Rural MPs raise swimming and leisure problems in Shropshire

Two rural Shropshire MPs have used a debate on swimming and leisure facilities to raise problems with provision and potential cuts in the county going forward.

With Shropshire Council in a perilous financial state and £62 million of further cuts announced by the council earlier this month, many leisure facilities have been put at risk. Conservative Council Leader Lesley Picton has said that residents will ‘absolutely notice’ service cuts, and that leisure services will be cut back.

Helen Morgan stood up in the House of Commons to raise the state of play in the county and the difficulties in providing leisure facilities across sparsely populated rural areas.

Her question to the Government was then followed by an intervention from Philip Dunne MP.

Helen Morgan MP asked the Minister, “Whitchurch swimming pool in my constituency closed in March 2020 and while spades are in the ground, thankfully, to reopen it in the coming years, the council announced last week that swimming pools and leisure centres would be at the top of its list for significant budget cuts in the coming year.

“I'm really concerned that, given the lack of public transport, that young people won't be able to learn to swim and that the wider community will lose access to a healthy lifestyle in the leisure centres that we've been offered.

“I wonder if the minister would be able to meet with me to discuss how we ensure that people in a very stretched out rural area might be able to access those leisure centres going forward?”

Ludlow constituency’s Philip Dunne MP then spoke to ask whether the Minister would meet to discuss under-threat facilities in Shropshire.

Stuart Andrew, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society, replied, “It sounds like I need to have a cross-Shropshire meeting to discuss facilities in the area. This is precisely why we have been so clear about the funding provided for swimming pools, and why we are going to do a facilities piece of work to understand where there are black spots in terms of providing more facilities and what facilities they should be to address the local need, and our determination to get more people active.”