A new £1.5m leisure and library hub to tackle health inequalities has been given the green light.
Labour councillors approved the capital investment of £1.5 million into Birchwood Leisure and Tennis Centre at Monday’s Cabinet meeting. Birchwood has been identified as an area with comparatively high health deprivation with the Oakwood area in the top 10% national health and income deprived.
The decision follows similar investments by the local authority into other parts of the town including Woolston, Orford, Great Sankey and Bewsey & Dallam.
The refurbishment of Birchwood Leisure and Tennis Centre will provide additional studio space, improved changing facilities, including accessible facilities, overall improvements to the internal and external fixtures and décor, re-covering of the tennis hall floor and relocation of Birchwood Library.
The improvements form part of the councils’ strategic priorities and ambitions to promote physical and mental health. Wellbeing has become an increased focus for the Labour-run council over recent years, with a raft of policies focused on improving the lives of residents in the towns most disadvantaged communities.
Birchwood Tennis Centre is one of only 52 publicly accessible community indoor tennis centres in the country and the only centre publicly available within 15 miles. The improvements to the Leisure Centre could see the Birchwood host national tournaments for wheelchair players and camps for visually impaired players.
Cllr Russ Bowden, Leader of the Council said: “This is what a Labour-run council does. This is what real levelling-up looks like.
“We invest in our future, we invest in our infrastructure, and we invest in our communities.
“Our residents health and wellbeing is one of our top priorities as a council.
“Healthier communities benefit the whole town. Improved access to leisure and wellbeing services is crucial to delivering improvements to public health.
“The wellbeing of our residents is vital and our investments into the town’s leisure and wellbeing services shows how serious we are about tackling inequalities across Warrington.
“I made a promise that the proceeds from selling land at the former St Oliver Plunkett primary school would be invested back into Birchwood by creating a neighbourhood hub and I am proud that we are delivering on that promise.”
