Reopened bowling greens and outdoor fitness – effective use of ‘town fund’ cash say local councillors
Reopening bowling greens and installing new outdoor exercise equipment is the recipe to improve people’s fitness and mental health
Conservative member of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) Councillor Sorrell Marlow-Eastwood says it’s time to improve the town’s green spaces and sports facilities and is calling for up to £1m to be spent improving the towns green spaces and sports facilities.
Mrs Marlow-Eastwood told Hastings In Focus: “We would like to see money from the government’s ‘towns fund’ go towards keeping Hastings active including a simple resurrection of the town’s bowling greens.
“Everything is still in place and they should never have been closed, so it will be easy to restart and the facilities are most desperately needed. Not only is it a superb physical health benefit, but it is a great mental health aid and it is easy to socially distance while playing and a simple procedure to keep disinfecting the bowls while playing it. It’s perfect for this current Covid climate.”
Among other suggestions made by the Conservatives are to install more exercise equipment in local parks: “All of us have spent more time than usual indoors over recent months so it is important that HBC gets behind the Conservative scheme to get Hastings active again. New outdoor exercise equipment and the refurbishment of the bowling greens is a great way to help the town get fit” said Conservative group leader Councillor Rob Lee.
Submissions for suggestions on how to spend the ‘town fund’ money were to be submitted by today (July 22nd) and a decision on allocation of cash will be made in August.
Such outdoor activities are an important aid to physical fitness and mental well-being, so it is right to call for facilities to be opened and funding provided. If COVID-19 has taught us nothing else – surely it has shown the need for green, open spaces? Like many others in the community I would love to see physical exercise equipment installed on the Old Bathing Pool site. Such equipment is common in Spanish villages, so I am at a loss as to why HBC treats the OBP site as a pariah?