20/03/2020 - Permalink

Coronavirus: Libraries, leisure centres, museums and country parks to close

Related topics: Community / Coronavirus / Health / Leisure, culture and heritage / Partner organisations

NOTE: since this article was published, the government has announced that all leisure centres will close today (Friday 20 March).

To help reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), libraries, museums and country parks under Shropshire Council management are to close to the public from 5pm today (Friday 20 March 2020), and leisure centres managed by Shropshire Council and by South Shropshire Leisure (Teme) will close from 5pm on Sunday 22 March 2020.

The temporary closures will remain in place until further notice.

The affected sites and facilities are:

Museums and country parks

  • Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery
  • Shropshire Museums Collection Centre in Ludlow
  • Shrewsbury Castle
  • Much Wenlock Museum
  • Coleham Pumping Station
  • Shropshire Archives
  • Severn Valley Country Park Visitor Centre
  • The Bungalow at The Mere at Ellesmere

The annual re-opening of Acton Scott Historic Working Farm on 30 March 2020 will also be delayed until further notice.

Libraries

  • Shrewsbury
  • Oswestry
  • Bridgnorth
  • Whitchurch
  • Market Drayton
  • Ludlow
  • Bayston Hill
  • Church Stretton
  • Gobowen
  • Pontesbury
  • Wem
  • The Lantern, Shrewsbury
  • Much Wenlock

Community-managed libraries

  • Albrighton
  • Bishop’s Castle
  • Broseley
  • Cleobury Mortimer
  • Craven Arms
  • Highley
  • Ellesmere
  • Shifnal

Please note: the library lending service and activities are suspended but the buildings will remain open for access to customer services and registrars.

Shropshire Council will also be working with partners to support communities from a number of key library buildings as community co-ordination centres from Monday 30 March 2020.

Leisure centres

Managed by Shropshire Council

  • Much Wenlock Leisure Centre
  • Idsall Sports Centre
  • Roman Road Sports Centre, Shrewsbury
  • Meole Brace Golf Course, Shrewsbury

Managed by South Shropshire Leisure (Teme)

  • Bishop’s Castle
  • Church Stretton
  • Cleobury Mortimer
  • Ludlow

Advice about events, meeting and tickets

The closures mean that all events, meetings and group volunteering at the above sites will also be cancelled, to reduce social interaction and protect Shropshire residents.

To allow us to prioritise ticketholders for events in the immediate future between now and 31 May 2020 initially, we ask that ticketholders for events beyond this date do not contact us at this time, and await further advice in due course.

Ticketholders for events between Friday 20 March 2020 and Sunday 31 May 2020 are offered the following options:

  • Await further update where events can be rescheduled. Existing tickets will remain valid for rescheduled dates.
  • Request an account credit. Where possible, we would be hugely grateful if ticketholders committed to visit us again when we re-open, by accepting an account credit to use against a future booking.
  • Alternatively, a full refund is available.

We thank people for your patience and understanding.

For more information, please contact using the following email addresses:

Country parks-  outdoor.recreation@shropshire.gov.uk

Museums MuseumEducation@shropshire.gov.uk

Leisure centres- leisure@shropshire.gov.uk

Libraries- libraries@shropshire.gov.uk

These new measures follow advice from the Government, which stipulates that people should avoid public buildings, as well as social distancing advice that has been issued.

Official advice and guidance

You can view the updated guidance about numerous issues on the Government’s website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response.

We are strongly encouraging communities to continue to follow the current health advice here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/.

Shropshire Council has been working closely with Public Health England, NHS England and our local health and care partners, to prepare and respond to the coronavirus.

All partners continue to work together to co-ordinate appropriate action and resources to protect the public’s health.  Partners and services are working closely to support each other to ensure organisations have the capacity to respond to the coronavirus, whilst still being able to provide essential everyday services. This includes the setting up of Shropshire Local Health Resilience Partnership (LHRP*) to co-ordinate plans and prepare for any changes in the situation as they arise, and promoting national guidance and key messages to the public, staff and organisations, including schools and businesses. All partners keep in regular contact and take part in daily and weekly update meetings with both local, regional and national colleagues.

* The LHRP includes representatives from: Shropshire Council, Telford & Wrekin Council, NHS England and Improvement, Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response (EPRR) leads, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Shropshire Community Health Trust, Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Foundation Trust, Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, Public Health England, and Shropshire and Telford LMC.

Useful Links

Shropshire Council COVID-19 – http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/coronavirus/

Museums – http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/museums/shropshires-museums/

Archives – https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/

Country parks – http://www.shropshiresgreatoutdoors.co.uk/

Rights of Way – http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/outdoor-partnerships/countryside-access-and-public-rights-of-way/

Libraries – https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/libraries

Leisure centres – https://www.shropshire.gov.uk/leisure-services/find-a-leisure-centre/