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NEW FOOTBRIDGE VITAL TO THE FOOTPATH CHAINNEW footbridge across Forge Brook at Marbury Country Park, Northwich provides a vital link in the local Cheshire footpaths network and opens up improved public access to local countryside. The creation of the new bridge has also been heralded as an example of private and public sector teamwork, a tribute to joint effort exercised by Cheshire County Council’s Countryside Management Services together with neighbouring landowner Phillip Gibbons of Marston Hall Farm and The Mersey Forest development team. Mr Gibbons entered into a Countryside Stewardship scheme with DEFRA and the Countryside Agency, an agreement that included opening a length of public access land alongside Budworth Mere adjacent to Marbury Country Park, together with the commitment to building the footbridge. Now the new footbridge creates a vital link from the A559 via Marston Hall Farm and the villages of Higher Marston and Great Budsworth with Marbury Country Park along a permissive path. Marbury Country Park itself is a popular and well used public venue and the new footbridge connects the park on its north-west side with wider countryside and links the Trent and Mersey Canal and The Lion Salt Works to Northwich Community Woodlands. The £11,000 bridge construction was financed jointly by a partnership consisting of local chemical manufacturer company INEOS Chlor Limited, who provided £5,000 through landfill tax credits as part of The Mersey Forest environmental regeneration initiative; Defra, who provided £5,000, and Cheshire County Council who provided a further £1,000. Ian Hesketh, Countryside Officer with Cheshire County Council explained, “The new footbridge link creates further opportunities for visitors to explore beyond the limits of the park and provides another valuable connection between the expanding area of Northwich Community Woodlands and the wider countryside.” Janet Ward, spokesperson for chemical company INEOS Chlor said: ‘Improving access to the countryside through links such as this fantastic new bridge is vital to investing in the health and well-being of people who live and work in the Northwich area. It acts as an encouragement for visitors to explore and enjoy Marbury Country Park. “Through our partnership with The Mersey Forest we are delighted to be able to contribute to such a deserving project.’ The Mersey Forest is a 30 year project and covers an area of 400 square miles. It is the leading environmental regeneration project in the North West and the largest of 12 Community Forests in the UK. Now journalists and press photographers are invited to attend a photocall opportunity at the Forge Brook Bridge on Wednesday, February 1 at 2pm. Those attending should assemble at the Cheshire County Council offices within the park. ENDS Editor Notes The Mersey Forest: The Mersey Forest is the leading environmental regeneration project in the North West and the largest of the 12 Community Forests in the United Kingdom. The organisation works in partnership with The Countryside Agency, the Forestry Commission and nine local authorities – Cheshire, Liverpool, Ellesmere Port and Weston, Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Vale Royal and Warrington. The Mersey Forest covers an area of over 400 square miles and is the key driver, along with its partners, for investment into and for the development of a green infrastructure for the North West. The Mersey Forest is reclaiming over 8000 hectares of land, home to 1.6 million people, over a 30-year period bringing revolutionary economic, social and environmental benefit to the region.
(Photograph supplied courtesy of Jason Lock)
For further information please contact the INEOS ChlorVinyls Press Office: Janet
Ward |
