerobics
10%
11%
10%
9%
Other
10%
10%
10%
11%
Dance
10%
10%
8%
10%
Skiing / snow boarding
9%
10%
11%
6%
Badminton
9%
9%
9%
9%
Yoga
9%
13%
7%
6%
Martial Arts
9%
7%
8%
10%
Multigym / w eight training
8%
9%
7%
7%
Tennis
7%
7%
9%
5%
Golf
7%
5%
6%
10%
Tenpin bow ling
7%
4%
7%
10%
Cycling
6%
7%
6%
5%
Gymnastics
6%
4%
6%
8%
Walking (2+ miles)
5%
7%
4%
5%
Hillw alking / climbing
5%
9%
3%
4%
Football
5%
4%
6%
4%
Sailing
5%
6%
6%
2%
Basketbal / netball / volleybal
5%
4%
4%
5%
Athletics
4%
3%
6%
4%
Bow ls
4%
4%
5%
5%
Fishing / angling
4%
5%
4%
4%
Judo
4%
3%
4%
4%
Table tennis
4%
2%
6%
3%
Snooker / billiards / pool
4%
2%
4%
5%
Squash
3%
4%
4%
1%
Rugby
3%
2%
4%
2%
Running / jogging
3%
4%
1%
3%
Hockey
3%
3%
3%
2%
Cricket
2%
1%
2%
1%
Curling
1%
1%
1%
2%
None / no sport or leisure parti...
-
-
-
-
38
Figure 9: Sports which various respondent types show more interest
than the average
Respondent Type
Sports with higher interest
Current users of Carnegie
Yoga; Sailing
Leisure Centre
Current users of FIPRE
Horse Riding; Athletics
Current users of Kirkcaldy
Horse Riding; Martial Arts;
Swimming Pool
Gymnastics; Athletics
Non-user Dunfermline
Swimming; Walking
Non-user Glenrothes
Football; Fishing/Angling
Non-user Kirkcaldy
Swimming; ice-skating/hockey;
Walking
Young people
Horse-riding; Ice-skating/ hockey;
gymnastics; athletics
Retired People
Walking; Swimming; Keep-fit/
aerobics; Dance; Bowls
B.
Encouraging greater participation
Residents and sports clubs were asked the following questions to
understand what would encourage more people to participate in sport
and leisure activities.
What if anything, would encourage you to take-up or do more sport or
physical activity? (Residents Q10)
I’m going to read you a list of issues, please tell me which, if any, in your
opinion would encourage the local community / your members to participate
in sport & leisure activities? (Sports Clubs Q20)
Residents
Around one third of respondents do not believe that there is anything
that could be done to encourage them to take-up or do more sport or
physical activity. The results for those who do believe that something
could be done are illustrated in Figure 10 on the next page. The top
five things residents believe would encourage them to take up more
sport or physical activity are:
1. More time
2. More up to date facilities
3. A friendly / welcoming environment
4. To lose weight / to improve my health
5. Reduced costs / affordable facilities / activities
39
Figure 10: Residents’ perceptions of issues which would encourage
them to participate in sport and leisure activities by area
Within w hich area is this survey
taking place?
Base
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
931
333
294
304
More time
35%
40%
34%
29%
More up to date facilities
21%
7%
23%
35%
A f riendly / w elcoming environment
20%
14%
24%
24%
To lose w eight / to improve my health
18%
24%
18%
13%
Reduced costs / aff ordable facilities / activities
16%
18%
19%
12%
People / friends to do it w ith
15%
15%
13%
17%
Improved equipment in facilities
14%
8%
12%
21%
Inf ormation / advice on w here to go
13%
10%
10%
19%
Suitable facilities nearby
13%
11%
13%
16%
Inf ormation / advice on w hat to do
13%
12%
9%
17%
More organised classes / events at facilities
12%
10%
14%
14%
Other reasons not listed
10%
11%
11%
8%
More flexible opening hours in facilities
9%
8%
10%
11%
Help w ith childcare
9%
7%
9%
11%
Improved transport / access to f acilities
7%
5%
8%
7%
Support for my specific needs
5%
7%
2%
6%
Safer neighbourhood
3%
2%
4%
5%
These results are shown in detail in Figure 63, on page 112.
It is clear that some respondents just do not have the time to do more
activities. Respondents who are employed are particularly more likely
to offer this as a reason.
More up-to-date facilities are particularly mentioned by Glenrothes
and Kirkcaldy residents, both users and non-users of facilities (FIPRE
and Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool). This is also mentioned as a particular
issue for young people.
A friendly / welcoming environment is more highly rated by young
people, women and retired people.
Losing weight is considered more important by non-users in
Dunfermline, women, the disabled and adults in employment.
40
Sports Clubs
As illustrated in Figure 11, the top 5 things which sports clubs believe
would encourage greater participation are:
1. A friendly / welcoming environment at facilities
2. Support for specific sports club needs
3. Improved equipment in facilities
4. More up-to-date facilities
5. Reduced costs / affordable facilities / activities
Sports clubs in Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy are much more likely to
want more support for their specific club needs and a friendly
welcoming environment than those in Dunfermline. Whilst those in
Dunfermline are more likely to want reduced costs or more affordable
facilities.
Figure 11: Sports clubs’ perceptions of issues which would encourage
the local community/ their members to participate in sport and leisure
activities by area
Area
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
21
5
12
4
A friendly / w elcoming environment
67%
40%
75%
75%
Support for your sports club's specific needs (e.g. injury or disability)
62%
20%
75%
75%
More up-to-date facilities
57%
40%
67%
50%
Reduced costs / affordable facilities / activities
57%
100%
42%
50%
Help w ith childcare
48%
20%
58%
50%
Improved equipment in facilities
38%
20%
50%
25%
Improved transport / access to facilities
38%
20%
50%
25%
To lose w eight / to improve my health
38%
20%
58%
-
Safer neighbourhood
29%
-
33%
50%
Information / advice on w here to go
24%
-
42%
-
More flexible opening hours in facilities
24%
40%
17%
25%
More time
24%
40%
25%
-
Information / advice on w hat to do
19%
-
33%
-
More organised classes / events at facilities
19%
-
33%
-
Other reasons not listed
19%
-
8%
75%
People / friends to do it w ith
14%
-
25%
-
Suitable facilities nearby
14%
20%
17%
-
Nothing could encourage them
10%
-
17%
-
41
3. Use of Facilities
This section looks at how the three facilities are used, including when
they are used, how often and what are the most used services within
each facility. This section also reports how people travel to the
facilities and reasons why people do not use the facilities.
A.
Use of facilities
All sports club and resident, respondents were asked the following
question:
Have you used any of the leisure facilities listed on this card in the last 12
months? (Residents Q13 & Sports Clubs Q21))
Respondents were then asked the following question to determine
which facility they used most often:
Which of these facilities do you use most often? (Residents Q14; Sports
Clubs Q22)
Residents
The resident results shown in Figure 12 illustrate that residents from
all three areas have used the other facilities in the last 12 months
with FIPRE the most used by people from other areas. Unsurprisingly
residents are most likely to use the facility closest to them most often.
Figure 12: Proportion of resident respondents using the three facilities
Base
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
1499
499
500
500
Yes
24%
59%
5%
7%
Carnegie Leisure
Centre, Dunfermline
No
74%
41%
94%
86%
Fif e Institute of
Yes
30%
5%
66%
20%
Physical and
Recreational Education
No
67%
94%
34%
74%
Yes
26%
4%
13%
60%
Kirkcaldy
No
73%
95%
86%
39%
Sports Clubs
The data presented in Figure 13 indicates that all three sports centres
are used by sports clubs from other areas with FIPRE the most used
42
facility. As with residents, sports clubs use the facility in their area
most often.
Figure 13: Proportion of sports clubs using each of the three facilities
by area club is based
Base
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
21
5
12
4
Yes
33%
80%
17%
25%
Carnegie Leisure
Centre, Dunfermline
No
62%
20%
75%
75%
Fif e Institute of
Yes
81%
60%
92%
75%
Physical and
Recreational Education
No
19%
40%
8%
25%
Yes
24%
-
8%
100%
Kirkcaldy Sw imming
Pool
No
71%
100%
83%
-
B.
Use of facilities
Respondents were asked the following questions to determine how
often different types of people used each facility and when the
facilities were used.
Taking your answer from this card, how often would you say you use this
centre? (Residents Q16)
Looking at this card, which day of the week and at what times do you
usually use? (Residents Q17)
How regularly facilities are used
Figure 14 on the next page, shows that the majority of user-
respondents to the survey use each facility at least once per week.
FIPRE is the most regularly used facility with over half of respondents
using it more than once per week compared to around one third of
respondents for the other two facilities.
Obviously those respondents who are high sports participators are
more likely to regularly use a facility.
There are no other significant variations between age, gender,
employment and so on. This suggests that a wide variety of users
regularly use the facilities.
43
Figure 14: How regularly respondents use each facility
Fife institute
Carnegie
of physical
Kirkcaldy
Base
leisure
and
sw imming
centre
recreational
pool
education
Base
915
288
344
288
More than once per w eek
39%
30%
56%
29%
Once per w eek
26%
33%
23%
23%
Once a fortnight
9%
8%
8%
11%
Monthly
12%
12%
6%
20%
Less of ten
14%
17%
8%
17%
The five sports most regularly participated in by people using each of
the facilities once or more per week are summarised below in Figure
15. The table suggests that those using the gym, participating in
yoga or squash have the highest proportion of users regularly using
facilities.
Figure 15: Top five sports with the highest proportions of participants
using each facility once or more per week
Carnegie Leisure
FIPRE
Kirkcaldy
Centre
Swimming Pool
1
Curling (82%)
Multi-gym / weight
Horse riding
training (87%)
(78%)
2
Gymnastics (82%)
Yoga (84%)
Yoga (77%)
3
Ice-skating/hockey
Curling (82%)
Multigym / weight
(82%)
training (76%)
4
Multi-gym/
Martial Arts (78%)
Squash (68%)
weightlifting (78%)
5
Squash (77%)
Swimming (77%)
Martial Arts (67%)
When facilities are used
Figure 16, on the next page, illustrates that all three facilities are used
regularly across the whole week. FIPRE, in particular, is much more
heavily used on a Monday, Wednesday and a Friday.
Young people are more likely to use facilities at the weekends,
particularly Saturday morning and afternoon. Retired respondents on
44
the other hand are more likely to use facilities midweek on Tuesdays
and Thursdays.
Those heavily active in sports are more likely to use facilities in
midweek.
Figure 16: Proportion of respondents using each facility by days of the
week
30%
Monday
47%
36%
41%
Tuesday
38%
41%
41%
Wednesday
52%
38%
37%
Thursday
39%
37%
35%
Friday
46%
31%
42%
Saturday
37%
38%
24%
Sunday
28%
25%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Carnegie Leisure Centre
FIPRE
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
C.
Aspects of the Facilities used most often
To understand which services or facilities are most used within each
facility the following question was asked to both residents and sports
clubs:
Looking at this card, which facilities / services do you use most often when
you visit? (Residents Q15 & Sports Clubs Q24)
Residents
As illustrated in Figure 17, on the next page, the five most used
facilities by residents overall are:
1. The swimming pool
2. Café
3. Fitness suite/gym
4. Sauna/ steam room
5. Sports hall
45
The swimming pool is the most commonly used facility at all three
facilities. This is in-line with the data on sports participation reported
earlier. In general, users of FIPRE are more likely to use more of the
facilities, more often, including the fitness suite, café and five-aside-
football.
Carnegie leisure centre has a higher proportion of users using the
crèche facilities.
Figure 17: Proportion of resident respondents using the
services/facilities at the three sports facilities by area
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
956
295
334
327
Sw imming pool
84%
79%
81%
91%
Cafe
44%
33%
49%
47%
Fitness suite / gym
27%
24%
34%
23%
Sauna / steam room
13%
11%
13%
14%
Sports hall
10%
11%
19%
-
Health suite
5%
9%
5%
2%
Five-aside footbal pitch
5%
3%
12%
-
Squash court
4%
5%
8%
-
Outdoor grass pitches
3%
-
9%
-
Tennis courts
2%
-
6%
0%
Creche
2%
5%
1%
0%
Combat studio
2%
4%
1%
0%
Synthetic turf pitch
2%
0%
4%
0%
Other
1%
2%
1%
1%
Meeting rooms
1%
1%
2%
1%
Cycling studio
1%
2%
1%
0%
Climbing w al
1%
2%
1%
-
Sports Clubs
As would be expected sports clubs have much higher use of the
sports facilities than residents and much lower use of other things
such as the crèche, café and so on. This is shown in Figure 18, over
the page. The most used facilities generally include:
1. The swimming Pool
2. The fitness suite
3. The Sports hall
4. The Café
5. Outdoor pitches
46
In general sports clubs using FIPRE are more likely to use more of
the facilities, although the reader should note that more sports clubs
from Glenrothes took part in the survey.
Figure 18: Proportion of sports club respondents using the
services/facilities at the three sports facilities by area
Area
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
19
4
11
4
Sw iming pool
84%
100%
73%
100%
Fitness suite / gym
74%
25%
100%
50%
Sports hal
58%
25%
91%
-
Cafe
42%
25%
55%
25%
Outdoor grass pitches
42%
25%
64%
-
Meeting rooms
37%
25%
45%
25%
Five aside footbal pitch
32%
-
55%
-
Synthetic turf pitch
32%
-
55%
-
Squash court
21%
-
36%
-
Other
21%
50%
9%
25%
Health suite
11%
-
18%
-
Sauna / steam room
11%
-
18%
-
Tennis courts
11%
-
18%
-
47
D.
Travelling to Facilities
Getting to facilities
A series of questions were asked to respondents about travel to the
three facilities. Firstly respondents were asked:
How do you normally travel to the centre? (Residents Q18)
As shown in Figure 19 the most common method of transport to get
to all three facilities is the car. Those from Glenrothes are particularly
reliant on the car to access facilities with almost two thirds using this
method. A higher proportion of those users from Kirkcaldy use the
bus, most likely because of its location close to the bus station.
Around a quarter of users at each facility walk to get there.
Figure 19: The proportion of respondents using different methods of
transport to travel to sport and leisure facilities by area
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
959
296
335
328
Car
53%
51%
63%
44%
Walk
26%
28%
25%
26%
Bus / mini bus
18%
19%
8%
27%
Bicycle
2%
1%
3%
1%
Van
1%
0%
0%
2%
Train
0%
-
-
0%
Motorbike
0%
-
0%
-
As shown in Figure 20, young people are also reliant on car
transportation to access facilities, although a higher proportion walk
or use buses. A much lower proportion of young people from
Glenrothes use the bus, most likely because of the perceived poor
public transport links in Glenrothes.
Figure 20: The proportion of young respondents using different
methods of transport to travel to sport and leisure facilities by area
Young
Young
Young
Base
people from
people from
people from
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Krikcaldy
Base
437
116
157
164
Car
41%
44%
49%
32%
Walk
32%
28%
37%
30%
Bus / mini bus
24%
27%
11%
35%
Bicycle
2%
1%
3%
1%
Van
0%
-
-
1%
48
How far people travel to get to the centre
Respondents were asked the following question to understand how
far users travel to use each facility:
Taking your answer from this card, typically how far would you say you
travel to the centre? (Miles) (Residents Q19)
Figure 21 demonstrates that the around three quarters of
respondents travel less than three miles to use the centre.
Figure 21: How far people travel to use facilities by area
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
961
297
336
328
0 to 1
21%
28%
20%
16%
1 to 3
52%
45%
53%
59%
4 or 5
12%
10%
18%
9%
6 to 10
11%
11%
8%
13%
11 to 15
2%
3%
1%
2%
More than 15
1%
1%
1%
2%
Don't know
0%
0%
-
1%
The further away a person travels to a centre the more likely they are
to use car transportation. This is shown in Figure 22.
Figure 22: How far people travel to use facilities by mode of transport
(car, bus or walk)
More
Don't
Base
0 to 1
1 to 3
4 or 5
6 to 10
11 to 15
than 15
know
Base
934
202
486
113
99
17
14
3
Dunfermline (Car)
16%
12%
15%
17%
23%
47%
21%
-
Glenrothes (Car)
23%
8%
24%
40%
25%
18%
14%
-
Kirkcaldy (Car)
15%
4%
16%
12%
31%
18%
43%
67%
Dunfermline (Bus)
6%
0%
7%
9%
10%
6%
7%
-
Glenrothes (Bus)
3%
2%
2%
9%
2%
-
-
-
Kirkcaldy (Bus)
10%
3%
12%
12%
8%
12%
14%
-
Dunfermline (Walk)
9%
29%
5%
-
-
-
-
33%
Glenrothes (Walk)
9%
22%
8%
1%
-
-
-
-
Kirkcaldy (Walk)
9%
18%
10%
1%
-
-
-
-
49
Ease of travel to facilities
Residents, Community councils and sports clubs were asked the
following question:
In your opinion is the centre easy to travel to? (Residents Q20, Community
Councils and Sports Clubs Q29)
Figure 23: Proportion of respondents stating that each facility is easy
to travel to
97%
98%
100%
100%
94%
100%
89%
92%
88%
83%
77%
75%
80%
57%
60%
60%
40%
20%
0%
0%
0%
Residents (face
Residents (On-
Sports Clubs
Community
Other
to face survey)
line survey)
Councils
Community
Groups
Carnegie Leisure Centre
FIPRE
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
As illustrated in Figure 23, almost all resident and sports club
respondents believe that the facilities are easy to travel to. A lower
proportion of community councils in Glenrothes believe that FIPRE is
easy to travel to than any other group.
There are no statistically significant variations between different types
of resident respondent types, e.g. users and non-users. Almost all
types of respondent believe the three facilities are easy to travel to.
Transportation was discussed in the focus group discussions. The
key findings suggest that the focus groups’ in general agree with the
view that the three facilities are easy to travel to, although elected
officials in Glenrothes believe that the public transportation links to
FIPRE are particularly poor (see the comments from the focus groups
below).
Focus group comments – Carnegie Leisure Centre
The comments made by people at the Carnegie Leisure Centre user
focus group suggest that the location is a key strength of the centre.
50
It’s proximity to the new bus station is viewed as particularly good.
Comments made during the group include:
“It’s right in the centre of Dunfermline so it’s really handy for most people to
get to”
“Most people, who use it, use it for convenience”
The Dunfermline elected members focus group agreed that the
central location of the Carnegie Leisure Centre is a key strength and
an advantage. The group’s view is that the Centre is ideally located to
be the centre of sports & leisure activity in West Fife. There is no
better location for this centre or logical reason for moving it. It has
good transport links locally and the introduction of the new bus
terminus will improve this.
Focus group comments – FIPRE
All of the users in the FIPRE users focus group travelled by car. They
all found FIPRE easy to travel to, re-enforcing the survey findings.
However, there was acknowledgement that the public transport links
were not as good as they could be:
“They need a proper bus service, cause I live on the other side of
Glenrothes, my daughter plays netball at FIPRE and she’s got to get 2
buses, one into town and one out.”
“My daughter cycles 4 miles to get here and 4 miles back.”
The lack of public transport was discussed in some length at the
Glenrothes elected members group.
The members consider access to FIPRE to be particularly difficult for
young people or those without cars who rely on public transport. Also
the bus links from North & West Glenrothes are poor. The view from
elected officials from North Glenrothes is that some people in their
communities were excluded from use of FIPRE because of its
location.
The lack of public transport was felt to be a concern in that it is
possible that this can exclude some parts of the community from
getting involved. This includes young people. The indication is clear
that, although existing users find it easy to get to, elected members
and community councils wish to see the public transport links to
FIPRE improved.
51
This view was also supported in correspondence from Christine May,
constituency MSP for Central Fife who suggests that the Council
should:
“Examine the potential to improve transport link between Glenrothes town
centre and Stenton.”
