£50k boost put trail on right track

Vital building work has now been completed on another section of the Chase Heritage Trail thanks to a £50,000 cash boost.

The section around Cannock Chase Visitor Centre in Marquis Drive is now open for walkers and cyclists to use and forms part of the 10-mile route being created between Cannock and Rugeley. Partnership funding to the tune of £50,000 from Staffordshire Environmental Fund (SEF) made construction of that section possible.

The funding was provided via the Landfill Communities Fund, supported by Biffa.

The route aims to link places of environmental and historic interest throughout the district between the two towns.

Councillor Pat Ansell, chairman of the Chase Heritage Trail Steering group, said: "We are extremely grateful for this funding which has ensured that another section of the trail has been successfully completed.

"This is truly a partnership project which will see benefits to the whole community."

John Dutton, chief executive of Staffordshire Environmental Fund, said: "The trail is a project that clearly meets the principal objectives of the fund.

"It was pleasing to be one of the first funders and so help get the project under way."

The route is due to cost around £1.5million and completion was delayed while negotiations continued with private landowners over access.

The Chase Heritage Trail, which has been three years in the making, should have been completely finished by the start of last year.

The route runs past St Luke's churchyard in Cannock, Kingfisher Drive and Brindley Heath Road in Hednesford, by Cannock Chase Visitor Centre in Marquis Drive and through Rising Brook and Slitting Mill to reach Rugeley.