Countryside access charity, Mendip Cross Trails Trust is very pleased to announce that a section of an exciting rural trail has been funded by Natural England through Defra’s Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.

A grant of £91,300 has been awarded towards the completion of a safe rural access trail across the Mendip Hills to link the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the Wiltshire Downs/Cranborne Chase AONB and eventually to the Cotswold Hills AONB.

This project could also provide increased access to local users through the creation of new circular routes. The Mendip Hills AONB Management Plan recognises the need for a modern recreational network to meet the needs of all sectors of the community and MCTT will be working with AONB officers to deliver the project which will provide opportunities for everyone to access the Mendip Hills in a sustainable way – on foot, by bicycle or horse, instead of by car

The funding will be used to reward landowners for giving new access and the provision of high quality installation works. The value of these trails to rural areas in providing tourism and regeneration opportunities, sustainable transport and recreational access and wildlife corridors is well documented.

Amy Rollins of the ECOS Trust (the Trust for Sustainable Development) said, “We have been working with MCTT over the last year in promoting its work as we believe its aims are fully in keeping with the widely accepted need for sustainable development in the County. Furthermore, MCTTs work targets a particularly difficult aspect of sustainable living in rural areas, that of transport. We are confident that the work of MCTT will prove to be a real and lasting asset for the area.”

MCTT would like to thank the many local user and amenity groups, and businesses – particularly the Quarry Producers who wrote in support of the project and the landowners who have so far agreed to new access.

Rachel Thompson MCTT Project Officer said, “This grant has taken six months of work to achieve and we would like to thank the Natural England ALSF grant team and our partners Somerset County Council and the Mendip Hills AONB for their help and support. This has also only been made possible by all those who have supported MCTT in the last year. We need to raise substantial funds through membership and events in order to access these grants which are often match funded. We would encourage all those who value or benefit from access to the countryside on foot, bike or by horse or through rural businesses to join – working together we can all achieve so much more.”

MCTT will be giving an update on the AONB Trail project at its AGM on October 30th 7.15PM at Badgworth Arena. All welcome. More details on www.mctt.org.uk