Major new trail to boost health, wellbeing and visitor economy

Cheshire East Council is seeking to create a major new walking and cycling route in the north of the borough to boost tourism, active travel and people’s health and wellbeing.

A potential route has been identified, called the Greater Bollin Trail, which could link the Peak District in the east to Greater Manchester in the west – subject to funding being secured and full consultation with the public.

The council’s highways committee on 3 April gave the green light to progress the scheme. In 2021, local cycling and walking infrastructure plans (LCWIPs), for Crewe, Congleton, Macclesfield and Wilmslow identified potential high-quality walking and cycling networks. The Greater Bollin Trail will be an integral part of these plans.

Technical work has been done to investigate a Greater Bollin Trail, which would provide a high-quality traffic-free route for walking, cycling, ‘wheeling’ (prams, scooters, rollerblades, skateboards) and horse-riding, if sufficient funding can be found.

Councillor Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council’s highways committee, said:

“This is really exciting news for our residents and our visitor economy.

“This is a longer-term aspiration, to be delivered over many phases and dependent on securing external funding. It provides a fantastic opportunity to encourage more people to get more active to improve their physical and mental health as well as to ‘ditch the car’ for local travel.

“We are at the early stages of this project but it has exciting potential and dovetails with the council’s vision and commitment to improving prosperity and wellbeing for all.”

The route identified for the Greater Bollington Trail will be subject to further detailed development and design work, with public consultation before sections of the route are built.

The committee recognised a need to work with stakeholders to further develop the route and resolve land and property agreements, as the proposed route crosses into neighbouring local authorities.

The route connects to other established trails – such as the Middlewood Way, Bridgewater Way and the Trans-Pennine Trail – to public transport links as well as communities and places of interest, including Lyme Park, Quarry Bank Mill, the proposed Tatton services, Tatton Park and Dunham Massey.

By doing so, the trail would attract visitors to the area – boosting spend in the local economy while also providing facilities for local people to walk, ride and ‘wheel’ to work or school, or enjoy for recreation.

The route links to key employment centres, such as Manchester Airport, the proposed Tatton services, Adlington Business Park and Altrincham.