Hello Folks,

Great News! The Highways & Transport Local Joint Committee - Cheshire County & Chester City Councils- approved plans for Sustrans' Connect 2 Project!

This whole project, for links to traffic free routes, drawn up by the County Council, City Council and Sustrans, includes an extension from Fairfield Road Bridge, Hoole to Mickle Trafford. Chester Greenways - Connect 2 Project is short listed to apply for funding from the National Lottery and is the only National Charity bid.

All the councillors on LJC gave their approval for the plans. Cllr Jill Houlbrook gave a fine account of our Greenway and praised the efforts of the Friends group for their hard work etc. Cllr Janet Black also mentioned the Greenway favourably.

THE IMPORTANT THING IS - TO STAND A BETTER CHANCE OF WINNING THE PUBLIC VOTE FOR LOTTERY FUNDING SUSTRANS NEED TO SHOW THAT WE ARE PREPARED TO PUT OUR HANDS IN OUR POCKETS TO HELP ACHIEVE WHAT WE WISH FOR CHESTER - traffic free walking and cycling. Please do all you can. The councils are also trying to help source funds from elswhere.

THIS PROJECT IS HIGH PROFILE ON PURPOSE AND IS THE ONLY ONE RUN BY A NATIONAL CHARITY - IT IS THOUGHT THIS GIVES THEM A BETTER CHANCE THAN THE OTHER BIDDERS.

Our local ‘Friends group’ funding scheme is already up and running. Local people must convince the voters how keen they are to obtain traffic free routes here in the City of Chester. Sustrans seek £50 million for their projects. Let us make every effort to show SUSTRANS their faith in presenting the Chester City project was the right one. There can only be one winning project!

Cheques Please!
The donations are ringfenced by Sustrans and cheques are payable to- Chester Greenway Extension (Sustrans) send them to- The National Cycle Network, 2 Cathedral Square, College Green, Bristol BS1 5PD.

Full details of all the plans should be in the press release from the council.

The local press will help us I am sure. Please let them or our ‘Friends’ office know of any activity, sale, etc you are planning to hold. With your help, we hope to get as much publicity as possible for it.
Many thanks for your previous support to help keep our wonderful Greenway. Please donate to help jump this last hurdle. It is vital.

No doubt you will think of many reasons to put forward for this project to receive the funding it deserves.The criteria the project has been judged so far include:

• Does it overcome a real barrier?

• Has it the potential to so change the "map" of the area that public will wake up and realise that walking and cycling is simply the most obvious, and for this area, the best way of travelling?

• Could it give people pride in their new place?

• Does it fit into wider project for a package of varying measures showing how barriers of every kind can be overcome?

Barriers
At present the barriers of Ring road and motorway traffic prevents safe walking and cycling access to the Cheshire countryside and also means cars are used by those living in Guilden Sutton and Mickle Trafford to used to school, workplace, and the city centre shops even though many would wish to use a safe traffic free pathway. Another barrier could be overcome as many residents do not have access to a car -walking and cycling or using a disability scooter /chair along a traffic free route gives these people a new lease of life.

Pride
There are daily litter clearing and activities such as tree and bulb plantings too, there are already volunteers willing to join if their area becomes part of the green corridor pathway. We are not fortunate enough to have accessible wide open spaces such as i.e.meadows, woods and rivers maybe this is why our Greenway is felt so precious to so many people from far and wide. A measure of this pride in our Greenway path is that litter has decreased markedly over the years even though there are few litter bins available. Since, this route opened in celebration by County & City Councils and Sustrans there has been no major funding allocated for this Greenway extension , which is also an important green wildlife corridor. There is considerable interest in the Greenway and the usage figures are impressive. It has community backing since there are many volunteers willing to give their valuable time and money to help maintain the pathway including the, as yet, un-surfaced path towards Mickle Trafford which had suffered from major fly tipping (at Mannings Lane) cleared with the help of Friends of Chester Greenway (Greenway volunteer group) in the hope of obtaining the extension.

The ability to change the "map" of the area
Congestion and pollution. The narrow city roads of Chester means brings congestion and pollution as well as other safety hazards for both cyclists and pedestrians - this could be overcome with extended traffic free routes. Everyone saw the gridlock on our roads on the first day of the Grosvenor Road bridge closure. It magically disappeared once people realised they could actually walk or cycle, or use public transport instead of using their car. Our area is suffering heavy and dangerous traffic barriers the Ring Road (A41) and Motorway traffic forcing people to use their car to access the Cheshire countryside or access the City and local schools. The need to discourage car use and encourage walking and cycling has never been so important.