Focus group comments – Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Those from the Kirkcaldy user focus group believed that the location
of the Swimming pool was a key strength, a couple of comments from
this group include:
“Kirkcaldy Pool couldn’t be better placed than where it is.”
“You can have your swim and then do your shopping.”
“There’s a large amount of elderly people who use the swimming pool and it
is easy to get to for them. Wherever you live you can get a bus to it.”
The elected members agreed with this suggesting that the location of
the pool was good in terms of access, especially for young and old
people, as it had good public transport links and is close to the bus
station.
52
E.
Reasons for not using the facilities
Both residents and sports clubs were asked the following question if
they did not use any of the facilities. The reader should note that
there were no sports club respondents who did not use the facilities
so these questions were not asked to any of them:
Taking your answer from this card which of these reasons best describes
why you do not use this facility/these facilities? (Residents Q22, Community
Councils and Sports Clubs Q27)
Reasons for not using facilities
Figure 24, shows that the most common reasons across all three
areas for not using facilities are a lack of interest (“Just don’t want to”)
and a lack of time.
Figure 24: Reasons why residents do not use facilities
Within w hich area is this survey
taking place?
Base
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
553
199
167
187
Just don't w ant to
36%
34%
34%
40%
No time to use sports centre
21%
19%
26%
19%
Other
18%
26%
15%
12%
Use another leisure facility
12%
15%
10%
12%
Poor quality of facilities
12%
7%
9%
21%
Lack of facilities
11%
5%
11%
17%
Not interested in available activities
10%
4%
13%
13%
Dif ficulty getting to the facility
8%
6%
13%
6%
Too expensive
6%
9%
5%
3%
Do not know w hat the facility off ers
5%
6%
7%
3%
Poor parking facilities
4%
6%
2%
3%
Opening times do not suit
3%
4%
2%
2%
Those respondents from Kirkcaldy are more likely to suggest that a
lack of facilities or poor quality facilities are reasons for not using
53
facilities. Those from Kirkcaldy also have a higher proportion not
interested in available activities.
Respondents from Glenrothes are more likely to suggest that
difficulty getting to facilities is a reason for not using them. This area
also has a higher proportion interested in available activities.
Those from Dunfermline are more likely than other areas to use
another sport or leisure facility or offer an “other” reason for not using
the facility including poor health or age.
Encouraging non-users to visit facilities
Respondents who did not use the facilities were also asked the
following question to suggest ways in which more people could be
encouraged to participate at sports and leisure centres.
Looking at this card what, if anything would encourage you to visit these
facilities? (Residents Q23, Community Councils and Sports Clubs Q28)
Figure 25 illustrates that two thirds of respondents do not believe that
anything can be done to encourage them to visit each of the facilities.
Figure 25: Proportion of respondents who believe something could be
done to encourage them to visit each of the facilities
Carnegie Leisure
68%
32%
Centre
FIPRE
68%
32%
Kirkcaldy Swimming
69%
31%
Pool
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Nothing could be done
Something could be done
Figure 26 shows the things that could be done to encourage people
to visit facilities. This table does not contain those that said nothing
could be done to encourage them or that more time would encourage
them, as every respondent believed they would personally need more
time in order to visit the facilities.
54
The three things which could encourage people to visit the centres
are:
1. More up-to-date facilities
2. A friendly/ welcoming environment
3. Reduced costs/ more affordable facilities/activities
Figure 26: Things that could be done to encourage people to visit
sports and leisure centres by area
Within w hich area is this survey
taking place?
Base
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
216
93
62
61
More up to date facilities
30%
14%
34%
49%
A f riendly / w elcoming environment
24%
12%
32%
34%
Reduced costs / aff ordable facilities / activities
19%
17%
27%
11%
To lose w eight / to improve my health
18%
15%
29%
10%
Improved equipment in facilities
16%
12%
21%
16%
Inf ormation / advice on w hat to do
15%
15%
13%
18%
People f riends to do it w ith
14%
11%
16%
18%
More organised classes / events at facilities
13%
9%
21%
13%
Other reasons not listed
13%
20%
10%
5%
Improved transport / access to facilities
10%
5%
18%
8%
Suitable facilities nearby
9%
6%
11%
11%
Help w ith childcare
9%
6%
6%
15%
Inf ormation / advice on w here to go
8%
10%
6%
8%
More things f or young people to do at these f acilities
8%
6%
10%
10%
Support for my specific needs
7%
9%
-
13%
More flexible opening hours in facilities
7%
1%
15%
8%
Safer neighbourhood
1%
1%
3%
-
Those respondents from Glenrothes are more likely to suggest that
the following things would encourage them to visit FIPRE:
• More up to date facilities
• Improved equipment in facilities
• A friendly / welcoming environment • People / friends to do it with
• Reduced costs / affordable facilities • More organised classes /
/ activities
events at facilities
• To lose weight / to improve my
• Improved transport / access to
health
facilities
• More flexible opening hours
55
People from Kirkcaldy are more likely to suggest that the following
things would encourage them to visit Kirkcaldy Swimming pool more
often.
• More up to date facilities
• Help with childcare
• A friendly / welcoming environment • People friends to do it with
• Information/ advice about where to
• More organised classes /
go
events at facilities
People from Dunfermline are more likely to suggest that information
about where to go and other reasons (improved health) would
encourage them to visit Carnegie Leisure Centre.
56
4. Perceptions of Current Facilities
This section of the report looks at how residents, community councils
and sports clubs perceive the facilities available in their local area.
The first part of the section looks at how the facilities are evaluated
and how satisfied people are with them, before going on to look at
how different aspects of each of the three facilities are rated.
A.
General perceptions about facilities
Residents, community councils and sports clubs were asked the
following questions to determine how they evaluate the facilities in
their area:
“How would you evaluate the facilities available in your local area for the
activities you participate in? (Residents Q4, Community Councils & Sports
Clubs Q17)”
Figure 27: Proportion of respondents rating facilities available in their
local area
Residents (face to face
66%
19%
14%
survey)
Residents (On-line
62%
21%
18%
survey)
Sports Clubs
55%
23%
23%
Community Councils
16%
29%
54%
Other Community
80%
20%
0%
Groups
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
Excellent/ Very Good/ Good
Average
Poor/ Very Poor/ Terrible
The results presented in Figure 27, above indicate that the majority of
residents, community groups and sports clubs think that facilities in
their local area are good or better, whilst community council
respondents rate them as average or poor.
Those residents from Kirkcaldy are more likely to perceive the
facilities available in their local area as poor, very poor or terrible
(19%) versus an average of 11% in the other two areas. This is
shown in Figure 64, on page 113.
There is a similar finding, looking at the perceptions of community
councils and sports clubs, where 25% of those from Kirkcaldy rate
57
the facilities as very poor compared to an average of 7% in the other
two areas, this is shown in Figure 65, on page 113.
Non-users of facilities are also more likely to perceive them to be
poor, very poor or terrible (23%) versus the view of facility users
(11%). This is shown in Figure 66, on page 114.
It would therefore appear that a larger proportion of those from
Kirkcaldy feel that their local area has poor facilities. This is re-
enforced when the reasons for not using facilities, explored earlier,
are considered. 20% of non-users in Kirkcaldy do not use facilities
because of their poor quality and 16% due to the perceived lack of
facilities.
Comments in the focus groups with users and elected members in
Kirkcaldy also suggest there is a perception that the area has poor
facilities. In the users focus group there was the strong opinion that
the current swimming pool was “drab”, “dreary” and “run-down” and
generally unattractive. The users also felt that Kirkcaldy, as a town,
had been let down by the lack of sports and leisure provision in the
town.
The Kirkcaldy elected members focus group agreed with the view
that Kirkcaldy could have improved facilities. The elected members
felt that generally Kirkcaldy is reasonably well served for leisure with
decent but run-down facilities which are well intentioned but not
necessarily fit for purpose due to the lack of maintenance.
The group discussed the opinion that the town of Kirkcaldy has been
let down by under-funding from the Council, there is a perceived lack
of facilities in the area compared to similar sized areas, for example
Perth. The general view is that Kirkcaldy is short in sports facilities to
help people develop and meet their aspirations in sport and leisure
and that the town has never had a superior sports facility and needs
to develop sports provision strategically.
One approach to achieve this, suggested by the elected members,
would be to maintain Kirkcaldy Swimming pool as a leisure and
tourist site and introduce a larger sports campus elsewhere in the
area with facilities for more sports of interest to the local community,
such as football, bowling, gym/fitness, gymnastics and space for
athletes to train.
58
B.
Satisfaction with facilities
Residents, community councils and sports clubs were asked the
following question to determine how satisfied they are with the
facilities in their area:
How satisfied are you with overall sports and leisure provision in your local
area? (Residents Q11, Community Councils & Sports Clubs Q18)
Figure 28: Proportion of respondents satisfied with the overall sports
and leisure provision available in their local area
Residents (face to face
59%
16%
19%
7%
survey)
Residents (On-line
53%
21%
24%
2%
survey)
Sports Clubs
41%
9%
50%
0%
Community Councils
13%
13%
74%
0%
Other Community
75%
25%
0%
Groups
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
Very Satisfied/ Satisfied
Neither/ Nor
Dissatisfied/ Very Dissatisfied
No Opinion/ Never used
The results presented in Figure 28, suggest that, as with the
evaluation of facilities, the majority of residents are satisfied with the
overall sports and leisure provision in their local area, whilst
community council and sports club respondents are generally
dissatisfied.
Whilst the majority of residents in all three areas are satisfied with the
overall sports and leisure provision in their local area, there are
variations between areas in terms of dissatisfaction. 27% of those
from Kirkcaldy and 16% of those from Glenrothes are fairly or very
dissatisfied compared to 12% in Dunfermline. This is shown in Figure
67, on page 114.
As with evaluation of facilities (see page 57) a trend emerges that of
the three areas, those from Dunfermline are most likely to be
satisfied, followed by those from Glenrothes and then those from
Kirkcaldy. Non-users in particular across all three areas are more
likely to be dissatisfied with the overall sports and leisure provision,
59
suggesting that improving facilities may encourage non-users to use
facilities.
Residents, community councils and sports clubs were asked the
following open-ended question
Why do you say that? (Residents Q12, Community Councils & Sports Clubs
Q19)
Residents
As Figure 29 indicates almost three quarters of the open ended
comments from residents are from people who are satisfied with the
sports provision in their area. It is interesting to note that as
mentioned earlier in this report (see page 57) those respondents from
Kirkcaldy are more likely to make comments about their
dissatisfaction than residents from other areas.
Figure 29: Number of satisfied and dissatisfied resident comments by
area
Very
Very
Satisfied/
Dissatisfied/
Total
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Comments
comments
comments
Dunfermline
81%
19%
295
Glenrothes
76%
24%
320
Kirkcaldy
50%
50%
218
All Respondents
71%
29%
833
The open ended comments have been grouped and categorised and
the three most common categories are presented below for each
area by level of satisfaction.
Comments from Dunfermline residents
Satisfied Comments
240 comments were made by residents from Dunfermline who are
satisfied with the sports provision in their area, this is 81% of all the
open-ended comments for this area. The three most common
categories include 63% of all positive comments these three
categories include:
60
1. The amount of facilities available (33% of satisfied comments,
80 comments)
2. General satisfaction with provision (23% of comments, 55
comments)
3. The provision of adequate facilities (7% of comments, 17
comments)
Dissatisfied Comments
55 comments were made by residents from Dunfermline who are
dissatisfied with the sports provision in their area, this is 19% of all
the open-ended comments for this area. The three most common
categories include 62% of all negative comments. These three
categories include:
1. The lack of facilities available (40% of comments, 22
comments)
2. The need to upgrade and improve facilities (15% of comments,
8 comments)
3. The lack of facilities / activities for young people (7% of
comments, 4 comments)
Comments from Glenrothes residents
Satisfied Comments
243 comments were made by residents from Glenrothes who were
satisfied with the sports provision in their area, this is 76% of all the
open-ended comments for this area. The three most common
categories include 56% of all positive comments. These three
categories include:
1. The amount of facilities available (35% of satisfied comments,
86 comments)
2. General satisfaction with provision (12% of comments, 29
comments)
3. The convenient location of FIPRE (9% of comments, 22
comments)
Dissatisfied Comments
77 comments were made by residents from Glenrothes who were
dissatisfied with the sports provision in their area, this is 24% of all
the open-ended comments for this area. The three most common
categories include 68% of all negative comments. These three
categories include:
1. The lack of facilities available (47% of comments, 36
comments)
61
2. The need to upgrade and improve facilities (13% of comments,
10 comments)
3. The poor transport links to FIPRE (8% of comments, 6
comments)
Comments from Kirkcaldy residents
Satisfied Comments
110 comments were made by residents from Kirkcaldy who were
satisfied with the sports provision in their area, this is 50% of all the
open-ended comments for this area. The three most common
categories include 67% of all positive comments. These three
categories include:
1. General satisfaction with provision (28% of comments, 31
comments)
2. The amount of facilities available (25% of satisfied comments,
27 comments)
3. The provision of adequate facilities (15% of comments, 16
comments)
Dissatisfied Comments
108 comments were made by residents from Kirkcaldy who were
dissatisfied with the sports provision in their area, this is 50% of all
the open-ended comments for this area. The three most common
categories include 76% of all negative comments. These three
categories include:
1. The lack of facilities available (36% of comments, 39
comments)
2. The need to upgrade and improve facilities (30% of comments,
32 comments)
3. The lack of facilities / activities for young people (10% of
comments, 11 comments)
Community Councils & Sports clubs
As Figure 30, below, indicates 70% of the open ended comments
from community councils and sports clubs are from those who are
dissatisfied with the sports provision in their area.
The open ended comments have been grouped and categorised and
the three most common categories are presented below for each
area by level of satisfaction.
62
Figure 30: Number of satisfied and dissatisfied comments by area
Very
Very
Satisfied/
Dissatisfied/
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Total
comments
comments
Comments
Dunfermline
7%
93%
14
Glenrothes
48%
52%
23
Kirkcaldy
22%
78%
9
All Respondents
30%
70%
46
Comments from Dunfermline Community Councils/ sports
clubs
Satisfied Comments
One comment was made from a community councils/ sports club
respondent who was satisfied with the provision in Dunfermline, this
is 7% of all the open-ended comments for this area. This
respondent’s comment was that the area has generally good facilities
for the needs of the community.
Dissatisfied Comments
13 comments were made by community councils/ sports clubs from
Dunfermline who are dissatisfied with the sports provision in their
area, this is 93% of all the open-ended comments for this area. The
three most common categories include 77% of all negative
comments. These three categories include:
1. The lack of facilities available (4 comments)
2. The need to match facilities to the needs of the community (4
comments)
3. The need to upgrade and improve facilities (2 comments)
Comments from Glenrothes Community Councils/ sports
clubs
Satisfied Comments
11 comments were made by community councils/ sports clubs from
Glenrothes who were satisfied with the sports provision in their area,
this is 48% of all the open-ended comments for this area. The three
most common categories include 82% of all positive comments.
These three categories include:
1. General satisfaction with provision (5 comments)
63
2. The value of FIPRE to the area (3 comments)
3. The convenient location of FIPRE (1 comment)
Dissatisfied Comments
12 comments were made by community councils/ sports clubs from
Glenrothes who were dissatisfied with the sports provision in their
area, this is 52% of all the open-ended comments for this area. The
most common categories include 83% of all negative comments.
These three categories include:
1. The need to upgrade and improve facilities (5 comments)
2. The facilities not sufficient for the community (4 comments)
3. The lack of facilities available (1 comment)
Comments from Kirkcaldy Community Councils/ sports
clubs
Satisfied Comments
Two comments were made by community councils/ sports clubs from
Kirkcaldy who were satisfied with the sports provision in their area;
this is 22% of all the open-ended comments for this area. These
comments were both about the value of the swimming pool to the
community
Dissatisfied Comments
7 comments were made by community councils/ sports clubs from
Kirkcaldy who were dissatisfied with the sports provision in their area;
this is 78% of all the open-ended comments for this area. The most
common categories include 71% of all negative comments. These
categories include:
1. The need to upgrade and improve facilities (3 comments)
2. The need for more pool space for clubs (2 comments)
The views of elected members
Elected members from the three areas were also asked, in the focus
group discussions, their views on the current provision of sport and
leisure facilities in their area.
There is consensus amongst elected members across all three areas
that there exists reasonable provision but that this provision has not
been maintained or invested in, and that there exists strong demand
in their communities for more, high quality, particularly covered /
indoor, sports and leisure provision with easy access in terms of
opening hours and transportation.
64
The general view of all three elected members focus groups is that
over the last decade sport & leisure have not been a priority to the
council and the facilities have therefore seen a lack of investment
leading to the current situation with the state of the buildings and
equipment in need of refurbishment and in some cases replacement.
As with the resident survey it would appear that elected members
from Dunfermline are most satisfied, although they do wish to see
developments. The consensus view of the Dunfermline elected
members is that there exists a range of sports and leisure facilities
which meet the overall current needs. The impression is that the
provision in West Fife is good. However, there is a lack of indoor
facilities in the villages of West Fife in particular.
The elected members from Glenrothes feel that their areas are not
well provided for and in some areas the provision is described as
“non-existent”. The feeling was that there are a number of green
spaces but a severe lack of up-to-date indoor facilities and a lack of
organised activities / facilities. Elected officials from North Glenrothes
stressed the lack of facilities available in their areas.
The elected members from Kirkcaldy felt that their area is reasonably
well served for leisure with decent facilities but that the available
provision is run-down resulting in a number of facilities which are well
intentioned but not necessarily up to current standards. The elected
members feel that the town of Kirkcaldy has been let down by under-
funding from the Council, there is a lack of facilities in the area
compared to, for example, Perth, and that Kirkcaldy is woefully short
in sports facilities to help sports people develop and meet the
aspirations.
C.
Perceptions of facilities
Users of each of the three facilities were asked the following question
to determine how they rate different aspects of each facility.
Community councils and sports clubs were also asked the same
question:
I’m going to read out various statements about the facility you use most
often, can you tell me what you think of each using the scale on this card,
how would you evaluate the facility you use most often in terms of the
following? (Residents Q21 & Sports Clubs Q25)
In addition, during the elected members focus groups, the FIPRE
Management Committee group and the FIPRE Action Group focus
65
group discussions participants were asked about the key issues
facing the facility in their area.
The results for each facility are presented below:
C.1
Carnegie Leisure Centre
Residents
As shown in Figure 31 on page 70, those residents who have used
Carnegie Leisure centre believe that the best things about the facility
are:
The swimming facilities
The overall quality of the facility/centre
Size of the centre
In centre users’ opinion the worst things about Carnegie Leisure
Centre are perceived to be:
Parking facilities
Changing facilities
The cleanliness of the centre
The catering facilities
Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 34 on page 71, the sports clubs who have used
Carnegie Leisure centre believe that the best things about the facility
are:
The swimming facilities
Catering facilities
The overall quality of the facility/centre
Sports hall facilities
The worst things about Carnegie Leisure Centre are perceived to be:
Changing facilities
Quality of the equipment
The cleanliness of the centre
Elected members
Elected members from Dunfermline believe that the poor condition of
the infrastructure of Carnegie Leisure Centre is a concern. The décor
is seen as out-of-date and it is recognised that the centre does need
refurbishment to provide safe, up-to-date facilities that meet the
current needs of the community.
66
Specifically the elected members group mentioned that the changing
facilities could be developed and that to bring the facility to national
standards would require development.
