Sports hubs to cater for growing town population

MAJOR new sports hubs will be created in Solihull to help cater for a population boom over the next 15 years.

Current estimates suggest 23,000 more people will be living in the borough by the middle of the next decade, driving up demand.

Plans were unveiled this week for playing field facilities at up to five sites, covering some 34 hectares – a larger area than Brueton Park.

At this stage the exact locations have not been confirmed, but general areas where towns and villages are set to grow have been identified.

Cllr Joe Tildesley, cabinet member for leisure, tourism and sport, said he was “absolutely delighted” to see plans taking shape.

However, opposition parties have voiced concern some communities in the north of the borough do not appear to be covered. Cllr Steve Caudwell, who leads Solihull’s Green Party group, said there wasn’t one reference to the area, where average life expectancies trail the most affluent postcodes by more than a decade.

“If you look at the map,

Solihull stops at Birmingham Airport,” he said.

“And I appreciate that the driver behind this is that we’re looking at areas of population expansion, but that isn’t the entirety of what we need to be looking at in this report.

“We know we have a health inequality issue in North Solihull and sport is going to be one of the most effective ways of helping to deal with that.”

Peter Carroll, head of strategic land and property, said the new report was only one part of a wider strategy, focusing specifically on areas where the council might need to acquire land.