Useful Contacts:

Councillors (both County & City)

colin.bain@cheshire.gov.uk Tel. 370705

john.burke@cheshire.gov.uk Tel. 679657

j.black@chester.gov.uk Tel. 328956

eveleigh.mooredutton@cheshire.gov.uk Tel. 01948 667575

jean.evans@chester.gov.uk Tel. 377200

r.jordan@chester Tel. 374223

d.mead@chester.gov.uk Tel. 342808

j.houlbrook@chester.gov.uk Tel. 383345

j.storrar@chester.gov.uk Tel. 880226

n.ritchie@chester.gov.uk Tel. 01829 250223

County Council Officers..

tom.macabe@cheshire.gov.uk

Anna.Geroni@cheshire.gov.uk

The Newton Hollows
Steve Howe writes, "Walkers in the area may have observed that access to the Newton Hollows, the rather muddy, wooded path running parallel with the Millennium Cycleway, has been temporarily closed. This is because the city council has, as promised, started work on a radical restoration of this historic route.
A remarkable survivor in the midst of suburban Chester, the Hollows, believe it or not, once formed part of the Roman road from the great fortress of Deva (modern Chester) to the River Mersey crossing at Wilderspool near Warrington and from there to Manchester, York and beyond. In the other direction, it ran down modern Kilmorey Park Road, past the site of Flookerbrook pub, crossed the land now occupied by the railway, down Brook Street and Frosham Street to join modern Foregate Street- the Watling Street of old that ran all the way from Chester to Dover.

As well as carrying Roman military traffic, the road would have been used by all heading to and from the fortress and civil settlement and long continued in the role for centuries after its builders left, carrying people and their animals to the markets and fairs. In the eighteenth century, the old lane we know today as Hoole Road (first mentioned in documents in the 13th century) was turnpiked, widened and resurfaced, taking over as the main road to Warrington, and the ancient Hollows went into decline.
It is, bear in mind when next you visit, a true 'hollow way'- its course worn down by millennia of wheels, feet and hooves so that it now runs several feet below the level of the surrounding gardens.

The narrow pathway that is all that remains of this once-great highway has fallen into considerable decay of recent times, most notably because of fly tipping. This is now being ably dealt with by the City Council team, who will also clear back the underbrush and the excessive numbers of elder trees, undertake tree and bulb planting and lay a new path. Information and art features are also promised".

Well done and thank you to all concerned in this project! For more details visit this city council webpage...

Friends of the Chester Millennium Greenway helped Sustrans' Warden Mark McConnell plant trees, and bushes in an area that will be not be surfaced. The pathway towards Mickle Trafford will have an access from Lime Wood Football Fields, nearer to Fairfield Road Bridge. Cllr Rob Jordan personally donated oak trees.
The Greenway is now patrolled by Community Wardens. Dog Warden David Wood reminds dog owners it is unlawful not to pick up and put used bags in the bins provided. David has recently installed new dog bins at the three Blacon access points and keeps check on the pathway. We hope it will not be long before he installs more on our area path too.

Thanks to-
• Peter Moore-Dutton, a supporter and volunteer has generously helped the Friends group on many occasions bringing his machines to the rescue.
• Gary Hulmes, Community Services Open Spaces Officer.
• The Friends of the Greenway Volunteers, of course
• Steve Howe's Chester Virtual Stroll website is world renowned. His website for the Chester Millennium Greenway is- http://www.bwpics.co.uk/railstroll/railindex.html

Many supporters stopped to thank the group for their much-valued work as the Friends Greenway Volunteers set to on the first of their volunteer's days in February, the next being this Saturday 24th, meeting at 10am on the Greenway by Newton Lane Bridge. They welcome all, with a few hours to spare, to join the happy group working on this so very popular traffic-free walk/cycle pathway.
SUSTRANS' code of conduct for shared paths- a reminder that cyclists should fit a bell and use it (though many walkers find a pleasant shout 'coming through' is just as good. Don't surprise people who may not hear or see very well. Walkers are requested to keep their dogs under complete control at all times...

Audrey Hodgkinson,
(Sec) Anti- CDTS Campaign
Founder, Friends of Chester (Millennium) Greenway.
Office Tel. 01244 343055 (hours 8pm - 5pm)