A £3m funding bid could create 550 jobs in a project likely to boost rural tourism and enhance wildlife.
 The Sandstone Ridge ECOnet Partnership (SREP) has bid for crucial Heritage Lottery funding to support the creation of an ecological corridor between Frodsham and Bickerton. Work on the scheme, which aims to attract thousands of new visitors, is now under way following a £200,000 Cheshire County Council grant. An application is also in for £200,000 of Cheshire Rural Recovery Programme money. Bids for a share of the cash are arriving from some of the 400 farmers, 1,000 businesses and 40 parishes consulted earlier this year. Consultation followed a feasibility study which estimated the project could create 550 jobs over 20 years. An area numbering 34,000 people across the likes of Helsby, Delamere, Tarporley, Beeston, Peckforton and Broxton will benefit. Local produce will be promoted, footpaths mapped and cycle and bridle lanes improved. Village halls could become visitor centres, selling local crafts and teas, and putting on displays and talks. Financial incentives will encourage farmers to manage land less intensively, diversify and work together. Farms will be encouraged to allow parking and welcome visitors, while there will also be a drive to improve the availability of livery for horses and self-catering accommodation. Lowland, heathland, peatland, woodland and wildflower meadows will be created and restored amid fears existing areas are becoming too isolated to sustain wildlife. Special 'eco-bridges' based on those in Holland could be built above roads enabling species to move along the corridor. | 
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