Council secure £43,000 for the England Coast Path project

Following a successful bid, Cheshire West and Chester Council has received a grant of £43,021 from Natural England to enable the initial planning work for a stretch of the England Coast Path within our borough.

The England Coast Path is a 2,700 mile National Trail being created by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs through Natural England.

The section of the route around the Wirral peninsula travels through three boroughs.  Cheshire West and Chester Council have been asked to implement the stretch within our borough between the Boathouse pub at Parkgate through to the Welsh boundary. 

Sections of this route lie within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands. The sensitivity of the location means that there are ecological windows which will require any works to be carried out during specifically agreed seasons, during which close working with the RSPB and Natural England will be key.

Permission to build the pathway is to be granted by Natural England following the initial design phase.  Once design and costings are completed, the Council plans to submit a further bid for the final budget costs to implement and construct the scheme.

The work required along the route varies from new signage or patching (to enable accessibility through winter months), to drainage and more detailed engineering solutions. The existing Public Right of Way (PRoW) section along the front of the marshes is currently closed for safety reasons. There are various issues along this part of the route which require work such as embankment deterioration and collapse that needs to be stabilised, and boggy areas that need to be drained.

The construction methods along the route of the footpath will be carefully planned due to restricted and constrained access for plant and machinery. Consideration also needs to be given to ensuring minimal risk of any potential of contamination, and in maintaining existing and minimalising any such disruption to habitats.

Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “This is particularly good news as I have been campaigning to have a section of the existing footpath repaired. The footpath was closed in 2020 because the existing boardwalk had fallen into a state of disrepair and there was insufficient funding available to repair it.

“The completed path will provide improvements for all walkers to be able to use this route to walk our part of the England Coast path.”