Council leader Russ Bowden gives us his latest on his work at Warrington Borough Council – including vital work at a beauty spot

I’M pleased to say that the recently revealed plans for the new observation tower at Risley Moss have been really well received by residents.

The project is funded by the council, FCC Environment and generous donations from local people, all of which will help to deliver a stunning new facility at Risley Moss.

It will be a worthy replacement for the iconic former tower and a great asset to our much-loved nature reserve that will benefit residents and visitors alike for years to come.

The majority of the project will be delivered early next year, with the finishing touches being made in advance of an official opening in spring 2020.

Warrington Guardian:

The new tower will be located in a slightly different place to the previous structure, offering improved views across the moss land.

The area where the former tower stood for more than 40 years will be redeveloped, with the steel brackets of the structure being transformed into a seating area.

For those who didn’t know, the old tower was destroyed in 2017 following an arson attack.

It goes to show the huge impact that vandalism can have on our community assets.

The idea that simple mindless acts can have such wide-reaching implications prompted me to think about all the small things that we can collectively do to make a huge, positive difference in our communities.

Recently, enforcement officers have been visiting streets with a high proportion of abandoned bins, to help tidy up areas for residents.

Keeping bins on our properties and making sure that they’re only out on collection day is one small thing we can do to improve our streets.

It’s also really important for us to recycle responsibly and reduce the rates of contaminated bins.

It’s not the most glamorous of topics, but recycling your household waste properly is one easy way of helping the environment in the face of our global climate crisis.

It’s important we think with a ‘count me in’ mind-set and consider how we can all do our bit.

Whether it is recycling more, and recycling right; being vigilant and alerting us to cases of fly tipping that blight our neighbourhoods; or perhaps joining a friends group and volunteering your time, if we play our part to keep our communities clean, tidy and welcoming, then Warrington as a whole will benefit.