C.2
FIPRE
Residents
As illustrated in Figure 32, on page 70, those residents who have
used FIPRE believe that the best things about the institute are:
The swimming facilities
The overall quality of the facility / centre
The size of the facility
The worst things about FIPRE are perceived to be:
Quality of the buildings
Changing facilities
Having enough room or space for users
Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 35 on page 71, the sports clubs who have used
FIPRE believe that the best things about the facility are:
The swimming facilities
The overall quality of the facility / centre
Facilities for young people
The quality of the equipment
The worst things about FIPRE are perceived to be:
Changing facilities
Quality of the buildings
The size of the facilities
The catering facilities
Elected members, FIPRE Management Committee, and the
FIPRE Action Group
The elected members of Glenrothes agree with the FIPRE
Management Committee and the FIPRE Action Group that FIPRE is
the key provider of the sports and leisure needs in the local area and
is central to the provision in the town and surrounding area.
However, all three groups agree that FIPRE has suffered from years
of under investment and the building infrastructure is in decline. It is
no longer viewed to be fit for purpose and as standards of sporting
bodies have increased FIPRE is no longer suitable for competitive
67
events. One participant in the elected members’ group described
FIPRE as “shabby and possibly unsafe”.
The poor condition of the institute’s physical infrastructure is a
concern. The décor is seen as out-of-date and it is recognised that
the centre does need refurbishment to provide safe up-to-date
facilities.
Due to the lack of maintenance and funding, the upkeep of the
institute has suffered, for example, in terms of painting and decor of
the building, the fitness for purpose of the facilities and equipment, in
particularly the changing rooms. The running track and athletics
facilities are run down, unusable and in need of replacement. Parking
is also viewed as insufficient for the current use.
The FIPRE Action Group agree that the building and equipment are
out-of-date and should be improved (on the current site) to allow
proper engagement with the community and encourage competitive
events to return to the Institute. This is, in the groups opinion, the
best way to meet the needs of the community.
The elected members believe that the council should plan for at least
a double in demand for the facility so it meets the needs of future
generations. There is a requirement for indoor facilities, improved
gym, more sports halls, bigger pool and more affordable facilities,
with a key issue the flexibility of the space.
C.3
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Residents
As Figure 33, on page 70, demonstrates those residents who have
used Kirkcaldy swimming pool believe that the best things about the
pool are:
The swimming facilities
The size of the facility
The cleanliness of the pool
The worst things about Kirkcaldy swimming pool are perceived to be:
Quality of the buildings
Changing facilities
Facilities for young people
68
Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 36, on page 71, the sports clubs who have used
Kirkcaldy swimming pool believe that the best things about the facility
are
The swimming facilities
The size of the facility
The room / space for users
The overall quality of the facility/centre
The worst things about Kirkcaldy swimming pool are perceived to be:
Changing facilities
The catering facilities
The gym/fitness facilities
Quality of the buildings
Elected members
The elected members from Kirkcaldy felt there was a risk in losing a
well attended, highly thought of facility although elected members did
suggest that the current pool is considered old-fashioned, not fun,
neglected and not well maintained. There was a consensus that the
pool has been neglected and has suffered from under-investment
and a lack of maintenance. Its appearance is simply not up to current
modern standards. The changing facilities were considered to be
poor. There are not enough room for showers; there are no changing
facilities next to the gym for example.
The view was expressed that the swimming pool is built “the wrong
way round”, there should be windows facing the waterfront and that
more natural light should be allowed into the building as it is currently
“dreary”, “smelly” and “deteriorating”.
69
Figure 31: The evaluation of Carnegie
Figure 32: The evaluation of FIPRE by
Figure 33: The evaluation of Kirkcaldy
Leisure Centre by residents using the facility residents using the facility
Swimming pool by residents using the facility
No
No
No
Very
Very
opinion
Very
Very
opinion
Very
Very
opinion
Base
Good
Poor
Base
Good
Poor
Base
Good
Poor
good
Poor
/ don't
good
Poor
/ don't
good
Poor
/ don't
know
know
know
Base
5473
8%
54%
12%
3%
23%
Base
7134
11%
53%
12%
3%
21%
Base
5844
7%
45%
16%
5%
28%
Changing facilities
353
7%
58%
28%
4%
3%
Changing facilities
452
6%
62%
24%
5%
4%
Changing f acilities
381
4%
51%
29%
13%
3%
Catering facilities
343
6%
51%
16%
4%
22%
Catering facilities
448
9%
55%
13%
3%
20%
Catering facilities
372
6%
56%
12%
3%
23%
Gym / fitness facilities
340
10%
42%
3%
1%
44%
Gym / fitness facilities
448
13%
42%
6%
1%
38%
Gym / f itness f acilities
367
7%
37%
5%
1%
50%
Outdoor facilities / playing fields
333
3%
25%
4%
3%
65%
Outdoor facilities / playing fields
444
9%
40%
8%
4%
40%
Outdoor facilities / playing f ields
352
5%
19%
7%
5%
64%
Quality of buildings
350
7%
69%
15%
2%
7%
Quality of buildings
451
4%
51%
31%
5%
8%
Quality of buildings
371
4%
37%
40%
6%
13%
Quality of equipment
339
9%
61%
8%
1%
20%
Quality of equipment
444
10%
58%
11%
1%
20%
Quality of equipment
359
6%
45%
18%
3%
29%
Sports hal facilities
337
7%
49%
2%
1%
41%
Sports hall facilities
446
12%
47%
7%
2%
33%
Sports hal f acilities
356
5%
25%
8%
3%
58%
Facilities for young people
342
10%
55%
11%
3%
22%
Facilities for young people
446
15%
49%
11%
5%
19%
Facilities for young people
366
8%
39%
20%
8%
25%
Sw imming facilities
352
19%
65%
10%
2%
4%
Sw imming facilities
451
21%
61%
9%
2%
6%
Sw imming facilities
379
13%
66%
15%
2%
4%
Cleanliness of facilities
352
9%
67%
18%
2%
3%
Cleanliness of facilities
449
10%
68%
13%
3%
6%
Cleanliness of facilities
377
6%
66%
19%
6%
4%
Size of facility
Size of facility
Size of facility
363
9%
66%
14%
2%
8%
342
10%
70%
13%
2%
4%
445
16%
64%
11%
2%
6%
Enough room / space for al us...
444
14%
60%
15%
2%
9%
Enough room / space f or al users
360
9%
62%
15%
2%
12%
Enough room / space for al users
337
8%
67%
16%
2%
7%
Disabled access to facilities
443
8%
40%
7%
4%
40%
Disabled access to facilities
361
4%
42%
6%
3%
45%
Disabled access to facilities
338
5%
43%
5%
1%
46%
Facilities for mothers / creche
442
7%
26%
6%
5%
56%
Facilities for mothers / creche
359
5%
16%
8%
7%
63%
Facilities for mothers / creche
338
6%
35%
6%
1%
51%
Parking facilities
440
8%
52%
12%
3%
26%
Parking f acilities
360
8%
38%
15%
4%
36%
Parking facilities
334
5%
36%
22%
13%
24%
Overall quality of facility / centre
441
13%
69%
9%
2%
6%
Overal quality of f acility / centre
361
7%
59%
22%
4%
9%
Overal quality of facility / centre
343
11%
72%
8%
2%
6%
70
Figure 34: The evaluation of Carnegie
Figure 35: The evaluation of FIPRE by
Figure 36: The evaluation of Kirkcaldy
Leisure Centre by sports clubs using
sports clubs using the facility
Swimming pool by sports clubs using
the facility
the facility
No
No
No
Very
Very
opinion
Very
Very
opinion
Very
Very
opinion
Base
Good
Poor
Base
Good
Poor
Base
Good
Poor
good
poor
/ dont
good
poor
/ dont
good
poor
/ dont
know
know
know
Base
96
16%
55%
13%
6%
10%
Base
244
8%
52%
20%
10%
10%
Base
73
11%
22%
34%
7%
26%
Changing
Changing
Changing
7
-
71%
-
29%
-
17
-
29%
35%
29%
6%
5
-
-
60%
40%
-
facilities
facilities
f acilities
Quality of
Catering facilities
7
14%
71%
14%
-
-
17
-
65%
24%
6%
6%
Catering facilities
5
20%
-
60%
-
20%
equipment
Facilities for
Facilities for
Gym / fitness
7
29%
43%
-
14%
14%
17
12%
59%
6%
12%
12%
young people
5
20%
-
60%
-
20%
young people
f acilities
Sw imming
Sw imming
7
43%
57%
-
-
-
Quality of
17
18%
65%
6%
6%
6%
facilities
facilities
5
-
20%
60%
-
20%
buildings
Cleanliness of
Cleanliness of
7
14%
57%
29%
-
-
Quality of
17
12%
59%
24%
6%
-
facilities
facilities
5
-
40%
40%
-
20%
equipment
Overal quality of
Overall quality of
7
29%
57%
14%
-
-
Facilities for
17
12%
59%
24%
6%
-
facility / centre
facility / centre
5
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
young people
Gym / f itness
6
17%
50%
17%
-
17%
Catering facilities
16
6%
44%
38%
-
13%
Sw imming
facilities
5
20%
40%
20%
-
20%
f acilities
Outdoor facilities
Gym / fitness
6
-
33%
-
33%
33%
16
13%
50%
19%
6%
13%
Cleanliness of
/ playing fields
facilities
5
-
40%
40%
-
20%
f acilities
Quality of
Quality of
6
17%
67%
17%
-
-
16
6%
44%
44%
6%
-
buildings
buildings
Size of facility
5
20%
20%
40%
-
20%
Quality of
6
-
67%
33%
-
-
Size of f acility
Enough room /
equipment
16
6%
56%
31%
6%
-
5
20%
20%
40%
-
20%
space for users
Sports hall
Enough room /
6
33%
50%
-
-
17%
Disabled access
facilities
16
6%
63%
25%
6%
-
space for users
5
-
40%
-
-
60%
to f acilities
Size of facility
6
17%
50%
33%
-
-
Disabled access
16
-
56%
-
13%
31%
Facilities for
to facilities
5
-
40%
-
20%
40%
mothers / creche
Enough room /
6
17%
50%
33%
-
-
Facilities for
Overall quality of
space for users
16
-
38%
-
19%
44%
mothers / creche
5
20%
20%
40%
-
20%
f acility / centre
Disabled access
6
-
50%
-
-
50%
Outdoor f acilities
Outdoor facilities
to facilities
15
13%
33%
13%
20%
20%
/ playing fields
4
-
25%
-
25%
50%
/ playing fields
Facilities for
6
-
50%
-
17%
33%
Sports hall
Sports hall
mothers / creche
15
13%
53%
20%
7%
7%
4
25%
-
25%
-
50%
facilities
f acilities
71
5. Development of Facilities
This section of the report looks at how the three facilities should be
developed in order to meet the needs of the local communities in
which they are located. The first part of the section looks at how
suitable facilities are perceived to be for the current and future needs
of the community, before exploring the key issues to be addressed at
each of the facilities and the views of respondents on the most
appropriate approach to developing them.
A.
The suitability of existing facilities now and in the future
Residents, community councils and sports clubs were asked the
following question:
“In your opinion do you think the current sport and leisure facilities in your
area are suitable for the existing and future needs of the local community?”
(Residents Q24, Community Councils & Sports Clubs Q30)
In addition the elected members’ focus groups were asked if they
believed the facility in their area met the needs of the local
community
Figure 37: Proportion of respondents stating that the current sport &
leisure facilities are suitable for the existing and future needs of the
local community
60%
55%
52%
53%
50%
40%
40%
30%
30%
26%
23%
19%
20%
13%
10%
0%
0%
Residents (face
Residents (On-
Sports Clubs
Community
Other community
to face survey)
line survey)
Councils
groups
Suitable now
Suitable in the future
The results, shown in Figure 37, above, suggest that residents and
sports clubs believe that the current facilities in their area are suitable
for existing needs, whilst community councils do not.
However residents, community councils and sports clubs are all in
agreement that the sport and leisure facilities in their area are not
72
suitable for the future needs of the local community, and therefore
require development.
These results are shown in more detail in Figure 68 and Figure 69 on
page 115. The data presented in these tables suggests that young
people, facility users and those from Glenrothes are most likely to say
their local facilities are suitable now, whilst those from Kirkcaldy and
non-users of facilities are most likely to say they are not currently
suitable.
Those respondents from Kirkcaldy and facility users are most likely to
say that the facilities in their area are not suitable for the local
communities future needs.
Respondents were also asked the following open-ended question to
qualify their views on the suitability of facilities:
“Do you have any comments you would like to add?” (Residents Q25,
Community Councils & Sports Clubs Q31)
Overall residents from the three areas provided 767 open-ended
comments. These were categorised and the three most common
categories (making up 53% of comments) are presented in Figure 38.
The responses suggest that to make the facilities suitable for the
future needs of the community, more facilities and activities will need
to be provided and the existing facilities will need to be upgraded,
modernised and developed.
Figure 38: Proportion of open-ended resident comments about the
suitability of facilities now and in the future
To meet
More or
needs
better
facilities will
facilities
Comments
need to be
are
specific to
Comments
modernised
required to
Facilities
and
meet future
upgraded
needs
Dunfermline
19%
14%
7%
228
Glenrothes
30%
8%
22%
311
Kirkcaldy
33%
10%
13%
228
All Respondents
28%
11%
15%
767
73
Comments specific to facilities
7% of comments from Dunfermline residents suggested that the
Carnegie Leisure Centre will need to improve to suit the needs of an
expanding town. Comments include:
“The community getting bigger all the time, more facilities needed.”
“Obviously there's going to be more and more people wanting to use these
places, plenty for now but in the future I think there will be a need for more.”
“They need to update and consider the large population, especially
children.”
22% of comments from Glenrothes residents suggest that FIPRE is a
vital facility for the future needs of the community. Comments include:
“If they take FIPRE away we will have nothing here for us in Glenrothes.”
“Everything is fine at the moment but if FIPRE is closed it will be
devastating for community.”
“It is madness to even think about closing the Fife Institute. The community
needs this facility.”
13% of comments from Kirkcaldy residents suggest the council
should improve the current Kirkcaldy pool to meet the future needs of
the community. Comments include:
“Modernise the pool and bring it up-to-date, it looks tired.”
“The Kirkcaldy Swimming pool is over 30 years old and does not meet the
needs of the people who use it.”
“The Kirkcaldy Swimming pool needs to be upgraded to meet needs of local
community.”
Sports Clubs
Overall sports clubs from the three areas provided 55 open-ended
comments. These were categorised and the three most common
categories (making up 83% of comments) are presented in Figure 39.
The responses suggest that, in the view of sports clubs, to make the
facilities suitable for the future needs of the community the existing
facilities will need to be upgraded, modernised and developed.
74
Figure 39 Proportion of open-ended sports club comments about the
suitability of facilities now and in the future
To meet needs More or better
facilities will
facilities are
need to be
required to
Comments
modernised
meet future
specific to
and upgraded
needs
Facilities
Comments
Dunfermline
47%
0%
40%
15
Glenrothes
57%
11%
18%
28
Kirkcaldy
42%
17%
17%
12
All Respondents
51%
9%
24%
55
Comments specific to facilities
27% of comments from Dunfermline sports clubs (4 comments)
suggested that the Carnegie Leisure Centre will need to improve to
provide better access for clubs, comments include:
“We don’t have enough affordable pool time at Carnegie”.
The Centre needs to be more easily accessible for clubs both in terms of
parking and space within the centre.
13% of comments (2 comments) suggested that the council should
support the development of sport in Dunfermline. Comments include:
“Sports & leisure provision has not kept up with the other developments in
the area and the growth of population”
“There needs to be more funding for sport in Dunfermline”
18% of comments from Glenrothes sports clubs (5 comments)
suggest that FIPRE is a good facility for the future needs of the
community and should be kept. Comments include:
“Very good facilities, staff are helpful and friendly and there are always new
ideas.”
“FIPRE is in a central location with good facilities but they are just not up to
modern standards.”
“It been run down, neglected. Still good activities but building is run down.”
75
17% of comments from Kirkcaldy sports clubs (2 comments) suggest
the council should improve the current Kirkcaldy provision by moving
the pool. Comments include
“Would like a new large site with all facilities of a leisure pool.”
“Kirkcaldy pool should be knocked down and a better facility put in its place”
Elected members
In general, the elected members from all three areas believe that the
facilities in their area meet the key needs of the local communities
and that the facilities should not necessarily cater for every sport or
leisure activity, but concentrate on what the community wants and
what the facilities can realistically offer. Each facility should aim to
offer these things, linking with other facilities to provide the breadth of
provision.
The view was expressed that there should be a balance in use
between sports users and leisure users and that activities and
facilities should be provided for both.
FIPRE Action Group
The FIPRE Action Group suggested that the petition to maintain the
Institute, organised by the group with over 12,000 signatures,
suggests that the current facility does meet the current needs of the
community.
76
B.
Development of Facilities – Improving facilities
Community councils and sports clubs were asked the following
question:
“In your opinion do you think the facilities at each of the following could be
improved?” (Community council & sports clubs Q33)
The results shown in Figure 40, illustrate that community councils
and sports clubs strongly believe that all three facilities could be
improved. Interestingly only 36% of the interviewed sports clubs who
use Kirkcaldy swimming pool believe it could be improved.
One possible reason for this could be that Kirkcaldy swimming pool is
viewed as a “proper” swimming pool as opposed to a leisure pool and
therefore is somewhere to go to have a serious swim. The swimming
facilities at the pool are rated well (see Figure 36 on page 71) and
this is possibly why sports clubs think the facility is fine.
Figure 40: Proportion of community councils and sports clubs from
facility’s own area who think facilities could be improved by type
60%
Carnegie Leisure
Centre
80%
63%
FIPRE
76%
36%
Kirkcaldy Swimming
Pool
57%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Community Councils
Sports Clubs
The views of elected members
In the elected member focus groups they were asked how the current
provision of sports & leisure facilities could be developed or
improved. There are a number of general and specific points which
emerged from these discussions.
In general, elected members from all three areas are in agreement
that any development should focus on the current needs of the
77
communities in which these facilities are based, and should aim to
not only provide facilities but encourage use of these facilities and the
activities within them by refurbishing / replacing them, maintaining
them and marketing them. The elected members also agree that the
development of facilities should be done in conjunction with the
consideration of the wider issues of Sport & Leisure more generally,
and how it can be supported for both the general public and athletes.
There were also a number of specific comments made by each group
of elected members about their specific areas.
Specific issues – Dunfermline elected members
The elected members from Dunfermline believe that the development
of the facilities in the area is about encouraging better access to
quality provision, both locally and for larger facilities. Specifically, they
mentioned a need for more indoor facilities in West Fife.
Specific issues – Glenrothes elected members
There were a number of specific improvements / developments which
the Glenrothes elected members felt could be introduced, these
include:
• Covered facilities to allow all year round participation
• Flexible, accessible facilities catering for a wide-range of
sports
• More affordable facilities
• Facilities with much better public transport links
• Organised and staffed activities for young people in
particular
• Skateboard facilities
• Work linked to other Fife Council/NHS work about health and
reducing obesity
Specific issues – Kirkcaldy elected members
The Kirkcaldy elected members group felt that the issue is bigger
than simply replacing existing facilities but should be about
developing Sport & Leisure more generally. This will require a vision
for Central area considering not only swimming but, for example,
running tracks, gyms, and other sports and leisure.
Kirkcaldy elected members believe that the area needs an injection of
resources. A big investment in sport and leisure in order to meet the
needs of the community and attract tourism, such as Perth has done.
78
The key is not only to keep current users happy, but have facilities
which actively encourage and attract new users and more people to
participate. Kirkcaldy is a large enough community to deserve more
than one facility.
C.
Development of Facilities – Biggest issues for improvement
To help understand what are the biggest issues for people about the
current facilities, residents, community councils and sports clubs
were asked the following questions:
“What is your opinion of how big an issue the following things are in terms
of the sports and leisure facilities in your area?” (Residents Q26)
“Thinking of the sports and leisure facilities in your area, please answer for
each of the issues I’m going to read out whether you consider them to be a
“major issue”; have “Room for improvement” or you are “Satisfied”.
