NEW up-to-date facilities have been officially opened at a Northwich beauty spot thanks to the power of partnership.

New toilets, a community room and rangers' office were opened at Marbury Country Park, part of Northwich Woodlands, on Thursday, through teamwork between a woodland volunteer group and Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC).

Speaking at the official opening Maria Byrne, director of place operations at CWAC, said: "What I saw when I came here was vision, input, drive and determination and partnership working.

"I think the new building is really important but it's not the building that makes a place successful.

"The facility wouldn't mean anything without the work everyone puts in and I would like to thank everyone at Friends of Anderton and Marbury (FoAM) for that.

"That's the reason why I thought it was an important project to move forward, because of the work, volunteering and commitment from yourselves."

The new toilets replace ageing facilities and provide park visitors with hot water, hand dryers, lighting, mirrors and greater accessibility.

A large versatile room has been created that can been used for meetings, as a classroom or be booked for events like children's parties.

The area was landscaped by 20 FoAM volunteers working with the rangers.

Ranger Dave James said: "This is a fabulous facility and I'm sure we are going to make a lot of use of it – we have wanted a classroom for as long as I've been here and that's 21 years."

Alan Redley, FoAM chairman, explained that the project had been on FoAM's wish list for several years but the funding was not available for it.

He thanked Maria and her team and said he thought Northwich Woodlands was set for a bright future.

"We were talking about the health and wellbeing agenda and this fits perfectly with that." he said.

"The new development at Winnington means a lot more people on our doorstep and we need to encourage them in.

"We are also doing some work to improve access from Barons Quay."

The opening was attended by CWAC councillors and officers, parish councillors, volunteers and representatives from companies that support FoAM.