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Middlewich community plan wins top market town award in the North West

A community plan for social, cultural and economic regeneration in the market town of Middlewich, Cheshire has been named winner of the prestigious Market Town Awards in the North West. It will now go head-to-head with projects from seven other regions in the National Market Town Awards.

The Middlewich Masterplan was produced by Middlewich Vision, the local market town partnership. The idea was to develop initiatives to tackle a failing economy, lack of investment and the poor performance of the town as a key service centre. Local consultation revealed that the canals running through Middlewich represented an enormous asset in terms of environment, recreation and heritage, so the key part of the masterplan was a Canal Corridor Area Action Plan.

The plan has led to a number of projects, including a £320,000 towpath improvement, a heritage project about the traditions of life on the canal, and educational resources for local schools. The local community has been fully involved in the project, including volunteers who run the annual Folk and Boat Festival, the Community Pride Group, Heritage Society and the Clean Team, who litterpick the towpaths.

The Middlewich Masterplan was named winner of the Partnership and Strategic Working Category of the North West Market Town Awards and also overall regional winner. The judges commented that this was a good  example of how the various groups in a town should work together to identify and address its needs and aspirations, with a good mixture of private and public funding and the support of the town council.

The award was presented at a ceremony in Wigton by Peter Allen, North West Development Agency Board Member.  They now go head-to-head with other regional winners to compete for the National Market Town Award at the Action for Market Towns Convention in Chippenham, Wiltshire on October 12.

Other winners were:

Business and Economy Category – My Beartown, Congleton Partnership for its branding and marketing campaign for the town with the theme ‘Congleton Beartown  – where friends are made’. A brand manual, website (www.mybeartown.co.uk ), bear-themed events, schools competition and lamp-post banners are all part of creating a distinctive image for Congleton.

Social and Community Category – Keswick, Fitz Park ‘Make Us Smile’ for a ‘destination’ play area in the market town of Keswick,Cumbria that would ‘put smiles on faces’. Faced with a lack of government funding for rural services and needs, the community themselves have worked together to raise the funds to redevelop the existing play area and make it creative, inspiring and accessible to a wider range of ages and abilities.

The North West Market Town Awards are part of the National Market Town Awards which each year celebrate the great variety of volunteer-led projects which are helping to regenerate and sustain small towns throughout the country. The Awards are organised by Action for Market Towns, the national organization with over 400 towns in membership which supports the regeneration and vitality of small towns.

Ends

For further press information on the market town awards, please contact: John Pole on 01430 441557. E-mail: john.pole@towns.org.uk

To contact Middlewich Vision, ring Jonathon Williams on 01606 833434

To contact Congleton Beartown, ring Jackie MacArthur on 01260 270350

To contact Keswick Fitz Park, ring Rachel Graham on 07763207626