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"Coventry's parks set to be transformed with wi-fi and gyms"

Wed Oct 16, 2019 7:47 pm

The ideas form a wider green space strategy

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Plans to trial free Wi-Fi and outdoor gyms in Coventry’s parks have been agreed alongside a proposal to explore planting a tree for every citizen.

The ideas have been included in the authority’s Green Space Strategy 2019-2024, which was approved at full council on Tuesday, October 15.

Free Wi-Fi will be trialled in “two or three parks” to see if it attracts more youngsters, with Coombe Abbey one of the locations already selected.

Outdoor gyms or ‘trim trails’, which consists of a course with exercise equipment or obstacles, are also planned in as-of-yet undecided parks.

The council will also explore an aspiration of planting a tree to represent each citizen in the city, which could see 360,000 trees planted.

But the ambition, subject to funding, would need to be delivered through a partnership with landowners including schools.
"Good news story"

Labelling it as a “good news story” for the city, Cllr John McNicholas said: “To plant a tree for every citizen would taken an awful lot of land. We don’t have that.

“We have to work in partnership with people to match that inspiration and there are many private organisations willing to participate in ensuring we can achieve that ambition.

“We believe there’s a climate emergency and we have got to ensure we do all we can as a city to reduce the amount of carbon as we possibly can.”

However, while the development of a new strategy received cross-party backing, the opposition Conservative group took aim at how it fitted in with the Local Plan given current applications to build on green land.

Tory leader Cllr Gary Ridley said: “There are many people across this city who will be utterly bemused this council is putting forward a green space strategy at the same time as proposals to concrete over huge sections of the green belt in Keresley, in Eastern Green and places like Kings Hill.”

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Re: "Coventry's parks set to be transformed with wi-fi and gyms"

Thu Oct 17, 2019 9:49 am

Coombe Abbey? Another way of adding to the council's 'investment' without it appearing on the books! :fuming:
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