£50,000 to upgrade heritage trail and boost volunteering

Cabinet members at Cannock Chase Council plan to allocate £50,000 towards the Commonwealth Games ' mountain biking event taking place at Cannock Chase Forest next summer.

This follows the allocation of £50,000 last year towards the new blue graded mountain bike trail currently under construction by Forestry England at Birches Valley that will form part of the Games ' course.

At its meeting this Thursday, the cabinet is looking to allocate an additional £50,000 of funding.

The bulk of the funding, £40,000, would be allocated to upgrade the Cannock Chase Heritage Trail, an existing 10-mile trail for cyclists and walkers that links together the district 's three main towns of Cannock, Hednesford and Rugeley and takes in Brindley Heath and Birches Valley as it meanders through the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

A section of the trail will be used as the official walking route, from Rugeley Town rail station to the Games site at Birches Valley.

Around £8,000 will go on creating local volunteering opportunities. These will be in addition to the 13,000 volunteers currently being recruited as part of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Collective volunteering programme announced last week.

The council 's Portfolio Holder for Heritage and Leisure, Councillor Adrienne Fitzgerald (pictured) said: “While the mountain biking event will be staged for one day only, we recognise that being a host district during the Games will present significant legacy opportunities that can last for years beyond the event in August 2022.

“The report to Cabinet emphasises what these opportunities are, including how we can use volunteering to help residents who are unemployed get valuable work experience or enable our young people to develop their skills.

“The Heritage Trail is a great way for people to explore our District and appreciate its history and keep healthy at the same time. It takes in many local attractions including going past the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet and the Museum of Cannock Chase. However, it now requires new improved signing if it is going to be fully appreciated and used.

“I am hopeful my fellow Cabinet members will back the new funding proposals later this week. ”