4th December 2008

Boost for Blackwater Valley Countryside 

Ramblers and other users of the Blackwater Valley will soon benefit from better paths, easier access
and improved wildlife habitats.
This is the result of a project worth over £70,000, put together by the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership (BVCP), which has just received support from Natural England through Defra’s Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF)

The project involves upgrading two sections of the Valley’s footpath network – one in Farnham, the other in Farnborough – resurfacing a stretch of bridleway in Yateley to allow year-round access for horse riders and cyclists and buying new machinery that will improve maintenance of the Valley’s entire path network. The work will be carried out over this winter and when it’s completed will provide easier access for all users whilst allowing improved management of paths and adjacent green space, increasing their value for landscape and biodiversity.

“This is great news,“ commented Sue Dent, Acting Manager of the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership, “The work should have a significant impact on access provision in the Blackwater Valley, extending and strengthening the network, improving management and landscape, widening the user base and benefiting biodiversity. We would like to thank everyone who has supported this application, particularly our partners who have agreed to provide 25% of the costs through matched funding.”

Altogether the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund is contributing £54,000,  75% of the total cost of the project; the remaining 25% is being met by matched funding from Rushmoor Borough Council, Wokingham District Council, Surrey County Council, the Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust and minerals extraction company CEMEX, with a significant contribution also being made through volunteer work.

The BVCP have been working in the area for 29 years to provide a continuous green space, attractive to wildlife and the community and this project is part of their on-going development of access improvements.

END

For further information contact:
Christine Reeves, Visitor Promotions Officer on 01252 331353.
Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership, Ash Lock Cottage, Government Road, Aldershot GU11 2PS.

EDITORS NOTES

• Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, Natural England. The levy on aggregate extraction was introduced in April 2002; part of the money raised by the levy finances the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF). The aim of ALSF is to address the environmental and social costs of aggregate extraction through delivery of environmental improvements, minimising the demand for primary aggregates and reducing the local effects of
  aggregate extraction. For more details visit
  www.naturalengland.org.uk/conservation/grants-funding/default.htm
  
• The Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership was first established in 1979 and is currently funded by the County, District. Town and Parish Councils along the River Blackwater: Hampshire and Surrey County Council, the District, Town and Borough Councils of Blackwater & Hawley, Farnham, Guildford, Hart, Rushmoor, Sandhurst, Surrey Heath, Waverley, Wokingham and Yateley. It works to promote community action in conservation and recreation and to protect the Blackwater Valley for the enjoyment and well being of the whole community.