HOTSPOTS installed at Pennington Flash and Pennington Hall Park will keep residents and visitors to the borough well connected while out and about.

Visitors, residents, and local business owners based at the parks will benefit from the new connection, with the installation supporting the council’s ambition to create a digitally accessible borough for all.

Thanks to the ten outdoor access points installed across the two sites, the free Wi-Fi is now available to everyone visiting the outdoor spaces.

Cllr Nazia Rehman, 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, and 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 spells out how the authority is working to tackle digital exclusion and highlighting how technology can help deliver borough-wide growth.

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

Cllr Paul Prescott, cabinet portfolio holder for environment, added: “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 and will be supported by annual maintenance from Wigan Council.