A local resident has hit out at Perth and Kinross Council for not consulting nearby residents on national volleyball tournaments being held in their neighbourhood.
And Tricia Duncan, who has lived at nearby Glamis Place for 45 years, said there has been a lack of communication from PKC.
The council gave the green light for the bowling green at Darnhall to be transformed into a beach volleyball court, without any official planning permission, for the Small Countries Association Beach Volleyball Finals in 2019.
Athletes from across Europe travelled to the Orchard Place club to compete, including from across the UK, Greenland, Cyprus, Liechtenstein and the Faroe Islands.
After the tournament the court was handed over to Perth Volleyball Club.
Since then a number of national events have been held at, and planned for, the courts.
At the start of the month Darnhall hosted teams from Scotland, England and Northern Ireland for the UK Beach Tour four-star event and the inaugural Zeon Scottish Beach Tour was hosted there in July.
In June the growing club was also selected as one of the national development centres for beach volleyball.
Although she says she is in full support of the development of beach volleyball in Perth, Tricia has hit out at the council over a “lack of communication” with neighbouring residents over the courts future plans and the continued absence of official planning permission.
She said: “My neighbours and I are very concerned that these tournaments are taking place in the Darnhall area.
“There was no consultation or communication with residents at all.
“They held a tournament there recently and there were only 20 people or so, but there are larger events planned I think.
“It can create quite a noise, more so than the tennis, when they are banging the ball around.
“The local councillors have had complaints and concerns about it.”
Perth will host the Scottish Volleyball Open - the largest annual volleyball tournament in Great Britain - on the North Inch in September, attracting hundreds of people.
Tricia feels that the North Inch area would be “better suited” for Darnhall tournaments instead of in a suburban area.
Perth City South ward councillor Willie Wilson has discussed the matter with Tricia and has received “a number of calls” from other residents about the volleyball court in regards to “parking and traffic” during tournaments and “the maintenance of the court and its surroundings”.
He added: “I support the idea of developing a volleyball court at Orchard Place.
“However, I feel strongly that the development should have been subjected to a planning application which would have allowed consultation and discussion between the council, local residents and neighbours.”
A spokesperson for Perth and Kinross Council said a response to the latest claims will be made in due course.
“The beach volleyball championship is an exciting event for Perth and Kinross,” a PKC spokesman said when the conversion was first announced.
“ Perth and Kinross Council is not the main event organiser for the championship.
“We are however supporting the organisers in any way we can to ensure [events are] a success for both the participants and the residents in the surrounding area.”
The spokesman added: “As we do with all events in Perth and Kinross we will review the arrangements to ensure the impact on the surrounding community is kept to a minimum.”
