Have your say on the future of leisure facilities in Shropshire
Shropshire Council has launched a new consultation asking you for your feedback on its new Leisure Facilities Strategy.
The consultation will run for six weeks, until Thursday 29 October 2020.
The new strategy updates the previous Indoor Leisure Facility Strategy that was developed in 2018, to meet the changing needs and demand for leisure facilities across Shropshire.
Physical activity is crucial to supporting good mental and physical health, something that has been highlighted throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The new strategy focuses on how the council and its partners can meet local and community needs to support and enable residents to engage in physical activity. It has a particular focus on younger and older people.
The strategy also aims to reduce the carbon footprint of leisure facilities across the county as part of the council’s commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2030.
Lezley Picton, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for culture, leisure, waste and communications, said:
“Exercise is so important for the physical and mental health of everyone and the pandemic has only served to highlight this.
“As the local and community needs for leisure have changed, it was essential that our Leisure Facilities Strategy be updated to reflect the changes. This is to ensure we are delivering the right services in the right areas and in the right way.
“The purpose of this consultation is to gather your views on the strategy to help us shape the future of leisure facilities in your area. Exercise and access to leisure facilities is a key issue, so I would encourage you to complete the survey and have your say.”
You can have your say by heading to the Shropshire Council website to complete the survey.
All comments will be carefully considered and used to inform the final version of the strategy, which will be considered at a future Cabinet meeting.
To find out more about the draft Leisure Facilities Strategy please email leisure@shropshire.gov.uk. You can also view the summary of the new Strategy on the Shropshire Council website.
Further information
The key aims of the new Leisure Facilities Strategy are:
- To work with partners to support the people of Shropshire to live longer, healthier and quality lives through sport and physical activity, with a focus on younger and older people
- To support the resilience of local communities and the development of place by strengthening local communities through sport and physical activity
- To support economic growth by developing opportunities for people to reach their full potential by providing employment, volunteering and tourism opportunities
- To take an approach focusing on local needs to enable the delivery of high quality leisure facilities through targeted investment, partnership opportunities, community empowerment and commercial acumen in order to reduce levels of subsidy
- To aim to reduce our carbon footprint in line with the commitment of Shropshire Council to the declaration of Climate Emergency to become carbon neutral by 2030.
