Action over obesity in young 'a priority' in Oswestry

Youth provision came under the spotlight at a meeting in Oswestry after Shropshire Council decided to axe its youth workers and buy in services.

Physical activities and reducing obesity is the local priority for those services.

The taking down of goalposts at one of Oswestry's popular recreation grounds means there is nowhere for young people to have a kickabout, a resident has said.

Mark Higgins questioned why the steel goalposts had been removed at the Gatacre Playing Fields at a meeting of Oswestry Local Joint Committee.

"The goalposts were so well used yet three months ago they were taken down. We want to encourage young people to be more active yet there is nowhere for them to have an impromptu kickabout," he said.

Councillor Vince Hunt said that there had been a problem with dog fouling on the pitch and said he was hopeful that, in future, Woodside School would take over responsibility for the pitch which would then be fenced off and people allowed to borrow a key to use the facilities.

But Mr Higgins said that was in the future, and in the meantime it seemed that the playing field was being decommissioned.

Committee member and Shropshire Council leader, Keith Barrow, promised to look into getting the goalposts reinstated.

"As a boy I spend many hours playing football at Gatacre and I know how important it is to young people," he said.

Meanwhile, a village school near Oswestry is to share one of its life-saving defibrillators with the community. Morda Primary School's successful appeal saw it purchase two heart-start machines.

There are more than 2,000 10-19 year olds in the town with 41 per cent of them living in deprived areas and 20.7 per cent of 10 and 11 year olds are said to be overweight.

The local joint committee is taking responsibility for commissioning facilities and activities for young people and has a £25,000 budget. It met at the Marches School on Tuesday to reveal work already under way to provide services.

Shropshire Council leader, Keith Barrow, said that because of the obesity figure he was hopeful that the area would be given an extra £10,000 from the public health budget for youth activities.

"I can't say definitely but because of the obesity figures I am almost sure we will get this additional £10,000," he said.

Committee chairman, Councillor Vince Hunt, said a survey of young people yielded 881 responses which showed that more than three quarters of them did not do any activities after school or college.

"As well as Shropshire-wide ambitions for youth provision, we in Oswestry also want to ensure that we increase physical activities and reduce obesity," he said.

He said another priority was to maintain The Centre in Oak Street, built as a youth centre.

"I know there have been worries about The Centre's future, but I can confirm it is here to stay and the local joint committee will have responsibility for it," he said. "It will be an important hub and will have activities but it certainly won't be the only place for activities."

The consensus of the meeting was that while there were plenty of activities in Oswestry there was not enough information that young people could access. Members agreed that The Centre should be somewhere where people could access the information.

A meeting open to providers of activities will be held in Castle View, Oswestry, on Tuesday, at 5pm with by a public meeting on March 13.