Pennington Flash: Wigan borough outdoor spaces installed with free Wi-Fi to keep people connected

Hotspots have been placed at Pennington Flash and Pennington Hall Park, which will benefit visitors, residents and local businesses.

The 10 outdoor access points are part of Wigan Council’s ambition to create a digitally accessible borough for all.

Coun Nazia Rehman, Wigan Council’s cabinet portfolio holder for digital, said: “We strongly believe that harnessing the power of digital can help our residents to lead healthy and happy lives.

“We are pleased to be working with partners to keep residents and visitors to Pennington Flash and Pennington Hall Park connected.

“This project, as with everything we do, is in line with The Deal and we know it will benefit those who use our wonderful green spaces, linking in with our ambition of making Wigan Borough digitally accessible to residents, businesses and community groups.”

In June, Wigan Council published its new digital strategy which laid out how the Council is tackling digital exclusion.

Four key principles sit at the centre of strategy: transforming the way they work as a council, transforming how their services work for residents, being fully digitally enabled and transforming the places we live and work and promoting community wealth and health.

Councillor Paul Prescott, cabinet portfolio holder for environment, said: “We are lucky to have so many wonderful green spaces in our borough and the installation of this public Wi-Fi in Leigh is a great opportunity for local residents and businesses."

The Wi-Fi is funded by WiFi4EU, an initiative which promotes free access to Wi-Fi for residents in public spaces across Europe.

Click here to find out more about Wigan borough's digital ambitions.

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