Share your views on a new soft play area for Plymouth Life Centre
People are being asked to share their views on proposals to create a five-floor soft play area in the Plymouth Life Centre.
Plymouth Active Leisure and Plymouth City Council are committed to ensuring the Life Centre continues to offer high-quality facilities for residents. To do that sustainably, we need to operate the centre as a viable business and carefully consider where resources are best used.
As part of this we are reviewing the climbing wall, which is used by a relatively small number of people and currently runs at a financial loss. Since it opened in 2012, a number of alternative facilities have become available across the city and the south west, expanding provision locally.
Substantial investment would be required to continue meeting essential safety standards and remain competitive with other facilities. It is estimated that around £40,000 will be needed this year, with a further estimated £500,000 over the next 20 years to replace the climbing wall, in addition to ongoing annual maintenance costs.
Plymouth faces real challenges around early years physical activity, affordability for families and long-term participation in sport. Soft play would help create more opportunities for young children to be active and develop their confidence, coordination and strength in a fun, accessible way – while providing a natural pathway into other activities at the Life Centre, such as swimming and gymnastics.
It would help the Life Centre expand its free health and wellbeing sessions for looked-after children and Plymouth Active Leisure is also keen to hear directly from parents and guardians of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) about the types of programmes and activities they would most like to see included within this new facility.
The change of use to soft play would also enable an upgrade to the spin studio, introduction of reformer pilates and creation of new creche facilities.
We recognise that the climbing wall is valued by regular users and that any potential changes will feel significant. We are committed to listening carefully to everyone affected before any next steps are taken and are inviting people to view the proposals and share their views ahead of any decisions being made.
People can share their views via our online survey until Monday 22 June. Link to the survey is below.
There will also be pop-up stands showing the proposals at the Life Centre, as well as in Central Park and at Mount Wise Outdoor Pools and Tinside Lido, from the beginning of June, where people will be able to watch the video and ask questions about what is being proposed.
If approved, work on the soft play area (and the other associated upgrades) is expected to get under way this winter and the Life Centre will remain open throughout the entire construction.
Councillor Kate Taylor, Cabinet member with responsibility for sport and leisure, said: “We are very lucky to have such an incredible Plymouth asset in the Life Centre and we have a responsibility to ensure that it is able to continue to provide top quality facilities for the local community for many years to come.
“A soft play and family entertainment area would encourage many more people into the centre and, more importantly, offer valuable routes for children, parents and carers to become more active and explore the other sports and activities already on offer – transforming what is now a specialist facility into something that supports much wider participation.
“However, we must make it clear that no decisions have yet been made and we want to hear from as many people as possible before taking any further steps. Although we know that the climbing wall has been running at a loss for a number of years, with a little over 200 regular users, we also know that the facility is an important one, which is why we want to hear from everyone.
“We need to fully understand the impact that any changes would have, not just on current and potential climbing members but also on affected staff. I would therefore encourage people to take a look at the proposals and share their thoughts with us over the coming weeks so that we know how Plymouth people feel about the proposals.”
This video contains flashing lights and rapid transitions.