(Community Councils & Sports Clubs Q32)
The results for each facility are presented below.
C.1
Carnegie Leisure Centre
Residents
Figure 41, on page 81, illustrates that for residents using Carnegie
Leisure Centre the biggest issues for improvement are:
1. Parking facilities
2. Changing facilities
3. Cleanliness of facilities
4. Facilities for young people
5. Catering facilities
6. Outdoor facilities / playing fields
Community Councils & Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 44 on page 82, the biggest issues for
improvement at Carnegie Leisure Centre from the perspective of
community councils and sports clubs are:
1. Changing facilities
2. Facilities for young people
3. Parking facilities
4. Quality of the buildings
79
C.2
FIPRE
Residents
Figure 42 on page 81, shows that for people using FIPRE, the
biggest issues for improvement include:
1. Quality of the buildings
2. Changing facilities
3. Facilities for young people
4. Facilities for mothers / crèche
5. Swimming facilities
6. Overall quality of the facility / centre
Community Councils & Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 45, on page 82, the biggest issues at FIPRE from
the perspective of community councils and sports clubs are:
1. Changing facilities
2. Quality of the buildings
3. Catering facilities
4. Cleanliness of facilities
C.3
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Residents
Figure 43, on page 81, shows that residents using Kirkcaldy
Swimming Pool believe the biggest issues for improvement at the
pool include:
1. Quality of the buildings
2. Changing facilities
3. Facilities for young people
4. Facilities for mothers / crèche
5. Cleanliness of the facilities
6. Swimming facilities
Community Councils & Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 46 on page 82, the biggest issues at Kirkcaldy
swimming pool, from the perspective of community councils and
sports clubs are:
1. Changing facilities
2. Overall quality of the centre
3. Cleanliness of the facilities
4. Quality of the equipment
80
Figure 41: The evaluation of issues for
Figure 42: The evaluation of issues for
Figure 43: The evaluation of issues for
Carnegie Leisure Centre by residents
FIPRE by residents using the facility
Kirkcaldy Swimming pool by residents
using the facility
using the facility
Dont
Dont know
Dont
Major
Room for
know /
Major
Room for
Base
Satisfied
Base
Satisfied
/ never
Major
Room for
know /
Issue
improvement
never
Issue
improvement
Base
Satisfied
used
Issue
improvement
never
used
used
Base
5423
5%
24%
51%
20%
Base
7088
5%
27%
49%
20%
Base
5868
7%
28%
41%
23%
Cleanliness of
Cleanliness of
345
7%
38%
54%
1%
446
5%
33%
59%
3%
Cleanliness of
facilities
facilities
378
11%
39%
49%
1%
facilities
Catering facilities
338
4%
30%
48%
18%
Catering facilities
450
4%
21%
57%
18%
Catering facilities
375
2%
23%
58%
17%
Gym / fitness
Gym / fitness
339
1%
16%
48%
35%
444
2%
23%
44%
31%
Gym / fitness
facilities
facilities
372
1%
19%
38%
41%
facilities
Outdoor facilities /
Outdoor facilities /
440
5%
16%
46%
33%
333
3%
15%
30%
52%
playing fields
Outdoor facilities /
playing fields
361
6%
16%
31%
48%
playing fields
Quality of buildings
443
11%
48%
35%
7%
Quality of buildings
344
5%
28%
61%
5%
Quality of buildings
372
16%
48%
29%
7%
Quality of
Quality of
443
2%
31%
50%
17%
337
1%
25%
57%
17%
equipment
Quality of
equipment
366
2%
39%
39%
20%
equipment
Sports hal
Sports hall facilities
443
3%
19%
49%
30%
335
2%
11%
50%
38%
Sports hal
facilities
366
4%
16%
30%
50%
facilities
Facilities for young
Facilities for young
445
9%
23%
49%
20%
Facilities for young
336
8%
24%
51%
17%
people
people
369
14%
34%
33%
19%
people
Sw imming facilities
449
6%
35%
56%
4%
Sw imming facilities
345
4%
27%
65%
3%
Sw imming facilities
377
8%
42%
48%
2%
Changing facilities
448
12%
36%
46%
5%
Changing facilities
343
14%
35%
49%
2%
Changing facilities
377
22%
37%
38%
3%
Size of facility
443
4%
28%
60%
8%
Size of facility
339
4%
27%
66%
3%
Size of facility
362
5%
30%
59%
6%
Enough room /
440
4%
28%
58%
10%
Enough room /
space for all users
Enough room /
336
3%
27%
63%
7%
360
3%
29%
59%
9%
space for al users
space for all users
Disabled access to
439
3%
13%
41%
43%
Disabled access to
facilities
Disabled access to
336
1%
13%
37%
49%
360
4%
10%
46%
41%
facilities
facilities
Facilities for
439
5%
13%
27%
55%
Facilities for
mothers / creche
Facilities for
336
3%
10%
37%
50%
360
8%
10%
22%
61%
mothers / creche
mothers / creche
Parking facilities
439
5%
23%
47%
26%
Parking facilities
338
15%
27%
35%
24%
Parking facilities
358
6%
23%
38%
33%
Overal quality of
437
4%
35%
53%
7%
Overal quality of
the facility / centre
Overal quality of
343
3%
29%
61%
6%
355
7%
37%
45%
10%
the facility / centre
the facility / centre
81
Figure 44: The evaluation of issues for
Figure 45: The evaluation of issues for
Figure 46: The evaluation of issues for
Carnegie Leisure Centre by community FIPRE by community councils and
Kirkcaldy Swimming pool by
councils and sports clubs
sports clubs
community councils and sports clubs
Dont
Dont
Dont
know
know
know
Major
Room f or
Major
Room f or
Major
Room f or
Base
Satisfied
/
Base
Satisfied
/
Base
Satisfied
/
issue
improvement
issue
improvement
issue
improvement
never
never
never
used
used
used
Base
104
10%
35%
41%
14%
Base
263
9%
39%
37%
15%
Base
80
14%
50%
24%
13%
Cleanliness of
Cleanliness of
Cleanliness of
7
14%
29%
57%
-
17
12%
47%
35%
6%
5
20%
80%
-
-
f acilities
f acilities
f acilities
Catering f acilities
7
14%
29%
57%
-
Catering f acilities
17
12%
53%
24%
12%
Catering facilities
5
20%
40%
20%
20%
Gym / f itness
Gym / f itness
Gym / f itness
6
-
17%
67%
17%
16
-
31%
50%
19%
5
-
40%
40%
20%
f acilities
f acilities
f acilities
Outdoor facilities
Outdoor facilities
Outdoor facilities
6
17%
-
33%
50%
16
6%
25%
38%
31%
5
-
20%
20%
60%
/ playing f ields
/ playing f ields
/ playing fields
Quality of
Quality of
Quality of
7
-
71%
14%
14%
17
6%
65%
18%
12%
5
-
100%
-
-
buildings
buildings
buildings
Quality of
Quality of
Quality of
7
14%
29%
43%
14%
17
12%
41%
35%
12%
5
20%
60%
20%
-
equipment
equipment
equipment
Sports hal
Sports hal
Sports hal
6
-
-
50%
50%
16
6%
19%
44%
31%
5
-
20%
20%
60%
f acilities
f acilities
f acilities
Facilities for
Facilities for
Facilities f or
6
33%
17%
33%
17%
16
19%
25%
38%
19%
5
40%
20%
40%
-
young people
young people
young people
Sw imming
Sw imming
Sw imming
7
-
57%
43%
-
17
12%
41%
41%
6%
5
20%
40%
40%
-
f acilities
f acilities
f acilities
Changing
Changing
Changing
7
29%
43%
29%
-
17
35%
35%
24%
6%
5
60%
40%
-
-
f acilities
f acilities
f acilities
Size of facility
7
-
57%
43%
-
Size of facility
17
6%
41%
47%
6%
Size of facility
5
20%
40%
40%
-
Enough room /
Enough room /
Enough room /
7
-
57%
43%
-
17
-
59%
35%
6%
5
-
80%
20%
-
space f or users
space f or users
space for users
Disabled access
Disabled access
Disabled access
6
-
33%
17%
50%
16
6%
25%
38%
31%
5
-
60%
40%
-
to facilities
to facilities
to facilities
Facilities for
Facilities for
Facilities f or
6
-
17%
50%
33%
15
-
27%
33%
40%
5
-
40%
20%
40%
mothers / creche
mothers / creche
mothers / creche
Parking f acilities
6
17%
50%
33%
-
Parking f acilities
16
-
31%
63%
6%
Parking facilities
5
-
40%
60%
-
Overal quality of
Overal quality of
Overal quality of
6
17%
33%
50%
-
16
6%
56%
31%
6%
5
20%
80%
-
-
f acility / centre
f acility / centre
f acility / centre
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D.
Development of Facilities – Suggestions for improvement
Residents, community councils and sports clubs were asked the
following open-ended question to identify any specific improvements
they would like to see in the facilities:
Do you have any suggestions for improving these facilities? (Residents
Q27, Community Councils & Sports Clubs Q34)
In addition, during the elected members’ focus groups, the FIPRE
Management Committee group and the FIPRE Action Group, the
participants were asked if they felt there was anything missing from
the facility in their area which could be provided.
The results are presented below for each facility:
D.1
Carnegie Leisure Centre
Residents
There were 186 open-ended comments from Dunfermline residents.
Their responses have been categorised and the most common
categories of responses making up (54% of all comments) are as
follows
1. Modernise/upgrade and improve the facility (17%, 31
comments)
2. Better changing facilities (12%, 22 comments)
3. Free or better parking (11%, 21 comments)
4. Improve the swimming pool (9%, 17 comments)
5. More for young people to do (5%, 9 comments)
Sports clubs/ community councils
There were 9 comments from community councils and sports clubs
about suggestions for improvements. 5 of these comments (55%)
were about the need to modernise and upgrade facilities with other
comments about improving parking; better equipment required and
better general upkeep of the centre.
Elected members
The Dunfermline elected members focus group recognised that
where services or facilities were not available at Carnegie Leisure
Centre (for example a synthetic pitch, 5-aside pitches or a running
track) these were available elsewhere in the area.
83
The elected members believe that the changing facilities at the
Leisure Centre could be refurbished to bring them in-line with
disability legislation.
D.2
FIPRE
Residents
There were 181 open-ended comments from Glenrothes residents.
Their most common responses categories, making up 69% of all
comments, are as follows
1. Modernise/upgrade and improve FIPRE (36%, 66 comments)
2. More facilities at FIPRE (10%, 19 comments)
3. Improve the swimming pool (10%, 18 comments)
4. Better changing facilities (6%, 11 comments)
5. Expand the building (6%, 11 comments)
Sports clubs/ community councils
There were 10 comments from community councils and sports clubs
about suggestions for improvements. 4 of these comments (40%)
were about the need to modernise and upgrade facilities with other
comments about improving facilities (3 comments) and improved
resources for upkeep from the council (2 comments).
Elected members, FIPRE Management Committee and
FIPRE Action Group
The Glenrothes elected members, FIPRE Management Committee
and FIPRE Action Group focus groups identified a number of
improvements that could be made to the current FIPRE facility. The
consensus was that any development of the facilities should be done
to benefit the community, athletes, community groups and sports
clubs in the area. The suggested improvements are listed below:
Swimming: All three focus groups suggested that the provision of a
50m pool would be beneficial. This is seen as more flexible than 2,
25m pools as it can be split to suit users needs (2x25m or 3 smaller
pools). Currently there are not foundations for a 50m pool but there
is a false wall. The swimming programme (currently 1,600 children
per week) could be developed if there was more water space. This
new pool should have up-to-date design allowing for variable floor
height and separation of the pool. Flexibility is the key. It should be
noted that a separate controlled pool is also required to continue the
good work done with minority and special needs groups.
84
Indoor facility for strength and conditioning training: In the view
of the FIPRE Management Committee this could be a replacement
for the running track which is currently not well used and is not fit-for-
purpose. It was noted that there is a suitable running track at
Pitreave, which is the preferred site for Scottish Athletics. This indoor
facility would include a 60m track, long jump pit and a properly
equipped, spacious strength and conditioning area with appropriate
expertise. It could be used all year round by athletes as it is indoors.
Cycling: Discussion at the FIPRE Management Committee and the
FIPRE Action group included the provision of a facility that would
allow competitive cyclists to train and would meet the needs of
cycling clubs. This facility would include a small track and would help
provide a safe off-road environment for cyclists to train. A petition of
several thousand cyclists was presented on this issue a few years
ago.
Football pitches: The elected members suggested Glenrothes has a
large number of football teams who cannot get access to football
pitches. It is felt that there should be more football pitch provision at
FIPRE and in surrounding areas.
Climbing wall: The provision of a climbing wall would be a useful
addition.
Parking: The parking facilities at FIPRE do not meet the
requirements of users and need upgrading.
Changing facilities: These are out-of-date and need to be improved.
Particularly for disabled users.
Targeted activities: Targeted activities to encourage health and
sport for key groups such as young people and young women
specifically. Dance and light aerobics presented in a way that is non-
threatening and attractive.
Space: More space is required for users in terms of water space,
sports hall space and space for a larger fitness / gym suite.
85
D.3
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Residents
There were 144 open-ended comments from Kirkcaldy residents.
Their most common responses categories, making up 69% of all
comments, are as follows
1. Improve the swimming pool (31%, 45 comments)
2. Modernise/upgrade and improve the facility (23%, 33
comments)
3. Better changing facilities (8%, 11 comments)
4. More investment (7%, 10 comments)
Sports clubs/ community councils
There were 11 comments from community councils and sports clubs
about suggestions for improvements. 5 of these comments (45%)
were about the need to modernise and upgrade facilities with other
comments about improving facilities (2 comments) and moving the
swimming pool to a new site (2 comments).
Elected Members
The Kirkcaldy Elected Members group identified a number of
improvements that could be made to the current Kirkcaldy Swimming
pool. The consensus was that any development of the facilities
should be done to benefit the community, and that the Council should
be clear about what it would be developed for (sport, leisure or both)
and that it should be fit for the needs of the community for the next
few decades. The suggested improvements are listed below:
Swimming Pool: This needs to be flexible to the needs of a variety
of users, old people, learners, disabled etc. The current pool is not
felt to be suitable for learners.
Changing Facilities: These are seen as dated, dreary, drab and not
very user friendly, particularly for gym users. The showers are poor
and they need modernised.
Disabled Access: This is felt to be particularly lacking in the current
facility.
Café/Restaurant: This should have a nice view along the waterfront
and also be “linked” to the rest of the facility. This means that people
should be able to watch the pool from the café.
86
Family Friendliness: The current pool is not felt to be family friendly.
It should be made more fun with music and activities for families.
Daylight: The pool should use more use of natural light, again it was
described as “dreary” and “dreach”. The windows should be larger
and should face the sea.
87
E.
Development of Facilities – Specific development options
To help understand how residents, community councils and sports
clubs specifically want the facility in their area developed, the
following question was asked:
What, in your opinion, would be the best approach to provide the leisure
facilities and activities that meet the needs of your local community?
(Residents Q28, Community Councils & Sports Clubs Q35)
The results are shown below. These are presented by each facility.
E.1
Carnegie Leisure Centre
Residents
Figure 47 illustrates that over three quarters of those asked believe
that something should be done to develop the leisure centre.
Residents preferred option would be to keep the existing Carnegie
Leisure Centre but refurbish it to provide more up-to-date facilities.
Figure 47: Residents’ views on the best approach to providing leisure
facilities at Carnegie Leisure Centre which meet the community needs
Base
Yes
No
Carnegie: keep the existing centre but re-invest /refurbish it to provide more
493
77%
23%
up-to-date facilities
Carnegie: replace the existing current facilities w ith enhanced facilities on the
485
26%
74%
current site
Carnegie: keep the existing centre w ith the current facilities (do nothing)
481
14%
86%
The focus group discussion with users re-enforced the view that the
existing centre should be upgraded / refurbished. The group even
suggested an extension particularly to provide more pool space and
more sports hall space. Some comments from the group include:
“I think they should put on an extension and make the pool bigger.”
“I do think it needs to be expanded and renovated.”
“What they could do is buy over that (building opposite) and put in another
swimming pool there and classes and space to allow you to do different
things like Yoga and Pilates. They could do loads with it.”
The user focus group felt that the refurbishment of Carnegie should
be a priority to help make the centre more attractive to young people
and work towards social agenda, such as tackling childhood obesity.
88
“They’re trying to make a big issue of child obesity and they’re not providing
the facilities to exercise and if they can’t exercise they’re not promoting
activity.”
“Young people are always very enthusiastic about swimming, but they are
disappointed with the facilities here.”
Community Councils & Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 48, 92% of community councils and sports clubs
believe that something should be done to develop the current
Carnegie Leisure Centre with either the refurbishment or the
provision of enhanced facilities on the same site the most popular
views.
Figure 48: Community council and sports club views on the best
approach to providing leisure facilities at Carnegie Leisure Centre
which meet the community needs
Base
Yes
No
Base
46
57%
43%
Carnegie: keep the existing centre but re-invest/refurbish it to provide more
20
80%
20%
up-to-date f acilities
Carnegie: Replace the current facilities w ith enhanced facilities on the
14
64%
36%
current site
Carnegie Leisure Centre: keep the existing centre w ith the current facilities
12
8%
92%
Elected members
In the focus group with West area elected members the options for
Carnegie Leisure Centre were discussed.
At this meeting there was strong agreement amongst all elected
officials that the Carnegie Leisure Centre should remain in its current
location and be refurbished.
The elected officials discussed that Carnegie Leisure Centre is in an
important central, historical location. The building is well used and
highly regarded in the community and it is possible that a refurbished
centre could be part of the re-focus on the development of
Dunfermline town centre. There would also be huge public opposition
to the closure of the centre. In the view of the group there is no
logical reason to re-locate or close the centre.
89
The view of the West area elected officials was that Fife council
should keep the existing centre but re-invest / re-furbish it to provide
more up-to-date facilities. This is the view of the members of the
group and would also be the view of the West Fife Sports Council
The consensus of the group was that the existing facilities and
equipment at Carnegie Leisure Centre do need refurbished as they
are in quite poor condition (for example the training pool). This
includes the pool infrastructure including the boiler plant and the
strengthening of the pool itself, i.e. not just the pool but the facilities
which help it operate. Major repairs are necessary to the roofing and
structure of the premises themselves.
The West area elected officials believe that the required investment is
not a significant investment for the benefits that the population of Fife
would gain for the re-development of the centre.
90
E.2
FIPRE
Residents
Figure 49 illustrates that 88% of residents believe that something
should be done to develop FIPRE. The most popular approaches are
to keep the institute on the current site and re-invest / refurbish it to
provide more up-to-date facilities or enhance the facilities on the
current site.
Only a small proportion (5%) believe that the facility should be moved
to a different location.
Figure 49: Residents’ views on the best approach to providing leisure
facilities at FIPRE which meet the community needs
Yes
No
Base
23%
77%
FIPRE: Keep the existing centre but reinvest/refurbish it to provide more up-to-date
69%
31%
facilities
FIPRE: Replace the existing facilities w ith enhanced facilities on the current site
24%
76%
FIPRE: Replace the existing facilities w ith new like-f or-like f acilities on the current site
22%
78%
FIPRE: Replace the existing facilities w ith new like-f or-like f acilities in a diff erent
5%
95%
location
FIPRE: Replace the existing facilities w ith enhanced facilities in a different location
5%
95%
FIPRE: Keep the existing centre w ith the current f acilities (do nothing)
12%
88%
It is clear that all those consulted wish to maintain FIPRE at the
current site.
However, it is TL Dempster’s firm opinion that the data presented in
the table above has been influenced by the strong local perception
that the Council wish to demolish FIPRE and not replace it.
