A NEW £15,000 foot bridge over the River Churn which links together two Cirencester green spaces was officially opened by town mayor Mark Harris this morning.

The bridge, named Hares Leap, allows pedestrians to more easily navigate between City Bank Field and the Old Nursery Nature Reserve, along the Hare Festival Way nature trail.

The project was led by Friends of City Bank (FOCB) in collaboration with the town council, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and Gloucestershire FWAG.

FOCB community group was set up by the town council in 2012 to help improve the area, including increasing safety and accessibility.

The bridge was completed on November 24, having been built over four days by volunteers from the local community.

Melanie Knetsch, chairwoman of FOCB, launched a competition at the end of last year to decide on a name for the bridge, with Hares Leap ‘a clear winner in the end’.

Philip and Rachel Anley, and Ian David submitted the winning name.

“It’s a brilliant little area,” said Melanie at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “It’s part of the flood zone and home to some rare wildlife. We’ve worked very hard to put a plan together for the future of the area.”

Martin Conyers, estates services manager, said: “This has been a great leap forward for the project. The next step is to improve the accessibility of the area further.”

Referring to the bridge, he added: “It’s been well-used and has opened up an important link.”

GWT donated £2,000 to the scheme, with much of the rest coming from an anonymous donor, according to Martin.

Will Masefield, GWT Cotswold community wildlife officer, said: “It’s been a great effort on the part of the FOCB and Cirencester Town Council, and GWT are thrilled to have contributed to that because this bridge is helping to connect people to green spaces in Cirencester, and make access to nature a day-to-day experience.

“We’ve been working to connect up these green spaces here in City Bank and beyond. It will have quite an impact.”

He went on to say: “The Old Nursery site is great for wildlife.

“People will see southern marsh orchids in there, foxes use it, it’s probably the best bird nesting habitat in the whole of the town because of the thick scrub, with the paths winding through it.

“It’s unusual to have such a biodiverse site right in the middle of Cirencester. Part of what the Hare Festival Way has done is bring these little known areas into people’s consciousnesses a bit more.

“Help them to access wildlife more easily. The river as well is very good for wildlife.

“Otters use this stretch regularly, as do waterfowls, kingfishers and trout,” he added.

Cllr Harris, in a short speech before he cut the ribbon, said: “It gives me great pleasure, after a year where it seems to me a lot of barriers have been put up, in Cirencester we are putting a bridge down.”

The first people to cross over the bridge after the unveiling were father and son, Miles Guerrini, owner of Acorns Nursery, and his son, three-year-old Alfie.