Community encouraged to help develop sport and leisure plan for Worthing
The borough council hopes it will help encourage more people to become more active and make leisure facilities more accessible
Sports clubs from across Worthing are to work together to help encourage more people to become more active.
Worthing Borough Council is to set up an advisory panel of representatives of sports clubs and venues from across the town to develop a new sport and leisure plan for the borough.
As a coastal town, Worthing has a wealth of sports and leisure options on both land and sea as well as a host of active clubs and groups. The sport and leisure advisory group will be set up to help the Council get the best out of its sports assets, enable the sector to have a greater voice and help engage the community with any new ideas and principles developed.
The Council has also created a set of leisure principles, including a commitment to encourage more young and older people to get active, to make leisure facilities more accessible, to celebrate the town’s green and blue spaces, to champion sustainability and to work with groups to invest in sports grounds and centres.
The principles are intended to be a starting point for the sport and leisure advisory group to use to encourage more community participation.
The Council has also been working to support the sector by helping to facilitate outdoor water sports and fitness, maintaining sports pavilions, supporting local clubs and working with South Downs Leisure Trust at Worthing’s leisure venues.
Several sports and leisure groups in the town have also recently been awarded money to fund new and existing projects as part of the Community Infrastructure Levy neighbourhood fund, including a new cricket pitch at Northbrook Recreation Ground, basketball courts and a football pitch at Durrington High School and community skateboard lessons.
Cllr Rita Garner, Worthing’s Cabinet Member for Culture & Leisure, said: “We are lucky to have some great sports clubs and facilities in Worthing, which are really important for the health and wellbeing of our community as well as the local economy.
“Our new leisure principles and advisory group will help us work more closely with the people in this sector that are already doing so much and ensure that we make great use of the fantastic natural features that Worthing has to offer for both residents and visitors.”