Leisure review - consultation analysis report for west Wiltshire

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• Bradford on Avon
• Melksham
• Trowbridge
• Warminster
• Westbury

Community Area View – Bradford on Avon

A total of 118 responses were received, which is 4% of the total received responses. Of these responses 92% were completed questionnaires and 8% were letters or emails.

Of the total responses received 36% were male and 59% were female and 6% considered themselves to have a disability. A total of 4% of respondents were under the age of 18, 3% were aged 18 to 24, 7% were aged 25 to 34, 25% were aged 35 to 44, 17% were aged 45 to 54, 18% were aged 55 to 64, 19% were aged 65 to 74 and 6% were aged 75 and over.

Of the respondents 21% indicated an interest in being involved or running their leisure centre. A total of 75% of respondents visited a leisure centre weekly, with 15% daily, 5% monthly, 4% less often and 2% have never used a leisure centre.

In specific response to the questions

• 89% agreed with the principle that providing high quality, modern facilities with a variety of activities will encourage more people to become more active and furthermore 56% of respondents strongly agreed
• 75% agreed that local communities should be able to directly influence and / or manage their local services and only 6% of respondents disagreed
• 95% agreed that the price of using leisure facilities can be a barrier to taking part, this was the highest response from any community area
• 53% of respondents felt that pricing should be reflective of the size and quality of facility whereas 39% disagreed that a standard pricing policy across all facilities, irrespective of the size and quality would work for Wiltshire
• 78% of respondents agreed that the council should try to provide multi-purpose indoor leisure facilities within 20 minutes travel time from home
• 85% agreed that introducing car parking charges at leisure facilities could be a barrier to stop people taking part

In terms of activities the most popular are swimming (34%), using the gym (13%), fitness classes (13%), and badminton (5%). Other facilities within leisure centres also proved popular with the inclusion of café facilities (8%), meeting spaces (4%) and crèches (3%).

There were 207 comments made, which is 4% of the total comments received with reference to the leisure review, with the following comments being the most highly stated

• Keep the centre open – 12%
• All leisure facilities should stay in control of the council/have support from the council – 11%
• Improved changing facilities – 8%
• Greater/more variety of classes/courses/exercise options/timings – 5%
• Centre should be convenient, town centre, walking distance – 5%

Community Area View – Melksham

A total of 221 responses were received, which is 7% of the total received responses. Of these responses 95% were completed questionnaires and 5% were letters or emails.

Of the total responses received 34% were male and 64% were female and 5% considered themselves to have a disability. A total of 2% of respondents were under the age of 18, 2% were aged 18 to 24, 17% were aged 25 to 34, 19% were aged 35 to 44, 17% were aged 45 to 54, 21% were aged 55 to 64, 17% were aged 65 to 74 and 6% were aged 75 and over. Melksham had the highest response rate for 25 to 34 year olds.

Of the respondents 24% indicated an interest in being involved or running their leisure centre. A total of 57% of respondents visited a leisure centre weekly, with 30% daily, 5% monthly, 7% less often and 2% have never used a leisure centre.

In specific response to the questions

• 85% agreed with the principle that providing high quality, modern facilities with a variety of activities will encourage more people to become more active and furthermore 52% of respondents strongly agreed
• 81% agreed that local communities should be able to directly influence and / or manage their local services and only 5% of respondents disagreed
• 89% agreed that the price of using leisure facilities can be a barrier to taking part
• 89% of respondents felt that pricing should be reflective of the size and quality of facility whereas 34% disagreed that a standard pricing policy across all facilities, irrespective of the size and quality would work for Wiltshire
• 86% of respondents agreed that the council should try to provide multi-purpose indoor leisure facilities within 20 minutes travel time from home
• 88% agreed that introducing car parking charges at leisure facilities could be a barrier to stop people taking part

In terms of activities the most popular are swimming (28%), using the gym (16%), fitness classes (12%), badminton (5%) and squash (4%). Other facilities within leisure centres also proved popular with the inclusion of café facilities (9%), meeting spaces (4%) and crèches (4%).