This is, in our opinion, the reason that a lower proportion of people
opted for replacing the existing facilities with enhanced facilities on
the current site. People seem to simply not believe that if the facility
is demolished that it will be rebuilt at all and therefore would rather
keep the existing building.
91
This conclusion is based on the focus group discussions, comments
made to TL Dempster during our back-checking processes,
comments made by the FIPRE management committee and the
focus group with the FIPRE action group.
In the focus group with users of FIPRE there was general agreement
that their preferred option would be to keep the institute on the
current site but replace the existing building with enhanced facilities.
Comments from the group include:
“This place (FIPRE) definitely needs to be totally upgraded, it needs to be
bigger.”
“In the 1970’s this place was okay but in the 2000’s it’s not due to the
amount of people using it.”
“People in this area wouldn’t be too concerned about the loss of the old
building as long as the new one was built in the same location and provided
more space and better facilities.”
During TL Dempster’s back-checking process, clarification was asked
from respondents that if they could guarantee that FIPRE would not
be relocated would they want to replace the current facilities with
enhanced modern facilities. The overwhelming response was that
“yes” they would want this and that the most important issue for them
was that FIPRE remain in the current location.
This issue was discussed at the FIPRE Management Committee
where the possibility that the local community and community
councils have a perception and fear that the current FIPRE site could
be sold and the facility moved elsewhere. Discussion at the group
underlined that this approach has not been discussed at any formal
groups of Fife Council and there is no actual evidence that this is the
position of Fife Council. But the perception does seem to exist.
This issue was also discussed at the FIPRE Action Group. At this
group it was suggested that they would not be opposed to
replacement of the building on the current site with like-for-like or
enhanced facilities, however, the group fears that the council would
simply knock down the building and sell the ground.
Community Councils & Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 50, 93% of community councils and sports clubs
interviewed believe that something should be done to develop the
current facility with the most popular approaches being replacing the
92
existing facilities with enhanced facilities on the current site or
refurbishing the existing facilities with more up-to-date facilities on the
current site.
Only a small proportion of community councils and sports clubs
interviewed would like to see the facility moved to a different location.
Figure 50: Community council and sports club views on the best
approach to providing leisure facilities at FIPRE which meet the
community needs
Base
Yes
No
Base
170
32%
68%
FIPRE: Replace the existing f acilities w ith enhanced f acilities on the
29
66%
34%
current site
FIPRE: Keep the existing centre but re-invest/ref urbish it to provide
30
63%
37%
more up-to-date f acilities
FIPRE: Replace the existing f acilities w ith new like-f or-like f acilities on
27
22%
78%
the current site
FIPRE: Replace the existing f acilities w ith enhanced f acilities in a
29
17%
83%
diff erent location
FIPRE: Replace the existing f acilities w ith new like-f or-like f acilities in a
27
11%
89%
diff erent location
FIPRE: Keep the existing centre but w ith the current f acilities
28
7%
93%
Elected Members
Amongst elected members from Glenrothes and the surrounding area
the strong consensus was that FIPRE should be refurbished and
upgraded on the current site.
The group discussed that the Institute generates a great deal of
passion in the community and therefore it is important that it is
maintained.
There was all party unanimous agreement at the group that the
Council should “Replace the existing facilities with enhanced facilities
on the current site.” 9 of the 12 elected members present agreed that
FIPRE has to be enhanced and re-built on the current site. Whilst
other sites may appear appealing nowhere would be ideal and if the
facility is of a high enough standard and catering for users needs
people will travel to it (if they have the public transport links
developed too).
93
The view is that this is a key issue and that the Council can, if it
wants to, find the funding for this. There should be a true commitment
shown as soon as possible to the current site.
There should be a detailed replacement / upgrade and improvement
of the current facilities to meet the demands both current and future
of the institute’s users and potential users. This development should
have the imagination to meet the future needs of the area. The
council should investigate the possibilities by looking at other
countries, and council areas to see what they have. For example
looking at other local authorities such as Perth, Aberdeen, Glasgow
or Edinburgh or at other countries such as Holland or Scandinavian
countries for best practice.
The overall view of the elected members at the group (although not
unanimous) is that FIPRE is in the best location to meet the needs of
Glenrothes and the surrounding communities and it is well used by
many local groups and sports clubs.
The elected members also suggested that the re-developed FIPRE
should have better transport links including more car parking and
better public transportation. This upgrading should be linked to the
current re-development of Glenrothes.
This view was also supported in correspondence from Christine May,
constituency MSP for Central Fife, who suggests that the Council
should:
“Examine the potential to improve transport link between Glenrothes town
centre and Stenton.”
FIPRE Management Committee
The consensus at the FIPRE Management Committee focus group is
that the institute should be refurbished and upgraded on the current
site.
The view of the committee is that strategically FIPRE is in the best
location to meet the needs of Glenrothes and the surrounding
communities and it is well used by many local groups and sports
clubs.
The current site matches the needs and aspirations of the community
and this could be enhanced with the provision of improved cycling,
swimming and conditioning facilities (indoor).
94
There should be a detailed replacement / upgrade and improvement
of the current facilities to meet the demands both current and future
of the institute’s users and potential users.
The committee also suggested that the philosophy / culture employed
by FIPRE should continue to help develop opportunities and support
clubs and individuals of all levels and abilities to move forward in
partnership.
FIPRE Action Group
The FIPRE Action group firmly believe that FIPRE should be
refurbished on the current site
The FIPRE Action Group believes that there should be investment in
current building structure rather than replacement of the building.
They would not be opposed to replacement of the building on the
current site with like-for-like or enhanced facilities; however the group
fears that the council would simply knock down the building and sell
the ground.
The group’s preferred option would be to replace the existing facilities
with enhanced facilities on the current site if the council guaranteed
the replacement and enhancement.
The action group mistrusts the intentions of the council to replace the
building and therefore they suggest that the existing centre should be
kept but re-invest / re-furbished to provide more up-to-date facilities.
95
E.3
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Residents
Figure 51, illustrates that 92% of respondents believe that something
should be done to develop the Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool.
The most popular option would be to maintain the existing centre but
re-invest / re-furbish it to provide more up-to-date facilities. The
second most popular option (35% below the preferred option) is to
replace the existing facilities with enhanced facilities, to include dry-
side facilities.
Figure 51: Residents’ views on the best approach to providing leisure
facilities at Kirkcaldy swimming pool which meet the community
needs
Base
Yes
No
Kirkcaldy: keep the existing centre but reinvest/refurbish it to provide more
472
66%
34%
up-to-date f acilities
Kirkcaldy: replace the existing f acilities w ith enhanced facilities on the
472
31%
69%
current site
Kirkcaldy: Replace the existing facilities w ith new like for like facilities on
469
26%
74%
the current site
Kirkcaldy: Replace the existing f acilities w ith new like-for-like facilities in a
471
13%
87%
dif ferent location
Kirkcaldy: keep the existing centre w ith the current facilities (do nothing)
474
8%
92%
As with the Glenrothes user focus group it became apparent that
there exists a mistrust of the council’s motives for wishing to replace
the swimming pool which seems to have influenced responses to the
survey, both in terms of the options for refurbishment and
replacement and possibly the preferred location. One focus group
member explained:
“If they knock it down it’ll never be rebuilt. They’d stick another car park in
or we’d get more shops or houses.”
Another reason the focus group suggested refurbishment rather than
replacement is the cost:
“If they could afford a new one it would be great for Kirkcaldy but It’ll cost
too much to knock down; we’d just be better refurbishing it.”
A third reason that users suggested refurbishment rather than
replacement is the amount of time the rebuild would take. Users were
96
worried they would be without any swimming facilities for some time
before the rebuilt pool was ready:
“Refurbish it: To knock it down and rebuild it would take a long time,
minimum of five years. That would be a long time to be without it”
The critical issue for residents is that a leisure facility remains in
Kirkcaldy that is easy to get to and that the existing provision is
maintained during any re-development.
Community Councils & Sports Clubs
As shown in Figure 52, all of community councils and sports clubs
believe that something should be done to develop the current
Kirkcaldy swimming pool with the most popular view that the existing
facility should be kept and investment made to provide more up-to-
date facilities.
Figure 52: Community council and sports club views on the best
approach to providing leisure facilities at Kirkcaldy swimming pool
which meet the community needs
Base
Yes
No
Base
63
32%
68%
Kirkcaldy: Keep the existing centre but re-invest to provide more up-to-date
13
69%
31%
facilities
Kirkcaldy: Replace the existing f acilities w ith new like-f or-ike f acilities on the
12
33%
67%
current site
Kirkcaldy: Replace the existing f acilities w ith enhanced facilities on the
13
31%
69%
current site to include dry-side f acilities
Kirkcaldy: Replace the existing f acilities w ith new like-f or-like f acilities in a
13
23%
77%
dif ferent location
Kirkcaldy: Keep the exisiting centre w ith the current facilities
12
-
100%
Elected members
The elected members from Kirkcaldy and the surrounding areas
suggested that due to the state of the current facilities the pool should
be replaced with enhanced facilities to include dry side facilities.
There was no general consensus about the future development,
however, of the possible options this would be the preferred
approach. The newly developed facility should be modern and of high
quality and meet the community’s needs. It is currently perceived to
be drab.
97
There was a more varied discussion about whether it should be
replaced in the current location. It was discussed that the current
location whilst not ideal, is central to the shops and other town
amenities and therefore was suitable, however for some elderly users
it was felt to be quite a walk to get to it from the bus station. This view
would not appear to be supported by elderly users themselves where
the location is seen to be a key strength.
The option of two pools was discussed by the Kirkcaldy elected
members. One smaller family / leisure pool with a gym and café etc.
on the current site, and another larger sports centre in another
location with much more varied facilities including football, bowling,
gym/fitness and facilities for athletes to train.
The group’s overall preferred option is for Kirkcaldy to have 2
facilities. One in the current or central location, refurbished to be
similar to the Leven pool with a training pool or like Perth Pool, and
another pool part of a sports campus at Kingslaw or another location
with good transport links.
This sports campus would have international standard facilities /
equipment, would attract tourists, would have links with Raith Rovers
football club, would have a cinema, shops and ice-skating / curling. It
would be a sport and leisure complex in the truest sense of the word.
Several group members felt this was an opportunity that should not
be missed to really develop sports, health, fitness and leisure in
Kirkcaldy. There was a discussion that this could be funded by a
public/ private funding partnership.
The group were firmly of the opinion that whatever is developed
should link closely to the Kirkcaldy & Fife master plan in terms of the
development of the whole of Kirkcaldy (i.e. it should link to non-sport
and leisure developments).
The decision should not be taken in isolation and consideration
should be given to costs, access, the overall development of
Kirkcaldy, the purpose of the facility (swimming alone, sports centre,
leisure pool etc). The redevelopment shouldn’t happen in isolation
and there should be revenue evaluations / considerations.
The elected members also believe that, whatever the redevelopment,
consideration should be given to the upkeep and maintenance of the
new facility as this has been an issue at Kirkcaldy swimming pool.
98
6. Engagement
This section looks at how engaged community councils and sports
clubs in Dunfermline, Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy feel involved in
decision making about sport and leisure and how they would like to
be engaged. The purpose of this section of the report is to inform the
council of how to develop its engagement with community groups.
A.
Engagement
Community councils and sports clubs were asked a series of
questions about how involved they felt in decisions made about sport
and leisure in their area. The results are shown in Figure 53.
It is clear from the survey results that neither community councils nor
sports clubs feel engaged by Fife Council in decisions made about
sport and leisure. The results suggest that these groups feel that:
• They do not have an influence over decisions about leisure and
sport in your area.
• They are not happy with the level of input they have into
decisions about leisure and sport in their area.
• The groups believe that Fife Council does not communicate
effectively about decisions about leisure and sport in their area.
• That their organisation does not receive enough information
about decisions about leisure and sport in their area.
• Just under half of these groups do not know where to find
information about leisure and sport developments in their area.
• That these groups do not find the council's webpages useful for
accessing information about decisions about leisure and sport in
their area.
• That their organisation is not involved in decisions affecting the
development and operation of sport and leisure in the
community.
Despite not feeling that they are engaged or receive enough
information, the survey of community councils and sports clubs
strongly suggests that:
• These groups do want to take a more active role in decisions
about the development of leisure and sport in their area.
• Their group should be involved in decisions affecting the
development and operation of sport and leisure in their
community.
99
These results are consistent across both area and organisation type.
It is clear that sports clubs and community councils do not currently
feel engaged with about sport and leisure in their area.
Figure 53: Community Council and Sports Club agreement with a
number of statements about their engagement with decisions about
sport and leisure in their area
Not relevant
Don't
Base
Yes
No
to my
know
organisation
Base
530
40%
53%
6%
2%
Do you feel that your sports club / community council has
an influence over decisions about leisure & sport in yo...
59
17%
76%
7%
-
Do you feel that your sports cub / community council is i-
nvolved in decisions affecting the development and ope...
59
15%
83%
2%
-
Are you happy w ith the level of input your sports club /
community council has into decisions about leisure & s...
59
17%
76%
3%
3%
Does Fife Council communicate decisions about leisure &
sport in your area eff ectively to your sports club / com...
59
19%
78%
2%
2%
Do you feel that your sports club / community council rec-
eives enough information about decisions about leisure ...
59
22%
76%
-
2%
Do you find the council's w ebpage's usef ul f or accessing
inf ormation about decisions about leisure & sport in yo...
59
31%
42%
24%
3%
Does your sports club / community council know w here
to find inf ormation about leisure & sport developments i...
59
58%
31%
8%
3%
Do you feel that your sports club / community council sh-
ould be involved in decisions aff ecting the development...
59
90%
7%
2%
2%
Do you w ant your sports club / community council to take
a more active role in decisions about the development ...
58
91%
3%
3%
2%
100
B.
Getting involved and receiving information
To determine how Fife Council should best engage with community
councils and sports clubs two questions were asked to determine
how these groups would like to be involved and also how they would
like to receive feedback about developments in their area. The
results are shown in Figure 54 & Figure 55, on the next page.
The three preferred ways community councils and sports clubs would
like to get involved include:
• Attending committee meetings
• Attending workshops
• Attending public meetings
The three preferred methods of feedback about sport and leisure
decisions are:
• Receiving a letter
• Receiving a report
• Receiving a newsletter
Community councils and sports clubs were also asked an open-
ended question about ways they would improve the way the council
engages with them. In all, there were 23 responses to this question.
These responses can be categorised and fit into three broad
categories:
1. Improved communication
2. Involvement in meetings
3. Improved liaison and feedback
Some of the comments given within each of these broad categories
are given below:
1. Improved communication
“There should be more communication between the council and
groups like ours”
“There should be more engagement, the council need to listen”
“Clear lines of communication need sports liaison officer”
2. Involvement in meetings
“There should be 1 Rep from each local community council on each
working group”
“The council needs to send representatives to local meetings”
3. Improved liaison and feedback
“More detailed information about how decisions are made. Explain
the reasons for decisions”
“Give community councils and sports clubs a liaison officer”
101
Figure 54: How community councils and sports clubs would like to be involved in decisions about sport and
leisure
Not
Area
Exhibitions of
Notices in
Public
Postal quest-
preference,
Internet que-
Telephone
Base
committee
Workshops
planned dev-
local public
Other
meetings
ionnaires
just w ant to
stionnaires
surveys
meetings
elopments
places
be involved
Base
39
62%
54%
46%
44%
28%
26%
23%
18%
15%
15%
Community Council
22
64%
59%
45%
45%
27%
32%
23%
5%
14%
23%
Sports Club
13
62%
46%
46%
38%
31%
23%
23%
31%
15%
-
Other
4
50%
50%
50%
50%
25%
-
25%
50%
25%
25%
Figure 55: How community councils and sports clubs would like to receive feedback about sport and leisure
decisions made in their area
No
Notices in
Not
Receive
Receive
Receive
Visit council
preference
Attend public
Receive
Attend
Base
local public
Other
interested in
letter
report
new sletter
w ebsite
just w ant to
meeting
email
w orkshop
places
f eedback
be informed
Base
44
57%
48%
41%
23%
20%
20%
18%
18%
14%
14%
2%
Community Council
24
58%
54%
38%
29%
21%
13%
21%
29%
13%
17%
4%
Sports Club
15
60%
33%
53%
7%
20%
20%
13%
-
13%
13%
-
Other
5
40%
60%
20%
40%
20%
60%
20%
20%
20%
-
-
102
7. National Sporting Bodies
This section looks at how National Sporting Bodies perceive the
sporting facilities in Fife and the key issues for them in terms of
support the council can offer their sport. The purpose of this section
of the report is to inform the council of how to develop its
engagement and support for National sporting bodies
The organisations contacted as part of this consultation were
identified by Fife council and included:
Badminton Scotland
Scottish Football Association
Basketball Scotland
Scottish Gymnastics
Cricket Scotland
Scottish Rugby Union
Cycling Scotland
Scottish Squash
Judo Scotland
Scottish Swimming
Royal Caledonian Curling Club
Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport
Scottish Athletics Ltd,
Tennis Scotland
Scottish Disability Sport
The Scottish Hockey Union
Limited
The National Sporting Bodies consulted were in agreement that Fife
Council is one of the most helpful and supportive councils in Scotland
with some excellent work, such as that with disabled athletes and in
schools, done by clubs, volunteers, facilities (particularly FIPRE) and
sports development with limited resources. However there was also
agreement that that due to consistent under-investment there are a
lack of high quality facilities coupled with an apparent lack of strategic
co-ordination of sports development meaning that Fife is currently not
fulfilling its true potential in sport and sport provision/development.
The bodies did acknowledge that Fife council have appointed new
staff to look at sports development co-ordination.
During the consultations with National Sporting Bodies a number of
key themes emerged. These are listed below:
1. Facilities
2. Specific Gaps in facility provision
3. Access issues
4. Sports Development
1
Facilities
There is general agreement amongst the National Sporting Bodies
that the existing facilities in Fife are reasonable but are out-dated,
run-down and have suffered from a lack of investment and a
scheduled programme of repair and replacement. These conclusions
are in line with the results of this study reported earlier. All of the
103
National Sporting Bodies agree that Fife should be investing in sport
and re-developing its facilities to be modern, high-quality and of
international standards.
The National Sporting Bodies feel it is important that in refurbishing or
redeveloping facilities that the council consult with local sports clubs,
National Sporting Bodies themselves and other stakeholders about
the actual design of the facilities.
2
Specific gaps in facilities
During the consultations a number of specific facilities were
suggested as being missing from the current provision. These are
listed below. A couple of these (50m pool and indoor strength and
conditioning) had also been mentioned in the resident, sports club,
community council and elected member research:
• 50m swimming pool
• Outdoor synthetic pitches (football, hockey and rugby)
• Floodlit outdoor facilities
• Indoor facilities (see below)
In terms of indoor facilities National Sporting Bodies wanted more
space and better facilities as well as new or improved specific types
of indoor facilities. These included:
• Generally more sports hall provision (Badminton, squash,
gymnastics, tennis, judo)
• Indoor strength and conditioning, as mentioned on page 84
(Athletics, rugby, cycling, gymnastics, tennis, swimming,
football)
• Tailored indoor sport specific facilities (Gymnastics, athletics,
hockey, cycling, tennis, curling)
3
Access
National Sporting Bodies view access to current facilities a problem
due to a number of factors including:
• Lack of space in facilities
• Lack of flexible space in facilities
• Lack of suitable times to access facilities
• Cost of facilities
These issues are viewed to be partly due to the size of facilities, the
lack of suitability/flexibility of the space within current facilities and the
sheer number of people and popularity of sport participation in Fife.
National Sporting Bodies felt that some of this pressure could be
relieved by expanding the use of community use schools at nights
and weekends at a local level as well as the redevelopment and up-
104
dating of major sports facilities. The bodies also felt that the council
should be considering sport in a more structured, strategic manner
taking account of the needs of various types of facility user.
