Park land to get green makeover

WEST Lancashire Borough Council is embarking on a project with external partners intended to bring significant environmental and recreational benefits to Tawd Valley Park and local communities.

The aim is to create a family-friendly environment with good quality facilities and management.

Establishing and promoting links from the park to the local community, the town and wider environment will also form part of the scheme

It will involve carrying out improvement work on a 1¼-mile stretch of land, starting from Skelmersdale town centre following the Tawd north.

Organisations involved include: Groundwork, Lancashire County Council, Environment Agency, River Douglas Catchment Partnership, and the CVS.

The borough council has allocated £25,000 to produce a plan which will involve assessments to identify facilities and habitats and an extensive public consultation exercise to gather information for future requirements.

The Environment Agency is giving £15,000 to support the process and improve the water quality of the river. The plan will then be used to seek funding to make the proposals a reality.

The council will be consulting local communities to seek their views about how the park should develop. It will also be looking at forming a Friends of Tawd Valley Park group to assist in the future management of the project,

Cllr Yvonne Gagen, portfolio holder for leisure, said: “This will be a really exciting scheme for Tawd Valley Park and the local community and we want everyone to get involved. So please keep an eye out for further updates on the scheme and how you can take part.”

Local environmental charity Groundwork runs two volunteer projects that are making a huge difference to the Tawd Valley: Love My River and Green Leaders.

Mike Crowther, Groundwork’s director for sustainable communities, said: “This is fantastic news. We look forward to continuing to work alongside our partners and local people as part of our long term commitment to improving the local environment in the Tawd Valley.”

Projects already under way include footpath work and plans to create a history trail and cycleway.