There were 258 comments made, which is 5% of the total comments received with reference to the leisure review, with the following comments being the most highly stated

• Improved facilities/equipment (additional stuff, 6 lane pool, squash etc) – 12%
• Keep the centre open – 11%
• Greater/more variety of classes/courses/exercise options/timings – 8%
• Centre should be convenient, town centre, walking distance – 7%
• Happy with facilities/staff – 4%

Interesting points with regards the replacement, refurbishment and devolvement proposals were

• 4% of comments indicated that bowls should remain within Melksham, this is further supported by player surveys that explained they would not be willing to travel to Westbury to play bowls
• 2% of responses agreed with the proposal

Community Area View – Trowbridge

A total of 224 responses were received, which is 7% of the total received responses and this was the highest responses from any community area. Of these responses 96% were completed questionnaires and 4% were letters or emails.

Of the total responses received 35% were male and 58% were female and 10% considered themselves to have a disability. A total of 5% of respondents were under the age of 18, 5% were aged 18 to 24, 7% were aged 25 to 34, 26% were aged 35 to 44, 20% were aged 45 to 54, 14% were aged 55 to 64, 13% were aged 65 to 74 and 4% were aged 75 and over.

Of the respondents 17% indicated an interest in being involved or running their leisure centre. A total of 66% of respondents visited a leisure centre weekly, with 24% daily, 5% monthly and 5% less often.

In specific response to the questions

• 77% agreed with the principle that providing high quality, modern facilities with a variety of activities will encourage more people to become more active
• 74% agreed that local communities should be able to directly influence and / or manage their local services and only 5% of respondents disagreed
• 91% agreed that the price of using leisure facilities can be a barrier to taking part
• 56% of respondents felt that pricing should be reflective of the size and quality of facility whereas 34% disagreed that a standard pricing policy across all facilities, irrespective of the size and quality would work for Wiltshire
• 83% of respondents agreed that the council should try to provide multi-purpose indoor leisure facilities within 20 minutes travel time from home
• 84% agreed that introducing car parking charges at leisure facilities could be a barrier to stop people taking part

In terms of activities the most popular are swimming (26%), using the gym (14%), fitness classes (10%), badminton (8%), squash, indoor climbing and football (4%). Other facilities within leisure centres also proved popular with the inclusion of café facilities (8%), meeting spaces (5%) and crèches (3%).

There were 220 comments made, which is 4% of the total comments received with reference to the leisure review, with the following comments being the most highly stated

• Improved facilities/equipment (additional stuff, 6 lane pool, squash etc) – 11%
• Greater/more variety of classes/courses/exercise options/timings – 8%
• Lower/affordable prices/cost, value for money – 7%
• Free parking needed/continue/should be provided – 6%
• Improved changing facilities – 5%

Interesting points with regards the replacement, refurbishment and devolvement proposals were

• 4% of comments wanted to see diving facilities remain and that dual use centres are not good as it makes day times unavailable for general public
• 3% of comments wanted to keep the centre open and did not see the reason to build a new facility, however 3% also agreed with the new proposal

Community Area View – Warminster

A total of 103 responses were received, which is 3% of the total received responses. Of these responses 100% were completed questionnaires.

Of the total responses received 32% were male and 65% were female and 15% considered themselves to have a disability, this is the highest response rate within a community area. A total of 6% of respondents were under the age of 18, 5% were aged 18 to 24, 8% were aged 25 to 34, 16% were aged 35 to 44, 19% were aged 45 to 54, 22% were aged 55 to 64, 15% were aged 65 to 74 and 5% were aged 75 and over.

Of the respondents 10% indicated an interest in being involved or running their leisure centre. A total of 67% of respondents visited a leisure centre weekly, with 21% daily, 4% monthly, 5% less often and 3% have never used a leisure centre.

