Sport Caerphilly Coach Rhys Mellor-Cretney, and Caerphilly RFC representatives Oliver Griffiths, Gareth Rice and Gareth Short
Visitors to Morgan Jones Park in Caerphilly town can now fit in a workout after the installation of a new outdoor gym.
The outdoor fitness suite, which is free to use, has been installed by Caerphilly County Borough Council to promote active lifestyles, health and well being among its residents.
The new outdoor gym offers a range of equipment including pull ups/assisted pull up apparatus, leg and bench presses, a cross trainer and a chest press/seated row. The facilities at Morgan Jones Park mirror equipment installed at Blackwood Showfields in December 2012.
Cllr David Poole, Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services, said: “I would like to thank the local members for their support and the staff at Morgan Jones Park who have championed this innovative project.”
Paid for through section 106 funding, a rather unfair tax on house builders where the local council effectively get to charge whatever they like if somebody wishes to build a house, a roof tax, and on one single house in Caerphilly it is £5’500. It is supposed to be spent on improving the transport network as the council say that building houses puts more pressure on the roads.
The installation of the outdoor gym has provided fun and recreation to many people, particularly those of younger years, since it was installed last month. Its a real pleasure to see investment of this kind considering the financial pressures local government is under at the moment. The gym has enhanced Morgan Jones Park making it a more attractive place to visit and I’m proud to have played my part in campaigning wholeheartedly for this facility since the summer of 2013.
I really think the gym will be in existence for many years to come and will be enjoyed by many local people plus visitors to Caerphilly making Morgan Jones Park and Caerphilly itself a more attractive place to visit. Its important to remember that greater facilities can be secured when a positive case is put forward and it’s not always about cuts. Investment in our communities is what’s needed.
I hope it gets used more than the one on Cardiff barrage. That one is always empty even with it’s Olympic 2012 livery. However the skatepark 50m away is always full of active kids and young people. Maybe the council have missed a trick on this one, again. I see more kids around Caerphilly riding scooters, roller blading and skate boarding than I do pumping iron!
This is wonderful facility to promote good health and well-being for anyone wanting to use it.
There are local politicians who could benefit from using it to deflate their egos, but, as they are of the older generation I doubt they will take advantage of it, particularly as it was created through the extreme political efforts of young Labour Councillor James Pritchard of the Morgan Jones Ward, well done James, who, of course, has absolutely no reason to use it.