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I am delighted to report that a £250,000 improvement scheme will see a new three-kilometre off-road route linking Cotgrave Country Park with Radcliffe-on-Trent, Holme Pierrepont, the Grantham Canal path and the nearby Wildlife Trust reserve. This will create better access to the country park and help encourage more County residents to visit the facility, which is managed by Nottinghamshire County Council’s green estates team.

Of course, Cotgrave Country Park is already a fantastic asset for our county, but this work will make it an even more attractive place to go and enjoy the great Nottinghamshire outdoors, whether you are a keen walker, a cyclist or a horse rider. The improvements will make access easier in particular for children on bicycles, and a new two-metre access ramp is being constructed to provide better wheelchair access for people with disabilities.

There will also be significant environmental benefits, with our intention being to create a continuous ‘green line’ through the local area. The work will include maintaining the park land to provide a more pleasant green space where areas had previously become overgrown, but this will be done sensitively to protect and enhance the habitat for local wildlife.

A main part of the project will see a former mineral railway line transformed into a new greenway route. This will link up with the existing network of footpaths, cycle and bridleways in the area, and looking to the future we aim to establish further links along mineral lines to communities such as Calverton and Bestwood.

I hope these improvements will not only encourage more visitors from within Nottinghamshire, but also from outside the county, particularly as it so close to the revitalised National Watersport Centre, of which we are very proud.

Via East Midlands, a County Council arm’s-length company, has been commissioned to design and deliver the work on our behalf, while a Nottinghamshire-based company, Alliance, have won the contract to create the new greenway.

The work is being funded by Nottinghamshire County Council and the European Regional Development Fund.

During the work, access to the Park and public rights of way will be continue. The project is due to be completed in March 2018, subject to weather conditions, and has been carefully scheduled to avoid the bird nesting season.

As soon as the new facilities are ready, our intention is to organise an official grand opening event to celebrate this major improvement to the recreation and leisure opportunities available in Nottinghamshire.

See map of plan here.