Bidding for project funding

Bids have been submitted for funding for a number of Parish Plan projects.

One is for funding from Cheshire East to print a tourism leaflet to promote Audlem and encourage visitors to the village and, hopefully, use the shops, pubs and cafés.

With eight new shops opening in less than a year, Audlem has been bucking the trend seen in all too many villages and market towns where shop closures and boarded up pubs have become all too common. Most of those businesses need visitors to spend money as well as local trade.

Secondly, a bid has been submitted to cover the printing costs of the Parish Plan. The steering committee's initial view was to only publish on-line. Cheshire Community Action, who are promoting Parish Plans across the county, said funds were available for printing and, as a result, a bid was submitted last week.

If this bid is successful, there will be a period of public consultation when local residents can comment on the draft contents and the 2010 Parish Plan will be printed in November and early December.

The Cheshire Community Action and Cheshire East meetings that allocate funding are tomorrow, Wednesday 22nd September.

A further bid is at an early stage to pay for an improved surface for the towpath north of the locks towards the Overwater Marina. Research by the British Maritime Federation show that villages near new marinas see a large economic boost. It's three miles, however, to drive to Audlem's shops and pubs from the marina but half that distance on foot along the towpath.

Unfortunately, the success of the Weaver Way path which uses the towpath means that it can get very muddy in places after wet weather. Hence the bid to the Northern Marches Leader fund, which is EU money for projects in rural areas of south Cheshire and north Shropshire.

This bid is based on 'Economic Regeneration' following the negative impact of last year's canal closure on Audlem when shops and other businesses saw a sharp fall in trade when a breach closed the canal from mid-August to late October.

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