4
Sports Development
Sports development is a key issue for all the National Sporting
Bodies consulted. Many of the bodies reported increases in
participation (gymnastics, rugby, swimming, cycling, judo etc)
particularly amongst young people but felt the council should take a
more pro-active role in sports development. The bodies felt that good
work was being done in this area but that the current sports
development team was under-resourced.
National Sporting Bodies feel that Fife Council should continue to
look at sport and sports development in a co-ordinated, strategic
manner in partnership with stakeholders such as Sport Scotland,
Sport and Tayside Fife, National Sporting Bodies, local sports clubs,
Disability Scotland, and the Tayside and Fife Institute of Sport.
A critical element for development is the increased resourcing of the
sports development team at Fife Council. Several of the bodies
interviewed suggested that the team should be better resourced in
terms of staff, staff time and financial resources to promote sport. In
addition, eleven of the bodies consulted with believe that the council
should support sport specific development officers for their sports
including:
• Athletics
• Gymnastics
• Badminton
• Judo
• Basketball
• Rugby
• Curling
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Tennis
• Disability
It is recognised that there are new opportunities to drive this agenda
forward through the recently established sport partnership – Sport
Tayside Fife – which will focus on the regional development of eight
key sports.
105
I. Appendix 1: Data accuracy
The respondents to a survey are only a sample of the total
‘population’. We cannot therefore be certain that the survey results
are exactly those we would have if everybody in the population had
been interviewed (the ‘true’ values).
However, it is possible to predict the range of error between the
sample results and the ‘true’ values from a knowledge of the size of
the samples on which the results are based and the strength of a
particular response.
The confidence with which we can make this prediction is typically, in
market research, chosen to be 95% - that is, the chances are 19 in
20 that the ‘true’ value will fall within a specified range. The table
below illustrates the predicted ranges for different sample sizes and
percentages results at the ‘95% confidence interval’, based on a
random sample.
Size of sample on
Approximate range of error applicable to
which survey result percentages at or near these levels
is based
10% or 90%
30% or 70%
50%
+
+
+
25 respondents
11.8
18
19.6
50 respondents
8.3
12.7
13.9
100 respondents
5.9
9.0
9.8
200 respondents
4.2
6.4
6.9
300 respondents
3.4
5.2
5.7
500 respondents
2.6
4.0
4.4
1,000 respondents
1.9
2.8
3.1
1,500 respondents
1.5
2.3
2.5
For example, on a question where 50% of the people in a sample of
500 respond with a particular answer, the chances are that in 19 out
of 20 cases this result would not vary by more than 4.4 percentage
points, plus or minus from a complete coverage of the entire
population using the same procedures. However, while it is true to
conclude that the “actual” result (95 times out of 100) lies anywhere
between 45.6% and 54.4%, it is proportionately more likely to be
closer to the centre of this band (i.e. at 50%).
106
J. Appendix 2: Data tables
Figure 56: Perceived levels of physical activity (Residents)
Demographics
User of
User of
Young
Base
User
Not
User of
Non-
Carnegie
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Leisure
Sw imming
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
facilities
Centre
Pool
24)
Base
1502
500
500
500
355
457
388
206
170
193
1192
560
688
813
607
614
236
154
1300
966
528
High
24%
20%
25%
26%
31%
37%
35%
9%
8%
13%
19%
36%
30%
19%
21%
28%
15%
14%
25%
32%
9%
Medium
43%
41%
44%
45%
47%
49%
50%
32%
29%
35%
43%
43%
40%
46%
44%
44%
42%
35%
44%
50%
31%
Low
33%
38%
31%
29%
23%
14%
15%
57%
62%
52%
38%
22%
30%
36%
34%
29%
43%
49%
31%
18%
59%
Don't
1%
1%
1%
1%
0%
1%
1%
2%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
0%
1%
1%
1%
1%
know
Figure 57: Participation in sport and leisure in the last four weeks and in the last year (Residents)
User of
User of
Young
User
Not
User of
Non-
Carnegie
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Leisure
Sw imming
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
facilities
Centre
Pool
24)
Base
1479
489
497
491
352
455
386
198
168
186
1169
558
673
805
604
602
230
146
1288
960
512
Sports Participation (al
84%
85%
79%
88%
99%
96%
99%
63%
46%
68%
81%
92%
84%
83%
85%
86%
73%
66%
85%
98%
57%
sports last year)
Sports Participation (selected
78%
80%
76%
79%
99%
95%
97%
52%
42%
49%
74%
90%
79%
78%
80%
83%
60%
60%
80%
97%
44%
sports last year)
No Sports Participation (last
19%
16%
24%
18%
3%
7%
6%
38%
55%
37%
22%
11%
18%
20%
17%
18%
31%
36%
18%
5%
45%
Level of
year)
Participation
in last year
Sports Participation (al
79%
79%
77%
82%
94%
95%
96%
57%
44%
59%
76%
88%
79%
79%
80%
83%
67%
59%
81%
94%
51%
sports last 4 w eeks)
Sports Participation (selected
72%
72%
74%
70%
92%
92%
91%
41%
39%
39%
67%
85%
73%
71%
72%
78%
54%
52%
74%
91%
36%
sports last 4 w eeks)
No Sports Participation (last 4
19%
20%
22%
16%
5%
4%
3%
43%
54%
38%
22%
11%
19%
20%
18%
16%
33%
40%
17%
5%
47%
w eeks)
107
Figure 58: Participation in specific sports (Residents)
Demographics
User of
User of
Young
Base
User
Not
User of
Non-
Carnegie
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Leisure
Sw imming
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
f acilities
Centre
Pool
24)
Base
1478
488
497
491
352
455
386
197
168
186
1168
558
673
804
604
602
229
146
1287
960
511
Sw imming
55%
55%
53%
56%
76%
72%
81%
23%
15%
15%
49%
68%
49%
59%
53%
62%
36%
42%
56%
76%
15%
Walking (2+ miles)
35%
40%
24%
42%
38%
33%
45%
39%
19%
34%
38%
29%
32%
38%
38%
31%
39%
35%
36%
38%
30%
Footbal
21%
17%
20%
26%
25%
30%
31%
9%
9%
16%
14%
39%
38%
7%
18%
31%
2%
6%
22%
27%
11%
None / no sport or
19%
16%
24%
18%
3%
7%
6%
39%
55%
37%
22%
11%
18%
20%
17%
18%
31%
36%
18%
5%
45%
leisure participation
Cycling
17%
18%
15%
17%
23%
22%
25%
10%
8%
6%
14%
24%
19%
14%
17%
21%
7%
13%
17%
22%
6%
Running / jogging
13%
15%
11%
12%
19%
16%
20%
10%
3%
4%
10%
20%
15%
10%
15%
15%
1%
4%
14%
16%
5%
Keep fit / aerobics
12%
13%
13%
11%
14%
17%
15%
9%
5%
5%
14%
9%
6%
18%
15%
11%
10%
11%
12%
16%
6%
Multigym / w eight
12%
13%
14%
10%
18%
17%
14%
5%
4%
2%
14%
12%
15%
10%
17%
9%
6%
9%
13%
17%
3%
training
Dance
12%
13%
10%
12%
14%
13%
15%
13%
7%
7%
10%
17%
6%
17%
11%
15%
7%
8%
12%
13%
8%
Badminton
11%
10%
14%
9%
16%
19%
14%
5%
6%
3%
8%
19%
11%
11%
8%
18%
3%
5%
12%
15%
3%
Golf
10%
10%
11%
10%
13%
14%
12%
6%
8%
9%
8%
14%
18%
3%
10%
12%
6%
3%
11%
12%
7%
Snooker / billiards /
9%
9%
7%
10%
10%
12%
11%
7%
2%
10%
9%
11%
16%
3%
9%
10%
2%
5%
9%
10%
6%
pool
Basketbal / netbal
9%
8%
8%
9%
11%
13%
14%
4%
4%
4%
5%
18%
10%
8%
5%
14%
3%
4%
9%
11%
3%
/ volleybal
Hil w alking /
8%
10%
9%
6%
11%
10%
9%
11%
5%
2%
8%
9%
9%
7%
8%
9%
6%
5%
8%
9%
6%
climbing
Athletics
7%
7%
8%
8%
11%
11%
13%
2%
4%
4%
5%
15%
8%
7%
5%
11%
3%
4%
8%
10%
2%
Tenpin bow ling
6%
9%
5%
6%
10%
9%
8%
6%
2%
4%
5%
9%
8%
6%
7%
7%
2%
3%
7%
9%
3%
Fishing / angling
6%
9%
5%
6%
11%
8%
7%
6%
1%
4%
6%
7%
10%
3%
7%
8%
2%
3%
7%
8%
4%
Gymnastics
6%
5%
6%
8%
8%
9%
9%
4%
1%
5%
3%
13%
5%
8%
4%
10%
1%
5%
6%
8%
3%
Tennis
6%
6%
8%
4%
9%
10%
8%
2%
4%
2%
4%
10%
7%
5%
4%
8%
2%
3%
6%
8%
2%
Other
5%
4%
7%
5%
6%
9%
6%
2%
2%
4%
4%
8%
5%
5%
5%
6%
4%
8%
5%
7%
2%
Ice skating /
5%
2%
5%
8%
3%
7%
10%
1%
2%
4%
3%
10%
4%
5%
3%
7%
1%
2%
5%
7%
2%
hockey
Table tennis
5%
5%
6%
3%
6%
9%
6%
2%
1%
2%
3%
8%
4%
5%
4%
7%
2%
3%
5%
7%
1%
Yoga
5%
6%
4%
4%
7%
5%
6%
6%
2%
3%
5%
4%
2%
7%
5%
4%
4%
-
5%
5%
4%
Martial Arts
4%
5%
3%
5%
8%
4%
8%
1%
1%
4%
4%
6%
5%
3%
4%
5%
2%
3%
4%
6%
1%
Bow ls
4%
3%
3%
5%
4%
4%
4%
3%
2%
6%
4%
4%
5%
3%
3%
4%
7%
6%
4%
4%
3%
Rugby
4%
5%
4%
3%
7%
7%
5%
2%
1%
1%
2%
8%
7%
1%
2%
6%
0%
-
5%
6%
1%
Squash
4%
4%
4%
3%
7%
6%
5%
1%
2%
1%
3%
6%
4%
4%
4%
4%
1%
2%
4%
6%
0%
Hockey
3%
4%
3%
3%
7%
6%
4%
3%
1%
1%
1%
7%
4%
3%
2%
6%
0%
2%
3%
4%
2%
Horse riding
3%
2%
2%
4%
3%
3%
5%
1%
1%
2%
2%
4%
1%
4%
2%
4%
0%
1%
3%
3%
1%
Skiing /
2%
3%
2%
1%
4%
3%
2%
1%
1%
1%
2%
2%
3%
1%
2%
3%
0%
1%
2%
3%
1%
snow boarding
Cricket
2%
2%
1%
2%
3%
3%
3%
-
-
2%
1%
4%
3%
1%
1%
3%
0%
1%
2%
3%
0%
Curling
1%
1%
2%
1%
2%
2%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
3%
2%
1%
0%
2%
1%
1%
2%
2%
0%
Judo
1%
2%
1%
1%
3%
1%
2%
1%
1%
-
1%
2%
1%
1%
1%
2%
0%
-
2%
2%
0%
Sailing
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
2%
2%
1%
1%
-
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
-
1%
1%
1%
0%
108
Figure 59: Proportion of respondents receiving coaching or tuition by sport participated in the last year
Participation in last year
None / no
Ice
Snooker
Base
Basketbal
Fishing
Multigym
Walking
sport or
Hil w alking
Horse
skating
Keep fit /
Martial
Running
Ski ng /
/
Table
Tenpin
Athletics
Badminton
/ netbal /
Bow ls
Cricket
Curling
Cycling
Dance
/
Football
Golf
Gymnastics
Hockey
Judo
/ w eight
Rugby
Sailing
Squash
Sw imming
Tennis
(2+
Yoga
Other
leisure
/ climbing
riding
/
aerobics
Arts
/ jogging
snow boarding
bil iards
tennis
bow ling
volleybal
angling
training
miles)
participation
hockey
/ pool
Base
1188
-
110
161
125
59
25
21
244
173
95
307
147
90
117
49
39
71
21
181
59
180
57
182
15
29
125
55
783
69
83
93
492
64
75
Yes
28%
-
58%
45%
50%
25%
88%
48%
35%
40%
35%
42%
45%
48%
43%
73%
51%
37%
71%
39%
46%
42%
68%
41%
47%
48%
32%
44%
30%
52%
52%
43%
28%
31%
32%
No
72%
-
42%
55%
50%
73%
12%
52%
65%
59%
65%
57%
55%
51%
56%
27%
49%
62%
24%
60%
53%
58%
32%
58%
53%
52%
67%
56%
70%
46%
48%
57%
71%
69%
67%
Not
1%
-
-
-
1%
2%
-
-
-
1%
-
0%
-
1%
1%
-
-
1%
5%
1%
2%
1%
-
1%
-
-
1%
-
1%
1%
-
-
1%
-
1%
sure
Figure 60: Proportion of respondents receiving coaching or tuition (Residents)
Demographics
User of
User of
Young
Base
User
Not
User of
Non-
Carnegie
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Leisure
Sw imming
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
facilities
Centre
Pool
24)
Base
1195
408
380
406
344
424
361
121
75
120
910
498
553
641
500
498
157
93
1058
909
281
Yes
28%
30%
29%
24%
35%
34%
28%
21%
17%
13%
22%
39%
29%
27%
24%
34%
18%
19%
28%
31%
16%
No
72%
70%
71%
76%
65%
66%
71%
79%
80%
86%
78%
60%
71%
73%
76%
65%
81%
81%
72%
68%
83%
Not
1%
0%
1%
1%
0%
0%
1%
-
3%
1%
1%
1%
1%
0%
0%
1%
1%
-
1%
0%
1%
sure
109
Figure 61: Proportion of respondents participating in organised competition in the last year
Demographics
User of
User of
Young
Base
User
Not
User of
Non-
Carnegie
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
Kirkcaldy
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Leisure
Sw imming
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
facilities
Centre
Pool
24)
Base
1282
444
352
447
383
126
99
141
983
523
586
695
531
538
173
105
1133
951
326
Yes
21%
24%
25%
31%
30%
13%
13%
15%
16%
33%
31%
13%
20%
27%
9%
14%
22%
24%
13%
No
78%
76%
75%
69%
70%
87%
87%
85%
84%
66%
69%
86%
80%
73%
90%
86%
78%
75%
87%
Not
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
1%
-
-
0%
0%
0%
0%
-
0%
1%
-
0%
0%
0%
sure
110
Figure 62: Interest in participation in sports not already participated in
(Residents)
User of
User of
Young
User
Not
User of
Non-
Carnegie
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Leisure
Sw imming
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
facilities
Centre
Pool
24)
Base
742
268
249
223
215
258
212
89
61
71
542
325
320
421
304
346
66
70
644
539
199
Sw imming
12%
11%
11%
16%
7%
11%
8%
20%
10%
28%
14%
10%
9%
15%
13%
12%
18%
10%
12%
9%
22%
Horse riding
10%
8%
12%
11%
11%
14%
14%
7%
5%
10%
8%
14%
6%
13%
8%
12%
2%
7%
11%
11%
8%
Ice skating /
10%
8%
14%
9%
11%
15%
12%
4%
5%
13%
8%
14%
8%
12%
8%
14%
5%
4%
11%
12%
7%
hockey
Keep fit / aerobics
10%
11%
10%
9%
7%
11%
9%
16%
8%
10%
12%
6%
5%
14%
11%
8%
18%
13%
10%
10%
12%
Other
10%
10%
10%
11%
11%
11%
10%
13%
3%
13%
10%
14%
12%
9%
11%
11%
6%
6%
11%
10%
10%
Dance
10%
10%
8%
10%
10%
9%
10%
13%
3%
13%
10%
10%
2%
15%
9%
10%
15%
10%
9%
9%
10%
Ski ng /
9%
10%
11%
6%
9%
11%
8%
11%
5%
3%
7%
12%
12%
7%
9%
10%
5%
1%
10%
10%
7%
snow boarding
Badminton
9%
9%
9%
9%
9%
10%
8%
10%
7%
4%
10%
5%
8%
10%
13%
7%
6%
7%
9%
9%
8%
Yoga
9%
13%
7%
6%
12%
9%
7%
13%
7%
6%
11%
6%
4%
13%
12%
6%
12%
10%
9%
9%
9%
Martial Arts
8%
7%
8%
10%
7%
10%
11%
7%
7%
7%
9%
9%
11%
7%
11%
8%
-
4%
9%
9%
7%
Multigym / w eight
8%
9%
7%
7%
8%
9%
6%
8%
3%
6%
9%
4%
10%
5%
10%
7%
3%
7%
8%
8%
6%
training
Tennis
7%
7%
9%
5%
8%
9%
8%
4%
7%
1%
6%
8%
8%
7%
7%
8%
5%
4%
8%
8%
4%
Golf
7%
5%
6%
10%
6%
9%
11%
7%
3%
4%
6%
9%
10%
5%
7%
7%
5%
9%
7%
8%
5%
Tenpin bow ling
7%
4%
7%
10%
6%
9%
11%
4%
5%
7%
6%
9%
6%
8%
7%
7%
6%
4%
7%
7%
6%
Cycling
7%
7%
6%
5%
7%
8%
5%
8%
2%
7%
7%
7%
6%
7%
8%
5%
3%
7%
7%
7%
7%
Gymnastics
6%
4%
6%
8%
7%
8%
9%
1%
2%
8%
4%
11%
3%
9%
4%
8%
5%
7%
6%
7%
5%
Walking (2+ miles)
5%
7%
4%
5%
7%
3%
2%
8%
7%
10%
7%
2%
6%
5%
6%
4%
11%
16%
4%
4%
9%
Hil w alking /
5%
9%
3%
4%
9%
4%
4%
6%
3%
6%
6%
3%
8%
3%
6%
5%
5%
4%
5%
6%
4%
climbing
Footbal
5%
4%
6%
4%
6%
5%
5%
1%
8%
4%
3%
7%
8%
3%
3%
8%
-
7%
5%
5%
4%
Sailing
5%
6%
6%
2%
9%
6%
6%
3%
5%
-
5%
5%
8%
3%
6%
4%
5%
6%
5%
6%
2%
Basketbal / netbal
5%
4%
4%
5%
7%
5%
4%
-
2%
6%
4%
6%
5%
4%
5%
5%
2%
4%
5%
6%
2%
/ vol eybal
Athletics
4%
3%
6%
4%
6%
7%
8%
2%
-
-
3%
8%
6%
4%
2%
7%
-
3%
5%
6%
1%
Bow ls
4%
4%
5%
5%
5%
3%
5%
3%
8%
6%
5%
3%
5%
4%
4%
3%
14%
10%
4%
4%
6%
Fishing / angling
4%
5%
4%
4%
6%
3%
4%
4%
10%
1%
4%
5%
8%
1%
5%
4%
5%
1%
5%
4%
6%
Judo
4%
3%
4%
4%
5%
6%
6%
3%
2%
3%
3%
6%
4%
4%
2%
6%
-
6%
4%
4%
3%
Table tennis
4%
2%
6%
3%
2%
6%
3%
2%
5%
1%
4%
3%
4%
4%
4%
3%
5%
6%
4%
4%
3%
Snooker / bil iards /
4%
2%
4%
5%
4%
5%
5%
1%
5%
3%
3%
5%
5%
2%
2%
5%
3%
3%
4%
4%
3%
pool
Squash
3%
4%
4%
1%
4%
4%
2%
2%
3%
1%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
4%
3%
4%
2%
Rugby
3%
2%
4%
2%
2%
5%
4%
3%
5%
-
2%
5%
6%
1%
2%
4%
-
-
3%
3%
2%
Running / jogging
3%
4%
1%
3%
4%
2%
3%
2%
2%
3%
2%
4%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
6%
2%
3%
3%
Hockey
3%
3%
3%
2%
5%
4%
3%
2%
2%
-
2%
4%
3%
2%
3%
3%
-
-
3%
4%
1%
Cricket
2%
1%
2%
1%
2%
2%
1%
1%
2%
1%
1%
2%
3%
0%
2%
2%
-
-
2%
2%
2%
Curling
1%
1%
1%
2%
2%
1%
1%
2%
-
1%
1%
2%
3%
1%
1%
2%
2%
-
2%
1%
2%
None / no sport or
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
leisure participation
111
Figure 63: Things which would encourage participation in sport or
physical activity (Residents)
Demographics
User of
Young
Base
User
Not
User of
Non-
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Sw imming
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
f acilities
Pool
24)
Base
933
297
257
120
81
109
731
374
410
522
421
405
84
96
811
649
279
More time
35%
34%
30%
38%
38%
27%
37%
27%
33%
36%
43%
29%
25%
27%
36%
35%
35%
More up to date facilities
21%
23%
31%
8%
21%
32%
20%
26%
23%
20%
18%
24%
20%
10%
22%
21%
20%
A friendly / w elcoming
21%
24%
25%
16%
20%
20%
19%
24%
15%
25%
19%
21%
21%
16%
21%
21%
19%
environment
To lose w eight / to improve
18%
15%
14%
28%
20%
12%
21%
11%
17%
20%
23%
14%
19%
26%
18%
17%
21%
my health
Reduced costs / af fordable
16%
17%
16%
20%
20%
8%
16%
17%
17%
16%
16%
17%
10%
5%
18%
16%
17%
f acilities / activities
People / friends to do it
15%
15%
19%
11%
15%
16%
13%
21%
11%
18%
12%
19%
14%
9%
15%
16%
13%
w ith
Improved equipment in
14%
16%
18%
7%
7%
20%
13%
17%
15%
13%
14%
13%
7%
7%
14%
15%
10%
f acilities
Information / advice on
13%
13%
17%
11%
14%
17%
13%
13%
10%
15%
12%
14%
11%
15%
13%
13%
14%
w here to go
Suitable facilities nearby
13%
14%
16%
8%
14%
14%
13%
13%
15%
11%
13%
12%
12%
7%
13%
14%
11%
Information / advice on
13%
14%
18%
14%
9%
17%
13%
14%
11%
14%
13%
14%
5%
11%
13%
12%
14%
w hat to do
More organised classes /
12%
16%
17%
8%
10%
8%
11%
14%
9%
15%
12%
11%
11%
10%
13%
14%
7%
events at facilities
Other reasons not listed
10%
9%
6%
14%
12%
12%
10%
8%
12%
7%
9%
9%
14%
24%
8%
8%
13%
More flexible opening hours
9%
11%
14%
7%
10%
6%
9%
11%
9%
9%
12%
7%
4%
9%
9%
11%
6%
in facilities
Help w ith childcare
9%
10%
9%
7%
6%
13%
11%
5%
4%
12%
11%
8%
1%
3%
10%
9%
8%
Improved transport /
7%
8%
7%
6%
11%
7%
6%
8%
6%
7%
5%
9%
5%
7%
6%
6%
8%
access to f acilities
Support for my specific
5%
4%
5%
8%
2%
6%
6%
3%
5%
6%
5%
4%
10%
25%
3%
5%
6%
needs
Safer neighbourhood
3%
5%
4%
3%
2%
6%
3%
4%
5%
2%
4%
3%
1%
-
4%
3%
4%
112
Figure 64: Evaluation of facilities in the local area by area (Residents)
Taking your answ er f rom this card, how w ould you evaluate...
