New Ribbleside Country Park Announced for South Ribble!

South Ribble Borough Council have announced that the large stretch of Green Belt running alongside the River Ribble in Penwortham is to receive Country Park status.


Penwortham Green Belt next to the River Ribble in South Ribble.

This new South Ribble Country Park will run from Penwortham to Walton le Dale along the River Ribble, and will also incorporate a broad area running southwards to Lostock Hall, incorporating and expanding the Preston Junction Nature Reserve. This new Country Park also incorporates a significant stretch of the Internationally important intertidal zone of the River Ribble.

Designating this large swathe of the Ribble's Green Belt a Country Park will ensure this area is protected from development in the long term.

South Ribble Borough Council have also announced this week that the River Ribble's riverbanks and all Green Belt will be protected from development throughout South Ribble as part of the forthcoming Regional Spatial Strategy, due to be published later this year, thus ensuring these vitally important habitats are protected in the long term, whether inside or outside the new South Ribble Country Park area.



Of course, a Ribbleside Country Park, immediately opposite Avenham & Miller Parks in Preston and just 5 minutes walk from Preston city centre is not only fantastic for local communities both in Preston and South Ribble, but also for visitors, as this unique area can now become an official part of Britain's newest Regional Park, Ribble Coast & Wetlands, which extends all along the intertidal Ribble from the Irish Sea at Lytham and Southport into the centre of Preston and Penwortham and on to the new Brockholes Wetland.

And the new South Ribble Country Park is of course on the Ribble Way Long Distance Footpath, so will be a fabulous new facility for walkers and ramblers and cyclists exploring the River Ribble, from the Source to the Sea.

Long Live the Ribble - and Ribbleside Green spaces - Wild!


You can find out more about the new South Ribble Country Park designation here.

Find out more about the Ribble Coast & Wetlands Regional Park here.

You can read more about Sustainable Development and Wetlands here.

You can find out more about why the Ribble should hopefully be safe from a tidal barrage now here...

...but also why the River Ribble and its green spaces could still be under threat here.

You can contact me at savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk