New Oswestry leisure centre is a hit

Newly-released figures show Oswestry's new leisure centre is continuing to be popular with town residents.

The figures supplied by Shropshire Council show that visitor numbers to the £10 million centre on Shrewsbury Road, which opened at the beginning of October, jumped by eight per cent during November compared to the same month last year at the town's old leisure centre.

In total there were 15,608 visitors to the new centre in November, compared to 14,442 visitors to the old centre on College Road in November 2010.

The rise in November follows a huge leap in October when nearly 3,000 more people visited the new centre compared to the old one last year.

Council chiefs say they are delighted the new centre, which opened on October 1, is continuing to appeal to town residents.

Shropshire councillor Steve Charmley, portfolio holder for culture and leisure services, welcomed the increase in numbers in the centre's second month of operation and said he hoped it would continue.

He said: "It is a fresh and shiny new facility for everyone in Oswestry and it is good to see people are really happy to use it.

"People were keen to see what was on offer when it opened in October and it is great to see people are continuing to use it.

"And going forward it would be great to see the centre being used as people look at the new year and perhaps try to get rid of some of that festive excess."

Councillor Charmley said the centre would play a vital role in getting residents more active and healthy.

He said the council would be taking on more public health duties in the next 12 months and was keen to promote healthy lifestyles.

He said: "We have stacks of figures which demonstrate how much obesity and poor lifestyles cost the country and its services.

"Obesity figures are a huge concern for local authorities and I think every local authority in the country would be delighted if they had something like what we have in Oswestry now."

By Iain St John