Base
Very
Very
Excel ent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible
good
Poor
Base
1275
8%
26%
32%
19%
11%
2%
1%
Dunfermline
417
11%
30%
30%
19%
6%
2%
1%
Glenrothes
417
12%
35%
26%
15%
9%
2%
2%
Kirkcaldy
441
2%
14%
39%
24%
17%
2%
0%
Figure 65: Evaluation of facilities in the local area by area (Community councils and sports clubs)
Would you say that the facilities available at sport and ...
Base
Very
Very
Excel ent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible
good
poor
Base
58
3%
10%
22%
26%
24%
10%
3%
Dunfermline
15
-
7%
13%
33%
27%
13%
7%
Glenrothes
31
3%
13%
35%
16%
26%
3%
3%
Kirkcaldy
12
8%
8%
-
42%
17%
25%
-
113
Figure 66: Evaluation of facilities in local area for activities participated in (Residents)
Demographics
User of
User of
Young
Base
User
Not
User of
Non-
Carnegie
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Leisure
Sw imming
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
facilities
Centre
Pool
24)
Base
1276
417
417
441
351
447
382
127
96
139
977
524
584
691
527
536
172
103
1129
949
323
Excel ent
8%
11%
12%
2%
13%
12%
7%
6%
1%
-
8%
7%
7%
9%
7%
8%
10%
16%
8%
10%
2%
Very good
26%
30%
35%
14%
32%
32%
21%
20%
27%
10%
25%
27%
23%
29%
27%
26%
28%
29%
26%
29%
17%
Good
32%
30%
26%
39%
32%
29%
37%
29%
31%
34%
33%
31%
33%
31%
30%
32%
39%
27%
33%
33%
31%
Average
19%
19%
15%
24%
16%
15%
21%
26%
21%
27%
19%
21%
20%
19%
20%
19%
16%
19%
19%
17%
26%
Poor
11%
6%
9%
17%
5%
10%
12%
11%
11%
26%
11%
11%
12%
10%
11%
12%
5%
8%
11%
9%
17%
Very Poor
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
1%
2%
5%
6%
3%
2%
2%
2%
2%
3%
2%
1%
1%
2%
1%
5%
Terrible
1%
1%
2%
0%
1%
2%
1%
2%
2%
-
1%
1%
2%
0%
2%
1%
1%
-
1%
1%
2%
Figure 67: Satisfaction with overall sports and leisure provision in the local area by area
Within w hich area is this survey
taking place?
Base
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Base
1494
496
499
499
Very satisfied
12%
17%
14%
5%
Fairly satisfied
47%
49%
52%
40%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
16%
11%
13%
23%
Fairly dissatisfied
14%
8%
12%
21%
Very dissatisfied
5%
4%
4%
6%
No opinion / not used
7%
12%
5%
5%
114
Figure 68: Are the current sport and leisure facilities in your area suitable for the existing and future needs of the local
community (residents)
Demographics
User of
User of
Young
Base
User
Not
User of
Non-
Carnegie
Kirkcaldy
Non-user
Non-user
Non-user
Adults
people
Not
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
of
Male
Female
Employed
in
Retired
Disabled
any
user of
Leisure
Sw imming
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
(16+)
(under
disabled
FIPRE
w ork
Facilities
facilities
Centre
Pool
24)
Base
1494
498
498
496
353
455
385
206
169
192
1186
556
683
810
605
610
235
1293
154
961
526
Yes
52%
52%
58%
46%
63%
67%
56%
37%
35%
36%
49%
59%
51%
52%
51%
54%
47%
53%
49%
61%
34%
Now
No
36%
35%
32%
42%
32%
30%
42%
39%
41%
35%
37%
33%
36%
36%
40%
35%
29%
36%
36%
35%
39%
Don't
12%
13%
11%
12%
4%
3%
2%
24%
24%
28%
13%
7%
12%
12%
9%
11%
24%
12%
14%
4%
27%
know
Yes
29%
34%
34%
20%
37%
38%
27%
29%
20%
18%
27%
35%
28%
31%
26%
33%
28%
29%
32%
33%
23%
In the
No
51%
51%
48%
55%
55%
50%
59%
46%
51%
43%
52%
51%
52%
50%
57%
50%
41%
52%
46%
55%
45%
future
Dont
19%
15%
17%
25%
8%
12%
14%
25%
28%
39%
20%
13%
19%
18%
16%
17%
31%
19%
21%
11%
32%
know
Figure 69: Are the current sport and leisure facilities in your area suitable for the existing and future needs of the local
community (community councils and sports clubs)
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy
Community
Sports
Dunf ermline
Base
Dunf ermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Other
Community
Community
Sports
Community
Sports
Council
Club
Sports Club
Council
Council
Club
Council
Club
Base
58
15
31
12
31
22
5
9
6
14
12
8
4
Yes
34%
27%
39%
33%
19%
55%
40%
11%
50%
14%
67%
38%
25%
Now
No
66%
73%
61%
67%
81%
45%
60%
89%
50%
86%
33%
63%
75%
Yes
16%
20%
13%
17%
13%
23%
-
11%
33%
7%
25%
25%
-
In the
No
81%
80%
84%
75%
81%
77%
100%
89%
67%
86%
75%
63%
100%
f uture
Dont know /
2%
-
-
8%
3%
-
-
-
-
-
-
13%
-
never used
115
K. Appendix 3: Surveys & Topic Guides
T.L DEMPSTER
ST RATEGY AND RES
EARCH
BL OCK 20
BELGRAVE STREET
MOTHERWELL PARK
ML4 3NP
TEL: 01698 841001
FAX: 01698 746814
JOB NO:
M334
PROJECT: Fife Council Community Services: Leisure Services Survey
INTERVIEWER DECLARATION:
I declare that this interview was carried out according to instructions, within the Market
Research Society's Code of Conduct, and that the respondent was not previously known to
me.
Interviewer No:
Name:
Questionnaire No:
Sign&Date:
Edited/Coded By:
Date:
Backchecked By:
Date:
RESPONDENT DETAILS
Name:
Address 1:
Address 2:
Town:
Postcode:
Telephone:
1. Within which area is this survey taking place?
INTERVIEWER CODE THE AREA THIS SURVEY IS TAKING PLACE
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
116
Participation in Leisure Activities
(SHOWCARD 1)
2. Which of the options on this card best describes your level of physical activity?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ONE ONLY)
High
Medium
Low
Don’t
(do lots of exercise)
(Do some exercise) (Do little exercise)
Know
(SHOWCARD 2) (INTERVIEWER: TICK ALL THAT APPLY FOR
BOTH THE LAST 4 WEEKS AND THE LAST YEAR)
3. Looking at this card, have you participated in any of the listed activities in the
last 4 weeks and/ or in the last year?
Last 4
Last
Weeks
Year
1 None/No sport or leisure participation
If none go to Q9
2 Athletics
3 Badminton
4 Basketball/netball/volleyball
5 Bowls
6 Cricket
7 Curling
8 Cycling
9 Dance
10 Fishing/angling
11 Football
12 Golf
13 Gymnastics
14 Hillwalking/climbing
15 Hockey
16 Horse riding
17 Ice Skating/hockey
18 Judo
19 Keep Fit/aerobics
20 Martial Arts
21 Multigym/weight training
22 Rugby
23 Running/jogging
24 Sailing
25 Skiing/snowboarding
26 Snooker/billiards/pool
27 Squash
28 Swimming
29 Table tennis
30 Tennis
31 Tenpin bowling
32 Walking (2+ miles)
33 Yoga
34 Other (specify)
117
(SHOWCARD 3)
4. Taking your answer from this card, how would you evaluate the facilities
available in your local area for the activities you participate in?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ONE ONLY)
Excellent
Very
Good
Average
Poor
Very Terrible
Good
Poor
5. Are you currently a member of a sport or leisure club?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ONE ONLY)
Yes
No
Go to Q6
Go to Q7
(SHOWCARD 4)
6. Looking at this card, what type of club is this?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
Health/fitness/Gym
1
Social club (e.g employee clubs, youth clubs)
2
Sports club
3
Other
4
READ: Now, think about sport and leisure-time physical activities that
you have taken part in over the PAST TWELVE MONTHS.
7. Over the past twelve months have you received tuition from an instructor or
coach to improve your performance in any sport or leisure-time physical
activity that you have taken part in?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ONE ONLY)
Yes
No
Not Sure
8. Thinking about sports or activities that you have taken part in, have you taken
part in any organised competition in the past twelve months?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ONE ONLY)
Yes
No
Not Sure
118
(SHOWCARD 2)
9. Which if any of the activities listed on this card would you like to participate in
but currently do not?
(INTERVIEWER: TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
1 None/Not interested in sport or leisure participation
2 Athletics
3 Badminton
4 Basketball/netball/volleyball
5 Bowls
6 Cricket
7 Curling
8 Cycling
9 Dance
10 Fishing/angling
11 Football
12 Golf
13 Gymnastics
14 Hillwalking/climbing
15 Hockey
16 Horse riding
17 Ice Skating/hockey
18 Judo
19 Keep Fit/aerobics
20 Martial Arts
21 Multigym/weight training
22 Rugby
23 Running/jogging
24 Sailing
25 Skiing/snowboarding
26 Snooker/billiards/pool
27 Squash
28 Swimming
29 Table tennis
30 Tennis
31 Tenpin bowling
32 Walking (2+ miles)
33 Yoga
34 Other (specify)
119
(SHOWCARD 5)
10. Taking your answer from this card, what if anything, would encourage you to
take-up or do more sport or physical activity?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
1 NOTHING COULD ENCOURAGE ME
2 A friendly / welcoming environment
3 Help with childcare
4 Improved equipment in facilities
5 Improved transport/access to facilities
6 Information/Advice on what to do
7 Information/Advice on where to go
8 More flexible opening hours in facilities
9 More organised classes/ events at facilities
10 More time
11 More up-to-date facilities
12 People/friends to do it with
13 Reduced costs/ affordable facilities/activities
14 Safer neighbourhood
15 Suitable facilities nearby
16 Support for your specific needs (e.g. injury or
disability)
17 To lose weight/ to improve my health
18 Other reasons not listed (specify)
READ: Now thinking about the overall sports provision in your local area
(SHOWCARD 6)
11. Taking your answer from this card, how satisfied are you with overall sports
and leisure provision in your local area?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ONE ONLY)
Very
Satisfied
Neither
Dissatisfied
Very
No
Satisfied
satisfied nor
dissatisfied
opinion/
dissatisfied
Not used
12. Why do you say that?
120
Use of local Facilities
(SHOWCARD 7)
13. Have you used any of the leisure facilities listed on this card in the last 12
months?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY AND CHECK USER QUOTA. PLEASE
RECORD ONE “YES” OR “NO” ON EACH LINE)
Yes No
Carnegie Leisure Centre, Dunfermline,
Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education
(FIPRE) Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
IF NO TO ALL PLEASE GO TO Q22
(SHOWCARD 7)
14. Which of these facilities do you use most often?
(TICK ONE ONLY)
Carnegie Leisure Centre, Dunfermline,
Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education
(FIPRE) Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
INTERVIEWER READ OUT: THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED
FOR THE FACILITY YOU USE MOST OFTEN WHICH IS….(INTERVIEWER: Read out
facility name)
(SHOWCARD 8)
15. Looking at this card, which facilities / services do you use most often when you
visit?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
Café
1
Meeting rooms
9
Climbing wall
2
Outdoor grass pitches
10
Combat studio
3
Sauna/ steam room
11
Crèche
4
Sports Hall
12
Cycling studio
5
Squash Court
13
Five-aside football pitch
6
Swimming Pool
14
Fitness Suite/gym
7
Synthetic turf pitch
15
Health Suite
8
Tennis courts
16
Other (specify)
17
(SHOWCARD 9)
16. Taking your answer from this card, how often would you say you use this
centre? (TICK ONE ONLY)
More than
Once per
Once a
Monthly
Less often
Once per week
week
fortnight
121
(SHOWCARD 10)
17. Looking at this card, which day of the week and at what times do you usually
use this centre?
(CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY. ONLY FOR DAYS RESPONDENT USES SERVICE)
Morning
Lunchtime
Afternoon
Early
Evening/
Don’t
Evening
night
Use
Monday
1
2
3
4
5
6
Tuesday
1
2
3
4
5
6
Wednesday
1
2
3
4
5
6
Thursday
1
2
3
4
5
6
Friday
1
2
3
4
5
6
Saturday
1
2
3
4
5
6
Sunday
1
2
3
4
5
6
(SHOWCARD 11)
18. How do you normally travel to the centre?
(TICK ONE ONLY (MAIN) METHOD)
Car
Van
Bus/mini
Walk
Train
Bicycle
Motorbike
bus
(SHOWCARD12)
19. Taking your answer from this card, typically how far would you say you travel
to the centre? (Miles)
(TICK ONE ONLY)
0 to 1
1 to 3
4 or 5
6 to 10
11 to 15
More
Don’t
than 15
Know
20. In your opinion is the centre easy to travel to? (TICK ONE ONLY)
Yes
No
122
(SHOWCARD 13)
21. I’m going to read out various statements about the facility you use most often,
can you tell me what you think of each using the scale on this card, how would
you evaluate the facility you use most often in terms of the following?
(INTERVIEWER: READ OUT AND ROTATE STATEMENTS)
Very
Good Poor Very
No Opinion/
Good
Poor
Don’t Know
a. Changing facilities
b. Catering facilities
c. Gym/fitness facilities
d. Outdoor facilities/ playing fields
e. Quality of buildings
f. Quality of equipment
g. Sports hall facilities
h. Facilities for young people
i. Swimming facilities
j. Cleanliness of facilities
k. Size of facility
l. Enough room / space for all users
m. Disabled access to facilities
n. Facilities for mothers/ creche
o. Parking facilities
p. Overall quality of facility/centre
NOW GO TO Q24
(SHOWCARD 14)
22. Taking your answer from this card which of these reasons best describes why
you do not use this facility/these facilities?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
Just don’t want to
1
Opening times do not suit
7
Difficulty getting to the facility
2
Poor quality of facilities
8
Do not know what the facility
3
Too expensive
9
offers
Lack of facilities
4
Use another leisure facility
10
No time to use sports centre
5
Poor parking facilities
11
Not interested in available
6
Other (please specify)
12
activities
123
(SHOWCARD 15)
23. Looking at this card what, if anything would encourage you to visit these
facilities?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
Nothing could be done to encourage me
1
A friendly / welcoming environment
2
Help with childcare
3
Improved equipment in facilities
4
Improved transport / access to facilities
5
Information / Advice on what to do
6
Information / Advice on where to go
7
More flexible opening hours in facilities
8
More organised classes / events at facilities
9
More time
10
More up-to-date facilities
11
People / friends to do it with
12
Reduced costs / affordable facilities / activities
13
Safer neighbourhood
14
Suitable facilities nearby
15
Support for your specific needs (e.g. injury or
16
disability)
To lose weight / to improve my health
17
More things for young people to do at facilities
18
Other reasons not listed (specify)
19
Future of facilities
24. In your opinion do you think the current sport and leisure facilities in your area
are suitable for the existing and future needs of the local community?
(INTERVIEWER READ OUT & TICK ONE ON EACH ROW)
Yes
No
Don’t Know/
Never used
Now
In the future
25. Do you have any comments you would like to add?
124
(SHOWCARD 16)
26. What is your opinion of how big an issue the following things are in terms of
the sports and leisure facilities in your area?
