PLANNING chiefs are being asked to approve the installation of two outdoor wireless access points on the new brick-built pavilion in Warrington’s historic Bank Park to give park users access to Wi-Fi.
The pavilion is 50 metres from the nearest part of the Grade 1 Listed Town Hall, which dates from 1750 and, according to planning officers, will have a minimal impact on the building, or the conservation area in which it stands.
On the other hand, a lack of recreational facilities is considered to have a negative influence on the park and must, inevitably, have diminished the park’s recreational potential, they say.
The park has been criticised for having no focal point, such as a refreshment kiosk, to attract people. The new pavilion now includes a café, toilets and meeting room which have improved facilities available to park users.
Wireless access points will further enhance the facilities in the park, say planners.
What the wireless access points will look like
“Wi-fi will make historic Bank Park more attractive to users”
55 Comments
5 Comments
Sad commentary on today’s culture when you have to have wifi access to enjoy the great outdoors.
Couldn’t agree more Sid. The park should be there to encourage healthy outdoor activity – not couch potato mobile phone geeks!
What a waste of money – I thought the council were strapped for cash.
While i understand some of the sentiments of possibly the older generation mobile phones and wi-fi are here to stay and as there is a library facility here and a lot of reading material is now sourced online – wi-fi is essential for any public facility these days.
Don’t most people already have internet access on their mobiles these days though? I suppose Wi-Fi is good if you have iPads and the like though which may not have their own internet paid for service.
Like others have said above though if you are going to a park why not enjoy the park and surroundings…put your phones etc way and look around, talk to people, play with your kids, have some fun away from the online cyber world.
If the idea is like you say Gary so that people can read books online while sitting in Bank Park well I for one would not sit in there with an iPad or other e-reader gadget. Blimey with some of the grots around there at times people would be asking for trouble with those on show.
Anyway all that aside there is no mention of how much it will cost the council to supply and this service. Do they just pay a one off or monthly charge and are there ongoing costs such as additional fees the more it’s accessed by people. Maybe it wont cost a lot….or maybe it will….without knowing how can anyone say if it’s worth having or not?