NORTHWICH councillors are hopeful that future investment into Moss Farm Leisure Complex will help to transform it into the ‘jewel in the town’s crown’.

An update on plans to invest in the site was provided at this month’s Northwich Town Council meeting by Witton councillor Sam Naylor.

He announced that £1.8 million has been set aside in Cheshire West and Chester Council’s budget to improve the complex, and that a new report by outside consultants is due to be completed by April.

Once this has been compiled and reviewed by CWAC members, councillors are hopeful that progress will be made to upgrade the facilities and make the sports complex fit for purpose.

“Moss Farm could be the jewel in the crown of Northwich,” Cllr Naylor said.

“I’ve been involved at the site in one way or another for more than 40 years, and in that time, there has been a general decline in the standard of facilities.

“CWAC setting aside £1.8 million in its budget to invest in the site has been a long time coming after pressure from local councillors over the standard of facilities.

“I’m just happy that this will be the last bit of public money being given to outside consultants to tell us what to do about Moss Farm.

“Hopefully, they will finally come up with a viable solution for a sustainable Moss Farm which will be fit for purpose for all users.”

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Moss Farm is home to rugby, football cricket and gymnastic clubs who all use the facilities for training as well as matches and competitions.

The finalisation of this latest consultant report looks set to be the next step towards progress finally being made to deliver a state-of-the-art sports complex, which has been promised in recent years.

“We want to paint an image of our town being on the up, but the current state of Moss Farm does not portray this to outsiders,” added Leftwich councillor Derek Bowden.

“I first visited Moss Farm in the 70s and thought it was a bit run down. Nothing has changed since.

“The current state of Moss Farm will give people a bad image of Northwich, and that is something that must change.”

One of the issues that must be addressed by the investment however must be the traffic problems which are prevalent at the site during peak school times, according to Cllr Naylor.

This issue is heightened as pupils are dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon at Winnington Park County Primary School, which was expanded to cater for more pupils in January 2018.

He said: “We have to solve the carnage on the roads when kids are being dropped off and picked up from school.

“Moss Farm is surrounded by houses, but there is only one road in and out.

“We owe it to the children to give them a safe route to and from school.”