(INTERVIEWER READ OUT “WE NEED TO IMPROVE FOLLOWED BY EACH
STATEMENT & TICK ONE ON EACH ROW)
Major
Room
Satisfie
Don’t
READ OUT:
Issue
for
d
Know/
Improve
Never
WE NEED TO IMPROVE THE…
ment
used
a. Cleanliness of facilities
b. Catering facilities
c. Gym/fitness facilities
d. Outdoor facilities/ playing fields
e. Quality of buildings
f. Quality of equipment
g. Sports hall facilities
h. Facilities for young people
i. Swimming facilities
j. Changing facilities
k. Size of facility
l. Enough room / space for all
users
m. Disabled access to facilities
n. Facilities for mothers/ creche
o. Parking facilities
p. Overall quality of facility/centre
27. Do you have any suggestions for improving these facilities?
125
INTERVIEWER READ OUT: FIFE COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES ARE CURRENTLY
CONSULTING WITH THE PUBLIC TO DECIDE THE MOST SUITABLE APPROACH TO
SUPPORT THE SPORT AND LEISURE NEEDS OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
(SHOWCARD 17)
28. What in your opinion would be the best approach to provide the leisure
facilities and activities that meet the needs of your local community?
(INTERVIEWER: CODE SECTION WHERE SURVEY IS TAKING PLACE AND TICK “YES”
OR “NO” ON EACH ROW, READ OUT CENTRE NAME)
Carnegie Leisure Centre, Dunfermline
Yes No
1
Keep the existing centre with the current facilities (do nothing)
Keep the existing centre but re-invest/re-furbish it to provide more up-to-
2
date facilities
Replace the existing current facilities with enhanced facilities on the
3
current site
Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education (FIPRE) Glenrothes
Yes
No
1
Keep the existing centre with the current facilities (do nothing)
Keep the existing centre but re-invest/re-furbish it to provide
2
more up-to-date facilities
Replace the existing facilities with new like-for-like facilities on
3
the current site
Replace the existing facilities with new like-for-like facilities in a
4
different location
Replace the existing facilities with enhanced facilities on the
5
current site
Replace the existing facilities with enhanced facilities in a
6
different location
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Yes
No
1
Keep the existing centre with the current facilities (do nothing)
Keep the existing centre but re-invest/re-furbish it to provide
2
more up-to-date facilities
Replace the existing facilities with new like-for-like facilities on
3
the current site
Replace the existing facilities with new like-for-like facilities in a
4
different location
Replace the existing facilities with enhanced facilities on the
5
current site to include dry-side facilities
126
Demographics
29. [INTERVIEWER: Please code gender of respondent]
Male
Female
[SHOWCARD 18]
30. Using the choices on this card, which age group do you belong to?
16 or under
1
60+
4
17 to 24
2
Refused
5
25-59
3
31. Do you have a disability?
No
Yes
[SHOWCARD 19]
32. Please look at this card and tell me which of the statements best describes
your current situation?
Full-time Paid Employment
1
Looking after dependants/
7
family / home
Part-time Paid Employment
2
Voluntary Unpaid work
8
Self-employed
3
Unemployed
9
Retired
4
On a training scheme
10
Student
5
Other (Specify)
11
Not working due to ill health
6
or disability
[SHOWCARD 20]
33. What is your ethnic origin?
White UK 1
Black – British 6
Asian – British 11
White Irish 2
Black – Other 7
Chinese 12
White Other 3
Indian 8
Japanese 13
Black – Caribbean 4
Bangladeshi 9
Other ethnic group 14
Black – African 5
Pakistani 10
34. From time to time we back check to ensure that the answers you have provided
are accurate and that the data we collect is of the highest standard. Can we
contact you to check that this interview took place?
Yes
No
35. In the near future Fife Council’s Community Services will be looking to consult with
residents of Fife about the leisure facilities it offers. Would you consider participating
in a focus group discussion? If you say yes and are selected to participate you will be
paid £15 to cover your time and expenses.
Yes
No
THANK YOU FOR COMPLETING THIS SURVEY
127
FINAL
SURVEY
T.L DEMPSTER
STRATEGY AND RESEARCH
BLOCK 20
BELGR
AVE STRE
ET
MOTHE
RWELL PA
RK
BE
LLSHILL
M L4 3NP
TEL: 01698 841001
FAX: 01698 746814
JOB NO:
M334
PROJECT: Fife Council Community Services: Leisure Services Survey
Survey:
Community Council and Sports Club Survey
INTERVIEWER DECLARATION:
I declare that this interview was carried out according to instructions, within the Market
Research Society's Code of Conduct, and that the respondent was not previously known to
me.
Interviewer No:
Name:
Questionnaire No:
Sign&Date:
Edited/Coded By:
Date:
Backchecked By:
Date:
RESPONDENT DETAILS
Index Number:
(From call sheet)
Respondent Name:
Sports club/ community council name
Telephone:
1. INTERVIEWER CODE THE AREA THIS SURVEY IS TAKING PLACE FROM CALL
SHEET
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
2. INTERVIEWER IS THIS A SURVEY OF A:
Community Council
Sports Club
128
INTERVIEWER READ OUT: I’M GOING TO READ OUT A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS PLEASE
ANSWER YES; NO; DON’T KNOW OR NOT RELEVANT
Yes
No
Don’t
Not relevant
ROTATE STATEMENTS
Know
to my
organisation
3. Do you feel that your sports club/ community
council has an influence over decisions about
leisure & sport in your area?
4. Are you happy with the level of input your sports
club/ community council has into decisions about
leisure & sport in your area?
5. Does Fife Council communicate decisions about
leisure & sport in your area effectively to your
sports club/ community council?
6. Do you feel that your sports club/ community
council receives enough information about
decisions about leisure & sport in your area?
7. Does your sports club/ community council know
where to find information about leisure & sport
developments in your area?
8. Do you find the council’s webpage’s useful for
accessing information about decisions about leisure
& sport in your area?
9. Do you feel that your sports club/ community
council should be involved in decisions affecting
the development and operation of Sport & Leisure in
your community?
10. Do you feel that your sports club/ community council is involved in decisions
affecting the development and operation of Sport & Leisure in your
community?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
Not relevant to my
organisation
Go to Q11 Go to Q12
Go to Q13
Go to Q13
11. In what ways are you involved in decisions? (interviewer: probe)
Now go to Q13
12. Why do you feel this is the case? (interviewer: probe)
129
13. Do you want your sports club/ community council to take a more active role in
decisions about the development of leisure & sport in your area?
Yes
No
Don’t Know
Not relevant to
my organisation
Go to Q14 Go to Q15
Go to Q15
Go to Q15
14. If you want to take a more active role how would your sports club/ community
council prefer to be involved? I will read out some options and you should let
me know which methods you would like to be involved. (READ OUT AND TICK
ALL THAT APPLY)
Area committee meetings
1
Public meetings
6
Exhibitions of planned
developments
2
Telephone surveys
7
Internet questionnaires
3
Workshops
8
Notices in local public
No preference just want to
places
4
be involved
9
Postal questionnaires
5
Other (specify)
10
15. Which of the options on the list I’m going to read out would your sports club/
community council prefer to receive feedback about developments of sport &
leisure in your area and the decisions that are made? (READ OUT AND TICK
ALL THAT APPLY)
Not interested in
Receive newsletter
feedback
1
7
Attend public
Receive report
meeting
2
8
Attend workshop
3
Visit Council website
9
Notices in local
No preference just want to be
public places
4
informed
10
Receive email
5
Other (specify)
11
Receive letter
6
16. Do you have any suggestions to improve the way the council engages with
your sports club/ community council?
READ: Now thinking about the overall sports & leisure provision in your local area
17. Would you say that the facilities available at sport & leisure centres in your
local area are Excellent; Very Good; Good; Average; Poor; Very Poor; or
Terrible? (INTERVIEWER TICK ONE ONLY)
Excellent
Very
Good
Average
Poor
Very Terrible
Good
Poor
130
18. Is your sports club/ community council Very Satisfied; Satisfied; Neither
satisfied nor dissatisfied ; Dissatisfied or Very dissatisfied with overall sports
and leisure provision in your local area?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ONE ONLY)
Very
Satisfied
Neither
Dissatisfied
Very
No
Satisfied
satisfied nor
Dissatisfied opinion/Not
dissatisfied
used
19. Why do you say that?
IF COMMUNITY COUNCIL GO TO Q29
IF SPORTS COUNCIL GO TO Q20
Use of local Facilities
20. I’m going to read you a list of issues, please tell me which, if any, in your
opinion would encourage the local community/ your members to participate in
sport & leisure activities?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
1 NOTHING COULD ENCOURAGE THEM
2 A friendly/welcoming environment
3 Help with childcare
4 Improved equipment in facilities
5 Improved transport/access to facilities
6 Information/Advice on what to do
7 Information/Advice on where to go
8 More flexible opening hours in facilities
9 More organised classes/events at facilities
10 More time
11 More up-to-date facilities
12 People/friends to do it with
13 Reduced costs/ affordable facilities/activities
14 Safer neighbourhood
15 Suitable facilities nearby
16 Support for your sports club/ community councils specific
needs (e.g. injury or disability)
17 To lose weight/ to improve my health
18 Other reasons not listed (specify)
131
21. Has your sports club used Carnegie Leisure Centre in Dunfermline; Fife
Institute of Physical and Recreational Education (FIPRE) in Glenrothes or
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool in the last 12 months?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY AND CHECK USER QUOTA. PLEASE
RECORD ONE ANSWER FOR EACH LINE)
Yes No
Carnegie Leisure Centre, Dunfermline,
Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education
(FIPRE) Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
IF NO TO ALL PLEASE GO TO Q27
22. Which of these facilities does your sports club use most often? (TICK ONE
ONLY)
Carnegie Leisure Centre, Dunfermline,
Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education (FIPRE)
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
INTERVIEWER READ OUT: THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED FOR THE
FACILITY YOUR SPORTS CLUB/ COMMUNITY COUNCIL USES MOST OFTEN WHICH
IS….(INTERVIEWER: Read out facility name)
23. What does your sports club use [FACILITY NAME HERE] for?
24. Which of these facilities / services I’m going to read out does your sports club
use most often when using [FACILITY NAME HERE]?
(INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY IF NONE LEAVE BLANK)
Café
Meeting rooms
Climbing wall
Outdoor grass pitches
Combat studio
Sauna/steam room
Crèche
Sports Hall
Cycling studio
Squash Court
Five-aside football pitch
Swimming Pool
Fitness Suite/gym
Synthetic turf pitch
Health Suite
Tennis courts
Other (specify)
132
25. I’m going to read out various statements about the facility you use most often,
and I’d like you to tell me if you think this issue is Very Good; Good; Poor; Very
Poor; or No Opinion/ Don’t Know? (INTERVIEWER: READ OUT AND ROTATE
STATEMENTS)
Very
Good Poor Very
No Opinion/
Good
Poor
Don’t Know
a. Changing facilities
b. Catering facilities
c. Gym/fitness facilities
d. Outdoor facilities/playing fields
e. Quality of buildings
f. Quality of equipment
g. Sports hall facilities
h. Facilities for young people
i. Swimming facilities
j. Cleanliness of facilities
k. Size of facility
l. Enough room/space for all users
m. Disabled access to facilities
n. Facilities for mothers/creche
o. Overall quality of facility/centre
NOW GO TO Q29
27. Which of these reasons best describes why your sports club/ community council
does not use this facility/these facilities?
(SHOWCARD 13) (INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
Just don’t want to
Not interested in
available activities
Difficulty getting to the
Opening times do not
facility
suit
Do not know what the
Poor quality of facilities
facility offers
Lack of facilities
Too expensive
No time to use sports centre
Use another leisure
facility
Other (please specify)
28. Which of these things, if any, would encourage your sports club/ community
council to use these facilities more often?
(SHOWCARD 14) (INTERVIEWER TICK ALL THAT APPLY)
Nothing could be done to encourage me
1
A friendly/welcoming environment
2
Help with childcare
3
Improved equipment in facilities
4
133
Improved transport / access to facilities
5
Information/Advice on what to do
6
Information/Advice on where to go
7
More flexible opening hours in facilities
8
More organised classes/events at facilities
9
More time
10
More up-to-date facilities
11
People/friends to do it with
12
Reduced costs/affordable facilities/activities
13
Safer neighbourhood
14
Suitable facilities nearby
15
Support for your sports club/ community councils specific
16
needs (e.g. injury or disability)
To lose weight / to improve my health/ my organisations
17
health
More things for young people to do at facilities
18
Other reasons not listed (specify)
19
29. In your opinion is the centre easy to travel to? (TICK ONE ONLY)
Yes
No
Future of facilities
30. In your opinion do you think the current sport and leisure facilities in your area are
suitable for the existing and future needs of the local community? (INTERVIEWER
READ OUT & TICK ONE ON EACH ROW)
Yes
No
Don’t Know/
Never used
Now
In the future
31. Do you have any comments you would like to make to explain your answer?
134
32. Thinking of the sports and leisure facilities in your area please answer for each of
the issues I’m going to read out whether you consider them to be a “major issue”;
have “Room for improvement” or you are “Satisfied”.
(INTERVIEWER READ OUT “WE NEED TO IMPROVE FOLLOWED BY EACH
STATEMENT & TICK ONE ON EACH ROW)
Major
Room
Satisfie
Don’t
READ OUT:
Issue
for
d
Know/
Improve
Never
WE NEED TO IMPROVE THE…
ment
used
Cleanliness of facilities
Catering facilities
Gym/fitness facilities
Outdoor facilities/ playing fields
Quality of buildings
Quality of equipment
Sports hall facilities
Facilities for young people
Swimming facilities
Changing facilities
Size of facility
Enough room / space for all users
Disabled access to facilities
Facilities for mothers/ creche
Parking facilities
Overall quality of facility/centre
33. In your opinion do you think the facilities at each of the following could be
improved? (INTERVIEWER READ OUT & TICK ONE ON EACH ROW)
Yes
No
Don’t
Know/
Never used
Carnegie Leisure Centre, Dunfermline,
Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational
Education (FIPRE) Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
34. Do you have any suggestions for improving these facilities?
135
READ OUT: FIFE COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES ARE CURRENTLY CONSULTING
TO DECIDE THE MOST SUITABLE APPROACH TO SUPPORT THE SPORT AND
LEISURE NEEDS OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY BY DEVELOPING THE PROVISION AT
THE FOLLOWING FACILITIES
• CARNEGIE LEISURE CENTRE, DUNFERMLINE,
• FIFE INSTITUTE OF PHYSICAL AND RECREATIONAL EDUCATION (FIPRE)
GLENROTHES
• KIRKCALDY SWIMMING POOL
35. I’m going to read out a few option, what, in your opinion, would be the best
approach to provide the leisure facilities and activities that meet the needs of your
local community?
(INTERVIEWER: CODE SECTION WHERE SURVEY IS TAKING PLACE AND TICK ONE
ONLY, READ OUT CENTRE NAME)
Carnegie Leisure Centre, Dunfermline,
Yes
No
Keep the existing centre with the current facilities (do nothing)
Keep the existing centre but re-invest/re-furbish it to provide more
up-to-date facilities
Replace the existing current facilities with enhanced facilities on the
current site
Fife Institute of Physical and Recreational Education (FIPRE) Glenrothes
Yes
No
Keep the existing centre with the current facilities (do nothing)
Keep the existing centre but re-invest/re-furbish it to provide more
up-to-date facilities
Replace the existing facilities with new like-for-like facilities on the
current site
Replace the existing facilities with new like-for-like facilities in a
different location
Replace the existing facilities with enhanced facilities on the current
site
Replace the existing facilities with enhanced facilities in a different
location
Kirkcaldy Swimming Pool
Yes
No
Keep the existing centre with the current facilities (do nothing)
Keep the existing centre but re-invest/re-furbish it to provide more
up-to-date facilities
Replace the existing facilities with new like-for-like facilities on the
current site
Replace the existing facilities with new like-for-like facilities in a
different location
Replace the existing facilities with enhanced facilities on the current
site to include dry-side facilities
136
36. Do you have any further comments you would like to make?
37. From time to time we back check to ensure that the answers you have provided
are accurate and that the data we collect is of the highest standard. Can we
contact you to check that this interview took place?
Yes
No
THANK YOU FOR COMPLETING THIS SURVEY
137
Topic Guide: Elected Members
.
Current provision of sport & leisure facilities
1. What are your views on the current provision of sports & leisure facilities in Fife?
2. How could they be developed or improved?
Key issues about the (area specific)Leisure Centre
1. What are the key issues currently facing the centre?
2. Do you think the current Leisure Centre facility meets all the needs of the local
community?
3. Are there any things missing from current Leisure Centre facility that could be
provided?
4. Do you believe the Leisure Centre needs replaced or refurbished
Future provision requirements
1. Discuss elected members opinions of the future provision requirements for Leisure
Centre
Topic Guide: National Sporting Bodies
Current provision of sport & leisure facilities
1. What are your views on the current provision of sports & leisure facilities in Fife?
a. Quality of existing
b. Type of facilities available
c. Are facilities appropriate for your sport/ athletes
d. Access to facilities
e. Costs
2. In your opinion what gaps exist in the current provision of sport & leisure facilities in
Fife?
3. Are there any parts of Fife where your sport is most popular?
Key issues about the Sport & Leisure in Fife
1. What are the key issues facing your sport/ the athletes you support, particularly in
Fife?
2. What could Fife Council do to develop better provision of facilities for the Sport your
body represents?
Future provision requirements
1. How would you like to see Sport & Leisure developed in Fife to support your
organisation
2. Are there any specific facilities you believe are missing?
138
L. Appendix 4: List of organisations consulted
A wide range of stakeholders were consulted in this project including
residents (both users and non-users) of facilities; elected members in
Dunfermline, Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy and the surrounding areas
and a range of organisations which are listed below
Community Councils
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Central Dunfermline
Markinch Community
Cardenden Kinglassie
Community Council
Council
Community Council
Netherton Community
Glenrothes Area Res.
Dunnikier Community
Council
Fed
Council
Pitleucheur Stenton &
Carnock and Gowkhall
Finglassie Community
Auchtertool Community
Community Council
Council
Centre
Cairneyhill Community
Auchuty & Dovecot
Kirkcaldy West
COuncil
Residents Association
Community Council
Pitcorthy Community
Glenrothes Community
Kinghorn Community
Council
Council
Council
Rosyth Community
Milton and Coaltown of
Council
Balgonie Comm Council
Auchtevmuchly and
Crossford Community
Strathmiglo Community
Council
Council
Charleston, Limekilns,
Giffordtown & District
Paltismuir
Community Council
Rosyth Community
North Glenrothes
Council
Community Council
Leslie Community
Council
Star Community Council
Ladybank Community
Council
Charlotte Town and
Giffordtown Community
Club
Other Community Groups
Glenrothes
Collydean After School
Glenrothes & District Churches together
The Forward Centre
Glenrothes Educational Centre
Glenrothes Heart Club
Glenwood High School
139
Other stakeholders
Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport
FIPRE Management Committee
FIPRE Action Group
National Sporting Bodies
Badminton Scotland
Scottish Football Association
Basketball Scotland
Scottish Gymnastics
Cricket Scotland
Scottish Rugby Union
Cycling Scotland
Scottish Squash
Judo Scotland
Scottish Swimming
Royal Caledonian Curling Club
The Scottish Hockey Union Limited
Scottish Athletics Ltd,
Tennis Scotland
Scottish Disability Sport
Sports Clubs
Dunfermline
Glenrothes
Kirkcaldy
Anonymous Sports
Club
Anonymous Sports Club
Anonymous Sports Club
Carnegie Badminton
Club - Dunfermline
Chapel Football Club
Fins Swimming Club
Burntisland AM
Carnegie Spartans
Disability Sport Fife
Swimming Club
Carnegie Swimming
Club
Dundonald Bluebell
Kennaway Curling Club
Dunfermline Amateur
Swimming Club
Fife Canoeing Activity Group
Dunfermline Hockey
Club
Fife Netball Association
Dunfermline Sub Aqua
Club
Football Youth Team
Fife Scots Underwater
Activities Section
Glenrothes Badmington Club
Woodmill Canoe Club
Glenrothes Floorball
Glenrothes Juniors
Glenrothes Recreation
Centre
Glenrothes Squash Club
Glenrothes Strollers
Jog Scotland
140
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