In specific response to the questions

• 79% agreed with the principle that providing high quality, modern facilities with a variety of activities will encourage more people to become more active and furthermore 54% of respondents strongly agreed
• 73% agreed that local communities should be able to directly influence and / or manage their local services however 10% of respondents disagreed
• 90% agreed that the price of using leisure facilities can be a barrier to taking part
• 61% of respondents felt that pricing should be reflective of the size and quality of facility whereas 45% disagreed that a standard pricing policy across all facilities, irrespective of the size and quality would work for Wiltshire
• 81% of respondents agreed that the council should try to provide multi-purpose indoor leisure facilities within 20 minutes travel time from home
• 87% agreed that introducing car parking charges at leisure facilities could be a barrier to stop people taking part

In terms of activities the most popular are swimming (28%), using the gym (16%), fitness classes (14%), badminton (6%) and squash (5%). Other facilities within leisure centres also proved popular with the inclusion of café facilities (8%), meeting spaces (4%) and crèches (2%).

There were 107 comments made, which is 2% of the total comments received with reference to the leisure review, with the following comments being the most highly stated

• Improved changing facilities – 21%
• Happy with facilities/staff – 10%
• Improved facilities/equipment (additional stuff, 6 lane pool, squash etc) – 8%
• Cleanliness of facility – 7%
• Greater/more variety of classes/courses/exercise options/timings – 7%

Community Area View – Westbury

A total of 169 responses were received, which is 5% of the total received responses. Of these responses 93% were completed questionnaires and 7% were letters or emails.

Of the total responses received 41% were male and 55% were female and 6% considered themselves to have a disability. A total of 8% of respondents were under the age of 18, 4% were aged 18 to 24, 11% were aged 25 to 34, 15% were aged 35 to 44, 18% were aged 45 to 54, 21% were aged 55 to 64, 13% were aged 65 to 74 and 4% were aged 75 and over. Westbury had the highest response rate from under 18’s.

Of the respondents 15% indicated an interest in being involved or running their leisure centre. A total of 64% of respondents visited a leisure centre weekly, with 23% daily, 8% monthly, 4% less often and 1% have never used a leisure centre.

In specific response to the questions

• 75% agreed with the principle that providing high quality, modern facilities with a variety of activities will encourage more people to become more active
• 62% agreed that local communities should be able to directly influence and / or manage their local services however 18% of respondents disagreed
• 86% agreed that the price of using leisure facilities can be a barrier to taking part
• 61% of respondents felt that pricing should be reflective of the size and quality of facility whereas 48% disagreed that a standard pricing policy across all facilities, irrespective of the size and quality would work for Wiltshire
• 67% of respondents agreed that the council should try to provide multi-purpose indoor leisure facilities within 20 minutes travel time from home
• 85% agreed that introducing car parking charges at leisure facilities could be a barrier to stop people taking part

In terms of activities the most popular are swimming (26%), using the gym (17%), fitness classes (10%), badminton (6%) and indoor football (4%). Other facilities within leisure centres also proved popular with the inclusion of café facilities (8%) and meeting spaces (5%).

There were 202 comments made, which is 4% of the total comments received with reference to the leisure review, with the following comments being the most highly stated

• Keep the centre open – 14%
• Happy with facilities/staff – 9%
• Centres required for health benefits /obesity is a problem/ all should be encouraged to exercise – 7%
• Improved facilities/equipment (additional stuff 6 lane pool, squash etc) – 6%
• Centre should be convenient, town centre, walking distance – 6%

Interesting points with regards the replacement, refurbishment and devolvement proposals were

• Although 14% wanted to keep the centre open, only 3% believed the facility should remain in the control of the council/have support from the council and 4% questioned that Leisure centres can not be run by unqualified personnel/can communities manage them
• 4% indicated a desire to have better public transport to the centres
• 1% of comments indicated that bowls should remain within Melksham

Last updated: 20 January 2011