Wirral Council: Have your say on PlayZones

Residents and community groups are being asked to Have Their Say on what kind of sports facilities they would like in their local areas, to help the council bid for funding.

Through its Active Wirral leisure service, Wirral Council has the opportunity to apply for funding for PlayZones – high quality facilities for sports such as football, netball, rugby, hockey and basketball.

PlayZones are primarily funded by the Football Foundation and the scheme focuses on communities that need facilities the most, usually where levels of physical activity are low.

Launching on Monday 14 August, a consultation is seeking the views of residents and community partners to better understand any needs and requirements for PlayZones in Wirral, with hopes to submit an evidence-based funding bid to the programme.

Cllr Helen Cameron, Chair of Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee for Wirral Council, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for members of Wirral communities to share their ideas about improving our local sports, recreation and leisure offer.

“The PlayZone Programme is looking to invest in tackling the many problems caused by physical inactivity by funding community-led spaces, which could mean improving existing facilities or creating entirely new ones from scratch.

“People are more likely to take part if they’ve been included in the development of these spaces, so who better to say where these efforts should be focused than those who live here and the community groups that support them.”

The PlayZone programme will focus on communities with the greatest need and will deliver new or refurbished safe and accessible multiuse games areas (MUGA) that will allow priority groups to be more active.

Plans to expand Wirral’s PlayZone offer are in the consultation stage. Answers submitted to this survey may be used in a future funding bid aiming to bring new or refurbished PlayZones to Wirral.

The consultation will be open for comments from all residents from Monday 14 August, closing on Monday 25 September.